From South Tyneside to a desert island - it was quite the journey for this Shields lad

David Phillips, a former South Tyneside schoolboy, faced that question on a much-loved radio show 14 years ago.

A chat with Kirsty on a famous show

In 2011, the academic raised in South Shields selected his favourite music on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs radio show.

David, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, revealed his tastes to presenter Kirsty Young. He was then living in Ashtead, Surrey.

He was evacuated to Cumbria and Bishop Auckland as a child, but between times he was a pupil at three South Shields schools – Ocean Road Juniors, Harton Juniors and the Grammar Technical.

His dad was a popular orchestra leader

His mother, Dauphine, who died aged 90 in 2004, lived for many years in Lincoln Road, on the Horsley Hill Estate in South Shields, and his late father, Stanley, was a Tyne pilot and popular orchestra leader and stand-up comedian.

Tell us if you have been a part of a radio broadcast.

They certainly have at nearby Hylton Red House School in Sunderland.

It was back in 1978 when locals got to ask questions of a panel of experts who came to the school.

Tricky questions for a Radio 4 panel

And one of the questions was a real poser for the panel of Norman St. John Stevas (MP for Chelmsford); radio personality Professor Dorothy Wedderburn; Mr Roderick MacFarquhar, (MP for Belper); and astronomer and television personality Patrick Moore.

The Radio 4 show “Any Questions?” was broadcast live from the school and the chairman of the proceedings was former disc jockey David Jacobs.

Should G.C.E. examination results be made public?

A report at the time said: “A dozen people were picked from the audience and their questions were fired at the panel members. Some were amusing, some serious, but the panel dealt competently with them all.

“They ranged from: “Should G.C.E. examination results be made public?” and “Should we use the word illegitimate for children born outside marriage?” to “To whom would the panel like to be related to, and why?”

“The latter caused a few smiles. The audience found the evening educational and amusing.”

Were you there for the show and what are your memories of it?