Main content

Miranda Hart

Kirsty Young talks to comedian and actor Miranda Hart.

Kirsty Young's castaway is Miranda Hart.

She writes and stars in the hit sitcom "Miranda" and has congaed her way to the top of TV comedy by exploiting the universal truth that awkwardness lies at the heart of the human condition. Slapstick and misunderstanding underpin her work along with the impression that she's just a really, jolly, lovely 'girl': her father was a naval commander and her mother has devoted much of her life to tending a glorious garden.

Making her mark has been something of a slog. After her first appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe it was another 11 years before she could give up her job as a P.A. - for a good while she was photocopying scripts rather than performing them.

She says: "I started writing comedy because it was more fun inside my head than the real world, but that's no longer true."

Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 27 Dec 2013 09:00

Music Played

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Morecambe & Wise

      Bring Me Sunshine

      • Morecambe and Wise.
      • EMI.
  • Dolly Parton

    9 to 5

    • Dolly Parton: A Life in Music.
    • RCA.
  • Christopher Dearnley & John Scott

    Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

    Choir: Choristers of St. Paul's Cathedral.
    • Music of St PaulÂ’s Cathedral.
    • Hyperion.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major - 2nd movement

    Performer: London Mozart Players. Performer: Howard Shelley.
    • Romantic Classics.
    • Chan.
  • Simon & Garfunkel

    ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖward Bound

    • Definitive Simon and Garfunkel.
    • Columbia.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cello Sonata No. 3 in G minor - Adagio

    Performer: Pablo Casals. Performer: Paul Baumgartner.
    • Cello Sonatas.
    • CBS.
  • Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters & Carol Burnett

    Easy Street

    • Annie - soundtrack.
    • Columbia.
  • Mama Cass

    Dream a Little Dream

    • Summer of Love.
    • Polygram.
  • Book Choice

    • The Complete Works - Margaret Luce

  • Luxury Choice

    • Wimbledon Centre court, racquet, balls and a ball machine.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Miranda Hart
Producer Cathy Drysdale

Broadcasts

  • Sun 22 Dec 2013 11:15
  • Fri 27 Dec 2013 09:00

Featured in...

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast