The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is an actor who rose to fame by portraying two rather different sorts of policemen on the nation's television screens. John Thaw, though a versatile stage actor, having appeared at the Royal Court and played with the Royal Shakespeare Company, is best known for the roles of Jack Reegan in the Sweeney, and, more recently, the morose but music-loving Inspector Morse. A passionate lover of classical music himself, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his early childhood in Lancashire, his marriage to actress Sheila Hancock and his aversion to the perils of stardom.

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

Record: Erbarme Dich, Mein Gott (St Matthew Passion)
Book: The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Luxury: Large comfortable armchair