Desert Island Discs is a parlour game...Goons should be the greatest radio show, says Parky
SIR Michael Parkinson dismissed the news yesterday that Desert Island Discs had been named the greatest radio programme of all time, claiming “its reputation outgrew its purpose”.
The veteran broadcaster, 83, who presented the BBC Radio 4 show for three years when creator Roy Plomley died in 1985, said the much-loved programme was nothing more than “a parlour game”.
The long-running chat show, in which a castaway guest shares the soundtrack of their lives, was named the undisputed winner by a panel of industry experts in a poll conducted by Radio Times.
Guests have included Marlene Dietrich, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Sir Paul McCartney and Princess Margaret since it first aired in 1942.
However Sir Michael, a “castaway” on the show in 1972 and one of only five hosts, said yesterday he cannot understand its enduring popularity.
He told the Daily Express: “It has a credibility and a strange reputation. Really, when you think about it, it’s just an interview going out.
“You sit there and give 10 cues and pretend you’re on a desert island. What’s so fantastic about that?
Fascinates
“I was on it before I did the actual show itself. I was flattered to be asked to do it but I never regarded it as a high point of my broadcasting life.”
When asked what would get his vote, Sir Michael said: “The Goon Show should be No 1 in my view. It was the most innovative comedy show that has ever been on radio.”
Surreal comedian Sir Spike Milligan created The Goon Show in 1951 and it became a huge hit, launching the careers of Peter Sellers, Sir Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine.
His other choice would have been It’s That Man Again (ITMA) – one of the most popular radio shows of the 1940s. “During the war it was compulsory listening,” he said. “But as for Desert Island Discs, it’s a lovely parlour game whose reputation outgrew its purpose.”
However, the show’s third host Sue Lawley received the news more warmly. The retired broadcaster, 72, who took over from Sir Michael in 1988 and presented the show for more than 18 years, said: “Fundamentally, it is about a subject which fascinates us all: the lives of others.”
She was replaced by Scottish host Kirsty Young, 50, in 2006. Ms Young announced in August last year that she was going on sick leave and that BBC 6 Music presenter Lauren Laverne, 40, would temporarily take over. Ms Laverne hosted Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller last month.
Producer Cathy Drysdale said: “It’s wonderful for the programme. It’s an absolutely genius format.”