The BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs invites castaways to choose eight pieces of music, a book (in addition to the Bible – or a religious text appropriate to that person's beliefs – and the Complete Works of Shakespeare) and a luxury item that they would take to an imaginary desert island, where they will be marooned indefinitely.
The rules state that the chosen luxury item must not be anything animate or indeed anything that enables the castaway to escape from the island, for instance a radio set, sailing yacht or aeroplane. The choices of book and luxury can sometimes give insight into the guest's life, and the choices of guests from 2011 to 2020.
Desert Island Discs takes two short breaks, in (the northern) spring and summer. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts new programmes for approximately 42 weeks each year on Sunday mornings, usually with a repeat transmission five days later. On Remembrance Sunday (in November) the programme is not broadcast but that week's programme gets a single airing in the Friday repeat slot.
2011 DateCastawayBookLuxuryMichelangelo's PietàRebecca by Daphne du MaurierEau de Soir perfume by SisleyTeam of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns GoodwinOxford Book of English VerseBrewer's Dictionary of Phrase and FableRipley's World by Andy Ripley by Fyodor DostoyevskyGolf clubsDictionaryFinishing the Hat by Stephen SondheimA bronze sculpture by Giles PennyThe Larousse French/English DictionaryHot water bottleWar and Peace by Leo TolstoyPiano with musicThe History of the Colony by Sophie ParkinHer entire outfit including her Andrew Logan broochThe complete works of August WilsonA basic word processorWar and Peace by Leo TolstoyAll the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthyGrand pianoA tropical recipe bookHis own drum kitRoget's ThesaurusMosquito repellentAn anthology of British poetrySet of golf clubs and ballsThe complete works of Isabella BirdFluteLuxury mattress and pillowThe complete works of SakiThe Complete Prose of Woody AllenPenPride and Prejudice by Jane AustenA solar powered digital photo albumThe Most of S J PerelmanHis blue suede shoePuckoon by Spike MilliganCotillion by Georgette HeyerThe Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor DostoyevskyMcLaren SLR sports car with petrolThe Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Complete Works of Wole SoyinkaThe Eustace Diamonds by Anthony TrollopePoem of the DayThe Great Warbow by Robert Hardy and Matthew StricklandYoung Girl in Profile, 1495 – De PredisRobinson Crusoe by Daniel DefoeA laminated photo of his familyThe TalmudCricket bat, ball and stumpsTweezersThe complete works of Anthony TrollopeTwo enormous casks of Château MargauxClassic Electrodynamics by John David Jackson
2012 DateCastawayBookLuxurySir War and Peace by Leo TolstoyDame A special compilation of all of David Attenborough's booksA big atlasWatercolour paints and paperAn anthology of poems to include ones by Chinese poet Du FuCalligraphy materialsShifts and Expedients of Camp Life by W B LordA pianoOprah: An Autobiography by Oprah WinfreySex and the City DVD boxsetA guide to learning the pianoA pianoSmile Though Your Heart Is Breaking by Pauline PrescottA Bontempi keyboardGerminal by Émile ZolaA footballA large anthology of poetryAn endless supply of teaThe Complete Works of Sholem AleichemAn easy chairmanStaying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal TimesEndless supply of leaf tea, teapot, mug and semi-skimmed milkOn the Road by Jack KerouacA huge stack of white paper and pencilsSlaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut100 Masterpieces of ArtHer clarinet by Thomas à KempisPen and paperA book on practical survivalAn endless supply of pens and paperReader's Digest – The Most Amazing Gardens in Britain and IrelandHer favourite blue jerseyI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya AngelouAn artist's workshopKeepers of the Flame by Ian HamiltonPaper and coloured pensFamily photo albumLifetime's supply of toothbrushes and toothpaste by Arthur Koestler3D printer by Ayn RandA pillow her mother made for herAnd Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos by John BergerA pillow with the smell of his familyThe God of Small Things by Arundhati RoyA skipping ropeRHS A-Z Encyclopaedia of Garden PlantsA very large atlasA customised wheelchairThe 11th edition of the Encyclopædia BritannicaThe Art of Loving by Erich FrommLip glossBasketball court with hoop and ballTropical Flowering Plants by Kirsten Albrecht LlamasA luxurious bedThe Joy of CookingA spa with whirlpoolA top ten short story collection featuring Mansfield, Maugham, Chekhov and HemingwayNever Look BackAn endless supply of Cointreau with ice in a crystal glassThe Brothers Karamazov by Fydor DostoyevskySolar-powered ice cream makerThe Golden Bough by James FrazerPaper, pens and pencilsThe Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan WattsA whirligig festooned with flower seedsThe collected poems of Wallace StevensAn espresso machineThe complete works of Charles DickensAn endless barIf This Is a Man by Primo LeviAn enormous book of logical puzzlesRefrigerated tabernaclePuckoon by Spike MilliganHer daughter's teddy bearYellow rotating pencil and a book of unlined paper
2013 DateCastawayBookLuxuryThe short stories of F. Scott FitzgeraldThe collected works of Charles DickensHis guitarAcoustic guitar and a book of instructionsA never-ending supply of different coloured rosesThe complete works of Charles DickensTeaThis Is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco by Garry Mulholland Alcohol stillCity of Joy by Dominique LapierreRankinPluto and Persephone by BeriniArabian NightsJapanese notebooks and pensJonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard BachHer mother's bus passI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya AngelouHer father's milk churnThe Jeeves Omnibus by P G WodehouseAn endless supply of coffee and a machine to make it withThe Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors Even, AgainA work of art by Roger Hiorns called "Untitled 2009"Human Race Get Off Your Knees: The Lion Sleeps No More by David IckeSolar powered vitamixThe Encyclopedia of the Human BrainWill Tuckett's Pleasure's ProgressComplete illustrated catalogue of the National GalleryTelescopeThe complete works of Jack LondonRope and rackAlexandra ShulmanPenguin Book of Love Poetry by Jon StallworthyAn endless supply of Miss Dior Eau du Toilette 23 June 2013An encyclopaediaA double set of throwing knives 30 June 2013Oxford English DictionaryCarbon fibre bicycle 7 July 2013The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska OrczyHot bath every day with Rose Geranium bath essence by Floris 14 July 2013The Complete Works of Robert Louis StevensonSolar-powered laptop used solely for playing games 21 July 2013The Bhagavad GitaStuffed effigy of Noel Gallagher 28 July 2013Solar cooker and fridge 4 August 2013The Complete Works of Charles DickensA lifetime supply of self-firing clay 11 August 2013ThesaurusReclining chair 22 September 2013Goggles 29 September 2013A Brief History of Time by Stephen HawkingCoffee machine, coffee, fridge, milk and teaspoon 6 October 2013Pride and Prejudice by Jane AustenSolar-powered iPad with all her photos 13 October 2013The complete works of F. Scott FitzgeraldBinoculars 20 October 2013The complete works of Thomas HardyThe Tempest by Giorgione 27 October 2013Emma by Jane AustenA large piano 3 November 2013India's Summer by Therese 15 November 2013Romanesque chapel adjacent to Montmajour Abbey in Provence 17 November 2013Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëBicycle 24 November 2013 MPThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsWeekly delivery of a Chicken Tikka takeaway 1 December 2013Encyclopedia of natureThermos mug with tea, milk and sugar 8 December 2013Roget's ThesaurusSketch book 15 December 2013Anthology of poetryBrynmawr writing desk 22 December 2013The Complete Works of Margaret Luce 29 December 2013Ant and DecThe Collected Works of William Boyd (for Ant) and High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (for Dec)A blow up chair (for Ant) and tweezers (for Dec)
2014 DateCastawayBookLuxuryA blank book to record his Desert Island findingsA huge pair of speakersLong Walk to Freedom – her personal copy by Nelson MandelaViolin in its case with some pieces of sheet musicThe Complete Works of Maya AngelouLarge collection of earringsGreat Expectations by Charles DickensA fictional book about cricket statisticsA greenhouseOxford Anthology of PoetryA photograph of all the people she lovesAngela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (for Torvill) and Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Theodor Seuss (for Dean)Jo Malone moisturizer (for Torvill) and endless supply of coffee and digestive biscuits (for Dean)SAS Survival Handbook of Survival by John WisemanA spear fishing kitA book containing all the Ordnance Survey maps of the Highlands and Islands of ScotlandA wonderful bath that comes down from the skiesThe complete works of Patrick O'BrianSailclothHow to Survive Anything, Anywhere: A Handbook of Survival Skills for Every Scenario and Environment by Chris McNabA book of monologuesAmaroneA big comprehensive encyclopediaHis Dark Materials by Philip PullmanComplete set of Mad magazineThe Traveller's Tree by Patrick Leigh FermorLove in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García MárquezArabian NightsThe Da Vinci Code by Dan BrownAuntie Mame by Patrick DennisOxford English Dictionary (all 13 volumes and supplements)The Complete Works of George and Ira GershwinA piano1 Volume of Encyclopædia BritannicaGuitarThe Fire Next Time by James BaldwinCollected Works of Carl JungFemale Fortune: Land, Gender and Authority by Jill LiddingtonThe Oxford Companion to the Garden by Patrick TaylorThe Penguin of English VerseLost and Found in Russia by Susan RichardsRaj Quartet by Paul ScottThe Moonlandings by Reginald TurnillThe book of hours MPPride and Prejudice by Jane AustenHistory of the World by J M RobertsIf Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregorThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward GibbonThe Searchers by Alan Le May
2015