Showing results by narrator "Sophie Aldred" in All Categories

The TARDIS lands in the Lancashire village of Bilehurst Cragg in the 17th century, and the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz soon become embroiled in a witch trial run by the local landowner. Fear stalks the land, and the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt. But the Doctor soon realises there is something more sinister than paranoia and superstition at work. Tendrils of living mud stir in the ground, and the dead lurch back to horrifying life as an evil alien presence begins to revive.

In the far future, the inhabitants of Tarsus Six face a desperate struggle to evacuate their world before their sun, Tarsus Ultra, collapses into a cataclysmic spatial anomaly. When the Doctor navigates the Tardis to a space station orbiting Tarsus Six, Ace assumes that he intends offer their assistance. But it soon becomes clear that the Doctor has an agenda of his own. With the Tardis immobilised, Ace realises that their own lives are as much in danger as those of the fleeing inhabitants.

Emma and Saffie are going to stay with their grandparents for the summer to learn how to use their superpowers. Grandma has powers too, but Grandpa doesn't, and he definitely doesn't like the gnomes doing the gardening, or the washing up doing itself - he'd rather play with his model aeroplanes.

Creepy. That's what Ace thinks of clowns. But the Doctor insists on entering the talent contest at the Psychic Circus, the self-proclaimed Greatest Show in the Galaxy, on the planet Segonax. What has reduced Segonax to an arid wasteland? Why have the happy-go-lucky circus folk stayed here so long? And why are they no longer happy? Above all, what is the dreadful truth about the 'talent contests' run by the sinister Ringmaster and his robot clowns?

As an energetic six-year-old, Beth Mead was taken to a weekly local football session by her mum. Finding a passion for the game, Beth often found herself as the only girl on the team. Despite being laughed at for this, she let her natural talent do the talking. At 16, Mead was signed to Sunderland where she made a name for herself as a top goalscorer. Putting off offers from Arsenal until she completed her university degree, Mead continued juggling work, study and football until she graduated. She then signed to Arsenal and earned a place as a Lioness, representing the England national team.

Born into a footballing family, Leah Williamson followed in the footsteps of her mother who cut her hair short so she could play with the boys. Williamson began playing at Scot Youth, a boys' team in Bletchley, quickly becoming their star striker. Williamson went on to join Rushden & Diamonds Centre of Excellence, before joining Arsenal at the age of nine, where she has remained, making her senior team debut in 2014 at the age of 17. Representing England since 2010, Williamson has played at an international level since the age of 13, and was made permanent captain of the Lionesses in 2022.

After a disagreement with her stepmother, Sandra is banished to the desolate English countryside to live with an aged aunt. Bored and restless, she escapes to the glamourous seaside resort of Brighton as the cantankerous Dowager Countess of Kyle’s young companion. Sandra meets the handsome, but cynical and sarcastic Earl of Kyle and immediately despises him. Nevertheless, there is a spark between them and Sandra wonders if she could really fall for a man who makes her blood boil so. A classic tale of enemies to lovers played against the backdrop of Regency England.

Detective Joe Lazarus is missing. The Dying Squad are on the case, but following reports of his sighting, signs suggest he may have fallen back into his criminal ways. A new drug is taking the world by storm. Spook allows the living to see the dead, but its effects are often fatal. The Dying Squad's visit to a Berlin nightclub quickly turns their search into an entirely more sinister case.

Cadmium Casson is 12 years old the summer that everything changes. Not only are her closest friendships in jeopardy, but her mum is expecting a baby. And when the baby arrives early, Caddy's world turns upside down. Her mother spends all her time at the hospital, and her father takes over the household, which of course turns into one chaotic (though hilarious) crisis after the next. When her charmingly dense boyfriend dumps her, Caddy is at her wits' end. Then she discovers that the fragile baby she is so afraid of losing is not an ending, but a beginning for her whole family.

Rose knows that nothing stays the same forever. Still, it's hard to watch her sisters and brother growing up and moving so far ahead of her. Caddy is back, but she's not living at home. And worse—she's broken up with Darling Michael. Saffy and Indigo are so busy, they are seldom home. With her father in London and her mother painting in the shed, Rose is often alone in the house. Maybe that's why she agrees to her new friend Molly's crazy scheme. At least it seems crazy when Rose finds herself locked in the zoo at night with a roaring tiger.

Detective Joe Lazarus works for the Dying Squad, solving crimes the living police can't. When the Generation Killer starts wiping out Manchester's innocents, Joe and his new partner Bits have mere hours to catch the murderer. A young woman's life depends on it. Joe's former partner Daisy-May has her own problems. Children are going missing in the afterlife, and she's the only one who seems to care. Her investigation uncovers a conspiracy so vast, it threatens both the living and the dead.

We’ve given the planet a hard time over the last couple of centuries, and she’s showing the wear and tear of her least considerate offspring. We asked our authors: Where are the signs of renewal? Are there signs of regrowth? Have we pushed nature too far? What if it’s already too late? This audiobook presents poems and stories from the brink, responding to the floods and droughts and fires all around the globe with tenderness, compassion, fear, grief, and rage.

In this episode, the Brigadier reveals his past as a protector of the undead; Italian nuns, Charles Darwin and vampire-slaying biker gangs all find themselves at the considerable mercies of the heroic Munchausen. Smith, meanwhile, is beginning to lose faith.

In this final showdown, the Brigadier’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic and Smith is forced to make a dramatic choice. Is she prepared to believe the unbelievable stories of her friend or side with an old enemy to get Munchausen the help that he needs?

In this episode, Smith finds herself the target of the murderous St. John Lawrence-Mulcaster, and the Brigadier is determined to foil the villain’s plan. As they head to safety (and Durham Services to grab a sausage roll), the Brigadier reveals his ability to change the course of history with the use of astral planes, Queen Victoria and a certain legendary Scottish monster....

In this episode, Smith and the Brigadier return to the Munchausen’s ancestral seat. This haunted castle has more than a few surprises within its walls, including an interstellar kidnapping, a wrestle with a nuclear weapon and the introduction of the Brigadier’s brother, who just happens to be afraid of daylight....

In this second series, the Brigadier returns for more extraordinary adventures with Smith, his kind but sceptical publisher. Fresh from having shot himself out of a cannon, the Brigadier suddenly discovers he has the rather annoying ability to travel through time...but this rather unusual power comes at a high cost. Whether it will be enough to save himself, save the planet and save his only friend though is another matter altogether. The fateful clock is ticking, and time is surely running out....

In this episode, a slow escape in a hot-air balloon makes the Brigadier nostalgic for his time in America; stories of rodeo clowns and super-human cyborgs spill from his past. But all this time travel is beginning to erase Munchausen's memory, and Smith fears for her friend’s sanity. Perhaps the only cure is through the help of the truly terrifying tech-guru Logan Snuff....

In this episode, cosmic secrets are revealed as Smith and the Brigadier take shelter at Stonehenge. Druids, Morris Dancers and inter-dimensional Gods all compete to take hold of Munchausen’s destiny. A dramatic encounter with a mysterious black pyramid will test the Brigadier’s courage to the full, whilst the dastardly St. John remains in pursuit - and this time he’s brought an army....

Richard O’Brien (Rocky Horror Picture Show) and Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who) star in The Barren Author, an audio series inspired by the stories of Baron Munchausen originally written by Rudolf Erich Raspe. Rather than being a literal adaptation, this collection instead takes the satirical, provocative and absurd spirit of the original tales and reimagines them for the 21st century.