Roy Plomley by the guest's choice of music. His contract was renewed for a further 15 shows. In the end he presented 1,791 editions of the programme stretching over 43 years. Its success was attributed to his skill as an interviewer and to his meticulous research. Plomley was succeeded as presenter by Michael Parkinson (1985–1988), then by Sue Lawley (1988–2006), and most recently by Kirsty Young. "Desert Island Discs" is the second longest-running radio programme in the world (after the Grand Ole Opry), and it is still running. Until late September 2009, unlike many other BBC radio programmes, "Desert Island Discs" was
Simon Young (presenter) Simon Young (presenter) Simon Young is a former Irish radio and television presenter with RTÉ 2fm. He presented "The Beatbox". He was also known for making contributions to the cult children's television strand, "Dempsey's Den", hosted by his radio colleague at that time, Ian Dempsey. He resigned from RTÉ in 2002 and disappeared from public until 2011. Young is distinguishable by his moustache which he grew when he was 15 after noticing in the "RTÉ Guide" that people who worked in RTÉ had moustaches. Tony Fenton affectionately called him "Simes." Young presented "Simon's Choice" or "Simon's Saturday Choice" on Saturday