Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, is a former judge who served as the first female president of the Supreme Court. In 2019 she announced the court’s judgement that the prorogation of Parliament was ‘unlawful, void and of no effect’. The twinkling spider brooch she wore that day caused a sensation and set social media aflame. She was the first woman and the youngest person to be appointed to the Law Commission and in 2004 became the UK’s first woman law lord.

Lady Hale was born in Yorkshire and read law at the University of Cambridge where she graduated top of her class. She spent almost 20 years in academia and also practised as a barrister. Later at the Law commission she led the work on what became the 1989 Children Act.

Lady Hale retired as a judge in January 2020.

DISC ONE: Messiah - Part 1: O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To Zion, composed by Georg Friedrich Händel, performed by Kathleen Ferrier and The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult DISC TWO: Love Me Do by The Beatles DISC THREE: Move Him Into The Sun. Composed and conducted by Benjamin Britten. Performed by Peter Pears (tenor) and Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano) with the Bach Choir and the London Symphony Orchestra DISC FOUR: Part 1 Nos 4 & 5: Gloria in excelsis Deo – Et in terra pax. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists and conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner DISC FIVE: The Marriage of Figaro), K. 492 Sull'Aria. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by sopranos Charlotte Margiono and Barbara Bonney, Netherlands Opera Chorus and the Concertgebouw Orchestra DISC SIX: Hand in Hand by Glória (Ireland’s Gay and Lesbian Choir) DISC SEVEN: Parry: I Was Glad, composed by Hubert Parry, performed by Westminster Abbey Choir, Simon Preston (organ) and conducted by William McKinney DISC EIGHT: Dies Irae. Composed by Giuseppe Verdi, performed by Swedish Radio Choir and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Claudio Abbado

BOOK CHOICE: A Desert Island survival manual LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered computer with sudoku puzzles and a writing application CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Part 1 Nos 4 & 5: Gloria in excelsis Deo – Et in terra pax, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Simon Reeve is a broadcaster and writer best known for his TV documentaries which combine travel and adventure with investigations into the challenges faced by the places he visits.

His journeys have taken him across jungles, deserts, mountains and oceans, and to some of the most dangerous and remote regions of the world. He’s dodged bullets on frontlines, dived with seals and sharks, survived malaria, walked through minefields and tracked lions on foot.

Simon grew up in Acton in west London. He experienced anxiety and depression as a teenager and left school with few qualifications. He eventually found a job in the post room at the Sunday Times and from there progressed to working with the news teams, filing stories on a range of subjects from organised crime to nuclear smuggling.

In the late 1990s he wrote one of the first books about Al-Qaeda and its links to Osama Bin Laden. His expertise in this area was quickly called upon after the 9/11 attacks in the USA, and he became a regular guest on American television and radio programmes.

The current pandemic put Simon’s overseas trips into abeyance and he has turned his attention to the UK, recently making programmes about Cornwall and the Lake District.

DISC ONE: Eskègizéw Bèrtchi by Alèmayèhu Eshèté DISC TWO: Vissi d’arte - from Puccini’s Tosca, performed by Kiri Te Kanawa with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Pritchard DISC THREE: It Takes Two by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock DISC FOUR: We Will Rock You by Queen DISC FIVE: Mr Brightside by The Killers DISC SIX: Wiley Flow by Stormzy DISC SEVEN: You’re Lovely to Me by Lucky Jim DISC EIGHT: Rocket Man by Elton John

BOOK CHOICE: Moonshine for Beginners and Experts by Damian Brown LUXURY ITEM: Bird seed CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Rocket Man by Elton John

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Lauren Laverne talks to Ian Wright in an episode first broadcast in 2020.

Ian Wright is a former professional footballer and now a football pundit on TV and radio. He began his career at Crystal Palace before moving to Arsenal where he became their highest goal scorer of all time, a record only surpassed eight years later by Thierry Henry.

Born to a Jamaican couple in south-east London, Ian grew up with his mother and step-father. His biological father had left the family when Ian was under two years old. Things at home were difficult and Ian spent as much time as possible outside playing football.

At his primary school a teacher, Mr Pigden, took him under his wing and Ian would later credit him with changing his life. He left his secondary school at the age of 14 to get a job. Although he took part in trials for many professional football clubs as a teenager, he was never selected. He continued to play for amateur sides. By the age of 21, he had three children to provide for, so when Crystal Palace came calling in 1985, he turned them down three times before accepting a two-week trial, followed by a three-month contract. His football career had finally begun.

After impressing as a forward at Palace, he was bought by Arsenal for a record fee in 1991. He was called up to the England squad the same year and would go on to collect 33 caps. He spent his last couple of years in professional football at a number of clubs around the country and in total, he played 581 league games, scoring 387 goals for seven clubs in England and Scotland. Since his retirement from football in 2000, he has had a career as a pundit on both TV and radio.

He has eight children and has been happily married to his second wife, Nancy, since 2011.

DISC ONE: The Marriage of Figaro: Duettino - Sull'aria by Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, composed by Lorenzo Da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart DISC TWO: Looking For You by Kirk Franklin DISC THREE: River Deep Mountain High by Ike and Tina Turner DISC FOUR: Redemption Song by Bob Marley & The Wailers DISC FIVE: Mysteries of the World by MSFB DISC SIX: Endlessly by Randy Crawford DISC SEVEN: Crown by Stormzy DISC EIGHT: Just Fine by Mary J Blige

BOOK CHOICE: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon LUXURY ITEM: A seven iron golf club and golf balls CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Endlessly by Randy Crawford

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Cathy Drysdale

Lauren Laverne talks to Dr Nicola Fox in a programme first broadcast in 2023. Dr Nicky Fox is only the second woman to hold the post of Head of Science at NASA since the agency was founded in 1958. She has responsibility for around a hundred missions which are investigating the mysteries of outer space. These missions are tackling questions such as how do hurricanes form and are we alone in the universe.

Nicky was born in Hitchin in Hertfordshire and her father introduced her to the wonders of space when she was just a few months old. In 1969 he lifted her out of her cot to watch the television coverage of the Apollo 11 mission when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Nicky’s enduring fascination with the cosmos led her to study physics at Imperial College in London.

After completing her PhD she took up a post-doctoral fellowship at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland. In 2010 she became the project scientist for the Parker Solar Probe, humanity’s first mission to a star, which launched in 2018 and is still flying through the sun’s atmosphere collecting data. Recently she oversaw the Osiris-Rex mission which brought back the first asteroid samples from deep space.

In 2021 Nicky was awarded the American Astronautical Society’s Carl Sagan Memorial Award for her leadership in the field of Heliophysics.

DISC ONE: The Best – Tina Turner DISC TWO: Livin’ On A Prayer - Bon Jovi DISC THREE: Lara’s Theme - MGM Studio Orchestra, composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre DISC FOUR: Danny Boy - Andy Williams DISC FIVE: When You Know - Shawn Colvin DISC SIX: (Reach Up for the) Sunrise - Duran Duran DISC SEVEN: Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day DISC EIGHT: Canyon Moon - Harry Styles

BOOK CHOICE: Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan LUXURY ITEM: Lego CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Steven Knight CBE is a screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He is best known for creating the TV series Peaky Blinders but he has also turned his hand to feature films, novels, comedy and even gameshows. He co-created the global TV quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. His first film, Dirty Pretty Things, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards; Peaky Blinders won a BAFTA for Best Drama Series and his writing influences are eclectic. His subjects include chess, cooking, Dickens, Diana, Princess of Wales; the origins of the SAS and a Star Wars sequel. Steven was born in 1959, the youngest of seven children to George and Ida Knight. He grew up in Birmingham where his father hoped that his five sons would follow him into the blacksmith’s business. After studying English at University College London, Steven returned to Birmingham and began his career writing radio commercials. He was soon back down in London working at Capital Radio which then led to a career writing comedy for TV, then novels, and eventually screenplays. He is as respected in Hollywood as he is in the UK and more recently he has been instrumental in setting up a new TV and Film studio complex in Birmingham, Digbeth Loc. He is married with seven children and lives in Gloucestershire.

DISC ONE: I Want You - Bob Dylan DISC TWO: Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald DISC THREE: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise. Performed by Worcester Cathedral Choir / Worcester Festival Choral Society, directed by Donald Hunt DISC FOUR: Redemption Song - Bob Marley & The Wailers DISC FIVE: A Different Corner - George Michael DISC SIX: Messetchinko Lio (You, Little Moon) - Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares DISC SEVEN: Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds DISC EIGHT: Keep Right On Until the End of the Road - Harry Lauder

BOOK CHOICE: The Greek Myths by Robert Graves LUXURY ITEM: A solar powered laptop CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Keep Right On Until the End of the Road - Harry Lauder Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Mark Knopfler OBE is one of the UK’s most successful rock musicians and composers. He co-founded the band Dire Straits and their album Brothers in Arms is one of the bestselling albums of all time with 30 million copies sold. Alongside the many successes of Dire Straits, Mark has also composed hit songs for other artists like Private Dancer for Tina Turner and many soundtracks including Local Hero which features the perennial favourite Going Home.

He first worked as a journalist on the Yorkshire Evening Post and was briefly an English lecturer in Essex before moving to a flat in Deptford with his brother and John Illsey. Dire Straits was born and became one of the UK’s most successful bands before Mark called time in 1995 and pursued his own solo career.

In recent years, Mark invested some of his money to build one of the UK’s best recording studios to record his own music in alongside being a destination for other artists.

He lives in London with his wife and still visits his studio most days to make music.

DISC ONE: Ol’ Man River - Ray Charles DISC TWO: Red Sails in the Sunset – Dean Martin DISC THREE: Wonderful Land - The Shadows DISC FOUR: Write Me a Few Lines - Mississippi Fred MacDowell DISC FIVE: Duquesne Whistle - Bob Dylan DISC SIX: Deborah’s Theme - Ennio Morricone DISC SEVEN: Cleaning Windows - Van Morrison DISC EIGHT: Jessye ’Lisabeth - Bobbie Gentry

BOOK CHOICE: The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald LUXURY ITEM: A guitar CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Duquesne Whistle - Bob Dylan

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Sarah Raven is one of Britain’s best known gardeners. Since her debut book, The Cutting Garden in 1996 she has written for national newspapers and magazines and shared her gardening knowledge as a broadcaster.

Sarah’s love for gardening started with her family. Her father John was a Classics scholar at Cambridge and a keen amateur botanist and her mother Faith introduced Sarah to the joys of cutting and arranging flowers.

Following her father’s death when she was just seventeen, Sarah read History at the University of Edinburgh before deciding to pursue a career as a doctor. It was whilst she was on maternity leave from her medical training that Sarah began to cultivate her own garden which led to her first book, The Cutting Garden.

After the success of her first book, Sarah set up her eponymous business which has evolved from a kitchen table start-up to successful global brand. Sarah continues to write, her latest book, A Year Full of Pots was published earlier this year.

Sarah lives in East Sussex with her husband, the writer Adam Nicholson. She has three stepsons and two daughters.

DISC ONE: See My Baby Jive - Wizzard DISC TWO: Dashing White Sergeant - Jimmy Shand DISC THREE: Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds DISC FOUR: You Can Dance (If You Want To) - Go Go Lorenzo & The Davis Pinckney Project DISC FIVE: September - Earth, Wind and Fire DISC SIX: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You - Andy Williams DISC SEVEN: Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time) - Elton John DISC EIGHT: Spring 1. Composed by Antonio Vivaldi, recomposed by Max Richter and performed by Daniel Hope (violin) with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, conducted by André de Ridder

Luxury: An ever-cleaning linen sheet bed with a hot (and cold) water bottle Book: The Flowers of Crete by John Fielding & Nicholas Turland Castaway’s Favourite: September - Earth, Wind and Fire

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Mugabi Turya

The writer David Nicholls is best known for his 2009 novel One Day which has sold 6 million copies, been made into a film and a Netflix series which reached the top 10 in 89 countries. He’s written six novels and his work as a screenwriter has won him a BAFTA and an Emmy nomination.

He was born in 1966 and studied Drama and English Literature at Bristol University. This partly inspired his novel Starter for Ten. After university he spent one year in New York studying acting before returning to the UK to try and forge a career as an actor. He spent three years at the National Theatre but was mostly an understudy which inspired his novel Understudy.

After a few years, David left acting and pursued a writing career and had success as a TV screen writer. Alongside his award-winning career as a TV writer he has won many prizes for his novels.

David lives in London with his partner, Hannah and their two children.

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

DISC ONE: I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin DISC TWO: Cloudbusting - Kate Bush DISC THREE: Life on Mars? - David Bowie DISC FOUR: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Glenn Gould (piano) Coyote - Joni Mitchell DISC FIVE: Coyote - Joni Mitchell DISC SIX: We Belong Together - Rickie Lee Jones DISC SEVEN: Who Knows Where The Time Goes? - Fairport Convention DISC EIGHT: Protection - Massive Attack featuring Tracey Thorn BOOK CHOICE: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy LUXURY ITEM: A piano and sheet music CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin

Errollyn Wallen is one of the world’s most performed living composers. Her work, which includes 22 operas, orchestral, chamber and vocal works, was played at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in 2012 and at Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees. She was the first black woman to have a piece featured in the BBC Proms and the first woman to receive an Ivor Novello award for Classical Music for her body of work.

Errollyn was born in Belize in Central America and was brought up in North London. The passion for music came early to her - as a baby she sang in her cot - and later she enjoyed free music lessons at her local primary school. She fell in love with the piano at five and went on to have formal lessons four years later.

She studied music and dance at Goldsmith’s, University of London and took a Master’s in composition at King’s College London. After working as a session musician, Errollyn formed her own band Ensemble X whose motto is “we don’t break down barriers in music…we don’t see any”. In 1990 she composed a tribute to Nelson Mandela to mark his release from prison.

In 2020 she was awarded a CBE for services to music in The Queen’s New Year’s Honours.

Errollyn lives and works in a lighthouse at Strathy Point in the north of Scotland.

DISC ONE: Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, 4th Movement: Allegro Con Brio. Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and performed by André Previn (piano) with the London Symphony Orchestra DISC TWO: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - Ella Fitzgerald DISC THREE: L'Oiseau de Feu (The Firebird) (1910 Ballet Score) ('Fairy-tale Ballet In Two Tableaux For Orchestra') Introduction. Composed by Igor Stravinsky and performed by Bergen Philharmonic, conducted by Andrew Litton DISC FOUR: I Am Sitting In a Room - Alvin Lucier DISC FIVE: Bach, Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor BWV 1043 (II movement) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman (violin) with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta DISC SIX: Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) - Stevie Wonder DISC SEVEN: What’s Up Doc? - Errollyn Wallen DISC EIGHT: Peter Grimes, Op. 33, Act III, Scene 7: Mister Swallow! Mister Swallow! (Mrs Sedley) Composed by Benjamin Britten and performed by Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Susan Bickley (Mezzo-soprano), Neal Davies (bass-baritone), Barnaby Rea (bass) and conducted by Edward Gardner

BOOK CHOICE: A collection of Bach sheet music LUXURY ITEM: Wigmore Hall CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Bach, Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor BWV 1043 (II movement) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman (violin) with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Rob Delaney is a comedian, writer and actor who is best known for the television series Catastrophe, which he co-wrote and co-starred in alongside Sharon Horgan. He has also appeared in Hollywood blockbusters including Deadpool and Mission Impossible.

Rob was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Marblehead on the north shore. He studied for a degree in Musical Theatre at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and began writing comedy material after he graduated. In 2014, he moved to London to co-write and shoot the first series of Catastrophe and has been in the UK ever since. The series won Rob and Sharon a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society Award for comedy writing.

In 2016 Rob’s one-year-old son Henry was diagnosed with a brain tumour and after undergoing surgery and intense treatment Henry died in 2018. In the throes of his grief Rob wrote his best-selling book A Heart That Works which was a tribute to his son, his family and the NHS.

Rob lives in north London with his wife and three sons.

DISC ONE: Galician Overture - The Chieftains DISC TWO: This Is To Mother You - Sinéad O’Connor DISC THREE: Chopin, Nocturne No 11 in G minor. Composed by Frédéric Chopin and performed by Maurizio Pollini (piano) DISC FOUR: Bluer Than Midnight - The The DISC FIVE: Hey - Pixies DISC SIX: Fire in the Hole - Steely Dan DISC SEVEN: Plainclothes Man - Heatmiser DISC EIGHT: Rock Lobster - The B-52s BOOK CHOICE: The Collected Works of Alice Munro LUXURY ITEM: A piano CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: This Is To Mother You - Sinéad O’Connor

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Professor Patricia Wiltshire is a forensic ecologist who specialises in palynology – the study of pollen. Her expertise has led her to work with every police force in Britain and helped solve some of the country’s most notorious crimes including the Soham murder case in which two young girls were killed by school caretaker Ian Huntley.

Patricia was born in Cefn Fforest, a mining village in the Sirhowy Valley, north of Cardiff. She studied botany at King’s College London as a mature student and later worked as an environmental archaeologist, helping to reconstruct ancient environments by analysing the pollen and other remains in the soil.

In 1994 Hertfordshire police asked her to help them with a murder case. A man had been found dead in a ditch and the police had tyre tracks and a vehicle and they needed to prove that the car in question had made the tracks. Patricia’s analysis of the pollen and spores found in the car helped to convict the killers and started her career as a forensic ecologist.

Patricia is married to Professor David Hawksworth, a renowned mycologist, and they sometimes work on criminal investigations together.

DISC ONE: Nocturnes, Op. 27: No. 2 in D-Flat Major. Composed by Frédéric Chopin and performed by Arthur Rubinstein DISC TWO: My Foolish Heart - Billy Eckstine DISC THREE: Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets DISC FOUR: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 (Allegro movement) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Orchestra Mozart, conducted by Claudio Abbado DISC FIVE: Myfanwy - The Treorchy Male Voice Choir DISC SIX: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 "Elvira Madigan": III. Allegro vivace assai. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Murray Perahia (piano / conductor) and English Chamber Orchestra DISC SEVEN: And I Love Her - The Beatles DISC EIGHT: Love Will Keep Us Together - Neil Sedaka

BOOK CHOICE: Childrens Encyclopedia Volume Set by Arthur Mee LUXURY ITEM: A cooking pot CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Nocturnes, Op. 27: No. 2 in D-Flat Major. Composed by Frédéric Chopin and performed by Arthur Rubinstein

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley