Desert Island Discs

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Discussion & Talk

Podcasts

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: Life Stories

Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

BBC Radio 4 LW

Desert Island Discs: Heidi Thomas, screenwriter

Heidi Thomas, screenwriter

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Heidi Thomas, screenwriter

Heidi Thomas, screenwriter, shares the soundtrack of her life with Lauren Laverne

Heidi Thomas, screenwriter of Call The Midwife, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury she would want to take to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne

Heidi Thomas is a screenwriter and playwright best known for Call the Midwife.  The BBC TV series, which began in 2012, was originally a six part adaptation of a trilogy of memoirs by Jennifer Worth, recalling her experiences as a midwife in the East End of London.  It was an immediate hit, with 10 million viewers a week, becoming one of BBC One’s most popular dramas and a fixture in the Christmas schedules. 

Born in 1962, Heidi Thomas grew up as the eldest of three children in the leafy suburbs of Liverpool. Her father ran a drain cleaning business while her mother looked after the children, including Heidi’s youngest brother David, who was born with Down’s Syndrome.

Heidi studied English at Liverpool University, supporting herself by selling ladies’ underwear at a department store. During a bout of viral hepatitis, which left her unable to apply for jobs when she graduated, she entered a competition for new plays and won a prize for her debut, All Flesh is Grass. During the production,of her next play, Shamrocks and Crocodiles, she met the actor Stephen McGann. They went on to marry, and many years later Stephen was cast as the GP in Call the Midwife.

After nearly a decade in the theatre, Heidi made the leap into television, first writing on existing series such as Soldier, Soldier and Doctor Finlay. Her other screenwriting credits include Lilies, based on her grandmother’s recollections, and adaptations of classic novels including Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford, Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. 

DISC ONE: You Belong to Me by The Duprees  
DISC TWO: Penny Lane by The Beatles 
DISC THREE: Gentle on my Mind by Dean Martin 
DISC FOUR: Who Will Sing Me Lullabies? by Kate Rusby
DISC FIVE: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack 
DISC SIX: Finishing The Hat by Josh Groban 
DISC SEVEN: Agnus Dei from Requiem, op. 48, conducted by Nigel Short and performed by London Symphony Orchestra Chamber Ensemble and Tenebrae
DISC EIGHT: Both Sides, Now by Joni Mitchell 

BOOK CHOICE:   London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew
LUXURY ITEM:   A hot water bottle
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Both Sides, Now by Joni Mitchell

Presenter:  Lauren Laverne
Producer:  Sarah Taylor

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Desert Island Discs

Heidi Thomas, screenwriter

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4