Main content

James Graham, playwright

James Graham, playwright, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item he would take with him if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

James Graham is an award-winning dramatist whose plays include This House, Ink and Dear England starring Joseph Fiennes as the England football manager Gareth Southgate. His acclaimed television productions include Sherwood and Quiz, based on the story of the so-called coughing Major Charles Ingram who was found guilty of cheating on the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

James was born in Kirkby-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire in 1982. He was a shy boy who was encouraged to perform in school plays by his teachers. He went on to study drama at Hull University where he wrote his first play Coal Not Dole! He took the play to the Edinburgh fringe and the reception it received from audiences encouraged him to carry on writing.

After graduating he worked as a stage doorkeeper at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham where one of his personal highlights was looking after Danny La Rue, the star of the Christmas panto. His first London premiere came in 2005 at the Finborough Theatre in London with Albert鈥檚 Boy, which explored the arguments for and against nuclear weapons.

In 2020 James was awarded an OBE for services to drama and young people in British theatre.

DISC ONE: Disco 2000 - Pulp
DISC TWO: Chatanooga Choo Choo - Glenn Miller
DISC THREE: Up In Arms - Foo Fighters
DISC FOUR: Syncopes - Gabriel Yared
DISC FIVE: Your Disco Needs You - Kylie Minogue
DISC SIX: Where Are We Now? - David Bowie
DISC SEVEN: If You Came To See Me Cry - Katie Brayben (from Tammy Faye: The Musical)
DISC EIGHT: Going To A Town - Rufus Wainwright

BOOK CHOICE: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
LUXURY ITEM: A keg of Single Malt Scotch Whisky
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Where Are We Now? - David Bowie

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Available now

51 minutes

Last on

Fri 15 Mar 2024 09:00
大象传媒 Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Rita Rae, Lady Rae, lawyer and judge

Next

Jenny Sealey, theatre director

See all episodes from Desert Island Discs

Music Played

  • Pulp

    Disco 2000

    • Different Class.
    • Universal-Island Records Ltd..
    • 5.

  • Glenn Miller

    Chatanooga Choo Choo

    • 49 Essential Glenn Miller Classics.
    • 49 Music.
    • 23.

  • Foo Fighters

    Up in Arms

    • The Colour And The Shape.
    • RCA Records Label.
    • 6.

  • Gabriel Yared

    Syncopes

    Composer: Harry Rabinowitz. Performer: Gabriel Yared.
    • The Talented Mr. Ripley - Music from The Motion Picture.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 17.

  • Kylie Minogue

    Your Disco Needs You

    • Light Years.
    • Parlophone UK.
    • 7.

  • David Bowie

    Where Are We Now?

    • Legacy (The Very Best of David Bowie).
    • Rhino.
    • 19.

  • Katie Brayben

    If You Came To See Me Cry

  • Rufus Wainwright

    Going To A Town

    • Release The Stars.
    • Geffen.
    • 2.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 10 Mar 2024 11:15
    大象传媒 Radio 4
  • Fri 15 Mar 2024 09:00
    大象传媒 Radio 4

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