There is
something rather comforting about the opening theme music for Desert Island
Discs, the BBC radio programme that began 75 years ago on 29 January 1942. Roy
Plomley who devised the show and presented it from the beginning to 1985 had
the idea for natural sounds to introduce each edition; waves ebbing, flowing
and crashing and sea birds calling and crying, allowing the listener’s
imagination to get straight into the spirit of it all. Plomley preferred not to
have musical accompaniment but he was overruled and the sea, the birds and the
gentle air of By The Sleepy Lagoon has become one of the most familiar sounds
on radio. The music lingers and the simple format has hardly changed over the
years; a guest chooses eight records, a book and a luxury and chats about his
or her life. In the beginning the rules about luxury items were very strict. For
example, anything that would enable the castaway to escape from the island,
like a boat or an aeroplane, was forbidden. As the programme has evolved, the
rules have slackened more than once, reminding listeners that it’s really just
a bit of fun. There have been many Irish-born guests over the years, but more
of them later.
Roy Plomley
came to broadcasting via estate agency, advertising and publishing. He had ambitions
to be an actor and he appeared in bit parts in a few films. He was also a
playwright. He gained radio experience as an announcer and producer but it
seemed he was always thinking up new ideas to pitch to anyone who would give
him a fair hearing, particularly at the BBC. He sent his idea to a producer for
a show based on a castaway shipwrecked on a desert island with only ten of his
or her favourite records to comfort them. After a bit of discussion about the
format and the types of guests (mainly ‘serious’ unknowns from “the
Establishment”), the idea was given the green light, but the record choices
were reduced to eight to fit neatly into 30-minute programmes. Plomley did not
envisage himself as presenter. He had thoughts of producing it and getting involved
in booking guests and writing scripts. But presenter he became and the rest is
broadcasting history.
The first
programme in 1942 featured musician and comedian Vic Oliver, a big name in
those days. He opened his record selection with Chopin and proceeded with more
classical music and theatre songs. The 1940s shows were not scheduled at a
specific time on a specific day. They were shuffled around and even the numbers
of episodes per series were not set in stone. The format concentrated on music
choices and the guests’ reasons for them. The now familiar additions of a book
and a luxury item were included from the 1950s onwards. Notable guest castaways
in the first year included bandleader Jack Hylton, comedian Arthur Askey,
composer Ivor Novello and film star Leslie Howard. The programmes attracted
mixed reactions from “most interesting” to “very poor”. But in 1946 the
broadcasts came to an abrupt halt. After sixty-seven editions, there appeared
to be little appetite at the BBC to produce any more. The idea had had its day,
or so it seemed.
Five years
passed and, after the show’s idea was unearthed in BBC management discussions,
the decision was made to resurrect Desert Island Discs but this time the guest
list was to be expanded to include more popular names and have fewer unfamiliar
figures from the church, the military, highbrow literature and, generally, the
elite. The net was cast wider for more actors, entertainers, sporting names and
popular writers such as Peter Ustinov, Joyce Grenfell, George Formby, Stirling
Moss, Gracie Fields and Monica Dickens. The first recorded luxury, in 1951, was
crossword puzzles requested by Margaret Lockwood. The first recorded book
choice was by actor Henry Kendall who chose Who’s Who In The Theatre.
Desert
Island Discs has had four presenters in its history. Roy Plomley anchored the
show until 1985, the year he died aged 71. After his rather plummy and posh
speaking style, the choice of his successor, Michael Parkinson, brought a
gruffer Yorkshire ingredient for the next three years. He was replaced by the smoother
and more polished Sue Lawley who presented for the next 18 years, handing over
the reins, in 2006, to the warm Scottish tones of Kirsty Young. In the early
years, the show used fully scripted questions and answers but over time it
evolved into a series of more relaxed natural conversations.
Most of the
conversations have been genial, good-natured, informative and entertaining but
occasionally there were examples of more serious and controversial subjects discussed.
In 1989, Lady Diana Mosley described Adolf Hitler as fascinating and cast doubt
on the number of Jews murdered by the Nazis. Gordon Brown, single in 1996, was
asked by Sue Lawley about his sexuality, specifically rumours that he was gay. He declined to answer directly. (In 2000, he
married his wife Sarah). Film director Otto Preminger took exception to Roy
Plomley’s suggestion that he had lead a gypsy existence. In 2009, Morrissey
expressed supportive views on suicide declaring “self-destruction is honourable.
It’s an act of great control and I understand people who do it”. Some listeners
were horrified when Norman Mailer was granted his wish for the very best
marijuana as his luxury item. Stephen Fry chose a suicide pill as his luxury.
Over the
years, the most popular music choices have included Mozart, Beethoven, Simon
& Garfunkel, Elvis Presley, Mahler, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Bach,
Van Morrison, Handel, Puccini, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Vaughan Williams,
Elgar, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Beatles.
Guests are
given The Bible and The Complete Works of Shakespeare and allowed to choose a
favourite book. Encyclopaedias, dictionaries poetry collections, cookbooks, DIY
manuals and history books have been popular alongside works by Charles Dickens,
Oscar Wilde, Geoffrey Chaucer, Leo Tolstoy, Jane Austen, James Joyce, J. R. R.
Tolkein, P. G. Wodehouse, George Bernard Shaw and many, many more.
While the
records and books are fascinating enough, the luxuries are both varied and
interesting, with some guests choosing practical items and others going for
laughs. From a long list of Irish-born guests, here a a few examples over the
years: Danny Blanchflower, golf clubs; Val Doonican, guitar; James Galway,
golden flute; Dave Allen, a painting by Van Hook; Eamonn Andrews, field glasses; Brian Keenan,
a pencil; William Trevor, grapevines; Seamus Heaney, Doc Marten boots; Gloria
Hunniford, family photographs; Reverend Ian Paisley, a high-powered radio; Edna
O’Brien, a vault of very good white wine; James Nesbitt, a bottle of chilled
Sancerre every night; Christy Moore, a set of Uilleann pipes; Peter O’Sullevan,
a bottle of Calvados; Bob Geldof, the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Clodagh
Rodgers, prawn cocktails; Dennis Taylor, a limitless supply of yoghurts. Terry
Wogan appeared three times. In 1983, his luxury was vodka, in 1988, a cassette
player and language tapes and in 2012, bottles, pens and paper.
It is
remarkable in today’s rapidly changing world that some things hold fast to
their origins. It would be easy to jazz up Desert Island Discs in an attempt to
redesign it and force it to get down with the kids. It would be unsurprising if
some future radio executive chose an inappropriate presenter for the programme.
The wrong voice and any introduction of wackiness would kill the idea stone
dead. It is a danger that could happen, heaven help us.
75 years on
from the first programme and well over 3,000 editions in the bag, we should
thank and celebrate Roy Plomley for inventing the format and for successive BBC
regimes for guarding and protecting it, staying true to the original, simple
premise. It is radio at its finest, and
like the shipping forecast that stirred many imaginations in the past, the notion of a desert island, a haven of peace and quiet in this chaotic world is
not a bad thought, Cue the waves, the birds and the strains of By The Sleepy
Lagoon.
