Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Genre Fiction

Coupland's iconic novels brought to life in two full-cast adaptations: In this adaptation by Theo Toksvig-Stewart, Douglas Coupland's brilliantly funny novel Microserfs takes a microscope to working culture in the early days of the tech boom. Perhaps one of Coupland's most iconic novels, Girlfriend in a Coma begins in December 1979 when 17-year-old Karen unexpectedly falls into a deep coma after a teen house party.

Northumberland, 1838. The TARDIS crash lands on board a sinking steamship. Stranded, the Doctor and the few survivors fight for their lives – while the local lighthouse keeper’s daughter, Grace Darling, risks her life to row to their rescue. Lauded a heroine, Grace struggles to cope with her new-found fame. But the Doctor senses something else troubling Grace. She’s been tormented by the terrifying vision she saw out at sea in the storm. There’s a monster in her mind, wrecking ships and stealing the souls of the drowned. And it’s real.

Linda Smith lives in her East London home, where her daily routine involves dozing through Thought for the Day, filing and cross-referencing the pizza leaflets that come through her door, and updating her limited edition 'Songbirds of Great Britain' porcelain collection. That is, when she's not managing the chaos caused by her flamboyant, sugar-loving live-in builder Chris; dealing with the demands of her morbid, crumbly boned Welsh neighbour Betty; or taking regular jaunts chauffeured by Worra, the philosophical Nigerian cabby.

This is the second series of one-off comedies written by the genius behind the smash-hit radio sitcom “Cabin Pressure” – John Finnemore. The first series won the coveted Writers Guild of Great Britain award for Best Comedy. Each show is a comedy perfumed by just two actors - including...

Jane Austen's acclaimed comedy of manners contains a truly memorable cast of characters, including the snobbish Mrs Ferrers, impetuous Marianne, selfish John Dashwood, and his awful, grasping wife. Annette Crosbie captures all the wit and charm of the romance in this BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour reading.

Three of the ever-popular Sheridan’s finest plays Born in Dublin in 1751, Richard Brinsley Sheridan was a theatre impresario, statesman and the most celebrated playwright of his time. His brilliantly witty comedies of manners have become part of the literary canon, and are frequently performed...

Five full-cast dramas by the celebrated Scottish writer Liz Lochhead, plus a short story Liz Lochhead is a widely recognised poet, playwright and performer. She was the Makar, Scotland’s national poet, between 2011 and 2016, and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2015. The six...

An alternative history of the US space programme, dramatised by Dirk Maggs. What if John F. Kennedy survived the assassination attempt and developed the space programme? President Nixon, with the help of former president JFK, has just green-lit NASA’s first manned expedition to Mars. Aboard the expedition is Natalie York, a geologist who risks everything she loves for the chance to go to space; Phil Stone, former X-15 test pilot; and Ralph Gershon, a Vietnam War hero intent on being the first African American to reach another planet.

Chris Addison – the thinking idiot's pretend anthropologist – takes us on a comic journey through the vast and rich subject of human history in these eight hilarious comedy lectures. Aided by Professor Austin Herring (aka Geoffrey McGivern), Dan Tetsell and Jo Enright, who put their considerable talents to use in sketches illustrating the lectures, he examines how Homo sapiens became Top Species, charts the rise and fall of the Western world and looks at what’s next for the future of mankind.

Toby Jones and Holliday Grainger star in a new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Dodie Smith's enduringly popular coming-of-age novel In the 1930s, seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain lives in a crumbling ruin of a castle in the Suffolk countryside. Her father, an author wrestling with...

Thermonuclear war erupts in Kerry Shale's award-winning 1993 dramatisation of the classic apocalyptic black comedy. Dr Strangelove came to prominence in the 1964 film, directed by Stanley Kubrick. Based on the novel Red Alert by Peter George, it famously starred Peter Sellers in multiple roles. As well as scripting the dramatisation, Kerry Shale also takes multiple roles: Dr Strangelove, Lieutenant 'Sweets' Kivel, Lieutenant Barney Goldberg, Lieutenant Lothar Zogg, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, General Jack D. Ripper and President Merkin Muffley.

In the early hours of 5 June 1944, Captain Rob Collins, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who is languishing in hospital, receives a call that will take him on a journey through England that will change his life. Mike Walker's play is an epic journey across England poised on the edge of a historical moment. It is set on June 5th, the day before the invasion. It is a portrait of England waiting for the invasion that will change the course of history, but an invasion only a very few know that is about happen. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliet Stevenson and Claudia Harrison.

Anton and Liam are the Eric and Ernie of the fish world. Liam is a slippers-and-cardigan, Friday-night-in-with-a-Dick Francis-and-a-box-of-Terry’s-All-Gold kind of goldfish; whereas Anton is erudite, philosophical, sophisticated and fluent in several languages. Thrown together by fate, their only company in their bowl is some gravel and a little plastic castle as they closely observe the tumultuous relationship between their owners, Martin and Susan. In these two series, Liam and Anton contemplate the meaning of their existence, ponder the concept of time, and learn about sex.

A collection of full-cast dramatisations and readings from the best-selling author. Maeve Binchy was one of Britain's best-loved storytellers, and this compilation of her finest fiction, as heard on BBC Radio, demonstrates all the warmth, wit and compassion that made her so popular.

Iain Banks, aka Iain M Banks, came to fame in 1984 with his transfixing debut The Wasp Factory, described as both ‘a work of unparalleled depravity’ and 'a masterpiece'. In 1993 he was acknowledged as one of the Best of Young British Writers, and his numerous bestselling books include The Crow Road, Complicity and the ‘Culture’ sci-fi series. Collected here are three of his best works, as heard on BBC Radio.

1971. As Ted Heath's government presides over the collapse of Rolls Royce, and Britain goes over to decimalisation, Brian Oldman is locked up in Brixton Prison. Joseph Oldman pulls every corrupt string in a desperate attempt to get him released; yet no sooner is Brian out than he finds himself back inside. Joseph, however, is on the up: expanding his business through dodgy deals with a Colombian drug cartel and making friends in high places, including Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher. Entering the murky world of politics, he becomes an MP and reverts to his old surname, Olinska.

Four full-cast dramatisations of classic Gothic novels, plus documentaries exploring the genre’s rise and enduring appeal Dark deeds, dastardly villains, innocent victims and supernatural happenings – these are the terrifying tropes that make up Gothic fiction, a genre that has captured our...

Best-selling author Joanna Trollope has been described as one of the most insightful chroniclers and social commenters writing fiction today. Her books have been translated into over 25 languages, and several have been adapted for television. This collection comprises the BBC Radio dramatisations of her historical novel Parson Harding's Daughter (written under the nom de plume Caroline Harvey) and two of her most popular contemporary novels, A Spanish Lover and Second Honeymoon, as well as an edition of the literary chat show The Book Café.

A collection of intriguing thrillers by Philip Levene Philip Levene was a prolific radio dramatist who also penned 19 episodes of ITV’s The Avengers, which won him a Writers’ Guild Award. While many of his works have unfortunately been lost, this collection of surviving recordings showcases...

After the death of her GP husband, widow Sarah is battling to bring up her strong-willed 18-year-old daughter, Clare, hindered by her meddling mother, Eleanor. Living on the middle floor of the family home, with Clare downstairs and Eleanor upstairs, Sarah finds herself besieged from above and below as she tries to cope with the demands of both her mum and her daughter. Luckily, she finds solace at work, where her best friend and boss at Bygone Books, Russell, provides a sympathetic ear.