Main content

Sir David Attenborough

For the 70th anniversary edition of Desert Island Discs, Sir David Attenborough chooses his eight tracks, book and luxury item for the desert island. Presented by Kirsty Young.

Kirsty Young's castaway for the 70th anniversary edition of Desert Island Discs is Sir David Attenborough.

He has seen more of the world than anyone else who has ever lived - he's visited the north and south poles and witnessed most of the life in-between - from the birds in the canopies of tropical rainforests to giant earthworms in Australia.

But despite his extraordinary travels, there is one part of the globe that's eluded him. As a young man and a keen rock-climber, he yearned to conquer the highest peak in the world. "I won't make it now - I won't make it to base camp now - but as a teenager, I thought that the only thing a red-blooded Englishman really should do was to climb Everest."

Producer: Leanne Buckle.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 3 Feb 2012 09:00

Music Played

  • Francisco Yglesia

    Pajaro Campana or The Bell Bird

    • This is Francisco Yglesia.
    • Analogue Rock.
  • Franz Schubert

    Impromptu No.1 in F minor

    • Piano Sonata/Impromptus.
    • Ottavo.
  • George Frideric Handel

    And the Glory of the Lord

    • Handel: Messiah (excerpts).
    • Decca.
  • Lyre Bird

    Lyre Bird

    • from the Life of Birds.
    • 91Èȱ¬ Sound Archive..
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Johann Sebastian Bach

      3rd of Bach’s Goldberg Variations

      Performer: Murray Perahia.
      • Goldberg Variations.
      • Sony Classical.
  • The Gamelan Orchestra

    Legong,

    • Music from Bali.
    • Argo.
  • Carl Michael Ziehrer

    Wiener Burger Waltz

    • Vienna Soiree.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Soave sia il vento – Gentle be the breeze

    • Cosi Fan Tutte.
    • Philips.
  • Book Choice

    • Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life - W B Lord

  • Luxury Choice

    • a piano

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest David Attenborough

Broadcasts

  • Sun 29 Jan 2012 11:15
  • Fri 3 Feb 2012 09:00

Featured in...

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast