Desert Island Discs

Image: Roy Plomley relaxes on his desert island for an Arena Special in 1981.

Desert Island Discs was devised by Roy Plomley, who presented the first edition on 29 January 1942. It was recorded two days earlier with comedian Vic Oliver, in the bomb-damaged Maida Vale Studios. The success of the programme has always owed much to its simple format, which allows for sometimes revealing interviews. However, early programmes were scripted, to comply with wartime censorship.

Guests are invited to imagine they are shipwrecked on a desert island, and to pick 8 gramophone records to take with them. As the show developed they were then allowed one luxury item - not a survival aid - and a single book. It was imagined that the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare were already there.

Plomley's original idea had been for Desert Island Discs to open with the sound of breaking waves and seagulls, but worries that this would prove too indistinct led to the addition of By the Sleepy Lagoon, by Eric Coates. The theme so impressed second castaway James Agate that he made it one of his choices.

Plomley presented 1791 editions before his death in 1985. Since that time the presenters have been Michael Parkinson, Sue Lawley, Kirsty Young and Lauren Laverne. Today the format of Desert Island Discs remains unchanged, despite the rise of the mp3, but it has an impressive online archive of past shows. It continues to attract guests of the highest calibre.