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Monica Dolan, actor

Monica Dolan, actor, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Monica Dolan is a BAFTA and Olivier award winning actor. She is equally at home playing a wrongfully accused postmistress in Mr Bates Vs the Post Office as she is playing the serial killer Rosemary West.
Alongside her many roles in TV, stage and screen, Monica has also written and performed in her award winning one woman play B*easts.

Born in 1969, Monica was the youngest of four children and was brought up in Woking. Her parents were Irish and had studied science and came to the UK in the early sixties. It was a very academic family and Monica found her passion for drama when she joined a teenage acting group. She went on to study drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Since leaving drama school, she has had a very successful career and is known for her ability to master different accents and dialects. When she played the press officer, Tracy Pritchard in the comedyW1A, her Welsh accent was so convincing viewers thought she really was Welsh.

Her critically acclaimed career on TV stage and screen has seen her portray the fictional evil Anne Branson in 蜜芽传媒 1鈥檚 Sherwood, which earned her another BAFTA nomination. During the COVID pandemic, she gave a mesmeric performance as a grieving widow in The Shrine by Alan Bennett and because of restrictions at the time was her own makeup artist and costume designer.

Monica lives in London with her beloved husky, Velma.

DISC ONE: The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) - The Banana Splits
DISC TWO: That's Entertainment - The Jam
DISC THREE: Nothing - Priscilla Lopez (as Diana Morales), A Chorus Line Orchestra, conducted by Don Pippin
DISC FOUR: Love and Affection - Joan Armatrading
DISC FIVE: MacArthur Park - Richard Harris
DISC SIX: The Night - Diane Chorley
DISC SEVEN: Us Amazonians - Kirsty MacColl
DISC EIGHT: South American Getaway (From "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid") - Burt Bacharach

BOOK CHOICE: Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna
LUXURY ITEM: A walk-in wardrobe
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Love and Affection - Joan Armatrading

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

Available now

57 minutes

Last on

Fri 1 Aug 2025 09:00
蜜芽传媒 Radio 4

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Music Played

  • The Banana Splits

    The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)

    • We're The Banana Splits.
    • Stratosphere Music.
    • 1.

  • The Jam

    That's Entertainment

    • That's Entertainment: The Collection.
    • UMC (Universal Music Catalogue).
    • 1.

  • Priscilla Lopez, A Chorus Line Orchestra, conducted by Don Pippin

    Nothing

    • A Chorus Line - 40th Anniversary Celebration (Original Broadway Cast Recording).
    • Masterworks Broadway.
    • 8.

  • Joan Armatrading

    Love And Affection

    • Joan Armatrading.
    • A&M.
    • 4.

  • Richard Harris

    MacArthur Park

    • A Tramp Shining.
    • Geffen*.

  • Diane Chorley

    The Night

    • What A Life Recordings.

  • Kirsty MacColl

    Us Amazonians

    • Tropical Brainstorm.
    • UMC (Universal Music Catalogue).
    • 10.

  • Burt Bacharach

    South American Getaway (From "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid")

    • Decca (UMO) (Classics).

Broadcasts

  • Sun 27 Jul 2025 10:00
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 4
  • Fri 1 Aug 2025 09:00
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 4

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