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Joanna Lumley

Kirsty Young's castaway is actress Joanna Lumley.

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the actress Joanna Lumley. She first found fame as the high-kicking glamour-puss Purdey in the 1970s show The New Avengers, but the role that cemented her in the nation's psyche was Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous. A striking beauty with a cut-glass accent she had, until then, been cast as a certain sort of sexy toff. Yet in AbFab she stole the show as a shallow, free-loading, alcoholic has-been - famous for her towering chignon and withering one-liners.

Along with displaying a formidable comic talent, it was a role that toyed cleverly with her public persona, hinting at her own beginnings as a model at the precise moment in the 1960s when London really started to swing. As she contemplates being marooned, she abandons the make-up and glamour of her on-screen life and embraces island living - collecting firewood, eating from shells and preparing her evening fire before the moon rises and she chooses the eight tracks that she would like to hear during a single island day.

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

Favourite track: Symphony No 7 in A Major by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book: A huge atlas
Luxury: Video camera + film.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 18 May 2007 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Richard Wagner

    Tannhäuser (Overture)

    Orchestra: Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France. Conductor: Marek Janowski.

    Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Bernard Haitink

    • Tannhauser.
    • EMI.

  • Iestyn Edwards

    Tom Bowling

    • The Battle of the Breeze: a Celebration of the Sailor.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Ludwig van Beethoven

      Symphony No. 7 in A major

      Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

      • Beethoven: Symphonies Nos 4 & 7.
      • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • Wham!

    Last Christmas

    • The Best Christmas ever!.
    • Virgin.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Perchè tarda la luna? (from Turandot)

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Rome Opera House Conductror: Francesco Molinari-Pradelli

    • Turandot (Highlights).
    • EMI.

  • Elvis Presley

    Girl Of My Best Friend

    • Always on My Mind.
    • RCA.

  • Nat King Cole

    Stardust

    • Capitol Sings Hoagy Carmichael.
    • EMI.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Symphony No. 2 in D major

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Sir John Barbirolli

    • Sibelius Symphony No 2.
    • Menuet.

  • Book Choice

    • A huge atlas

  • Luxury Choice

    • Video camera and film

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Joanna Lumley

Broadcasts

  • Sun 13 May 2007 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 18 May 2007 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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