
Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs turns 80
When Roy Plomley started Desert Island Discs in January 1942, he had to record his episodes in the ramshackle, bomb-damaged Maida Vale Studios. Exactly 80 years on, and more than 2,000 episodes later, Plomley’s show has become “the jewel in BBC Radio 4’s crown”, says Donna Ferguson in The Observer. The premise is simple: guests pick eight recordings they would take to a desert island with them, and discuss their life along the way.