@ Van "why should you be lumbered with the complete works of Shakespeare"

I thought that a problem in the early days of the programme* - when Britain was perhaps more religious and culturally unified - was every guest and his dog picked the Bible or Shakespeare and it was all getting a bit dull and predictable. So the producers said, right, we'll take those two as a given, now pick something else you unimaginative lot of pious tossers and sanctimonious poseurs.

"The Bible" stands for any suitable core religious text, so Muslims are given The Koran automatically, for instance. Atheists are allowed to refuse a Holy Book, but can't take two normal books.

I suppose a sensible book to take would be the multi-volume full Oxford English Dictionary, and then you could create any other existent book, poem or song by judicious reading in the correct order. Which you would have time to do.

*It's been going since 1942.