The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a politician. Elected to Sheffield City Council at the age of 22, he went on to become its leader for seven years, after which he made the smooth and successful transition to Parliament, where he now sits on the opposition front bench as local government spokesman. Beside him sits his guide dog Offa, because David Blunkett has been blind since birth.He will be talking to Sue Lawley about his struggles to get his 'O' and 'A' Levels and eventually his degree, his time in local and now national politics and the many problems he has overcome to reach his present position.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Book: Anthology of Verse by Robert Graves
Luxury: Radio/cassette machine
Lauren shares handpicked gems from the Desert Island Discs back-catalogue with Radio 1 presenter Vick Hope, including Bob Mortimer, Maya Angelou, Joe Wicks, Sophia Loren, Tom Hanks, Dame Pat McGrath a...
Derren Brown, illusionist and mentalist, chooses the eight tracks, book and luxury he want to take with him if cast away to a desert island. BOOK CHOICE: Collected works of Carl Jung
LUXURY: Leica Cam...
75 Years of Desert Island Discs - Kirsty Young ends the programme's anniversary year with some gems from the archive, including the creator of the format, Roy Plomley, actress Bebe Daniels, broadcaste...
Roy Plomley's castaway is broadcaster and writer Clive James.Favourite track: Baby Love by Diana Ross and The Supremes
Book: Book about how to build a plane out of palm fronds and coconut fibre by Wil...
Kirsty Young interviews the composer Debbie Wiseman.Her work is wide ranging, but her talents are most often employed in crafting lyrical, melodic scores for film and TV. Her credits include Land Girl...