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Alan Plater

Sue Lawley's castaway is playwright Alan Plater.

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is playwright Alan Plater. He has been writing plays for radio, television, theatre and cinema since the early 1960s, having served his apprenticeship on Z-Cars in the days of live television drama. Since then, he has been associated with major television adaptions like The Barchester Chronicles and Fortunes of War.

He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his work, as well as recalling his childhood in the north of England in the 1930s and 1940s - an idyllic time for him despite the inconveniences of the Depression and the Blitz.

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

Favourite track: Fine & Mellow by Billie Holiday
Book: Smell of Sunday Dinner by Sid Chaplin
Luxury: Writing materials

Available now

40 minutes

Last on

Fri 20 Oct 1989 09:05
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Duke Ellington and the Blanton-Webster Band

    Just A-Settin' and A-Rockin'

    • Duke Ellington and the Blanton-Webster Band.
    • Bluebird.

  • Dylan Thomas

    Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night

    • A Child's Christmas in Wales.
    • Caedmon.

  • Ella Fitzgerald

    Lorelei

    • Ella in Berlin.
    • Verve.

  • Alex Glasgow & John Woodvine

    When It's Ours

    • Now and Then.
    • MWM.

  • Thelonious Monk

    Misterioso

    • Round About Midnight.
    • Blue Note.

  • Frank Ricotti

    Cryin' All Day

    • The Beiderbecke Collection.
    • Dormouse.

  • Philip Larkin

    Here

    • Philip Larkin on Record.
    • Yorkshire Arts Assocation.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Billie Holiday

      Fine and Mellow

      • The Real Sounds of Jazz.
      • Pumpkin.

  • Book Choice

    • Smell of Sunday Dinner - Sid Chaplin

  • Luxury Choice

    • Writing materials

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Alan Plater

Broadcasts

  • Sun 15 Oct 1989 12:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 20 Oct 1989 09:05
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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