Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Literature & Fiction

All twelve episodes of the BBC Radio 4 sketch show starring Robert Webb and friends Welcome to Concrete Cow, the sketch show where anything is possible. Written by James Cary, who won a Silver Sony Award for Think the Unthinkable, this silly, surreal and ingenious comedy stars one half of...

A thrilling BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation based on CJ Sansom's best-selling Tudor crime novel. Winter, 1537. Henry VIII has declared himself Supreme Head of the Church and instructed his Chief Minister, Thomas Cromwell, to dissolve England's religious houses and seize their wealth. But Cromwell's plot to bring down the abbeys has hit a snag - one of the King's Commissioners has been found brutally murdered in Scarnsea monastery, on the south coast of Kent.

A master of Russian realism, Anton Chekhov is renowned for his meticulously observed plays and short stories exploring the human condition, in all its joys and sorrows. Included here are six of his best-known dramas, as well as Michael Frayn's adaptation of Wild Honey, drawn from an early, untitled Chekhov play; and one documentary exploring Chekhov's life and work.

Timothy West takes on the role of Rumpole in this collection of cracking court cases. The stories included are: Rumpole and the Primrose Path, Rumpole and the Scales of Justice, Rumpole and the Vanishing Juror, Rumpole Redeemed.

Locked down with his semi-detached wife, Frances, Charles has thrown himself into a new career as a handyman, becoming quite the DIY expert. He's developed muscles, stopped smoking and even cut back on the booze. Then his agent, Maurice, offers him the chance to get back on stage - and in a West End play, no less. The star, Justin Grover, asked for him specifically, but Charles has reservations. Grover was cocky enough when they were both young hopefuls; now, he's the star of a massive TV fantasy series, and the play - a verbatim piece set in a monastery - is dire.

In these final four series, Anna is trying to remain calm and centred in the midst of the familial chaos that surrounds her. Her sisters, Victoria and Charlotte, are more combative than ever, and when a row blows up between them, Anna is stuck in the middle. Having graduated from university, her niece Emily is preparing for marriage and motherhood. But her wedding plans cause ructions, as Victoria and Charlotte make her celebrations all about them. The baby's birth sends Victoria into competitive granny mode - while Anna receives a heart-warming surprise.

Join the Doctor on these journeys in Time and Space. In The Taking of Chelsea 426, he visits a city-size colony floating on the clouds of Saturn, just as some familiar foes arrive: the Sontarans. In Autonomy, an unspeakable terror is lurking on Level Zero of Hyperville, the hi-tech, 24-hour entertainment complex where the stage is set for a battle with the Autons. In The Krillitane Storm, the Doctor finds medieval Worcester threatened by the legendary Devil’s Huntsman, in reality a menace he has encountered before.

In this BBC full-cast production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena run to the woods and stumble into a life separate from time itself. Fairy magic wreaks havoc and midsummer madness takes over as lovers tread the delicate line between fantasy and reality...

After years of looking after her elderly parents, Anna finds herself able, for the first time, to live her own life. She's enjoying simply being herself, with no responsibilities and no obligations. But her two younger sisters, Victoria and Charlotte, are concerned about her. Surely poor, unfulfilled Anna can't be happy without a partner or a family around? Determined to make an effort, they decide to draw her into their lives - and Anna's peaceful, commitment-free lifestyle soon disappears.

Tom Hiddleston ( The Night Manager) stars as Jonathan Harker, with David Suchet ( Poirot) as Dracula in Liz Lochhead's powerful BBC radio adaptation of the classic novel by Bram Stoker. When solicitor Jonathan Harker sets off for Transylvania to sell the mysterious Count Dracula a Gothic mansion, his bride-to-be, Mina, begs him to stay - to no avail. But on arrival at Dracula's castle, deep in a black forest surrounded by wolves, Harker wishes he had listened to his fiancée.

Jon Culshaw reads this exciting classic novelisation of a Fourth Doctor TV adventure, featuring the first appearance of the Daleks’ creator, Davros. “Attention to detail is the hallmark of this always excellent range” Doctor Who Magazine The place: Skaro Time: The Birth of the Daleks After...

Michael Maloney, Neve McIntosh, David Warner, Nicholas Briggs and Alex Kingston read these four original stories featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory.

Dramatisations and readings of five of Josephine Tey's classic mystery novels. Scottish novelist and playwright Josephine Tey was one of the greatest Golden Age crime writers and the author of eight mysteries, including six featuring Scotland Yard inspector Alan Grant. The most famous of these, The Daughter of Time, was acclaimed the greatest crime novel of all time by the Crime Writers' Association. A full-cast dramatisation of this iconic story is included here, along with adaptations of four of her other much-loved mystery novels.

Five BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of John Buchan’s espionage thrillers featuring gentleman spy Richard Hannay. The forerunner to James Bond, Secret Agent Richard Hannay is a thoroughly British action hero, pursuing ruthless villains, foiling deadly plans and risking life and limb for his country. This gripping collection encompasses all five of Hannay’s adventures, adapted for radio with superb casts including Tom Baker, Clive Merrison, Stuart Milligan, Jasmine Hyde and Patrick Malahide.

Samantha Spiro, David Troughton, and Amanda Root are among the cast of this new BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Jane Austen’s famous novel. Mrs Bennet is determined to see her five daughters married off and secure a future for them all. When the wealthy Mr Bingley arrives in the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet wastes no time in making his acquaintance. His friend Mr Darcy, however, discourages Mr Bingley from marrying Jane Bennet, and also appears to snub her sister Elizabeth.

A brand new novelisation of the classic television adventure featuring the Sixth Doctor. The Doctor and Peri land on the planet Necros to visit the funerary home Tranquil Repose – where the dead are interred and the near-dead placed in suspended animation until such time as their conditions...

All three BBC radio dramatisations of Edna O’Brien’s coming-of-age trilogy set in 1950s Ireland Now a much-loved modern classic, The Country Girls Trilogy was fiercely controversial when first published in the 1960s. Banned by the Irish censors and burned by the Church, the books nonetheless...

Once, a girl called Ace travelled the universe with the Doctor - until, in the wake of a terrible tragedy they parted company. Now, decades on, she is known as Dorothy McShane, the reclusive millionaire philanthropist who heads the global organisation A Charitable Earth. But Dorothy is being haunted by terrible nightmares in which she’s abducted to an alien world. Nightmares that begin just as scores of young runaways are vanishing from the dark alleyways of London.

Stephen Fry narrates this full-cast dramatisation of the famous Victorian comic novel, a portrait of English society and its mores, with Emma Fielding as Becky Sharp. Duration: 5 hours approx.

Tom shares the cramped and claustrophobic tenement home with his overbearing mother, Amanda, and painfully shy sister, Laura. He works in a warehouse but dreams of becoming a poet, escaping his mundane life. Laura hides at home, lacking the confidence to engage meaningfully with the outside world, preferring instead to lose herself in her collection of fragile glass animals. Amanda sells magazine subscriptions over the phone and commits herself to finding a match for her daughter. One day, Tom succumbs to his mother's pressure and brings home a gentleman caller....