Classic Desert Island Discs - Colm Toibin

Abdulrazak Gurnah is emeritus Professor of Post-Colonial Literatures at the University of Kent and the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Born in Zanzibar in 1948, the second of six children, Abdulrazak grew up in the dying days of the island’s status as a British protectorate before independence was declared in 1963. The revolution which followed made Zanzibar an undesirable and unsafe place to live in for young men of Arab heritage. In 1967, he left to seek opportunities in Britain.He subsidised his studies through a series of low paid jobs which included strawberry picking, factory work and time as a hospital porter. In the evenings he was studying at night school and after gaining a PhD in English, he joined the University of Kent, eventually becoming a Professor.Alongside his academic career, Abdulrazak was writing and it took him twelve years to find a publisher for his 1987 debut novel, Memory of Departure.He has published ten more novels since then, including 1994’s Paradise and 2001’s By the Sea (short and longlisted for the Booker Prize respectively) which explore themes of exile, displacement, belonging and colonialism. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature for his body of work and “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fates of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”. He lives in Kent, with his wife, the Guyanese-born scholar, Denise de Caires Narain. DISC ONE: Hit the Road Jack - Ray Charles DISC TWO: Petite Fleur - Sidney Bechet DISC THREE: Nipepee - Seif Salim DISC FOUR: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7 - 1. Allegro maestoso. Composed by Clara Schumann. Performed by Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano) and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Holly Mathieson DISC FIVE: A Day in the Life - The Beatles DISC SIX: Kaira - Toumani Diabaté DISC SEVEN: So What - Miles Davis DISC EIGHT: Folon - Salif Keita BOOK CHOICE: That Glimpse of Truth: The 100 Finest Short Stories Ever Written selected by David Miller LUXURY ITEM: A nail clipper CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Petite Fleur - Sidney Bechet Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu is Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at University College London and President of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. She has devoted her career to harnessing the potential of nanoparticles – which are less than a thousandth of the width of a human hair - to take medicines to hard-to-reach areas of the body such as the back of the eye and the brain. Using nanoparticles in this way is said to increase the efficacy of medicines and reduce side effects. Ijeoma was born in London where her parents had settled from Nigeria. At 13 she moved with her family to Nigeria where she developed an enduring love of chemistry.In 2010 she co-founded a pharmaceutical company Nanomerics with her husband. The company is currently developing eyedrops to treat blindness and a nasal spray to target pain which she hopes will go some way to addressing the opioid crisis. Earlier this year Ijeoma was appointed a DBE in the King’s New Years Honours List.Ijeoma lives in Cambridge with her husband Andreas. Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinleyDISC ONE: Chop My Money (I Don’t Care) - P-Square DISC TWO: Joromi - Sir Victor Uwaifo DISC THREE: Love to Love You Baby - Donna Summer DISC FOUR: Zombie - Fela Kuti DISC FIVE: Coat of Many Colours - Dolly Parton DISC SIX: I Have Nothing - Whitney Houston DISC SEVEN: Touch Me in The Morning - Diana Ross DISC EIGHT: I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today - The Crusaders with Joe CockerBOOK CHOICE: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt LUXURY ITEM: A variety of seeds CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today - The Crusaders with Joe Cocker

Actor Danny Dyer became a household name when he joined the cast of EastEnders as Mick Carter, landlord of the Queen Victoria pub. He recently stole the show from some stiff competition playing Freddie Jones in the television adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals which won him a Royal Television Society Award for Best Supporting Actor.Danny was born in Custom House, East London in 1977. He loved drama at school and, with his teacher’s encouragement, he signed up for after-school classes in north London which were run by a charity called Wac Arts. When he was 14 he was cast in the television drama Prime Suspect 3 alongside Helen Mirren and David Thewlis. He went on to star in a series of films including Human Traffic and Football Factory. In 2000 he played the waiter in Harold Pinter’s new play Celebration and went on to appear in two other productions by the playwright - No Man's Land and The Homecoming.In 2013 he took over the Queen Vic and his performances earned him three National Television Awards. He appeared on the BBC genealogy programme Who Do you think you Are? in 2016 and discovered he was descended from King Edward III and related to Thomas Cromwell. Danny lives in Essex with his wife Jo. They have three children and three grandchildren.DISC ONE: Slave to Love - Bryan Ferry DISC TWO: Rebel Yell - Billy Idol DISC THREE: Move Closer - Phyllis Nelson DISC FOUR: Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd DISC FIVE: Playing with Knives - Bizarre Inc DISC SIX: Columbia - Oasis DISC SEVEN: Nebraska - Lucy Rose DISC EIGHT: Wicked Game - Chris Isaak BOOK CHOICE: Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft: A Handbook of Survival LUXURY ITEM: A Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Playing with Knives - Bizarre Inc Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Jack Thorne, screenwriter and playwright, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item he would want with him if cast away on a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Sue Lawley talks to the actor Dame Joan Plowright in a programme first broadcast in 2006. Dame Joan died in January at the age of 95.

Kirsty Young interviews writer Colm Toibin in a programme first heard in 2016.

Lauren Laverne talks to crossbench peer Dame Louise Casey in a programme from 2021.

Kirsty Young talks to actor Warwick Davis, in a programme first heard in 2016.

Lindsey Hilsum is a multi-award-winning journalist who has been a foreign correspondent for the past four decades. She has been Channel 4’s international editor for the past 22 years and has reported on every continent except Antarctica. After studying French and Spanish at University, she worked as an aid worker in Mexico and Kenya before becoming the East Africa stringer for the BBC World Service. After realising her calling was journalism she devoted her career to covering events around the world including the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the 2003/4 war in Iraq.She also spent two years in Beijing as the China correspondent for Channel 4 News.Among her many awards for her work, she has been named Amnesty International Journalist of the Year, RTS Specialist Journalist of the Year and has received the Charles Wheeler Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism. She is also the author of three books. When she is not abroad reporting, Lindsey lives in London.Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor .DISC ONE: Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen DISC TWO: Carey - Joni Mitchell DISC THREE: Shauri Yako - Orchestra Super Mazembe DISC FOUR: Summertime - Billie Holiday and her Orchestra DISC FIVE: Hurricane - Bob Dylan DISC SIX: The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto (Arr. for Violin & Chinese Orchestra): Andante cantabile "Transformation" Composed by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang and performed by Lü Siqing and the Taipei Orchestra, conducted by Yiu-kwong Chung DISC SEVEN: Piece of My Heart - Big Brother and the Holding Company and Janis Joplin DISC EIGHT: Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Fairport ConventionBOOK CHOICE: Collected Poems by W H Auden LUXURY ITEM: A Tang Dynasty horse CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Carey - Joni Mitchell

Donna Ockenden is a former clinical midwife who led the Ockenden Review which revealed, at the time, the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history. Published in 2022, the review highlighted serious failings in maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust which contributed to the deaths of more than 200 babies and nine mothers.Donna grew up in the village of Aberaman in the Welsh Valleys. She experienced a complicated childhood which included a period living in a homeless shelter along with her mother and four siblings. She is also a survivor of sexual abuse and believes her background helped her develop a tenacity and determination which she went on to apply to her work.She completed her nursing training in Swansea and Neath and trained as a midwife at the Portsmouth School of Midwifery. In 2015 she became Senior Midwifery Adviser to the Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). In May 2022 she was appointed chair of the independent review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust which will be published next year. It is already the largest investigation into a single service in the NHS, hearing evidence from over 2,000 families so far.Donna lives in Chichester with her two cats.Details of organisations offering information and support with child sexual abuse or child bereavement are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.DISC ONE: We’ve Only Just Begun - The Carpenters DISC TWO: Bye Bye Baby - Bay City Rollers DISC THREE: Ukulele Lady - Ethel Merman DISC FOUR: Isn’t It Amazing - Hothouse Flowers DISC FIVE: If Only - Hazel O’Connor DISC SIX: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse Flowers DISC SEVEN: We’ll Keep a Welcome - Harry Secombe DISC EIGHT: Francesca - Hozier BOOK CHOICE: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë LUXURY ITEM: Red lipstick CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse FlowersPresenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley