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Sir David Frost

Sue Lawley's castaway is broadcaster Sir David Frost.

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost - the only British television presenter to have interviewed seven American presidents and six British Prime Ministers who has, over the past five decades, become a broadcasting institution. The presenter once known as a scourge of the Establishment has become something of an establishment figure himself, noted for his formidable contacts book, his star-studded parties, and for his gentle but revealing interviewing style.

Born in 1939, the youngest son of a Methodist minister and his wife, David was football and cricket-mad from an early age but with a burning ambition to go to Cambridge University. He arrived there in 1958, and threw himself into it, joining Footlights and editing Varsity and Granta. After Cambridge, Ned Sherrin saw him performing a comedy act in a Mayfair bar and hired him up to present the iconic satirical programme That Was The Week That Was. Other successful programmes followed including Frost Over Britain and The Frost Report.

Breakfast with Frost ran for twelve years until early 2005. David is not retiring though and is due to present a new interview programme for Al-Jazeera International which will begin next Spring, and will also conduct occasional interviews for the 大象传媒.

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

Favourite track: The Dam Busters by Eric Coates
Book: London A-Z
Luxury: Sunday papers

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 2 Dec 2005 09:00

Music Played

  • No毛l Coward

    Mad Dogs and Englishmen

    • The No毛l Coward Album.
    • Sony Masterworks.
  • Elton John

    Your Song

    • Greatest Hits of 1971.
    • EMI.
  • Coldplay

    Fix You

    • Fix You.
    • EMI.
  • Ray Charles

    America the Beautiful

    • America the Beautiful.
    • Probe.
  • Michael Crawford

    Music of the Night

    • Andrew Lloyd Webber: Gold.
    • Really Useful Music.
  • Bob Lind

    Elusive Butterfly

    • 25 Years of Rock 'N' Roll: 1966.
    • Connoisseur Collection.
  • The Beatles

    The Long and Winding Road

    • The Beatles: 1967-1970.
    • Apple.
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Eric Coates

      The Dam Busters March

      Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Charles Groves.

      Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

      • Classics for Pleasure: the Music of Eric Coates.
      • EMI.
  • Book Choice

    • London A-Z

  • Luxury Choice

    • Sunday papers

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest David Frost

Broadcasts

  • Sun 27 Nov 2005 11:15
  • Fri 2 Dec 2005 09:00

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