Showing results by author "BBC Audiobooks" in All Categories

A special compilation of highlights from cuddly Ken’s television and radio shows.

Kenny Everett was one of radio’s great innovators, the funniest DJ of our time and a one-off whose madcap comedy burst the boundaries of broadcasting. Introduced and presented by Barry Cryer, this recording features the definitive Kenny Everett: the jokes, the jingles and the high-jinks, the interviews, the comic characters – and some naughty bits.

John Arlott was BBC's Voice of Cricket for more than 30 summers and reported on all the key cricket matches from the 1940s to his final commentary in 1980 at Lords. The imagery and wit of an incomparable broadcaster is captured here in a unique collection of historic moments.

Here's a double bill of John Wyndham stories adapted for radio. The Chrysalids concerns the community of Waknut, where it is believed that mutants are the products of the Devil and must be stamped out. Survival concerns the first auto-piloted space flight. When the ship meets with an accident, the human passengers are cast adrift in space.

With music, sound effects, and all the expertise of the BBC, these traditional nursery rhymes are brought magically to life. Includes "Aladdin", "Puss in Boots", "Cinderella", and "Dick Whittington".

Featured in this collection are Mavis Cruet, the Fat Fairy; Arthur, the Cockney Caterpillar; Evil Edna, the Wicked Witch; Carwash, the Prissy Pussy; and The Moog, the Droopy Dog. Of course, we mustn't forget 'the Beast', who is really Prince Humbert the Handsome, changed into various shapes and sizes by Evil Edna's spells. They all just happen to be in Doyley Woods when Willo the Wisp is flitting about so he can tell us all the adventures and mishaps that befall them.

Join in with Susan Sheridan and Jimmy Hibbert, as they sing along to 60 of their favourite nursery rhymes, complete with wonderful music and sound effects. Perfect for playtime or in the car, these classic counting songs, action songs and lullabies are sure to delight little ones.

Polar bears, brown bears, honey bears and grizzly bears: here are a host of irresistible bears of all sorts and sizes—from Arabella Squeezenik's very unusual teddybear to Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Bear and the Goblin. Presented by Anne Rosenfeld and Andrew Branch, and with playful music and sound effects, this delightful collection makes ideal listening at bedtime, story time or in the car.

Whoops! John Inverdale presents another hilarious selection of resounding clangers from the very sporting BBC Sports Department. Here are the gremlins, giggles, goofs and gaffes that can turn an innocent sports report into a commentator's nightmare - and a listener's dream. So 'corpse' with the Test Match Special team, relish 'own goal' innuendoes with guileless correspondents and ride the turbulent sound waves of technical disasters.

Here are 40 warbles from Round the Horne's doyen of folk singers, Rambling Syd (Kenneth Williams), who plucks off such meaningful ditties as "The Ballad of the Woggler's Mooly".

Comic icon Spike Milligan recollects highlights from his stellar career. The comic genius of Spike Milligan changed the face of radio comedy through The Goon Show. Here Milligan chooses and introduces classic clips from an astonishing career: readings from his books Puckoon and Adolf Hitler, My Part in his Downfall, poems, songs, sketches, extracts from Q6 and In the Psychiatrist’s Chair. He reminisces about India and Bexhill and reads his favourite poems, including 'Fred Fernakerpan'.

Humphrey Lyttleton - Bandleader, cartoonist, writer, chairman of BBC Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, president of the Society for Italic Handwriting and doyen of jazz trumpeters. In conversation with June Knox-Mawer, Humphrey Lyttleton reflects on his extraordinary life; from schooldays at Eton and playing out Roll Out the Barrel outside Buckingham Palace on VE Day to the formation of this band in 1948 and his emergence as 'the godfather of British jazz'.

No game generates more passion, or stirs the emotions, like Rugby Union. No game enjoys itself more when the final whistle blows. And none has produced quite such a line of good talkers, on or off the subject. Here, from the BBC's unique Sound Archives, are memories of great teams, matches and tries, the wit and wisdom of some of the legendary characters to have graced the game and a few of its celebrated followers.

It's That Man Again is a giant in the history of radio comedy. As Mat Coward's book Classic Radio Comedy says, "Surely the most written-about radio series in history, it was successful to an extent which is hard to imagine today. Its international audience was measured in the tens of millions. Its star, Tommy Handley, was undoubtedly the most popular performer, in any field, ever known in Britain."

A hilarious collection of BBC broadcasting blunders presented by John Inverdale. There are no gaffes like sporting gaffes. In the excitement of the moment, and live on air, commentators and sports personalities can say the most amazing and silliest things. This complication includes slips-of-the-tongue and scrambling of words which produce gales of laughter from the commentary box - and those listening in.

The Now Show is a topical comedy show recorded in front of a live audience and scripted to include current events up to the last minute. It stars Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis in a collection of sketches and routines based around recent news items and issues. Comedians Marcus Brigstock and Midge Benn provide additional support.

Bath-based BBC Audiobooks hosted a sell-out event for the Bath Literature Festival. Reading Between the Lines: From Page to Production featured Rula Lenska, Lynne Truss, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Lorelei King in an entertaining and lively discussion about the art of the audiobook. They were joined by Sunday Times audio critic Karen Robinson, BBC Audiobooks' Publishing Director Jan Paterson, and Senior Producer Kate Thomas.

The TARDIS lands in the Wild West in this classic BBC TV soundtrack starring William Hartnell, with linking narration by Peter Purves. It's 1881 and, in the Wild West settlement of Tombstone, there are three strangers in town: "Doctor Caligari", "Steven Regret", and "Miss Dodo Dupont". They've arrived in a 20th Century blue police box, and they're about to wander into a whole heap of trouble.

The TARDIS travellers discover that the crew of an Earth spaceship have been hijacked by the Sensorites, and they in turn are transported to the aliens' planet. Humans and Sensorites alike are stricken by a deadly illness, for which the Doctor struggles to find a cure.

Presented by Michael Parkinson, this highly entertaining collection of interviews is taken from Spike Milligan's numerous appearances on Parkinson between 1972 and 1982. The subjects Spike covers include his early years, his poetry and books, The Goons, and his relationship with the BBC.

Here are four of the best episodes of the comedy news show, including appearances by the late Linda Smith, as well as Simon Hoggart's final edition as chairman. Since 1977, BBC Radio 4's funniest and quirkiest game show has been answering questions and offering wit and wisdom on global happenings, national news, and, quite frankly, pathetic parochial events. Now you can enjoy the highlights of last year's news, distilled by the very best and wittiest panellists.