Entrepreneur Dame Stephanie Shirley joins Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs. As a child, she escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport - travelling across Europe for two days in a train with a thousand children and just two adults. She went on to set up a computer programming company which made her a millionaire many times over. But she has given away most of her fortune and now is an ambassador for philanthropy. Her determination throughout it all, she says, has been to prove that hers...

The comedian and actor Rob Brydon joins Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs. Growing up in Port Talbot, South Wales, he discovered performing when he was a teenager and says he came alive when he was on stage: so much so that he left school with only a couple of O Levels. For years, he made a comfortable but unfulfilling living recording voice-overs and working on a television shopping channel. He always dreamed of working in comedy, though, and eventually it was 'Marion and Geoff' and then...

The writer Fay Weldon joins Kirsty Young to choose her Desert Island Discs. The author of dozens of novels, essays and radio and TV dramas, she says she spends so much time inventing characters and storylines that the distinction between fact and fiction has become blurred. As a child, Fay Weldon believed she had a second sight - seeing people who weren't there and hearing voices that no-one else could hear. As an adult, her perceptive nature has served her well too and she says: "I think...

Kirsty Young's castaway is Emma Thompson. Sense and Sensibility, The Remains of the Day, Much Ado About Nothing and Howards End are just a handful of her notable screen credits in a dazzling career that has seen her pick up Oscars for both acting and writing. She appears to have pulled off that rare trick of being both a star and one of us - she famously keeps her brace of Oscars in the downstairs loo, still lives across the road from her mum and holidays in a cottage in Scotland where, she...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the writer Frank Cottrell Boyce. His film credits include Hilary and Jackie, Welcome to Sarajevo and 24 Hour Party People. He's also written TV soaps, radio and stage plays and children's novels. These days children are his main audience and, as a father of seven himself, he should know what they want. He not only tests his ideas on them, but they keep him focused: 'I need them in the house to make sure I'm not watching telly, or having a four-hour bath - the...

Kirsty Young's castaway is entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne. He made his name appearing on the TV show Dragons' Den as a no-nonsense investor with an eye for the bottom line. He made his fortune in nursing homes, health clubs and hotels. Quite something, given that aged 30 he was a deck chair attendant who had been thrown out of the Royal Navy for attempting to throw his commanding officer overboard. He says, 'When you've got a criminal record, no qualifications, no references, the best option...

Kirsty Young's castaway is space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock. She has, she says, a special relationship with the moon, one that started when she first saw The Clangers as a small child. As a teenager she made her own telescope so she could study the moon more closely. Now she makes highly technical optical equipment for satellites, but says she still harbours desires to go into space - her dream job is building a telescope on the moon. She says: 'From the age of three, I wanted to get...

Kirsty Young's castaway is actress June Spencer. She is one of the best-loved matriarchs in broadcasting. As Peggy Woolley in The Archers, she's the only original member of the cast still in the show. It's 60 years this spring since the pilot episodes were first broadcast and, although she is now aged 90, June has no plans to retire. She says, 'It's a great bonus for me that The Archers has run as long as it has, and I've gone along with it.' Record: Concierto de Aranjuez played by John...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the former England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward. He took England to World Cup glory in 2003, becoming the first ever northern hemisphere side to win the trophy. He well understands the pressure and the glory of top-flight sport, which is just as well, as he's now Director of Elite Performance for Team GB's 2012 Olympic effort. He says, 'It is the coach's job to refuse to compromise. If you do, you will come second'. Record: Take That, Greatest Day Book: Dave...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili. He's spent his adult life studying sub-atomic particles - and trying to explain them to the rest of us. He fell in love with physics when he was a teenager growing up in Iraq. With an Iraqi father and English mother, the Baghdad he spent his early years in was cosmopolitan and vibrant but, once Saddam Hussein came to power, his parents realised the family would have to flee, and he has lived and worked in Britain for the...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the stylist Gok Wan. Dispensing fashion advice and hugs in equal measure, he aims, he says, to 'make women feel like women, not like turkeys'. Yet although he made his name as a stylist, his special talent isn't for fashion, but for gaining people's trust. He understands only too well the emotional journey he is asking women to make; the first person he had to transform was himself, and that, he says, is very much work in progress. Record: The Promise Book:...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the classicist Mary Beard. A professor at Cambridge, she's that rare thing: a university academic who writes for the masses. Her popular books, blog, articles and reviews have led to her being called 'Britain's best-known classicist'. But while her research is steeped in the ancient world, her commentary is all about the here and now. The classical world speaks to us, she says, and makes us see our own world differently. Record: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue -...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the boxing promoter Frank Warren. He has managed and promoted some of the biggest names in the sport, including Joe Calzaghe, Prince Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton and the Olympic medal winner Amir Khan. Over the past three decades he has lost fortunes and remade them, survived an assassination attempt and even a run-in with Mike Tyson. Boxing has been good to him, he says, but now he says he wants to find something that will nourish his soul too. Record: Don't...

Kirsty Young's castaway is American crime writer James Ellroy. His books have been translated into 30 languages and, according to the New York Times, he is the author of some of the most powerful crime novels ever written. But the case that has dominated his life and much of his writing was the murder of his mother when he was just ten years old. In the years since, he has tried to find a way of getting to know and understand her. Record: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29...

Kirsty Young's castaway is Mary Portas. She's made an art-form out of turning heads, and her galleries have been the enormous plate-glass windows of Harrods, Topshop and Harvey Nichols. These days she brings retail therapy to small traders, helping them to hold their own against the high street's big names. Record: Casta Diva from Norma Book: The works of Rumi, Persian poet and philosopher Luxury: 'A set of different fragrances from the people I love'.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the opera director John Copley. Throughout his sixty year career he's worked with all the greats at the major opera houses of the world. He introduced Luciano Pavarotti to a London audience, charmed Georg Solti with his piano playing and was even called upon to stand in for Maria Callas. He was just ten years old when he first saw an opera and he loved it straight away; "I caught opera," he says, "like the measles". Record: Janet Baker singing Handel's Ariodante...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor David Tennant. He has been voted the best Dr Who ever and has redefined the Time Lord for a generation of parents and children. As a child he was a huge fan of the programme; he reckons he only ever missed one episode, wore a long stripy scarf and queued up to meet Tom Baker and get his autograph. As a role, he says, it appealed not just to his adult self but to the eight-year-old boy who was just below the surface [Taken from the original programme...

Kirsty Young's castaway this Christmas is Sir Michael Caine. In a film career that has spanned more than four decades he has won two Oscars; his credits include Alfie, The Italian Job, Hannah and Her Sisters and Educating Rita. As well as discussing his remarkable life in films, he describes how the Queen used to cut through his back garden on her way to the horse races, discusses the secrets of a happy marriage and reveals the tricks for cooking perfect roast potatoes this...

Kirsty Young's castaway is Sebastian Coe. It is more than a quarter of a century since his rivalry with fellow middle-distance runner Steve Ovett enraptured the nation. After retiring from the racetrack, he enjoyed a career in politics. Now, though, his focus is on the Olympics once again - not on individual medals this time, but ensuring the 2012 games in London are a success. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Record: The...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland. She is the government's chief law officer, a position as significant as it is isolated. She was on course to be the first female High Court judge before a life in politics intervened and she joined the government. Before she took on her current role she thought she understood the pressures that came with it. In fact, she says, that only became evident once she was in office: 'It is a huge responsibility and it is, and it...

Kirsty Young's castaway is Morrissey. As the lead singer of The Smiths he captivated a generation of angst-ridden teenagers and, a quarter of a century later, he remains the outsider's outsider. As a child, he was enthralled by the emotion and beauty in pop music. He discovered the joy of public performance when, as a six-year-old boy, he stood on a table and started singing. But from an early age he felt he had to avoid everything conventional life had to offer. 'I just didn't want the...

Kirsty Young's castaway is Sir Stuart Rose. As the boss of Marks and Spencer, he has held a national institution - and the nation's knickers - in his hands. After seeing off a hostile takeover bid and revamping its tired image, he is regarded by many as the store's saviour. Now, after five years in one of the top jobs on the high street, his successor has been announced and, in this timely interview, Sir Stuart looks to the future and considers where life might take him next. [Taken from the...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the children's author Julia Donaldson. The Gruffalo is her best known creation. Published 10 years ago, it's become a modern classic; it has sold more than four million copies, won an armful of awards and been turned into a film. But Julia nearly gave up when she was half way through writing it, and only the encouragement of her son persuaded her to continue. Its latest accolade is that BBC listeners have just voted it their favourite book for reading out loud at...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the lawyer and writer Anthony Julius. He was already renowned in legal circles when, in 1996, he moved into the public arena, representing Princess Diana in her divorce. He became her confidante and, after her death, one of the founders of her memorial fund. Of the high profile cases he has fought, he says. "You're on a higher wire, stared at by a larger number of people, but in the end, the only audience that matters is your own client." [Taken from the original...

Kirsty Young's castaway is the talk show host Jerry Springer. His life has been split between serving the public and outraging them. His first career was in politics where, as a life-long Democrat, one of his early jobs was working with Bobby Kennedy. Then he found global fame with his controversial TV programme, The Jerry Springer Show. He says that in politics and in his TV show, he is always on the side of the powerless and disenfranchised. It's a philosophy, he says, he learned from his...