Desert Island Discs BBC Radio 4

Alan Cumming's wide-ranging career on stage includes playing Hamlet, starring opposite Daniel Radcliffe in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame and – perhaps most notably - taking the role of the Emcee in the musical Cabaret in London and New York to great acclaim: his 1998 Broadway performance won seven awards, including a Tony. He’s also appeared in films including GoldenEye and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, and in the TV series The Good Wife.

Alan was born in Perthshire in 1965. His father was a forester and the family moved to the Panmure estate on the east coast of Scotland. Encouraged by his English teacher, Alan grew up loving drama at school but his childhood was blighted by his violent and abusive father. He worked for the publisher DC Thomson as a sub-editor before going to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. There he launched his performing career with fellow student Forbes Masson: together they were Victor and Barry, a comedy and music double-act. They drew on these characters for their BBC TV sit-com The High Life, based around a fictional Scottish airline.

Alan has published a novel and three memoirs: his 2014 autobiography Not My Father’s Son detailed his very difficult relationship with his father, both in his early years and later in his life.

In 2022 Alan is developing a solo dance-theatre work, focusing on the personal history of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, which he will perform in Scotland and New York. He’s now also the co-owner of a bar, Club Cumming, in Manhattan.

DISC ONE: Dignity by Deacon Blue
DISC TWO: L’Amour Looks Something Like You by Kate Bush
DISC THREE: Barcelona by Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé
DISC FOUR: I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers
DISC FIVE: Whenever Wherever Whatever by Maxwell
DISC SIX: Give Me Back My Heart by Dollar
DISC SEVEN: Catalani: La Wally : Ebben? ne andrò lontana Act 1 by Maria Callas and Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Tullio Serafin
DISC EIGHT: These Are My Mountains by Peter Morrison

BOOK CHOICE: Desert Gardening for Beginners: How to grow vegetables, flowers, and herbs in an Arid Climate by Cathy Cromell, Linda A. Guy, Lucy K. Bradley
LUXURY ITEM: Marijuana seeds
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Give Me Back My Heart by Dollar

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

Robert Plant is a singer and songwriter who was Led Zeppelin’s frontman from the band’s inception in 1968 until it disbanded in 1980. Led Zeppelin sold hundreds of millions of albums and in their heyday acquired a reputation for unbridled rock ‘n’ roll hedonism. Since 1980 Robert has gone on to achieve success as a solo artist and has collaborated with other musicians, notably the bluegrass singer Alison Krauss. Their 2007 album Raising Sand won five Grammy Awards.

Robert was born in West Bromwich in 1948. At 15 he appeared on stage for the first time as the lead vocalist for a local band after the regular singer fell ill. In 1965 he started performing with the Crawling King Snakes and it was after one of the band’s gigs that he met his friend, the drummer John Bonham.

In 1968 Robert and John joined up with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones to form Led Zeppelin. Later that year the band embarked on its first US tour and the enthusiastic response from American audiences heralded a new force in British music. Over the next 12 years the band released eight studio albums including Led Zeppelin IV which featured one of their most popular tracks – Stairway to Heaven.

In 1980 John Bonham died from alcohol poisoning at the age of 32 and Led Zeppelin broke up. Devastated by his friend’s death, Robert took himself off to explore other creative avenues, recording and performing with a wide range of artists.

Robert and Alison Krauss released their second album, Raising the Roof, in 2021.

Robert lives in Worcestershire near where he grew up. He is a committed fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Black Country homing pigeons.

DISC ONE: Pink Peg Slacks by Eddie Cochrane
DISC TWO: Serenade by Mario Lanza
DISC THREE: I Ain’t Superstitious by Howlin’ Wolf
DISC FOUR: Teenage Ska by Baba Brooks
DISC FIVE: Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
DISC SIX: Raha Gardishon Mein Hardam by Mohammed Rafi
DISC SEVEN: Diaraby by Ali Farka Touré with Ry Cooder
DISC EIGHT: Your Long Journey by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

BOOK CHOICE: The Earliest English Poems, translated by Michael Alexander
LUXURY ITEM: A basket containing photos of homing pigeons
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Serenade by Mario Lanza

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley

Oti Mabuse is a dancer, choreographer and TV talent show judge. She has enjoyed great success on the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing and is one of only two professional dancers to win the glitterball trophy twice.

Oti was born in South Africa in 1990, the year that Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and dance was a central part of her life from a very early age: her mother had set up a dance school so that black children could learn ballroom and Latin dancing. Oti followed in the footsteps of her two older sisters, winning dance competitions in South Africa and taking part in international events. She competed in Blackpool when she was just 11 years old, and retains strong memories of the elegant Tower Ballroom and the poor weather.

Oti's father trained as a lawyer and her mother worked in education, and they felt that their youngest daughter needed the security of a professional qualification, so Oti studied civil engineering at university. Shortly before qualifying, she decided to abandon her degree and become a professional ballroom dancer, joining her sister Motsi in Germany.

She first appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 and has recently announced her departure from the show. She lives in London with her husband, the dancer Marius Lepure.

DISC ONE: Lose My Breath by Beyoncé (with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams)
DISC TWO: My Afrikan Dream by Vicky Sampson
DISC THREE: A Song for Mama by Boyz II Men
DISC FOUR: Dance With My Father by Luther Vandross
DISC FIVE: Un-break my Heart by Toni Braxton
DISC SIX: I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman by Britney Spears
DISC SEVEN: It’s My Life by Bon Jovi
DISC EIGHT: Survivor by Destiny’s Child
BOOK CHOICE: Will by Will Smith
LUXURY ITEM: A photo of Oti and her Grandma
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: It’s My Life by Bon Jovi

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

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Professor Nick Webborn has chaired the British Paralympic Association since 2017. He is a world-leading expert on Paralympic sports medicine and the most widely-published author on the subject. He has attended 11 Paralympic and one Olympic Games.

He was born in Swansea in 1956, trained as a doctor in London and joined the RAF as a junior medical officer. In 1981 he was playing in an RAF rugby match when a mistimed opposition tackle left him with a severe spinal injury. After many months of treatment and rehabilitation, which he now describes as 'long and tortuous,' he wanted to return to work in medicine, but found that there was a reluctance to employ a doctor with a disability.

He worked as a GP and also pursued an interest in sports medicine, leading to research in this area and an academic role. When he saw the medical support available for Olympic athletes, he felt strongly that para-athletes deserved the same level of specialist help - especially as many also had to deal with underlying problems that their Olympic peers did not face. His pioneering research has made Paralympic sport safer for athletes, and has driven the development of sports medicine in areas such as rehabilitation. He also represented Great Britain in wheelchair tennis in 2005.

Nick is Professor of Sport and Exercise Medicine at the University of Brighton.

DISC ONE: Heroes by David Bowie
DISC TWO: Hallelujah, composed by George Frideric Handel, performed by London Musici Chamber Choir and London Musici Orchestra, conducted by Mark Stephenson
DISC THREE: Jamaica Farewell by Nina and Frederik
DISC FOUR: Will Ye Go Lassie Go by The Corries
DISC FIVE: For Crying out Loud by Meat Loaf
DISC SIX: This is Me by Keala Settle
DISC SEVEN: Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond
DISC EIGHT: You’ll Never Walk Alone by Gerry & the Pacemakers

BOOK CHOICE: The Complete Works of Charles Dickens
LUXURY ITEM: Nick’s adapted Segway, with a built-in espresso machine
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: This is Me by Keala Settle

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

Anne Tyler is a novelist and short story writer. Her 23 novels include the Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Breathing Lessons.

Anne was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1941, the oldest of four children. Her parents were Quakers and the family lived in a succession of Quaker communities in the South until they settled in a Quaker commune in Celo, in the mountains of North Carolina in 1948. When she was 11 the family moved to Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, where Anne attended a mainstream school.

Anne majored in Russian literature at Duke University in North Carolina where she enrolled in a creative writing class run by the author Reynolds Price. After completing her studies she worked as a librarian in the university library.

Anne’s first novel, If Morning Ever Comes, was published in 1964 when she was just 22-years-old. Her writing is widely praised for the way it chronicles the lives of middle-class America and celebrates endurance and the complexities of family relationships.

Anne moved to Baltimore with her husband and children in 1967 and the city has been the setting for her books ever since.

DISC ONE: Darby’s Castle by Kris Kristofferson
DISC TWO: This is My Father’s World by Cedarmont Kids
DISC THREE: Hearts Of Stone by The Charms
DISC FOUR: Darling Dareyne by Shusha
DISC FIVE: Un Canadien Errant by Ian And Sylvia
DISC SIX: Heart of Glass by Blondie
DISC SEVEN: While Sheep May Safely Graze, composed by J.S Bach, performed by Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Richard Hayman
DISC EIGHT: Baltimore by Nina Simone

BOOK CHOICE: The Golden Apples by Eudora Welty
LUXURY ITEM: A supply of pet food

CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: While Sheep May Safely Graze, composed by J.S Bach, performed by Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Richard Hayman

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley