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: Racing Castaways: Clare Balding

Clare Balding

Racing Castaways

Desert Island Discs

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Desert Island Discs Revisited, Racing Castaways, Clare Balding

Broadcaster Clare Balding is castaway by Kirsty Young.

4 Extra Debut. From Billy Joel to Yazoo. Broadcaster Clare Balding shares her castaway choices with Kirsty Young. From December 2013.

Sporting broadcaster Clare Balding is castaway by Kirsty Young. 

BBC TV's coverage of London's 2012 Olympics was her triumph and much like Team GB she'd been in training for her big moment for quite a while.

Clare has worked on five Olympic Games, four Paralympics, three Winter Olympics and a great deal of horse racing. 

It's on the turf that's she's most at home - her father was a champion racehorse trainer and for a number of years she herself was a leading amateur flat jockey.

The first pony she ever rode, as a toddler, was a gift from the Queen; she went to public school and Cambridge but her life hasn't been an entirely easy ride.  She has coped with thyroid cancer, being forcibly "outed" by the tabloid press and in her own words being "a disappointment from the moment" she was born.

She says, "This may sound nauseating but I'm a very happy person. I love my work, I love my life and I'm told by those who know and love me that it's a bit like living with Tigger".
 
DISC ONE: Barenaked Ladies - If I Had A Million Dollars
DISC TWO: London String Chorale - Galloping Home
DISC THREE: Yazoo - Only You  
DISC FOUR: Neil Diamond - Beautiful Noise  
DISC FIVE: Underworld - Caliban's Dream 
DISC SIX: Belle and Sebastian - I Want the World to Stop
DISC SEVEN: Billy Joel - She's Got a Way 
DISC EIGHT: Beck Goldsmith - I Vow to Thee My Country  

BOOK CHOICE: Encyclopaedia of Nature  
LUXURY CHOICE: Thermos mug with tea, milk and sugar  
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Billy Joel - She's Got a Way

Producer: Cathy Drysdale

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.

Desert Island Discs Revisited: Racing Castaways

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.

A collection of horse racing castaways share their desert island choices.

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Desert Island Discs Revisited

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