Kirsty Young

Ten memorable Room 101 moments

As host Frank Skinner announces that 'Room 101 is dead', we look back at some memorable moments from the show

How Kirsty Young inspired Joseph Morpurgo

Soothing Sounds for Baby is the result of hours spent rummaging in record shops and listening to Radio 4's castaway show. Its star took us on a vinyl spree.

Stephen Fry is considering parenthood

Writer and performer tells BBC Radio 4's Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs today that he and husband Elliott Spencer 'had better get on with it', if they decide to become parents.

Audio - Stephen Fry: 'I'm not a real intellectual'

The entertainer chats to Kirsty Young.

Bridget Christie: The 'Are Women Funny?' debate is dead

Lee Mack told Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs that there are no women standups on panel shows because they are less likely to show off. Tell that to Julie Burchill.

In 2008, controversy magnet-cum-comedian Russell Brand quit the BBC in shame over "Manuelgate". Now his rehabilitation at the Corporation is complete. Last month, he sat on the Question Time panel alongside that other womanising wag, Boris Johnson. Today Brand appeared on another Beeb institution, Desert Island Discs (Radio 4).

Prompted by the gently probing Kirsty Young, Brand reflected on that notorious 2008 prank phone call to actor Andrew Sachs. He talked of "nearly breaking" his beloved BBC but described the storm as a "dishonest scandal" created by "privately owned media with a pre-existing agenda to attack the BBC". Five years on, he still seemed slightly confused: contrite yet defiant, taking the blame yet deflecting it elsewhere.

Young mentioned her castaway's "beguilingly florid turn of phrase" in her introduction and Brand duly delivered, describing his father as a "sporadically present peripatetic figure" and himself as a "shamanic libido lizard". He confessed to being tired, which rendered him calm, thoughtful and less manic than his stand-up persona.

Brand talked frankly and movingly about his childhood loneliness and mother's cancer. He paid tribute to his mother and grandmother, admitting that they'd "come between me and the grave on many occasions" and said he wants children "to a point that's almost unseemly in a man".

Rob Brydon manfully steers the quiz show in which a talent for lying about your life leads to victory, especially if the opposition is vulnerable to having the wool pulled over their eyes. Tonight, Lee Mack is flanked by Getting On star Joanna Scanlan and Henning Wehn, German Comedy Ambassador to Great Britain. The opposition is led by David Mitchell, skipping alongside Olympic golden jumper Greg Rutherford and Desert Island Discs jockey Kirsty Young, who claims she has five chickens all named after her favourite newsreaders. Please let it be true.

Never has Prof Brian Cox sounded so off-guard as when Kirsty Young, Jane Garvey and then HM the Queen attempt to go on a date with him. And as for the Archbishop of Canterbury - did he really think asking his followers to send tweets about films connected to fruit and vegetables would be good for his image? The satirical impressions series returns with some brilliant takes on the lives of the famous.

Audio: Tim Minchin on writing 'Song for Phil Daoust'

Musical comedian Tim Minchin has defended his decision to hit back at a critic who gave him a bad review on his debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, by writing Song for Phil Daoust, although he regretted the prominence it still had on the internet.

He said it hurts to be told your work is useless and particularly difficult to go on stage with material you are so familiar with and no longer find funny, with the words of a critic ringing in your ears.

You can hear Tim Minchin speaking to Kirsty Young on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on Sunday 6 May at 11:15 BST. Listen online or browse the extensive Desert Island Discs archive.

Audio: Stop being a 'prat', pals told Corden

Comedian James Corden admits becoming famous was intoxicating and sent him off the rails as he found himself out drinking with strangers every night, until friends and family helped him see he was looking like "a bit of a prat".

He described how advice from friend Rob Brydon and a hug from his father, which reduced him to tears, helped him turn things round and become the husband and dad he is today.

James Corden was speaking to Kirsty Young on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on Sunday 12 Feb at 11:15 GMT, repeated Friday 17 Feb at 09:00 GMT. Listen online or browse the extensive Desert Island Discs archive.