Desert Island Discs: Archive 1986-1991

This week's castaway on Sue Lawley's desert island is a little difficult to categorise. To the record-buying public, he's a pop star of durable quality; to the theatregoers who like musicals, he's an actor-singer, and he's a popular music composer too. His name is David Essex, and, in conversation with Sue Lawley, you can hear about his life, his work and his enthusiasms in Desert Island Discs.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: March No 1 in D Major (Pomp and Circumstance) by Edward Elgar Book: The Guinness Book of Records Luxury: A set of cricket equipment

Sue Lawley's castaway is comedian Dame Edna Everage.

Favourite track: I Feel Pretty by Kiri Te Kanawa Book: Filofax Luxury: Madge Allsop

Comedienne, musician and playwright are just three of the talents of Victoria Wood. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, she outlines her career to date from its humble beginnings with the Rochdale Youth Theatre to having her own show on television. She also chooses the eight records she would take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: African Ripples by Fats Waller Book: The collected works by Arthur Marshall Luxury: Cinema organ

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is ideally suited to speculate on the pleasures and perils of island life, owning, as he does, his own island. He's Richard Branson, tycoon and entrepreneur, who made his first million while still in his teens, having left school at 15. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his family, his business philosophy and also his daredevil exploits with power boats and hot air balloons.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins Book: Teach yourself Japanese phrase book Luxury: Notebooks and pens

Sue Lawley's castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is jockey Bob Champion - a man who, against all the odds, fought back after he was diagnosed as having cancer to win one of the most coveted prizes in his field - in 1981 he rode Aldaniti to a stunning victory in the Grand National. He'll be talking about his passion for riding, his fight against his illness and the two children who, contrary to all medical predictions, he has since fathered.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel Book: Fraser's Horse Book by Alistair Fraser Luxury: A bronze statue of the racehorse Aldaniti