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Lord Woolf

Kirsty Young's castaway is former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf.

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Woolf. Throughout his career, he has been at the forefront of shaping our justice system. Following the Strangeways riots in 1990 he issued far-reaching reports on penal reform and his part in authorizing the release of James Bulger's killers attracted huge attention. As Master of the Rolls he made an historic judgement allowing Diane Blood to use her dead husband's sperm to have a child.

Lord Woolf's appetite to see justice done was sharpened as a wartime school boy and the only Jew at Fettes College in Edinburgh - he developed an early antipathy towards any perceived unfairness. His school master's contention that being a barrister wasn't the profession for a boy with a stutter only made him more determined to succeed.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: The Prisoner's Chorus from Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book: The Koran
Luxury: A happy photograph of the whole family including the latest grandchildren.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 6 Jun 2008 09:00

Music Played

  • Franz Schubert

    String Quartet No. 14 in D minor 'Death and the Maiden' - 1st movement

    Orchestra: The Razumovsky Ensemble

  • Fettes College Pipes & Drums

    A Burns Medley

    • Industria.
    • Fettes.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Don Carlos Act 3

    Orchestra: Orchestra of La Scala, Milan and Choir Conductor: Claudio Abbado

    • Don Carlos.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Johnny Tillotson

    Yellow Bird

    • She Understands Me / That鈥檚 My Style.
    • Ace.
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Ludwig van Beethoven

      Prisoners' Chorus (from Fidelio)

      Choir: The Choir of the Berlin Opera Orchestra: The Berlin Philharmonic Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

      • Fidelio.
      • EMI.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    To love both young and old (Gremin's aria) (from Eugene Onegin)

    Soloist: Nicolai Ghiaurov

    • Eugene Onegin.
    • Decca.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a 'Les adieux' - 1st movement

    Soloist: Leon McCawley

    • Beethoven Piano Music: Sonatas Pathetique.
    • Sanctuary Records.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor - 1st movement

    Orchestra: Members of the Amadeus Quartet Conductor: Murray Perahia

    • Brahms: Piano Quartet, Op. 25.
    • CBS.
  • Book Choice

    • The Koran

  • Luxury Choice

    • A happy photograph of the whole family including the latest grandchildren

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Harry Woolf

Broadcasts

  • Sun 1 Jun 2008 11:15
  • Fri 6 Jun 2008 09:00

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