Desert Island Discs Revisited

Original version

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Factual: Life Stories

Selected castaway gems from the BBC Desert Island Discs archive.

Desert Island Discs Revisited: Comic Castaways 4: Tracey Ullman

Tracey Ullman

Comic Castaways 4

Desert Island Discs

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Desert Island Discs Revisited, Comic Castaways 4, Tracey Ullman

Actor and comedian Tracey Ullman is castaway by Lauren Laverne.

4 Extra Debut. From The Beatles to Stevie Wonder. Actor and comedian Tracey Ullman shares her castaway choices with Lauren Laverne. From 2021.

Actor and comedian Tracey Ullman is castaway by Lauren Laverne.

Tracey was the first woman to be offered her own TV sketch show – both in Britain and America – and has starred in film and TV dramas alongside Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett and Hugh Grant.  The Emmy-winning Tracey Ullman Show ran for four seasons in the US and provided the launch pad for The Simpsons.  

Tracey was born in Slough and as a child she would impersonate people and put on shows for the amusement of her mother after the death of her father.  At 12 she won a scholarship to the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London and worked in repertory theatre and the West End in London before her television career took off.  She was one of the stars of the BBC’s primetime sketch show Three of a Kind alongside David Copperfield and a young Lenny Henry.

In 1985 she moved to Los Angeles with her husband, the producer Allan McKeown, where her uncanny impressions of Americans from all walks of life won her acclaim and awards in equal measure.

After the death of her husband Tracey returned to the UK in 2016 and was soon back on our screens in a new sketch series, Tracey Ullman’s Show, which showcased her enduring talent for sending up the powerful and the famous, including Dame Judi Dench, Angela Merkel and Theresa May. 

DISC ONE: American Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
DISC TWO: You Won't See Me by The Beatles  
DISC THREE: Nichols and May At Work by Mike Nichols And Elaine May 
DISC FOUR: That's The Way Of The World by Earth, Wind & Fire       
DISC FIVE: Everyday I Write the Book by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
DISC SIX: They Don’t Know by Kirsty MacColl
DISC SEVEN: You and I by Stevie Wonder 
DISC EIGHT: This Is the Sea by The Waterboys

BOOK CHOICE: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend
LUXURY ITEM: Nuts  
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: You and I by Stevie Wonder  

Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producer  Paula McGinley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2021.

Desert Island Discs Revisited: Comic Castaways 4

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Another collection of comic castaways share their desert island choices.

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Desert Island Discs Revisited

Comic Castaways 4

Tracey Ullman

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