Desert Island Discs, the BBC Radio 4 programme where famous guests share their favourite music and reasoning behind it, has been named the ‘greatest radio programme of all time’ by a panel of industry experts. The top 5 choices were: Desert Island Discs, The Archers, Round The Horne (1965-8), Hancock’s Half Hour (1954-9), and In The Psychiatrist’s Chair (1982-2001). Many of the programmes nominated are no longer broadcast, and almost a third were comedy or panel shows.
Desert Island Discs is currently presented by Lauren Laverne, who is filling in for Kirsty Young. The format of the show includes famous guests choosing eight “discs”, a book, and a luxury item to take with them if they were castaway on a desert island. They are always given two items – the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible. Most notably, Sir David Attenborough, David Beckham, Yoko Ono and JK Rowling have appeared on the radio programme. Desert Island Discs currently has an on-air audience of around 2.8 million listeners.
The winner of the title was chosen by 46 industry professionals; 42 of these have affiliations to the BBC.
Click on the link below to listen to an exclusive Desert Island Discs with George Michael:
