Showing results by narrator "Andrew Sachs" in All Categories

Angela Carter was one of the most important writers of the 20th century. A pioneer of British magical realism, her work was described by Salman Rushdie as 'without rival and without equal'. Her radical, inventive novels influenced countless writers, while her dark, sensual short fiction turned traditional fables inside out, giving women the power over their desires and fates. Susannah Clapp, Angela Carter's literary executor and friend, introduces the productions and offers fascinating insights into Angela Carter's life and work.

Candide and his tutor Pangloss travel the globe trying to follow the philosophy "All is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds". However, they are stung and let down at every turn, being robbed, tortured, and ridiculed, amongst other trials. On hearing about their often disasterous travels, a listener feels unfortunately less than empathetic, and can't help themselves laughing out loud at this very funny account of the trail our optimistic travellers take.

A 10-year-old gypsy girl is found dead in the canal, a man's wedding ring and watch in her possession, and Commissario Guido Brunetti uncovers a thorny world of prejudice and malefaction surrounding the immigrant gypsy communities.

In The Dinosaur Hunters, Deborah Cadbury brilliantly recreates the remarkable story of the bitter rivalry between two men: Gideon Mantell uncovered giant bones in a Sussex quarry, became obsessed with the lost world of the reptiles and was driven to despair. Richard Owen, a brilliant anatomist, gave the extinct creatures their name and secured for himself unrivalled international acclaim.

As Venice experiences a debilitating heatwave, Commissario Brunetti prepares to escape the city and spend time with his family in the mountains. However, the weather is the last thing on Ispettore Vianello’s mind; it seems his aunt has become obsessed with horoscopes and has been withdrawing large amounts of money from the family business. Not knowing what to do, he consults Brunetti and asks permission to unofficially trail her, which leads to the flat of Stefano Gorini. But who is this man?

When Anna Maria Giusti returns from holiday to find her elderly neighbour Constanza Altavilla dead, with blood on the floor near her head, she immediately alerts the police. Commissario Brunetti is called to the scene and it seems the woman has suffered a fatal heart attack. Patta, the Vice-Questore, is eager to dismiss the case as a death from natural causes, but Brunetti believes that there is more to it.

When Commissario Brunetti is summoned to the hospital bedside of a senior paediatrician whose skull has been fractured, he is confronted with more questions than answers.

A fascinating glimpse into some of the most notorious crimes and trials of the last 100 years. Using the original trial transcripts, eyewitness accounts and contemporary newspaper reports, we witness the actual events that made each trial a cause célèbre of its day.

When one of his wife Paola's students comes to visit him, with a strange and vague interest in investigating the possibility of a pardon for a crime committed by her grandfather many years ago, Commissario Brunetti thinks little of it. But when the girl is found dead, clearly stabbed to death, Claudia Leonardo suddenly becomes Brunetti's case, no longer Paola's student.

Frank Delaney's language based panel quiz game series revolves around the English language. This upbeat, fun word battle sees a host of well-known contributors battling to say the word first. The series is filmed in front of a live audience at a wide range of literary festivals in the UK and live in the BBC Studios.

Alfred Lord Tennyson is one of Britain’s greatest and most popular poets. Even during his lifetime, he was considered a national institution: Queen Victoria appointed him Poet Laureate in 1850, a position he held for 42 years, and in 1884 he became the first writer to be granted a baronetcy. In a long and fruitful career, he penned numerous classic works, and this BBC Radio collection showcases some of the very best. We begin with two of his masterpieces, dramatised by award-winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts.

A novel about human relationships, focusing, unusually for Brookner, on two male characters. Hartmann and Fibich met at school and 40 years later they can no more think of living apart than of divorcing their wives. This book deals with their gradual coming to terms with the emotional gaps in their lives.

Alexander McCall Smith is a storyteller par excellence and the master of the serial novel form. Not content with the runaway success of the 44 Scotland Street novels he has established a second series, Corduroy Mansions, of which The Dog Who Came in from the Cold is the second volume. McCall Smith treats his characters as old friends, dropping in for a chat with them and to see what they’re up to.

This novel sees police secretary Signorina Elettra drawn into danger, as she volunteers to go undercover among the clam fishermen of the Venetian Lagoon. And Commissario Brunetti finds himself torn between duty and his feelings for her.

Corduroy Mansions, Pimlico is an oasis of old-fashioned civilisation, its inhabitants considerate and peace-loving. But beneath the polite exterior seismic change is stirring. Barbara Ragg makes an eye-popping discovery about her stolid Scottish suitor’s past, while Oedipus Snark – newly appointed and tirelessly self-interested Government Minister – has a close encounter in Switzerland that leaves him a new man all together.

In Uniform Justice, a young cadet has been found hanged, a presumed suicide, in Venice's elite military academy. Brunetti's sorrow for the boy, so close in age to his own son, is rivalled only by his contempt for a community that is more concerned with protecting the reputation of the school, and its privileged students, than with finding the truth.

Download eight timeless audio tales from a magical storyteller. This enchanting collection, retold by writer and critic Naomi Lewis, contains eight of Hans Christian Andersen’s magnificent fairy tales. It includes Thumbelina, a little girl no more than a thumb-joint high, The Emperor’s New Clothes, the tale of a man who cares only for his appearance and The Little Mermaid, who longs to one day marry a human prince.

Shortlisted for the CWA Ellis Peters Dagger Award, 2007.
Ex-SS cop and Russian POW Bernie Gunther is making his way back to Munich in 1949 to resurrect his career as a PI. Munich's a place of dirty deals, rampant greed, fleeing war criminals, and all the backstabbing intrigue that prospers in the aftermath of war. It's also a place where a private eye can find a lot of not quite reputable work. A woman seeks him out. Her husband has disappeared. She's not looking to get him back - she just wants confirmation that he's dead.

Little Blighty is an idyllic part of the world, with a church, a market, a small school and a pub, The Cock and Bull. Village life is pretty uneventful, though the humdrum happenings include social turmoil, economic upheaval and vicious political squabbles - all presided over by the redoubtable head of the Parish Council and secretary of the Rotarians, Mrs Roberts.

Having saved the city cats from a fate worse than death, Varjak Paw finds himself the elected and popular leader of a new gang - a gang that supports freedom and kindness for all. But will the pressure take its toll on this brave yet sometimes naive cat? Soon the city erupts in an all-out gang war as the evil Sally Bones attempts to control the lives of all cats. Horrified and outnumbered, Varjak and the others must fight for their freedom or die trying; can Jalal's Way really be the best way?