David Nott on working in war zones

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 5 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The surgeon David Nott was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2016 shortly after returning from war-torn Syria.

He spoke to Kirsty about his experiences of working in a warzone for the first time back in the early 90s.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:06.1	Can I just say?
0:07.6	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast.
0:10.0	It's such a wonderful listen.
0:11.7	So nice.
0:12.5	There are loads more like it on BBC Sounds.
0:14.8	Different paces, different heights, the roof is buckling.
0:17.9	Where you can also listen to live sports commentary.
0:20.2	It's right foot goes for goal.
0:21.6	Oh!
0:22.7	And then enjoy even more podcasts full of analysis and reaction to the big stories.
0:27.7	The stat that is astonishing is they ended with the lowest amount of possession.
0:31.2	And she's had to live with that.
0:32.8	So if you love sport, a passion, it's almost like a religion.
0:35.8	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:37.8	Sort of expecting that every week now.
0:58.9	Hello, it's me, Lauren Leu, and this is Desert Island Disc's postcards,
1:03.9	your hand-picked selection of unforgettable moments from some of our favourite castaways.
1:09.3	This postcard comes from the surgeon David Knott, who spoke to Kirsty Young in 2016.
1:12.7	He'd just come back from working in Syria. After the recording, our Desert Island Postbag was inundated with people telling us how moved they were
1:18.0	by Dr. Notts interview. In this short clip, David is telling Kirsty about his experiences of working
1:24.4	in a war zone for the first time back in the early 90s.
	...

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