Showing results by narrator "Sophie Thompson" in All Categories

Trixy, Tammy, and Trig are three little girl pirates who live aboard The Lucky Lobster with their pets Mullet the dog, Kipper the cat, and a seagull called Gulliver. Their friends include some boy pirates and a friendly sea monster, and whenever they need to buy teabags or telescopes, all they need to do is to go to kind old Mr Spoons at Harbour Stores. When they hear about a nasty pirate who has been catching all the mermaids in the sea, they set sail to rescue the last mermaid left, tiny Miney-Mo.

In this version of London, there is a small, private clinic. Behind its layers of security, procedures are taking place on poor, robust teenagers from northern estates in exchange for thousands of pounds - procedures that will bring the wealthy dead back to life in these young, supple bodies for 14 days. It's an opportunity for wrongs to be righted, for fathers to meet grandsons, for scientists to see their work completed. Old wine in new bottles. But at what cost?

Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline, is persecuted by her wicked stepmother, the Queen, and by Cloten, the Queen's doltish son. Disguised as a boy, she sets out to find her husband, the banished Posthumus. On her journey, she unwittingly meets her two brothers, stolen from the court as infants. Posthumus, meanwhile, has been convinced by the villainous Iachimo that Imogen is unchaste and agrees to a test of her faithfulness.

Look up into the starry sky on the night of the full moon and you'll see...a bird? A plane? No...a little boy! Eight-year-old Mary Bird has discovered a secret: Her four-year-old brother Billy can fly! Floating around his room is bad enough, but when he takes off out an open window, Mary's sure disaster isn't far behind. She may be right!

Left penniless by the death of his father, nineteen-year-old Nicholas Nickleby seeks help, along with his mother and sister, from Uncle Ralph Nickleby. The hard-hearted money lender takes an instant dislike to his nephew and gets rid of the boy by securing him a teaching position at Dotheboys Hall, where the evil Wackford Squeers presides. Horrified by the barbarity he sees there, Nicholas defies Squeers and is forced to flee.

One frosty winter's night, a pure white calf is born on an ordinary muddy farm in the light of a silver moon. This is the legendary Mooncalf, whose arrival has been foretold since the dawn of time. Hare knows immediately that if the calf is not saved, it will be the end of all things. According to a dream passed down from animal to animal, if the calf dies, a great terribleness will come - rising seas, a plague, skies raining down fire... and Hare vows to protect Mooncalf with his life.

Verity adores her cat, Mabel, and is desperately sad when she dies. Remembering her recent school lessons about the Ancient Egyptians, Verity decides to mummify Mabel and keep her hidden. Verity's dad and grandparents can't bear to talk about death, having lost Verity's mum in childbirth, but when they eventually discover what Verity has done with Mabel, the whole family learns that it's time to talk.

Digby the Diggedy Dog goes out into the garden to play. He digs a big, big hole. Dig, dig, diggedy, dig. And plays tag with two little frogs. Written by a speech and language therapist, each story in the Early Soundplay series is packed with multiple repetitions of selected sounds and rhymes. The stories are expertly crafted to support children's developing speech sound awareness and vocabulary knowledge. These are key foundation skills for success with phonics, early reading, and spelling.

Chatty Bat loves to chitter chatter chat with everyone. It's very noisy with constant chatter until it's time to sleep - then no more chatter, not a peep! The Early Soundplay series is stories that are fun to share, with lots of rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. Helping develop children's speech sound awareness, an important building block for success in early spelling.

It's cold on the cliffs. Clarabelle the calf has lost her scarf. She shivers and sniffs, then giggles and laughs when she sees who's taken her scarf! Written by a speech and language therapist, each story in the award-winning Early Soundplay series helps parents and practitioners develop children's spoken and written language.

Erica has three chicks: messy Mick, naughty Nick, and another little rascal, Rick. While Erica snoozes in the sun, the chicks are having lots of fun! Written by a speech and language therapist, each story in the Early Soundplay series is packed with multiple repetitions of selected sounds and rhymes. The stories are expertly crafted to support children's developing speech, sound awareness, and vocabulary knowledge.

Zoo Boy and his host of talking animal friends are back! And this time, they're solving crime.... Another hilarious and delightful story by actress Sophie Thompson. Eight year old Vince (otherwise known somewhat affectionately as Zoo Boy) can talk to animals. Which is handy, as his dad works at the zoo! The only problem is, the animals are rather demanding.... But for once the animals are going to have to put their selfish ways aside, as there's a jewel thief on the loose.

There are nearly as many stories about Fluke and the Bannajee as there are stars in the sky. These are just the first four. No one knows where the Bannajee comes from or why he lives with Fluke. Toddy does!

Hello, dear listener. Are you sitting, lying down, standing on your head, eating a jam sandwich comfortably? Then I'll begin.... I want to introduce you to a boy called Vince, whose birthday it is today.... Vince is a normal boy with an unusual dislike for animals. Well, you'd feel the same if your father was always working at a zoo and your mother had run off with a lion tamer. Then, on his ninth birthday, Vince discovers he has 'the gift'. He can talk to animals!

Jane Austen's enduring tale of romantic entanglement, read by Sophie Thompson. Emma is considered by many to be Jane Austen's finest work. Its heroine is fascinating, selfish, and manipulative, running riot with other people's emotions and relationships. The author employs her greatest skills to bring about Emma's consequent crisis, her awakening, and a happy resolution.

Mary's little brother, Billy, seems perfectly normal, until one moonlit evening Mary finds him floating above his bed. From then on, whenever the full moon rises, Billy the Bird flies up, up and away and home again! In the second story, Jackson is a rabbit with a dream. He spends his days watching the tall sailing ships coming and longs to go to sea, too. So one day Jackson stows away on the Atalanta.

A BBC comedy drama set in the world of a 'pile 'em high university'. Karen Poynter is the new head of the Geography Department - renamed Geographical Tourism - at Hayborough University, which is definitely not part of the elite Russell Group of top universities. Ranked 132nd in the UK academic league table; if you have a pulse, you can have a degree.

The witch and her cat fly happily over forests, rivers and mountains on their broomstick until a stormy wind blows away the witch's hat, bow and wand. Luckily, they are retrieved by a dog, a bird and a frog, who are all keen for a ride on the broom. It's a case of the more, the merrier, but the broomstick isn't used to such a heavy load and it's not long before...snap! It breaks in two! And with a greedy dragon looking for a snack, the witch's animal pals better think fast.

DI Jessica Daniel is not having a good week. Her wallet's been nicked, the refurbished incident room is already falling apart, and a new football-mad constable is driving her crazy. She also has bigger things on her mind. A student's body has been dumped in a wheelie bin at the back of a university building, with a vague link to an Olympic medallist and a theory that it could have been an induction which went wrong.

Florentyna Kane is the first woman president of the United States. At 7.30 one evening, the FBI learn of a plot to kill her - the 1,572nd such threat of the year. At 8.30, five people know all the details. By 9.30, four of them are dead. FBI agent Mark Andrews alone knows the 'when'. He also knows that a senator is involved. He has six days to learn the 'where' and the 'how' - and six days to prevent the president's certain death.