British radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist
Roy Plomley
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Roy Plomley (at front) in the late 1930s presenting
Radio Normandy Calling
from the stage of the Hippodrome, Eastbourne.
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Born
| (
1914-01-20
)
20 January 1914
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Died
| 28 May 1985
(1985-05-28)
(aged 71)
London, England
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Occupation
| Radio presenter
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Years active
| 1936?1985
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Known for
| Desert Island Discs
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Spouse
|
Diana Wong
(
m.
1940)
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Children
| 1
[1]
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Francis Roy Plomley
,
OBE
(
PLUM
-lee
; 20 January 1914 ? 28 May 1985) was an English radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist. He is best remembered for devising the
BBC Radio
series
Desert Island Discs
, which he hosted from its inception in 1942 until his death.
Early life
[
edit
]
Plomley was born in
Kingston upon Thames
, Surrey, the only surviving child of pharmaceutical chemist Francis John Plomley (1868?1942) and Ellinor Maud (1880?1968; nee Wigg).
[1]
He was educated at
King's College School
, Wimbledon. On leaving school he worked first briefly for an estate agent, then for a London advertising agency, and then in publishing.
His original aim was to be an actor, and he did secure very minor parts in a number of films, e.g.
To the Public Danger
(1948),
Double Confession
(1950), but he soon drifted into broadcasting, coming to public notice as an announcer, and later producer, for the
International Broadcasting Company
(IBC), starting on
Radio Normandy
in April 1936 and moving on at the end of that year to the IBC's Paris-based station, Poste Parisien.
Between mid-1937 and late 1939 he was involved in writing and production, travelling back and forth between these two IBC stations in France and the company's offices and studios in London, while also presenting the variety programme
Radio Normandy Calling
, recorded on location in theatres at UK seaside resorts and regularly beating the BBC in audience ratings.
[2]
World War II
[
edit
]
This part of his career came to an abrupt end when commercial broadcasting from the continent was brought to a halt by
World War II
. Plomley and his new wife, Diana Wong, whom he married earlier that year stayed on in Paris, only narrowly escaping back to the UK via a circuitous route through the chaos and panic of the
Fall of France
, losing all their possessions in the process, as German occupying forces approached the French capital in June 1940.
[1]
[3]
Desert Island Discs
[
edit
]
In November 1941, Plomley devised the
BBC Radio
series
Desert Island Discs
.
[4]
The idea spontaneously came to him one evening while at home, and he wrote to Leslie Perowne, who was in charge of popular record programmes.
[1]
[5]
He had a favourable reply and so, in his little back bedroom/study he set out his ideas with the names of personalities to be invited to participate. In those days of
WWII
every BBC Radio show was scripted by Plomley and submitted for censorship.
On 29 January 1942, the first of a series of eight weekly programmes was broadcast.
[5]
Each show consisted of an interview with a celebrity, interspersed by the guest's choice of music. His contract was renewed for a further 15 shows. In the end he presented 1,791 editions of the programme stretching over 43 years. Its success was attributed to his skill as an interviewer and to his meticulous research.
[1]
Plomley was succeeded as presenter by
Michael Parkinson
(1986?1988), then by
Sue Lawley
(1988?2006),
Kirsty Young
(2006?2018) and most recently by
Lauren Laverne
.
[4]
Desert Island Discs
is the second longest-running radio programme in the world (after the
Grand Ole Opry
), and it is still running.
Until late September 2009, unlike many other BBC radio programmes,
Desert Island Discs
was unavailable for Listen Again on the BBC website. This was because, when Roy Plomley devised the programme, he was a freelance producer, and it had been argued therefore, that the 'format rights' of the programme belonged to him rather than to the BBC. At his death, those 'rights' passed to his widow, and the BBC were subsequently unable to negotiate the right to include
Desert Island Discs
in their Listen Again offering. It was announced on 27 September 2009 that an agreement had been reached with the family as to payment of royalties and it would be available via
iPlayer
.
[6]
Other work
[
edit
]
Plomley's broadcasting career was not restricted to
Desert Island Discs
; he also compiled and presented several feature programmes and was the chairman of BBC Radio's game show
Many a Slip
from 1964 to 1979, and a participant in such panel games as
Does the Team Think?
, also on BBC Radio. He also anchored
Round Britain Quiz
in 1961. For television he produced
Dinner Date with Death
in 1949, claimed to be the first UK film made for TV, and in the same year chaired
We Beg to Differ
on BBC Radio, transferring with it to BBC Television in 1951.
[7]
He also wrote the
screenplay
for the 1953 film
The Blakes Slept Here
.
Plomley was appointed
OBE
in 1975.
[4]
He was Chairman of the Radio and Television Writers' Association from 1957 to 1959, and was voted BBC Radio Personality of the Year in 1979. He published 16 stage plays (one of which,
Cold Turkey
, was put on in the West End), and one novel.
[8]
He was posthumously inducted into the
Radio Academy
's Hall of Fame.
[9]
After a period of declining health, Plomley died from a heart attack at his home in
Putney
on 28 May 1985, at the age of 71; he was buried at
Putney Vale Cemetery
.
[1]
[10]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Baker, Richard (2004).
"Plomley, (Francis) Roy (1914?1985), radio broadcaster"
.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/31557
.
ISBN
978-0-19-861412-8
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- ^
Roy Plomley,
Days Seemed Longer: Early Years of a Broadcaster
, London, 1980, pp.107?159.
ISBN
0-413-39730-0
- ^
Plomley,
op. cit.
, pp.183?199.
- ^
a
b
c
"Desert Island delights"
.
BBC
. 29 January 2002
. Retrieved
15 November
2007
.
- ^
a
b
"The History of Desert Island Discs"
.
BBC Radio 4
. Retrieved
14 March
2024
.
- ^
"BBC Radio 4 Blog: Desert Island Discs comes to iPlayer"
. BBC
. Retrieved
27 September
2009
.
- ^
"Roy Plomley, Creator of 'Desert Island Discs'" (obituary),
The Times
, London, 30 May 1985.
- ^
"Plomley, (Francis) Roy (died 1985)",
Who Was Who
, A&C Black, London, January 2007.
- ^
"Radio stars launch Hall of Fame"
. BBC News. 8 April 2003.
- ^
Hill, Patrick (30 May 1985).
"Desert Island Roy?a castaway for 40 years"
.
Evening Standard
. p. 3
. Retrieved
14 March
2024
– via
Newspapers.com
.
External links
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International
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