Showing results by narrator "Christine Kavanagh" in All Categories

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.

When I asked a group of girls who had been at Hatherop Castle in the 1960s whether the school had had a lab in those days they gave me a blank look. 'A laboratory?' I expanded, hoping to jog their memories. 'Oh that kind of lab!' one of them said. 'I thought you meant a Labrador.' As we discover from Ysenda Maxtone Graham's quietly hilarious history of life in British girls' boarding schools between 1939 and 1979, this was a not untypical reaction.

In The People's War, John Willis unearths untold stories of everyday bravery, moments of terror, and tales of life-affirming community, that guide us through the years of the Second World War. From soldiers in North Africa and prisoners of war in East Asia, to evacuees in the British countryside and women in the factories, The People's War is a truly ambitious and comprehensive journey through a devastating and pivotal period of our history, as you've never read before.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation by Michael Butt about the death of the poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe, originally broadcast in the ‘Afternoon Play’ slot on 17 August 2010. In May 1593, the playwright Christopher Marlowe was killed. Apparently, it was because of an argument...

Two women. One secret. Will they be able to keep it under wraps? It was a stormy evening in 1920s London. When newly qualified almoner, Alice, stepped into the home of Charlotte, a terrified teenager who had just given birth out of wedlock, she did not expect to make a pact that would change her...

Frank and Joan's marriage is in trouble. Having spent three decades failing to understand each other in their unfinished house in the French Alps, Joan's frustrations with her inattentive husband have reached breaking point. Frank, retreating ever further into his obscure hobbies, is distracted by an epistolary affair with his long-lost German girlfriend. Things are getting tense. But it's Christmas, and the couple are preparing to welcome home their three far-flung children. The children, though, are faring little better....

A BBC Radio 4 drama looking at the impact on a divorcing couple of recent changes to British prenuptial law. Originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 21 January 2011. Two academics, British Paul (Sam Dale) and American Amy (Sally Orrock), have married in the US with a prenuptial...

A BBC Radio 4 comedy drama written by the award-winning screen and stage dramatist Marcy Kahan, and starring Stephen Mangan as Ed, whose life is about to change forever when he accidentally puts National Treasure Penhaligon Rhinehart into a coma. First broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 14...

Robin Glendinning's BBC Radio 4 full-cast black comedy telling the story of a real mystery. Originally broadcast in the ‘Saturday Play’ slot on 11 July 2009. In 1946, the Duke of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII) and his wife (formerly Wallis Simpson) paid a visit to Britain, hoping to secure...

A BBC Radio 4 semi-autobiographical play by BAFTA award-winning writer Trevor Preston, telling the story of Charlie, who suddenly re-discovers the passion and energy of his youth. 'Small Acts of Kindness' was originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 15 March 2011. In the late 1950s...

Evie, a phenomenally bright but socially marginalised fifteen year-old, has had it with Western Civilization. Self-educated in the ideas of the Luddites, Mao and T.E. Lawrence, she wants to launch a mission against technology and the damage she believes it has wrought on the human race. She's...

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast comedy by Alexis Zegerman about the hectic life of a single mother, originally broadcast 25 August - 29 September 2010. 'Mum's on the Run' is a modern-day twist on the single-family situation. It follows the hectic life ('What life?') of single mum, Jen. Mother of two...

A BBC Radio 4 science-fiction mystery by Martin Jameson, originally broadcast as the ‘Afternoon Play’ on 14 May 2010. A week after the election, Liz de Souza, a psychiatrist, examines a patient at a secure government research facility who's convinced that Tony Blair is still Prime Minister...