William Boyd is the author of eighteen novels, five short story collections and numerous screenplays. His first published novel, A Good Man in Africa, was inspired by his childhood in West Africa. He is well known for writing ‘whole life’ novels including Any Human Heart which he adapted as a BAFTA-winning television series. He was born in Accra in Ghana where his Scottish father worked as a doctor, specialising in tropical medicine. In 1964 the family moved to Ibadan, Nigeria where he witnessed the Nigerian Civil War – the Biafran War – which had a profound effect on him both personally and professionally.He read English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Glasgow and became a lecturer in English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. During this period he wrote novels and short stories on the side until his breakthrough novel, A Good Man in Africa, was published in 1981. In 2005 he was appointed CBE for services to literature.William lives in London with his wife Susan and over 10,000 books.DISC ONE: Sunday - Mandy Patinkin (George), Sunday in the Park with George Original Broadway Cast Ensemble and Orchestra
DISC TWO: Sorry Sorry - Femi Kuti
DISC THREE: Away Down the River - Alison Krauss
DISC FOUR: Que reste-t-il de nos amours - Charles Trenet
DISC FIVE: Daniel - Elton John
DISC SIX: Britten: Violin Concerto, Op. 15: 1. Moderato con moto. Performed by Janine Jansen (violin) London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi
DISC SEVEN: Brahms: Horn Trio In E Flat, Op. 40 - 1. Andante - Poco più animato. Performed by György Sebök (piano) Arthur Grumiaux (violin), Francis Orval (horn)
DISC EIGHT: Al Otro Lado del Río - Jorge DrexlerBOOK CHOICE: Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
LUXURY ITEM: A piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Daniel - Elton JohnPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
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50:52
Sir Jony Ive, designer
Sir Jony Ive is a designer who is best known for his pioneering work at Apple alongside his friend and colleague, the late Steve Jobs. Jony’s creative vision is behind some of the company’s seminal products which have transformed the way we live today including phones, music players and watches. He was born in Chingford in east London and loved drawing and spending time in his father’s workshop where the two of them made the young Jony’s Christmas presents including a go-kart, a treehouse and a toboggan. He studied Industrial Design at Newcastle Polytechnic and moved to San Francisco to work for Apple in 1992. In 1997 Steve Jobs returned to the company, having been ousted several years earlier, and the two of them set about revolutionising the landscape for home computers with the creation of the iMac.
In 2019 Jony set up his own company LoveFrom with the industrial designer Marc Newson. In 2023 Jony and his team designed a foldable Red Nose for Comic Relief and in the same year the company launched a scholarship programme aimed at increasing representation in the design industry.In 2012 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to design and enterprise.DISC ONE: Really Saying Something (US Extended Version) - Bananarama, Fun Boy Three
DISC TWO: De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - The Police
DISC THREE: Main Theme - Carter Takes a Train - Roy Budd
DISC FOUR: Singin’ in the Rain - Harry Ive
DISC FIVE: Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
DISC SIX: Define Dancing - Thomas Newman
DISC SEVEN: Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L.75: 3. Clair de lune. Composed by Claude Debussy and performed by Claudio Arrau (piano)
DISC EIGHT: "40" - U2 BOOK CHOICE: The complete set of Jeeves & Wooster novels by P G Wodehouse
LUXURY ITEM: A bed
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: "40" - U2
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
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51:41
Mina Smallman, activist
Wilhelmina – Mina – Smallman is an activist who campaigns for the safety of women and girls and police reform. She is a former teacher and priest who was the first woman of colour to be an archdeacon in the Church of England.In 2020 her daughters Bibaa and Nicole were murdered as they celebrated Bibaa’s 46th birthday in Fryent Country Park. It later came to light that two policemen, who were guarding the crime scene, had posed for and posted selfies with Bibaa and Nicole’s bodies in the background. They were later jailed for misconduct. When friends first reported her daughters missing the police didn’t launch an official search for them and it was their loved ones who eventually found Bibaa and Nicole. Mina’s anger at the failings of the Metropolitan Police, led her to start her fight for justice. In 2021 an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report, highlighted the Met’s failings and advised the force to apologise to Mina and her family.Mina was brought up in London. She was a drama teacher for over 20 years before training for the priesthood. She was ordained in 2006 and took up her first job as vicar at Christ Church on the Thames View estate in Barking. In 2013 she was appointed the first woman archdeacon of Southend in the Diocese of Chelmsford. She retired as an archdeacon in 2016. DISC ONE: Silly Games – Janet Kay
DISC TWO: Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 / Pt. 3 - 43. Air: I know that my Redeemer liveth
Performed by Dame Joan Sutherland (Soprano), London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
DISC THREE: Easy Terms - Barbara Dickson
DISC FOUR: Amazing Grace - The Pipes And Drums Of The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon
DISC FIVE: We Are The World - USA for Africa
DISC SIX: Miss Independent - Ne-Yo
DISC SEVEN: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
DISC EIGHT: I Look To You - Whitney Houston
BOOK CHOICE: Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
LUXURY ITEM: Hair moisturiser
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Look To You - Whitney Houston Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
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50:55
Stephen Mangan, actor
Stephen Mangan is an award winning actor who is also a presenter and writer. His prolific career includes comedic roles in TV hits Green Wing; Episodes and Adrian Mole. He also plays the much loved Nathan in BBC drama The Split and has appeared in many award winning theatre productions in the UK and on Broadway.Born in London to Irish immigrant parents, Stephen studied Law at Cambridge University. His passion though was for acting and after taking time out to care for his mother, he spent three years at RADA before pursuing a successful career on stage, screen and film. Stephen lives in London with his wife and three sons.DISC ONE: King of the Road - Roger Miller
DISC TWO: I Recall A Gypsy Woman - Don Williams
DISC THREE: Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) - John Lennon
DISC FOUR: Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Fairport Convention
DISC FIVE: Stayin Alive - Bee Gees
DISC SIX: Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: II. Adagio assai. Composed by Maurice Ravel and performed by Martha Argerich (piano) and Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Claudio Abbado
DISC SEVEN: Rhapsody in Blue. Composed by George Gershwin and performed by New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta
DISC EIGHT: (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher - Jackie Wilson BOOK CHOICE: Collected Works of Seamus Heaney
LUXURY ITEM: A piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Stayin Alive - Bee Gees Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor
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50:40
Nemone Lethbridge, lawyer and writer
Nemone Lethbridge is a barrister who was called to the bar in 1956. One of very few female barristers working at the time, she encountered misogyny and was one of the trailblazers for women working in the legal profession who followed behind her.
At her first Chambers, she wasn’t allowed to share a toilet with her male colleagues and had to use the facilities in a nearby café. It was hard for her to find work and for some time she represented the Kray twins.
After her marriage to a writer, and former convicted criminal was revealed, she was forced to leave the legal profession and they moved to Greece for a number of years where both of them had careers as writers having their work filmed for the BBC.
Nemone returned to the Bar in 1981 and continues to do pro bono work at 92 years old.
She lives in London.DISC ONE: Go Down, Moses - Paul Robeson
DISC TWO: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - The Choir of King’s College Cambridge
DISC THREE: Scarborough Fair – Simon & Garfunkel
DISC FOUR: I Wanna Go Back to Dixie - Tom Lehrer
DISC FIVE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 3: "Sull’aria ... Che soave zeffiretto"
Performed by Edith Mathis (soprano), Gundula Janowitz (soprano), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin and conducted by Karl Böhm
DISC SIX: Strose to Stroma sou – Mikis Theodorakis
DISC SEVEN: September Song - Gracie Fields
DISC EIGHT: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Chorale. Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Arr. for Piano) (Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Lang Lang
BOOK CHOICE: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
LUXURY ITEM: A doll
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 3: "Sull’aria ... Che soave zeffiretto". Performed by Edith Mathis (soprano), Gundula Janowitz (soprano), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin and conducted by Karl BöhmPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor
Netherlands