Vic Oliver: The First Castaway Remembered

Aired in the year Desert Island Discs celebrated 70 years on air, David Baddiel explores the mercurial life of its very first castaway, entertainer Vic Oliver.

In the early forties presenter Roy Plomley devised a series which has been a constant presence in the choppy waters of radio ever since. The very first broadcast of Desert Island Discs was recorded at the bomb-damaged Maida Vale studios, London, on 27 January 1942. Plomley's guest was Vic Oliver.

In the forties, as a comedian, musician, host and music hall act Oliver was a household name. He'd married Winston Churchill's daughter and found fame appearing on the wartime radio show Hi Gang while forging a successful stage career.

During those war years he'd also attracted the attention of the Nazi party who'd included his name on a list of people to be arrested in the event of a successful invasion of Britain. There are also false reports in some of his biographes that his mother perished in a concentration camp despite Oliver confirming in his 1950s autobiography that she was alive and well and living in London.

As David Baddiel discovers, there's a whole series of these myths and contradictions about Oliver's personal life, his relationship with the Churchill family, his impact on the world of entertainment and an untold story of how he appeared to keep his Jewish background private.