Catherine Cookson is a very successful writer with 61 novels, all in print, to her name. But she was brought up in very poor circumstances on Tyneside by her mother, leaving school at the age of 13.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Thora by Adams/Wetherey

George Abbott, who is 97 years old, has just directed a revival of his musical On Your Toes. He began his career as an actor, but before long he was also writing plays and staging them. In conversation with Roy Plomley, he talks about his remarkable career and some of his hit shows, including Call Me Madam, The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Falling In Love With Love by Ellen Hanley & Orchestra

The writer Ved Mehta unfortunately lost his sight at the age of four: "Most blind people in India at that time were beggars, or stayed with their relations like wounded animals."

He describes to Roy Plomley how, in spite of tremendous odds, he gained an education at Oxford University and Harvard, and went on to become a staff writer for the New Yorker, and he chooses the eight records he would take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: String Quartet No 14 in C Sharp Minor (Last Movement) by Ludwig van Beethoven

Willie Rushton is a cartoonist, actor, writer and a regular member of quiz game panels. He tells Roy Plomley about how he came to be one of the founders of Private Eye, about the early days of the TV programme That Was the Week That Was, and he chooses eight records he would take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan by Sam Browne

Ron Goodwin has composed the scores for many films, including Where Eagles Dare, 633 Squadron and Monte Carlo or Bust, but he started his career in an insurance office. In conversation with Roy Plomley, he describes how his apprenticeship with a music publisher enabled him to become a composer and later a conductor, and he chooses the eight records he would take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Tintagel by Arnold Bax

Gayatri Devi, the Maharani of Jaipur, was brought up in the sumptuous Palace of Cooch Behar with its staff of 500. She tells Roy Plomley how she shot her first panther at the age of 12, how she became the third wife of the Maharaja of Jaipur, and how, with his encouragement, she won a seat in the Parliament of India.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: As Time Goes By by Andy Williams and his Orchestra

Sir Alfred Ayer, the philosopher who was for many years the Wykeham Professor of Logic at Oxford University, is perhaps best known for Language, Truth and Logic, a book he wrote when he was only 25, and Philosophy in the Twentieth Century. He talks to Roy Plomley about the life of an academic and chooses the eight records he would take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: The Italian Girl In Algiers by Gioacchino Rossini

Natalia Makarova is starring in a revival of the musical On Your Toes, but she trained as a classical ballet dancer at the Kirov School in Leningrad. She tells Roy Plomley about her defection to the West during a tour with the Kirov Ballet in 1970, about her work with the American Ballet Theatre and the Royal Ballet and she chooses the eight records she would take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Violin Concerto No 2 in E by Johann Sebastian Bach

The pianist Vlado Perlemuter, who was born 80 years ago in Lithuania, has spent most of his life in Paris, where he taught at the Conservatoire between concert tours. In conversation with Roy Plomley, he recalls some of the many musicians and composers he knew, including Cortot, Faure, Ravel and Dukas.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G Major by Johann Sebastian Bach

Lord Rothschild has spent much of his life as Assistant Director of the Research Department of Zoology at Cambridge University, but that has not prevented him from taking active roles in industry, heading the government's think tank and writing several books. He talks about the many facets of his career to Roy Plomley, and chooses the eight records he would take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Get Happy by Art Tatum