List of Desert Island Discs episodes (1971–1980)
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (April 2024) |
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 between 1971 and 1980 are listed here.
1971
[edit]| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 January 1971 | Sacha Distel | English Dictionary | Guitar | more |
| 9 January 1971 | James Fitton | Encyclopedia | Painting materials | more |
| 16 January 1971 | Robert Bolt | Novels of P. G. Wodehouse | Writing materials | more |
| 23 January 1971 | Madame (Lilian) Stiles-Allen | The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes | Piano | more |
| 30 January 1971 | Laurie Lee | The Atlantic Book of British and American Poetry by Edith Sitwell | Materials for making wine or beer | more |
| 6 February 1971 | Alan Keith | Oxford Book of English Verse | Model-making tools | more |
| 13 February 1971 | Harvey Smith | A selection to sample | Radio receiver | more |
| 20 February 1971 | Wendy Craig | Complete works of Oscar Wilde | Toothbrushes | more |
| 27 February 1971 | Ravi Shankar | Poems of Rabindranath Tagore | Perfume | more |
| 6 March 1971 | Ludovic Kennedy | Poems of George Herbert and John Donne | Tartar sauce | more |
| 13 March 1971 | Patrick Cargill | The Spotlight casting directory | His Bentley car | more |
| 20 March 1971 | Sir Louis Gluckstein | The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations | Four-poster bed | more |
| 27 March 1971 | Clodagh Rodgers | The Godfather by Mario Puzo | Prawn cocktails | more |
| 3 April 1971 | Peter Daubeny | His own book My World of Theatre | Picture of his family | more |
| 10 April 1971 | Geoff Boycott | A set of Wisden Cricketers' Almanacks | Telephone line to a sports newspaper | more |
| 17 April 1971 | Mrs Mills | Cookery encyclopedia | Family photograph | more |
| 24 April 1971 | Jonathan Miller | The Road to Xanadu by John Livingston Lowes | Razor | more |
| 1 May 1971 | Billie Whitelaw | Cookery book | Make-up box | more |
| 8 May 1971 | Reginald Foort | Back numbers of the Reader's Digest | Organ | more |
| 15 May 1971 | John Braine | Collected poems of John Betjeman | René Magritte's The Empire of Light | more |
| 22 May 1971 | Joyce Grenfell | Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy | Writing materials | more |
| 29 May 1971 | Ronnie Corbett | Handbook on tropical vegetation | Golf clubs and balls | more |
| 5 June 1971 | Vernon Bartlett | Encyclopedia | Writing materials and playing cards | more |
| 12 June 1971 | Elizabeth Ryan | Oxford Book of English Verse | Piano | more |
| 19 June 1971 | Clive Dunn | Encyclopedia | Soap | more |
| 26 June 1971 | Maurice Woodruff | Palgrave's Golden Treasury | Writing materials | more |
| 3 July 1971 | Michael Crawford | A Book of Beauty by John Hadfield | Cherry tree | more |
| 10 July 1971 | Laurence Whistler | Come Hither by Walter de la Mare | Magnifying glass | more |
| 17 July 1971 | John Cleese | Vincent Price's Cookery Book | Life-sized model of Margaret Thatcher and a baseball bat | more |
| 24 July 1971 | James Laver | Oxford Book of English Verse | Buddhist altar in the British Museum | more |
| 31 July 1971 | Lorin Maazel | Collected works of Epictetus | Chess set with a problem book | more |
| 7 August 1971 | Ian McKellen | Collected works of Jane Austen | Writing materials | more |
| 14 August 1971 | Richard Gordon | Michelin Guide to France | Pin | more |
| 21 August 1971 | Sylva Stuart Watson | Volumes on astronomy and astrology | Forty yards of flowered chintz, a needle & cotton | more |
| 28 August 1971 | Arthur Rubinstein | Book from his library | Revolver | more |
| 4 September 1971 | Glenda Jackson | Persuasion by Jane Austen | Queen Mary's Dolls' House | more |
| 11 September 1971 | David Shepherd | Volume on Elementary Calculus | The Black Prince Steam Locomotive, canvases and oil paint | more |
| 18 September 1971 | Kenneth Allsop | Do-it-yourself manual | Binoculars | more |
| 25 September 1971 | Mollie Lee | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Typewriter and paper | more |
| 2 October 1971 | Caterina Valente | Novels by James A. Michener | English pub | more |
| 9 October 1971 | Sacheverell Sitwell | War and Peace and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy | Refrigerator | more |
| 16 October 1971 | Ivy Benson | London Sparrow by Phyllis Thompson | Piano | more |
| 23 October 1971 | Sibyl Mary Hathaway | History of England by Keith Feiling | Canvas and tapestry tools | more |
| 30 October 1971 | C A Joyce | Novels by Georgette Heyer | Self-portrait painted by his wife | more |
| 6 November 1971 | Vivian Dunn | Autobiography of Winston Churchill | Piano, manuscript paper, pencils and a rubber | more |
| 13 November 1971 | Nicolette Milnes-Walker | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Hot water and bath oil | more |
| 20 November 1971 | Alfred Brendel | Lieder by Franz Schubert | Bavarian rococo church | more |
| 27 November 1971 | Steve Race | Dictionary of Musical Themes | Binoculars | more |
| 4 December 1971 | Graham Kerr | Encyclopaedia of Ancient Civilisations | Wine | more |
| 11 December 1971 | Barbara Mullen | Illustrated Herbal | Dart board and darts of different weights | more |
| 18 December 1971 | Julia Trevelyan Oman | Elizabeth R | Seeds | more |
| 25 December 1971 | David Frost | Set of Hansard | Paper and felt-tipped pens | more |
1972
[edit]1973
[edit]| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 January 1973 | Tony Britton | Language courses | Scotch and Champagne | more |
| 13 January 1973 | Mike Yarwood | Volume of colour reproductions of paintings | Daily newspaper | more |
| 20 January 1973 | Denise Robins | Encyclopædia Britannica | Family photograph | more |
| 27 January 1973 | Robert Nesbitt | Encyclopædia Britannica | Moët & Chandon Champagne 1966 | more |
| 3 February 1973 | Anthony Smith | Atlas | Sketching materials | more |
| 10 February 1973 | Rita Hunter | Anthology of Poetry | Oil-painting equipment | more |
| 17 February 1973 | John Le Mesurier | Diary by Samuel Pepys | Small distillery | more |
| 24 February 1973 | Leslie Thomas | His book The Virgin Soldiers | Sand iron and golf balls | more |
| 3 March 1973 | Alexander Gibson | The Complete Opera Book by Gustav Kobbé | Piano | more |
| 10 March 1973 | Dame Veronica Wedgwood OM | Volume of colour reproductions of paintings | Binoculars | more |
| 17 March 1973 | George Melly | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Piano | more |
| 24 March 1973 | Cathleen Nesbitt | Collected works by Michel de Montaigne | Duvet | more |
| 31 March 1973 | Christopher Serpell | Diary by Samuel Pepys | Equipment for winemaking and brewing | more |
| 7 April 1973 | Florence De Jong | Cartoons by Carl Giles | Accordion | more |
| 14 April 1973 | Harry Loman | A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens | Cards | more |
| 21 April 1973 | Chris Bonington | Marlborough: His Life and Times by Winston Churchill | Radio receiver | more |
| 28 April 1973 | Edith Coates | Novels by Jean Plaidy | Brandy | more |
| 5 May 1973 | Norman Thelwell | Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss | Painting materials | more |
| 12 May 1973 | John Huston | Plato's dialogues | Havana cigars | more |
| 19 May 1973 | Joseph Cooper | Come Hither by Walter de la Mare | Dummy piano keyboard | more |
| 2 June 1973 | Edith Summerskill | Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | Four-poster bed | more |
| 9 June 1973 | Joe Bugner | Papillon by Henri Charrière | Chess set | more |
| 16 June 1973 | Basil Dean | Anthology of Poetry | Whisky | more |
| 23 June 1973 | Georgie Fame | History of Mankind | Saxophone | more |
| 30 June 1973 | Brenda Bruce | Bhagavad Gita by Christopher Isherwood | Writing materials | more |
| 7 July 1973 | Wilfrid Van Wyck | Short Stories by W. Somerset Maugham | Radio receiver | more |
| 14 July 1973 | Michael Ansell | Blank paper and a typewriter | Knitting needles and wool | more |
| 21 July 1973 | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Oxford Rhyming Dictionary | Wine | more |
| 28 July 1973 | Ruskin Spear | Ends and Means by Aldous Huxley | Radio receiver | more |
| 4 August 1973 | Colin Welland | Oxford English Dictionary | Bed | more |
| 11 August 1973 | Gervase de Peyer | Penguin Book of Quotations | Grapevines | more |
| 18 August 1973 | June Whitfield | Do it yourself manual | Tape recorder | more |
| 25 August 1973 | Bert Foord | Short Stories by P. G. Wodehouse | Golf clubs and balls | more |
| 1 September 1973 | Earl Wild | Transcript of the Watergate hearings | Bernini columns from The Vatican | more |
| 8 September 1973 | Joyce Carey | Oxford Book of English Verse | Box of oddments from her dressing table | more |
| 15 September 1973 | Bill Sowerbutts | English Dictionary | Tobacco seeds and a brewing vat | more |
| 22 September 1973 | Leontyne Price | How to be Your Own Best Friend by Mildred Newman | Soap | more |
| 29 September 1973 | Ian Hendry | Timetable of passing Steamers | Brandy | more |
| 6 October 1973 | Mary Peters | The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale | Comb and manicure set | more |
| 13 October 1973 | Edward Robey | Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians | German white wine | more |
| 20 October 1973 | Peter Rogers | Bound volume of Punch from the 1960s | Elégie by Jules Massenet | more |
| 27 October 1973 | Alister Hardy | The Prelude by William Wordsworth | Writing materials | more |
| 3 November 1973 | Arnold Ridley | Bradshaw's railway timetable | Winemaking kit | more |
| 10 November 1973 | Trevor Philpott | Anthology of World Poetry by Mark Van Doren | Oxford World Atlas and an Ordnance Survey map of the British Isles | more |
| 17 November 1973 | Vic Feather | Anthology of Poetry | Madonna and Child by Jacob Epstein | more |
| 24 November 1973 | Barry Humphries | Collected works of Max Beerbohm | Painting materials | more |
| 1 December 1973 | Marghanita Laski | Oxford English Dictionary | Gold bracelet called The Lion of Judah | more |
| 8 December 1973 | Gareth Edwards | Collected works of Dylan Thomas | Cornet | more |
| 15 December 1973 | Alexander Young | Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians | Radio-controlled aircraft | more |
| 22 December 1973 | John Mills | Book on zoology | Piano | more |
| 29 December 1973 | Marion Stein | Goethe's Faust | Score of Mozart's The Magic Flute | more |
1974
[edit]| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 January 1974 | Jacob Bronowski | Volume on chess championship play | Antique chess set | more |
| 12 January 1974 | Terence Rattigan | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Dom Pérignon Champagne | more |
| 19 January 1974 | Bernard Haitink | Poetry by Roland Holst | Dutch Winter Landscape by Bruegel | more |
| 26 January 1974 | John Brooke-Little | Burke's Landed Gentry | Bed | more |
| 2 February 1974 | Fay Compton | Collected works of Charles Dickens | Electric blanket | more |
| 9 February 1974 | Brian Inglis | The Crock of Gold by James Stephens | Typewriter and paper | more |
| 16 February 1974 | Roy Fox | Volume of crossword puzzles | Radio receiver | more |
| 23 February 1974 | Eddie Waring | Bradshaw's railway timetable | Couch | more |
| 2 March 1974 | Maureen O'Sullivan | Volume on Animal Communication | Tranquillizers | more |
| 9 March 1974 | Eileen Fowler | The Kon-Tiki Expedition by Thor Heyerdahl | Writing materials | more |
| 16 March 1974 | Brian Johnston | Funny way to be a Hero by John Fisher | Bowling machine and cricket balls | more |
| 23 March 1974 | Edward Woodward | Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome | Bed | more |
| 30 March 1974 | Philip Hope-Wallace | Goethe's Faust | Ivory chess set | more |
| 6 April 1974 | John and Roy Boulting | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll | Piano and wine | more |
| 13 April 1974 | Thor Heyerdahl | Blank book | Wood-carving kit | more |
| 20 April 1974 | Patricia Routledge | Anthology of poetry | Varieties of tea and a tea-making outfit | more |
| 27 April 1974 | David Dimbleby | Oxford English Dictionary | Havana cigars | more |
| 4 May 1974 | Arthur Marshall | Novels by P. G. Wodehouse | Nougat | more |
| 11 May 1974 | Antoinette Sibley | Snoopy Dog by Charles M. Schulz | Bed | more |
| 18 May 1974 | T. C. Fairbairn | Complete works by John Milton | Tape recorder | more |
| 25 May 1974 | James Stewart | Musical arrangements by Dave Brubeck | Piano | more |
| 1 June 1974 | Leslie Mitchell | Biography of Leonardo da Vinci | Silver singing bird box containing a miniature singing bird | more |
| 8 June 1974 | Susan Hill | The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford | Triple-folding screen and personal photographs | more |
| 15 June 1974 | Mark Lubbock | The House by the Churchyard by Sheridan Le Fanu | Gin | more |
| 22 June 1974 | Max Wall | Collected works by Charles Dickens | Guitar | more |
| 29 June 1974 | Osian Ellis | Collection of Welsh Poetry | Electronic pipe organ | more |
| 6 July 1974 | Richard Walker | Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling | Cellini Salt Cellar | more |
| 13 July 1974 | Sheridan Morley | Short stories by W. Somerset Maugham | Radio receiver | more |
| 20 July 1974 | Keith Falkner | Novels by Anthony Trollope | Colin Cowdrey's bowling machine | more |
| 27 July 1974 | Valerie Singleton | The Outline of History by H. G. Wells | Small photographic darkroom | more |
| 3 August 1974 | Roland Culver | Oxford Book of English Verse | Painting materials | more |
| 10 August 1974 | Michael Levey | The Adventures of God in His Search of the Black Girl by Brigid Brophy | Kaleidoscope | more |
| 17 August 1974 | Dodie Smith | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Sketching materials | more |
| 24 August 1974 | Dandy Nichols | Plays and Prefaces by George Bernard Shaw | Cards | more |
| 31 August 1974 | Phyllis Barclay-Smith | The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens | Binoculars | more |
| 7 September 1974 | Graham Hill | Family photograph album | David Wynne's The Dancers | more |
| 14 September 1974 | Denholm Elliott | Survival manual | Still | more |
| 21 September 1974 | Frank Arthur Swinnerton | The Diary of a Country Parson 1758-1802 by James Woodforde | Gin and vermouth | more |
| 28 September 1974 | David Munrow | Men and Animals in Italian | Piano | more |
| 5 October 1974 | Cyril Ray | Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour by Robert Smith Surtees | Airmail edition of The Times | more |
| 12 October 1974 | William Hardcastle | Novels by P. G. Wodehouse | Tobacco plant | more |
| 19 October 1974 | Polly James | Victoria R.I. by Elizabeth Longford | Group photograph of friends | more |
| 26 October 1974 | Magnus Pyke | Oxford Book of English Verse | Writing materials | more |
| 2 November 1974 | Alan Ayckbourn | Act One by Moss Hart | Mellotron | more |
| 9 November 1974 | Elisabeth Frink | Collected stories by Albert Camus | Drawing and writing materials | more |
| 16 November 1974 | Robin Ray | Ma Cuisine by Auguste Escoffier | Piano | more |
| 23 November 1974 | Bruce Tulloh | Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen | Harmonica | more |
| 30 November 1974 | Oliver Reed | Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne | Inflatable woman | more |
| 7 December 1974 | P. J. Kavanagh | Collected poems by Edward Thomas | Pair of shoes | more |
| 14 December 1974 | Betty Kenward | Debrett's | Radio receiver | more |
| 21 December 1974 | Angela Baddeley | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll | Portrait of her husband | more |
| 28 December 1974 | Percy Press | Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome | Binoculars | more |
1975
[edit]1976
[edit]1977
[edit]| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1977 | Kenneth McKellar | Complete book of world cookery | Bicycle | more |
| 8 January 1977 | Robert Dougall | Volume on tropical flora and fauna | Binoculars | more |
| 15 January 1977 | James Blades | Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians | Telescope | more |
| 22 January 1977 | Michael Holroyd | The High Hill of the Muses by Hugh Kingsmill | Waterbed | more |
| 29 January 1977 | Roy Dotrice | The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton | Evening dress suit | more |
| 5 February 1977 | Barry Tuckwell | Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift | Family photo album | more |
| 12 February 1977 | John Curry | Transcript of the Erhard Seminar Training Course by Werner Erhard | Pencils and paper | more |
| 19 February 1977 | Egon Ronay | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Champagne | more |
| 26 February 1977 | Merle Park | A Dictionary of Modern English Usage by Henry Watson Fowler | Piano | more |
| 5 March 1977 | Oliver Ford | Volume on tropical flora and fauna | Orchid collection | more |
| 12 March 1977 | James Bolam | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Selected cases of French wine | more |
| 19 March 1977 | Jacqueline du Pré | Roget's Thesaurus | Pencils and paper | more |
| 26 March 1977 | Mary Martin | Around The Year With Emmet Fox by Emmet Fox | Scissors, needles and thread | more |
| 2 April 1977 | Brigadier Peter Young | Large blank book with pencils | Ton of treasure dated about 1642 | more |
| 9 April 1977 | Rod Hull | Boys' Own Annual of 1926 | Pianola and a supply of piano rolls | more |
| 16 April 1977 | Yehudi Menuhin | Collected works by John Donne | Album of photographs of his wife | more |
| 23 April 1977 | Magnus Magnusson | The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame | Pipe | more |
| 30 April 1977 | David Niven | British Army survival manual | Bed | more |
| 7 May 1977 | Lord Home of The Hirsel | Comprehensive book on birds | Binoculars | more |
| 14 May 1977 | Peggy Lee | Letters of the Scattered Brotherhood by Mary Strong | Picture of all her loved ones | more |
| 21 May 1977 | P. L. Travers | Thick blank book and pen | Little marble Buddha | more |
| 28 May 1977 | Marisa Robles | Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne | Oils and a comb | more |
| 4 June 1977 | Sir Oliver Millar | Emma by Jane Austen | Sketchbook, pencil, pen and ink | more |
| 11 June 1977 | Mirella Freni | Gone With The Wind (in Italian) by Margaret Mitchell | Painting materials | more |
| 18 June 1977 | Derek Randall | Guinness World Records | Bath with warm water | more |
| 25 June 1977 | Jack Parnell | Stories by W. W. Jacobs | Armchair | more |
| 2 July 1977 | Miss Read | The Diary of a Country Parson by James Woodforde | Exercise books and ballpoint pens | more |
| 9 July 1977 | Clare Francis | Volume on physics | Fresh-water shower | more |
| 16 July 1977 | Shirley Conran | Light on Yoga by B. K. S. Iyengar | Oil painting equipment | more |
| 23 July 1977 | Arthur C. Clarke | Palgrave's Golden Treasury | Solar-powered transistor radio | more |
| 30 July 1977 | Billy Connolly | Catch-22 by Joseph Heller | Electrical device to heat shaving foam | more |
| 6 August 1977 | Jessica Mitford | Orphan Island by Rose Macaulay | Supply of Gentleman's Relish | more |
| 13 August 1977 | A. L. Rowse | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte | more |
| 20 August 1977 | Deborah Kerr | Oxford English Dictionary | Wool and a crochet hook | more |
| 27 August 1977 | Dannie Abse | Collected poetry by W. H. Auden | Bed | more |
| 3 September 1977 | Dame Daphne du Maurier | Collected works by Jane Austen | Whisky and ginger ale | more |
| 10 September 1977 | Robin Richmond | Giles Cartoons by Carl Giles | Royal Albert Hall Organ | more |
| 17 September 1977 | Michael Croft | Collected poetry by Rudyard Kipling | Whisky still | more |
| 24 September 1977 | Mike Brearley | Anthology of English Verse | Golf clubs and balls | more |
| 1 October 1977 | Louis Frémaux | The Songs of Bilitis by Pierre Louÿs | Manuscript paper and pens | more |
| 8 October 1977 | Molly Weir | The Four Winds of Love by Compton Mackenzie | Typewriter, spare ribbons and paper | more |
| 15 October 1977 | Barry Sheene | Study book of six languages | Effigy of Denis Healey and a supply of pins | more |
| 22 October 1977 | Claire Rayner | Guide to boat building | Bath with hot water, soap and towels | more |
| 29 October 1977 | Wayne Sleep | Atlas of the stars | Poppy seeds | more |
| 5 November 1977 | Richard Adams | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci | more |
| 12 November 1977 | Professor Alan Gemmell | Book on elementary calculus | Paper and pencils | more |
| 19 November 1977 | Peter Ustinov | Blank paper and pencils | Bath with solar-heated water | more |
| 26 November 1977 | Winston Graham | Book of Quotations by William Gurney Benham | Exercise books and ballpoint pens | more |
| 3 December 1977 | Grace Bumbry | Letters of Giuseppe Verdi | Perfume | more |
| 10 December 1977 | Phil Drabble | Shorthand instruction book with paper and pens | Set of bird ringing tools, including rings | more |
| 17 December 1977 | Dennis Potter | Collected essays by William Hazlitt | Edward Hopper's painting, Gas | more |
| 24 December 1977 | Alec Guinness | Oxford Book of English Verse | Leather wallet containing photos of family and dog | more |
| 31 December 1977 | Dorothy Edwards | Oxford Book of English Verse | Typewriter and paper | more |
1978
[edit]| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 January 1978 | Franco Zeffirelli | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Perfume | more |
| 14 January 1978 | Omar Sharif | The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | Several card decks | more |
| 21 January 1978 | Alan Coren | Oxford English Dictionary | Typewriter and paper | more |
| 28 January 1978 | Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson | Who's Who in the Theatre and Photo albums | Couch and coconut oil and an ultra-sensitive receiver to hear voices from the past | more |
| 4 February 1978 | Spike Milligan | Future Shock by Alvin Toffler | Barclaycard | more |
| 11 February 1978 | Amadeus Quartet | In Search of Lost Time, Divine Comedy, War and Peace and an instrument-making book | Projector, viola, radio, paper and pencils | more |
| 18 February 1978 | Margaret Thatcher | The Survival Handbook | Photo album of her children | more |
| 25 February 1978 | John H. Plumb | Correspondence of Voltaire | Dozen cases of Château Latour 1961 | more |
| 4 March 1978 | Paco Peña | Collected poetry by Federico García Lorca | Painting of his family by Aurelio | more |
| 11 March 1978 | Gerald Ellison | Music Criticisms 1888-89 by George Bernard Shaw | Trombone | more |
| 18 March 1978 | George MacDonald Fraser | Oxford English Dictionary | Typewriter, spare ribbons and paper | more |
| 25 March 1978 | David Wall | Book on Claude Monet | Carbonated-drink maker and supply of flavourings | more |
| 1 April 1978 | Felicity Kendal | Plays and Prefaces by George Bernard Shaw | Perfume | more |
| 8 April 1978 | Les Dawson | Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute | Piece of Georgian furniture | more |
| 15 April 1978 | John Bagot Glubb | Other Men's Flowers by Archibald Wavell | Paper and ballpoint pens | more |
| 22 April 1978 | Robert Hardy | French dictionary | Greek sculpture of a female head | more |
| 29 April 1978 | Itzhak Perlman | The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | Violin, strings and case | more |
| 6 May 1978 | Charles Aznavour | French dictionary | Tape recorder | more |
| 13 May 1978 | Lennox Berkeley | New Oxford Book of English Verse 1250–1950 | Painting of a restaurant on the banks of the Marne | more |
| 20 May 1978 | Manny Shinwell | The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations | Whisky | more |
| 27 May 1978 | Anna Raeburn | Daughter of Earth by Agnes Smedley | Indian tea | more |
| 3 June 1978 | Victoria de los Ángeles | Poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke | Winged Victory of Samothrace | more |
| 10 June 1978 | Derek Jacobi | Complete works of Lord Byron | Waterbed | more |
| 17 June 1978 | Clifford Curzon | Middlemarch by George Eliot | Pill to put him to sleep forever | more |
| 24 June 1978 | Catherine Gavin | Letters by Queen Victoria | On the Banks of the Marne by Camille Pissarro | more |
| 1 July 1978 | Mel Brooks | The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal | Cases of Château Lafite Rothschild | more |
| 8 July 1978 | Jane Grigson | Notes from an Odd Country by Geoffrey Grigson | Typewriter and paper | more |
| 15 July 1978 | Rita Streich | The Nonsense of Dying by Malford | Painting materials | more |
| 22 July 1978 | Patricia Batty Shaw | Civilisation by Kenneth Clark | Selection of herbs | more |
| 29 July 1978 | Barbara Pym | The Golden Bowl by Henry James | German white wine | more |
| 5 August 1978 | Simon Rattle | I Ching | German white wine | more |
| 12 August 1978 | Janet Suzman | Mink-lined hammock | more | |
| 19 August 1978 | Fred Trueman | Harold Macmillan's memoirs | Binoculars | more |
| 26 August 1978 | Denis Healey | Poetry by W. B. Yeats | Oil painting equipment | more |
| 2 September 1978 | Gian Carlo Menotti | Philosophy book by Immanuel Kant | Tarot cards | more |
| 9 September 1978 | Tennessee Williams | Poetry by Hart Crane | Typewriter and paper | more |
| 16 September 1978 | Cathy Berberian | Survival manual | Box of spices | more |
| 23 September 1978 | Alan Jay Lerner | Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain | Piano with wife's picture | more |
| 30 September 1978 | Alec Clifton-Taylor | Shell County Guides | Bed | more |
| 7 October 1978 | Christopher Fry | The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations | Rocking chair | more |
| 14 October 1978 | Noel Edmonds | Roget's Thesaurus | Motorway service station | more |
| 21 October 1978 | Colin Wilson | Travels in Arabia Deserta by Charles Montagu Doughty | Beaujolais wine | more |
| 28 October 1978 | Jule Styne | Black Beauty by Anna Sewell | Picture of family | more |
| 4 November 1978 | John Wain | Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell | Canoe | more |
| 11 November 1978 | Michael Crawford | Self Sufficiency by John Seymour | Inflatable woman | more |
| 18 November 1978 | David Bellamy | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Linen sheets | more |
| 25 November 1978 | Joan Fontaine | Encyclopaedia | Taj Mahal | more |
| 2 December 1978 | Vladimir Ashkenazy | Blank book and pens | Well-programmed robot | more |
| 9 December 1978 | Barry John | Complete Penguin Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle | Balls | more |
| 16 December 1978 | Dinsdale Landen | Great Expectations by Charles Dickens | Champagne | more |
| 23 December 1978 | Robert Helpmann | Boat building for beginners | Toothbrush and toothpaste | more |
| 30 December 1978 | Norman Parkinson | The Unquiet Grave by Cyril Connolly | Life-size bronze statue of an Ama-Indian woman | more |
1979
[edit]| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 January 1979 | Robert Powell | A Dictionary of Modern English Usage by Henry Watson Fowler | Typewriter | more |
| 13 January 1979 | Allan Prior | Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson | Looking glass | more |
| 20 January 1979 | Elia Kazan | Iliad by Homer | 20 tons of pine needles | more |
| 27 January 1979 | Benjamin Luxon | Collected stories by Idries Shah | Piano and music | more |
| 3 February 1979 | Robert Stephens | Collected works by Raymond Chandler | Tobacco plant | more |
| 10 February 1979 | Norris McWhirter | Dictionary of National Biography | Roll of cloth | more |
| 17 February 1979 | Arthur Bryant | Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell | Painting of a little princess, by Diego Velázquez | more |
| 24 February 1979 | Nana Mouskouri | The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | Telephone | more |
| 3 March 1979 | Lauren Bacall | Collected Short Stories by John Cheever | Sun tan lotion | more |
| 10 March 1979 | David Attenborough | Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life by William Barry Lord | Binoculars | more |
| 17 March 1979 | Ileana Cotrubaş | History of the whole world | Sistine Chapel | more |
| 24 March 1979 | Ray Reardon | Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLean | Golf clubs and balls | more |
| 31 March 1979 | Burl Ives | I Ching | Tobermory whisky | more |
| 7 April 1979 | Adrian Boult | The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan | Panama hats stuffed with barley sugar | more |
| 14 April 1979 | Sir Edmund Hillary | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Kathmandu valley painting | more |
| 21 April 1979 | Patricia Highsmith | Moby-Dick by Herman Melville | Writing materials | more |
| 28 April 1979 | Edward Fox | Selection of novels by Evelyn Waugh | Limes eau de toilette by Floris of London | more |
| 5 May 1979 | James Cameron | Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne | Malt whisky | more |
| 12 May 1979 | Peter Blake | Ulysses by James Joyce | Cement and tools to build a folly | more |
| 19 May 1979 | Alec McCowen | The Egoist by George Meredith | Painting materials | more |
| 26 May 1979 | Jack Brymer | Collected works by Charles Dickens | Piano | more |
| 2 June 1979 | Sir Robert Mayer | His visitors' book | Seedless grapes | more |
| 9 June 1979 | Ian Carmichael | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Paper and pencils | more |
| 16 June 1979 | Irene Thomas | Score of the opera Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven | Teddy bear stuffed with tea bags | more |
| 23 June 1979 | Ed McBain | Streets of Gold by Ed McBain | Whisky | more |
| 30 June 1979 | Tito Gobbi | Flowers of the World by Leslie Greenwood | Gold bar | more |
| 7 July 1979 | Glen Tetley | Earthly Paradise by Colette | South American hammock | more |
| 14 July 1979 | C. Northcote Parkinson | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Radio receiver | more |
| 21 July 1979 | Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais | Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne and Teach yourself the guitar | Cards and guitar | more |
| 28 July 1979 | Moura Lympany | Book about growing flowers and vegetables on a desert island | Wine from own vineyard | more |
| 4 August 1979 | Sir Ralph Richardson | Novels by Henry James | Pipes and tobacco | more |
| 11 August 1979 | Elizabeth Longford | Utopia by Thomas More | Tapestry making kit | more |
| 18 August 1979 | Boris Christoff | Poetry of Yuarroros | more | |
| 25 August 1979 | Barry Norman | The World of Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse | Typewriter, paper and a desk with cricket balls in the drawers | more |
| 1 September 1979 | Peter Barkworth | His diaries to date | Beautifully bound blank book and ballpoint pens | more |
| 8 September 1979 | June Mendoza | Chronology of the Modern World by Neville Williams | Canvases, brushes and paint | more |
| 15 September 1979 | Richard Buckle | Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy | Paper and pencils | more |
| 22 September 1979 | Ted Allbeury | The Unquiet Grave by Cyril Connolly | Writing paper and pencils | more |
| 29 September 1979 | Pam Ayres | The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth | Large basket of sugared almonds | more |
| 6 October 1979 | Wilfred Thesiger | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Acid drops | more |
| 13 October 1979 | Josephine Barstow | Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure and The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy | Michelangelo's David | more |
| 20 October 1979 | Rex Harrison | A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell | Painting equipment for oils and watercolours | more |
| 27 October 1979 | Roald Dahl | The New Oxford Book of English Verse by Helen Gardner | Still, grapevine cuttings and tobacco seeds | more |
| 3 November 1979 | Siân Phillips | Scouting for Boys by Robert Baden-Powell | Solar-powered refrigerator full of champagne | more |
| 10 November 1979 | Marti Caine | Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein | Bath with solar-heated water and bubble bath | more |
| 17 November 1979 | Michael Palin | Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray | Bed | more |
| 24 November 1979 | Peter Shaffer | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Dawn on the Seine by Claude Monet | more |
| 1 December 1979 | Charles Causley | Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell | Piano | more |
| 8 December 1979 | Elisabeth Söderström | The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir | Bed | more |
| 15 December 1979 | Norman Mailer | Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges | Stick of the best marijuana | more |
| 22 December 1979 | Sir Osbert Lancaster | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Live sturgeon | more |
| 29 December 1979 | Kyung-wha Chung | Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse | Mixed flower seeds | more |
1980
[edit]| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 January 1980 | Reginald Goodall | Paradise Lost by John Milton | An English garden | more |
| 12 January 1980 | Sir Peter Parker | Collected works of William Blake | Gold rail pass | more |
| 19 January 1980 | Dizzy Gillespie | Baha'i prayer Book | Trumpet | more |
| 26 January 1980 | Sir Cecil Beaton | Scrapbook | Cashmere shawl | more |
| 2 February 1980 | Otto Preminger | Autobiography of Otto Preminger | A beautiful watch | more |
| 9 February 1980 | Claudio Abbado | Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri | Writing materials | more |
| 16 February 1980 | Timothy West | Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory | Typewriter | more |
| 23 February 1980 | Fay Weldon | Kennedy's Latin primer | Shiny white paper and felt pens | more |
| 1 March 1980 | Susannah York | Italian Touring Atlas of the World | Pencils and paper | more |
| 8 March 1980 | Kiri Te Kanawa | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Cooking knives | more |
| 15 March 1980 | Geoffrey Household | Elizabethan lyrics from songbooks and dramatists | Claret | more |
| 22 March 1980 | Frances Perry | Survival manual | Lamp with solar batteries | more |
| 29 March 1980 | Donald Pleasence | The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | Writing materials | more |
| 5 April 1980 | Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth | The Salvation Army songbook | Strong wooden armchair | more |
| 12 April 1980 | Leonard Rossiter | Three early books of P. G. Wodehouse | Moselle wine | more |
| 19 April 1980 | Erich Segal | Odyssey by Homer | Stopwatch | more |
| 26 April 1980 | Salvatore Accardo | Odyssey by Homer | Violin and strings | more |
| 3 May 1980 | Lindsay Anderson | Les Thibault by Roger Martin du Gard | Mixed flower seeds and watering can | more |
| 10 May 1980 | Natalie Wood | Poetry by E. E. Cummings | Piano | more |
| 17 May 1980 | Lord Denning | Palgrave's Golden Treasury | Indian tea | more |
| 24 May 1980 | Earl Hines | The World of Duke Ellington by Stanley Dance | Physical culture equipment | more |
| 31 May 1980 | Robert Tear | The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts | Postcards of paintings with poems on the back | more |
| 7 June 1980 | Freddie Jones | The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame | Leibig condenser for distilling gin | more |
| 14 June 1980 | Clive James | My Method of Singing by Enrico Caruso | Karaoke piano | more |
| 21 June 1980 | General Sir John Hackett | 1001 Gems of English Poetry | Six dozen bottles of Château Latour 1962 | more |
| 28 June 1980 | Barbara Woodhouse | Her autobiography Talking to Animals | Ormolu clock | more |
| 5 July 1980 | V. S. Naipaul | Teach yourself mathematics | Enlightened Buddha | more |
| 12 July 1980 | Tom Lehrer | Oxford English Dictionary | Piano | more |
| 19 July 1980 | Daley Thompson | Novels by John Wyndham | Guitar and instruction book | more |
| 26 July 1980 | David Scott Blackhall | Oxford Book of English Verse | Perkins Brailler and paper | more |
| 2 August 1980 | Gregory Peck | Abraham Lincoln by Carl Sandburg | Cases of Château Lafite Rothschild | more |
| 9 August 1980 | William Trevor | Lives of the Saints by Alban Butler | Grapevines | more |
| 16 August 1980 | Stephen Sondheim | Collected works by E. B. White | Piano | more |
| 23 August 1980 | Tristan Jones | Modern wooden yacht construction | 12 foot by 8 foot Union Jack | more |
| 30 August 1980 | Renata Scotto | Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri | Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow | more |
| 6 September 1980 | Earl of Snowdon | A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method by Sir Banister Fletcher | Painting materials | more |
| 13 September 1980 | Antal Doráti | The Golden Man by Yokoi | Italian landscape drawing from his own collection | more |
| 20 September 1980 | Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger | Essays by Michel de Montaigne and Herzog by Saul Bellow | Brandy and a blank log book | more |
| 27 September 1980 | Andrea Newman | The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann | Champagne | more |
| 4 October 1980 | Ronald Lockley | The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne by Gilbert White | Telescope | more |
| 11 October 1980 | Sir John Tooley | Oxford Book of English Verse | Sugared apricots | more |
| 18 October 1980 | Brian Glover | Card Games by John Scarne | MG TD | more |
| 25 October 1980 | Catherine Gaskin | The Story of Civilization by Will Durant | Piano | more |
| 1 November 1980 | Derek Tangye | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Telescope | more |
| 8 November 1980 | Mark Elder | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Sherry | more |
| 15 November 1980 | Jacquetta Hawkes | Collected works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | Wine | more |
| 22 November 1980 | Tom Conti | Summerhill by A. S. Neill | Piano | more |
| 29 November 1980 | Alan Minter | Survival manual | Solar-powered radio | more |
| 6 December 1980 | José Carreras | Poems by Rabindranath Tagore | Las Hilanderas painting | more |
| 13 December 1980 | Neville Marriner | Life on Earth by David Attenborough | Violin | more |
| 20 December 1980 | Arthur Askey | Guinness World Records | Piano | more |
| 27 December 1980 | Plácido Domingo | Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes | Video and cassettes of his own performances | more |
