A. J. Liebling, born in Manhattan in 1904, joined the staff of the New Yorker in 1935 and contributed innumerable articles to the magazine throughout his lifetime, on subjects ranging from food to boxing and France to horse racing. As a war correspondent during the Second World War, he reported from France, England and Algeria, and participated in the Normandy landings. In later life he married the writer Jean Stafford, his third wife. He died in 1963.

A. J. Liebling

A. J. Rosen is an author of YA fantasy and is known as @agatharoza on Wattpad.

A. J. Rosen

A. K. Davidson

A. O. Scott has been a film critic at the New York Times since 2000. His writing has appeared in many other publications, including the New York Review of Books, Slate, the New Yorker and the Nation. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism in 2010, Scott is currently Distinguished Professor of Film Criticism at Wesleyan University. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. 
 
@aoscott

A. O. Scott

A.S. Byatt (1936-2023) was a novelist, short-story writer and critic of international renown. Her novels include Possession (winner of the Booker Prize 1990), the Frederica Quartet and The Children’s Book, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. She was appointed CBE in 1990 and DBE in 1999, and was awarded the Erasmus Prize 2016 for her ‘inspiring contribution to life writing’ and the Pak Kyongni Prize 2017. In 2018 she received the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award.

A. S. Byatt

A. T. Williams won the George Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2013 for his book A Very British Killing: The Death of Baha Mousa. He lives in Warwickshire.

A. T. Williams

A. W. Chase

Dubbed ‘The new queen of spy fiction’ by the Guardian newspaper, and ‘the real thing’ by the Washington Post, A.C. 'Ava' Glass is the CWA Dagger-shortlisted author of Alias Emma (The Chase), The Traitor and The Trap. The Traitor was a 2023 Richard and Judy Bookclub pick. Alias Emma was a Barnes and Noble book of the month. A former crime reporter and communications consultant, for five years Ava worked closely with spies. Her time in that world fascinated her, and the people she met back then inspire every book she writes.

A.C. Glass

A.E. Housman

Arthur Edward Waite was the designer and co-creator of the now famous Rider Waite Tarot deck. 
 
An American-born British poet and scholarly mystic, his strong interest in all esoteric matters - divination, magic, Kabbalism, alchemy and Freemasony - led to him penning a number of books. These include the Key to the Tarot, The Book of Ceremonial Magic and A New Encyclopedia of Freemasony.

A.E. Waite

A.E. Warren is the author of the Tomorrow's Ancestors series, which consists of Subject Twenty-One, The Hidden Base, The Fourth Species and The Final Rising. 
 
After spending eight years working as a lawyer, she began to write in the evenings and early mornings as a form of escapism from life in a very small cubicle with lots of files. She self-published her first novels in her spare time, which were picked up by Del Rey UK which is the science fiction/fantasy imprint of Penguin Random House. 
 
 She is an avid reader, occasional gamer and fair-weather runner. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter and hopefully, one day, a wise border terrier named Austen.

A.E. Warren

A.G.D. Maran

A.J. Ayer

A K Benedict writes crime and speculative fiction in a room filled with clowns, mannequins and Doctor Who figures. Her first novel, The Beauty of Murder, was nominated for an eDunnit award and is in development for a major 8-part TV series by Company Pictures. Her second, Jonathan Dark or The Evidence of Ghosts, came out in February 2016. She's written Torchwood audio dramas for Big Finish and her short stories have featured in anthologies including Great British Horror and Best British Short Stories. She lives in St Leonards-on-Sea with her dog, Dame Margaret Rutherford.

A.K.Benedict

A. L. Kennedy has twice been selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists and has won a host of other awards – including the Costa Book of the Year for her novel Day. She lives in Essex.

A.L. Kennedy

A.M. Ellis is a speculative fiction author and lover of everything steeped in myth and mystery. Her stories often lean into diverse voices, not only in her identity as a Black woman, but in exploring neurodivergence and mental health. A proud introvert and nostalgic gamer, she lives in Maryland, USA, with her husband and three children. Angelica is also the author of Hunt A Killer, a PERFECT SCORE novel, under the pen name A.M. Ellis, which she wrote as an IP for Scholastic in the US.

A.M. Ellis

A.N. Wilson was born in 1950 and educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is an award-winning biographer and a celebrated novelist, winning prizes for much of his work. He lives in North London.

A.N. Wilson

A.T. Emerald

A.W. Priest

A.B.C. Merriman-Labor was a barrister, writer and munitions worker born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1877. His published works include A Series of Lectures on the Negro Race and The Story of the African Slave in a Nutshell. He also edited two editions of the Handbook of Sierra Leone. He arrived in the UK in 1904 to study law. In 1907, he organised a centenary commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade in Westminster Abbey. He later embarked on an 'entertainment-lecture' tour called Life and Scenes in Britain, travelling across thousands of miles of West, South West and Central Africa, which he expanded on to create Britons Through Negro Spectacles.

ABC Merriman-Labor

AJ Cronin

AJ Molloy

Aabria Iyengar is an American actress and author.

Aabria Iyengar

Aaliya Jaleel is a freelance illustrator, designer, and visual development artist, currently majoring in Animation at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is also the illustrator of Under My Hijab and Muslim Girls Rise. You can visit her online at www.aaliyamj.com.

Aaliya Jaleel

Aaron Allston

After more than fifteen years of experience as a clinical psychotherapist, Dr Aaron Balick has taken the amazing insights from psychology and psychotherapy out of the consultation room and made them accessible to the wider world. 
 
He has been an ‘agony uncle’ for many years for both CBBC and BBC Radio 1, as well as on television, including BBC Worldwide, BBC 3 and BBC Learning.

Aaron Balick

Aaron Carroll

Aaron Dignan is the founder of The Ready--a global organizational transformation and coaching practice--that helps companies large and small adopt new forms of self-organization and dynamic teaming. Clients include Johnson &amp; Johnson, Microsoft, Lloyds Bank, Citibank, Boeing, Mailchimp, Airbnb, Dropbox, and charity: water. 
 
He is also the founder of Murmur--a SaaS startup that helps teams scale culture through the magic of working agreements. The Murmur platform will allow every team on the planet to define and share their ways of working. 
 
Dignan is the author of Brave New Work (2019) and Game Frame (2011), co-host of the Brave New Work podcast, and a friend to misfit toys.

Aaron Dignan

Aaron Edwards is a senior lecturer in defence and international affairs at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, specialising in terrorism and counter-insurgency. He is the author and editor of several books, including Defending the Realm: The Politics of Britain’s Small Wars Since 1945, and has lectured all over the world on aspects of national and international security. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Aaron Edwards

Aaron Robertson is a writer, an editor, and a translator of Italian literature. His translation of Igiaba Scego’s Beyond Babylon was short-listed for the 2020 PEN Translation Prize and the National Translation Award, and in 2021 he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The Nation, Foreign Policy, n+1, The Point, and Literary Hub, among other publications. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Aaron Robertson

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Joan Aiken

BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations of three of the classic novels from Joan Aiken's 'Wolves Chronicles' 
 
One of the finest storytellers of her time, Joan Aiken wrote over 100 books for both adults and children. Among her best-known works are the 'Wolves Chronicles', a sequence of novels set in an alternate 19th century England ruled by Stuart kings. Included here are three tales from that magical, wolf-infested world - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Black Hearts in Battersea and The Story of Is. 
 
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Winter, 1832. The great manor of Willoughby Chase lies blanketed by snow, and predators lurk in the darkness. With the opening of the Channel Tunnel, ravenous wolves have overrun the country, and young Bonnie Green can hear their hideous howling. But she and her cousin Sylvia soon find themselves facing an even greater danger, in the shape of their devious governess, Miss Slighcarp. Aided by their friend Simon, can they foil her evil plan? 
 
Black Hearts in Battersea - Determined to become a painter, Simon sets off to London - but no sooner has he arrived than he becomes caught up in a fiendish Hanoverian plot to overthrow the King. Kidnapped and sent away to sea, he faces shipwreck, assassination plots, attacks by wolves and a hair-raising hot air balloon escape. With the help of fellow orphan Sophie, and the resourceful Dido Twite, will he save the day? 
 
The Story of Is - Sent by King Richard IV to search for his missing son, Dido Twite's sister Isabett takes the Playland Express to the north of a divided England. There, she finds an underground city where children work as slaves in vast coal mines. This is the domain of Gold Kingy, a man who will stop at nothing in his pursuit of power - but he has reckoned without Is and her newfound friends... 
 
These spellbinding adventures feature a star cast, including Gosford Park's Emily Watson, Game of Thrones' Joe Dempsie and legendary actor and comedian Rik Mayall. 
 
Text copyright © Joan Aiken 1962 (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase), 1964 (Black Hearts in Battersea), 1992 (Is) 
Production credits 
Written by Joan Aiken 
 
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase 
Cast: Jane Lapotaire, Emily Watson, Abigail Docherty, John Rowe, John Turner, Gavin Muir, Kristen Milward, Tom Bevan, Jilly Bond, Eva Stuart, David Antrobus, Ian Masters, Derek Waring, George Parsons, Elaine Claxton, Natasha Pyne, Becky Hindley 
Dramatised by Eric Pringle 
Directed by Cherry Cookson 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30 December 1994 
 
Black Hearts in Battersea 
Cast: Joe Dempsie, Nicola Miles-Wildin, Emerald O'Hanrahan, John Rowe, Sheila Reid, Ben Crowe, Annabelle Dowler, Rhys Jennings, Tessa Nicholson, Sam Pamphilon, Nigel Hastings, Bruce Alexander, Joseph Cohen Cole, Piers Wehner, Kate Layden, John Biggins, 
Ewan Hooper 
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan. Directed by Marc Beeby 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23-24 December 1999 
 
The Story of Is 
Cast: John Rowe, Alison Pettitt, Rik Mayall, Freddie Jones 
With John Hartley, Gordon Reid, Rachel Atkins, Alastair Danson, Robert Harper, Gerard McDermott, Anthony Ofoegbu, Leila Campbell, George Maguire, Jenny Lee, Stephen Thorne, Carolyn Jones, Iwan Thomas, Christopher Scott, Richard Pearce, Tom Bevan, Brian Parr and children from the Italia Conti School 
Dramatised by Eric Pringle. Directed by David Blount. Music by Neil Brand 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 15 March-5 April 1998 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Black Hearts in Battersea & The Story of Is

Three BBC Radio Children’s Classic Full-Cast Dramatisations

Monica Ali

A stunning BBC radio adaptation of Monica Ali's bestselling, Booker-shortlisted novel 
 
1985. Uprooted from her home in Bangladesh, 18-year-old Nazneen is sent to London for an arranged marriage with a much older man. Her new life is strange and bewildering - the busy streets and crowded tower blocks of the East End are a world away from the rural village she grew up in, and she struggles to adapt to living with her self-important husband, Chanu. 
 
Back in Bangladesh, Nazneen's sister Hasina has eloped with the man she loves, and been disowned by her family. Homesick and isolated, Nazneen reads her letters with envy, longing to have such independence and romance for herself. As the years pass, she devotes herself to becoming a dutiful wife and mother - and then she meets a passionate young radical, Karim, and finds herself drawn to him. Can she finally decide to take charge of her destiny? 
 
Monica Ali's stunning debut has become a modern classic. Published in 2003, its themes of immigrant identity and integration, racism and nationalism, free will and fate still resonate with us today. Dramatised by leading playwright Tanika Gupta, this enthralling adaptation was shortlisted for a BBC Audio Drama Award, and stars Anneika Rose, Zubin Varla, Chetna Pandya, Hiftu Quasem, Nina Wadia and Nikesh Patel. 
 
Written by Monica Ali 
Dramatised by Tanika Gupta 
Directed by Anne Isger 
Sound by Caleb Knightley, Ali Craig and Pete Ringrose 
Production Co-ordination by Luke MacGregor 
Production Assistance by Hannah O'Reilly 
A BBC Audio Production 
 
Cast 
Nazneen - Anneika Rose 
Chanu - Zubin Varla 
Razia - Chetna Pandya 
Hasina - Hiftu Quasem 
Mrs Islam - Nina Wadia 
Dr Azad - Neil D'Souza 
Karim - Nikesh Patel 
Tariq - Ragevan Vasan 
Shahana - Rameet Rauli 
Bibi - Riti Suthar 
Secretary - Gavi Singh Chera 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7-14 August 2022 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Brick Lane

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Thomas Hardy

A definitive, fully-dramatised collection of the best-known works of Thomas Hardy 
 
Renowned novelist and poet Thomas Hardy is best known for his fatalistic, often tragic novels set in the 'realistic dream-country' of Wessex, in south and south-west England. Drawing on his own life, he created some of the most memorable characters and stories in Victorian literature - many of which are included here. 
 
In five dramas taken from Radio 4's 'Hardy's Women' season, we meet a few of Thomas Hardy's most compelling female protagonists. The Hand of Ethelberta centres around an infamous poet who's not the lady everyone thinks she is; while Two on a Tower is the star-crossed love story of Lady Viviette Constantine and handsome young astronomer Swithin St Cleeve. The Woodlanders tells Hardy's tale of ambition, money and missed chances from the perspective of its unsung heroine, Marty South; unhappy Tess Durbeyfield recounts her life story in Tess of the d'Urbervilles; and in Jude the Obscure, Sue Bridehead relates the tale of stonemason Jude and his dreams of being a scholar. Among the stars of these irresistible adaptations are Rebecca Humphries, Olivia Poulet, Callum Scott Howells, Katy Sobey, Sacha Dhawan, Faye Marsay, Kirsty Oswald and Robert Emms. 
 
Also featured are dramatisations of three of Hardy's other masterpieces. Far from the Madding Crowd sees the beautiful, independent Bathsheba Everdene (Alex Tregear) pursued by three suitors: Gabriel Oak (Shaun Dooley), William Boldwood (Toby Jones) and Sergeant Troy (Patrick Kennedy). In The Return of the Native, Hardy's poignant tale of love and longing is brought to life by an ensemble cast including David Calder, Emma Fielding and Adam Godley. And in The Mayor of Casterbridge, starring John Lynch and Ruth Wilson, a man spends his life trying to atone for his terrible past - but however hard he tries to conceal it, it will not be buried. 
 
Rounding off our collection we have a pair of classic short stories - 'The Withered Arm' and 'The Fiddler of the Reels', starring Victoria Hamilton, Susan Jameson, Janet Dale, Stephen Tomlin and Struan Rodger. 
 
 
Contents 
Far from the Madding Crowd 
The Hand of Ethelberta 
The Return of the Native 
Two on a Tower 
The Mayor of Casterbridge 
The Woodlanders 
Tess of the d'Urbervilles 
Jude the Obscure 
'The Withered Arm' 
'The Fiddler of the Reels' 
 
First published 1874 (Far from the Madding Crowd), 1876 (The Hand of Ethelberta), 1878 (The Return of the Native), 1882 (Two on a Tower), 1886 (The Mayor of Casterbridge), 1887 (The Woodlanders), 1888 ('The Withered Arm'), 1891-2 (Tess of the d'Urbervilles), 1893 ('The Fiddler of the Reels'), 1895 (Jude the Obscure) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Thomas Hardy BBC Radio Drama Collection

10 full-cast dramatisations including Tess of the d’Urbervilles & Far from the Madding Crowd

Elizabeth Gaskell

A major BBC Radio dramatisation of Elizabeth Gaskell's famous Victorian novel of pride, prejudice, politics and passion 
 
When 19-year-old Margaret Hale is uprooted from her home in the rural South of England and transplanted to the industrial North, she struggles to adapt. Smoky, grimy and ugly, Milton seems like a different country - one run by men with very different beliefs to her own, like charismatic mill owner John Thornton. 
 
A self-made entrepreneur and pragmatic capitalist, Thornton represents everything the idealistic Margaret hates. Witnessing the conditions at his mill, her social conscience is awakened, and she clashes fiercely with him over his ruthless treatment of the workers. But when a strike turns into a violent riot, and Thornton is put in danger, Margaret is forced to face up to her conflicted feelings. Can the duo overcome their ideological differences and find love? 
 
Also included is the fascinating programme In Our Time: North and South, in which Melvyn Bragg and guests examine how Margaret Hale's experiences echo the author's own life, and discuss Gaskell's insights into social conflicts and the changing world in which she lived. 
 
Written by Elizabeth Gaskell 
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan 
 
Cast 
Margaret ­- Patsy Ferran 
 Mr Hale - Paul Chahidi 
 Mrs Hale - Ruth Everett 
 Dixon - Felicity Montagu 
 John Thornton - James Cartwright 
 Mrs Thornton - Pooky Quesnel 
 Higgins - Sean Gilder 
 Bessy - Olivia Barrowclough 
 Aunt Shaw - Joanna Monro 
 Henry Lennox - Jonathan Forbes 
 Henderson - David Hounslow 
 Boucher - Lloyd Thomas 
 Frederick - Colin Ryan 
 Mr Bell - Roger Ringrose 
Mrs Boucher - Evie Killip 
 Leonards - Luke Nunn 
 
Directed by Sally Avens 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4-18 September 2022 
 
In Our Time: North and South 
Presented by Melvyn Bragg 
With Sally Shuttleworth, Dinah Birch and Jenny Uglow 
Produced by Simon Tillotson 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 March 2017 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

North and South

Henry Fielding

A collection of contemporary adaptations of the best-known works of Henry Fielding - plus bonus documentary programme 
 
Dubbed 'the father of the English novel' by Sir Walter Scott, Henry Fielding is well known for his ribald humour and ironic, satirical fiction. Collected here are four of his most famous works, including his comic masterpiece Tom Jones, as well as a fascinating documentary exploring the foundling motif in fiction. 
 
Tom Jones - Fielding's bawdy picaresque tale follows the amorous adventures of foundling Tom, one of the most sparkling heroes in English literature. Starring Simon Russell Beale as Henry Fielding and Michael Legge as Tom. 
 
Joseph Andrews - Sitting down to write about the misadventures of a handsome young footman on the road, Henry Fielding finds himself unexpectedly collaborating with his smart, witty wife, Charlotte. As they laugh and bicker about the plot, the story of their writing partnership interweaves with that of Joseph Andrews... Max Bennett and Lyndsey Marshal star in this 18th Century romp with an up-to-date twist. 
 
The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, The Great - Based on the real-life 'Thief-Taker General' and notorious underworld boss, Fielding's tongue-in-cheek tale draws sly parallels between the corrupt Jonathan Wild and Britain's first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole. Starring Timothy West, Christopher Fairbank and Crawford Logan. 
 
The Female Husband - Sandi Toksvig stars in this high-spirited dramatisation of the true story of Mary Hamilton, who was tried and flogged in 1746 for marrying as a man, and achieved notoriety in a sensational pamphlet published by Fielding. 
 
One of the Three Great Plots of All Literature - Why do foundlings appear so often in literature? Kate Adie discusses the theme underlying Henry Fielding's classic novel Tom Jones with Hugh Cunningham, Marina Warner, Jenny Uglow and contemporary foundling Andy McNab. 
 
First published 1742 (The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his Friend Mr Abraham Adams), 1743 (The Life and Death of the Late Mr Jonathan Wild, the Great), 1746 (The Female Husband), 1749 (The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Henry Fielding: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

Full-cast dramatisations of Tom Jones, Joseph Andrews, Jonathan Wild & The Female Husband

Karel Capek

Robert Hudson

Susannah Pearse

A musical reinvention of Karel Capek's darkly comic sci-fi masterpiece 
 
First published in 1921, Karel Capek's ultra-prescient play R.U.R has become a classic of dystopian literature, giving us the word 'robot' and inspiring movies and TV series from Blade Runner to Westworld. Set in Capek's 1920s version of the future, this radio reimagining blends music, comedy and drama to tell the story of a world dominated by mechanisation and the pursuit of profit. 
 
It is the year 2000, and an incredible new technology - the robot - has been invented, freeing human beings from the need to work. Grown from human cells, these androids appear identical to humans - only stronger and cleverer. They have no free will and no desires. They want nothing - until the idealistic Lady Helen visits their island factory and persuades one of the scientists to instil consciousness into them. But once sentient, the robots become aware that they have unwittingly enabled a runaway cycle of overproduction, which is now wrecking the planet. There is only one logical solution: humanity must be destroyed... 
 
Tackling big, contentious questions with a light touch, this moving production is full of humour and heart. Made by the team behind the award-winning Magnitsky the Musical, it features an immersive, retro-futurist soundscape and stunning original songs, and stars an ensemble cast including Paul Chahidi (The Death of Stalin, This Country), Jasmine Hyde (Doctors) and Paul Hilton (Slow Horses). 
 
Also included is a fascinating episode of Radio 3's Sunday Feature, The Robots Are Us, in which Ken Hollings examines the creation and legacy of R.U.R, talking to historians and roboticists to discover how Capek's landmark play gave birth to the idea of the 'revolt of the machines' and presaged our 21st Century ethical conundrums of existence, rights and reasoning. 
 
Cast 
Domin - Paul Chahidi 
Lady Helen - Jasmine Hyde 
Radius - Paul Hilton 
Helen 2 - Clare Foster 
Alpha - Anneika Rose 
Brown Owl - Neil McCaul 
Alquist - Matthew Durkan 
Sulla - Alexandra Hannant 
Fabry - Michael Begley 
Busman - Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong 
Logicbot/Benoit - Chris Jack 
 
Music and Lyrics by Susannah Pearse 
Book by Robert Hudson 
Arrangements and Musical Direction: Harry Sever 
Production co-ordinator: Luke MacGregor 
Sound: Peter Ringrose 
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 3-10 April 2022 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Rossum’s Universal Robots

A musical adaptation of Karel Capek’s R.U.R.

William Holland

Eric Pringle

A BBC Radio dramatisation of the real-life diaries of a West Country village parson, writing at the turn of the 19th Century 
 
'A good diary can provide an unsurpassed entry into society, and the diary of William Holland is a very good diary indeed' The Spectator 
 
On October 25th, 1799 - his 18th wedding anniversary - cantankerous Somerset parson William Holland begins his diary, chronicling events at the vicarage and in the small farming community of Over Stowey. He would keep it for the next 19 years, candidly recording the small trials of day-to-day life - from chaotic church services and unruly locals to lazy servants and irksome in-laws. 
 
As the new century dawns, he finds himself dealing with parish problems and domestic dramas: including a madman in the poorhouse, a drunkard in the pulpit, and his wife's prattling cousin in the house. At harvest time, he has his work cut out collecting tithes from the local farmers, and his troubles are further compounded by an escaped cow, some curious medical complaints, and an audacious plum-plunderer... 
 
Paying a social visit to Bath with his family, the hectic pace has him longing for the relative peace and quiet of home. And back at the parsonage, his life is transformed when his manservant Robert resolves to give up drinking and womanizing. But will it last? 
 
Full of humorous observations and comic incident, this delightful journal paints a unique picture of a wonderful collection of characters, and the entertaining and often hilarious things that happen to them. Dramatised by Eric Pringle, it is brought to life by a full cast of well-known actors, and stars Ronald Pickup as William Holland, Rosemary Martin and Rowena Cooper as his wife, Mary, and Gavin Muir as Robert. 
 
Production credits 
Written by William Holland 
Dramatised by Eric Pringle 
Directed by Cherry Cookson 
 
Cast 
William Holland - Ronald Pickup 
Mary - Rosemary Martin/Rowena Cooper 
Robert - Gavin Muir 
Miss Dodwell - Tessa Worsley 
Mr Amen - Gordon Gostelow 
Farmer Morle - David Collings 
William Frost/Farmer Landsey - David Timson 
Rector Reekes/Ben Hunt - John Hartley 
Thomas Poole/Farmer Trant/Porter - Stephen Critchlow 
Mrs Southcomb - Margaret Courtenay 
Farmer CottleMr Lewis - Andrew Branch 
Margaret/Hannah/Betty/Little Will - Jane Whittenshaw 
Sally Hill/Grace - Caroline Strong 
With Tilly Gaunt, Giles Fagan and Ben Crowe 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 7-21 February 1996 (Series 1), 29 October-12 November 1999 (Series 2) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Paupers and Pig Killers from the diaries of William Holland

A BBC Radio 4 comedy drama

C.P. Snow

The full-cast BBC Radio adaptation of C. P. Snow's epic series about the English establishment across the twentieth century 
 
'A vivid portrait of British academic, political and public life' Guardian 
 
'A very considerable achievement... It brings into the novel themes and locales never seen before (except perhaps in Trollope)' Anthony Burgess 
 
In 1920s Leicester, Lewis Eliot must escape the drudgery of a council clerk's office and his provincial lower class background to begin his decades-long rise to power. As the years pass, and Lewis progresses to successful London lawyer, to Cambridge don, to wartime service in Whitehall, to senior civil servant and finally retirement, he faces in his own life and the lives of those around him collapsing marriages, terrible illness, the politics of academia, Nazism, nuclear weapons, the price of power, and the ever-present realities of war. 
 
The New York Times praised the book series, saying, 'through [them] as in no other work in our time we have explored the inner life of the new classless class that is the 20th century Establishment'. John Betjeman claimed the books were 'as full of life as life itself'. The Strangers and Brothers series captures perfectly the ever-present battle between political and personal integrity Lewis must face, as well as all the upheaval and social change of the two world wars and the decades that followed. 
 
This adaptation stars David Haig and Adam Godley as Lewis Eliot, Bill Wallis as George Passant, Juliet Aubrey as Margaret Davidson, Stephen Moore as Herbert Getliffe, and Danny Webb as Percy Hall, with a full cast including Jeremy Swift, David Tennant, Anne-Marie Duff, Iain Glen, Claire Skinner and Tim McInnerny. 
 
Directed by Jeremy Howe and Sally Avens 
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, January-June 2003 
 
Full cast: 
Narrator/Lewis Eliot - David Haig 
Young Lewis Eliot - Adam Godley 
George Passant - Bill Wallis 
Marion - Laura Doddington 
Sheila Knight - Anastasia Hille 
Herbert Getliffe - Stephen Moore 
Percy Hall - Danny Webb 
Charles March - Jamie Glover 
Leonard March - John Standing 
Katherine March - Carla Simpson 
Ann Simon - Emma Woolliams 
Mrs Getliffe - Suzanna Hamilton 
Revd Knight - Brett Usher 
Young Francis Getliffe - Andy Taylor 
Winslow - Clive Merrison 
Young Brown - Philip Franks 
Roy Calvert - Adam Levy 
Young Jago - David Calder 
Nightingale - Jeremy Child 
Chrystal - Matthew Marsh 
Crawford - Hugh Quarshie 
Mrs Jago - Joanna Monroe 
Sir Horace Timberlake - Ian Hogg 
Young Hector Rose - Rupert Vansittart 
Houston Eggar - Peter Marinker 
Willy Romantovski - Kenneth Collard 
Gilbert Cooke - Anthony Calf 
Margaret Davidson/Margaret Eliot - Juliet Aubrey 
Rosalind - Anne-Marie Duff 
Betty Vane - Carla Simpson 
Martin Eliot - Tim McInnerny 
Walter Luke - Jeremy Swift 
Irene - Claire Skinner 
David Rubin - Rolf Saxon 
Sawbridge - Adrian Scarborough 
Edgar - Andrew Wincott 
Captain Smith - Sean Baker 
Sir Hector Rose - John Carlisle 
Sir Thomas Beville - Robert Laing 
Austin Davidson - David Collings 
Jago - Sean Barrett 
Dawson Hill - Peter Blythe 
Skeffington - David Acton 
Francis Getliffe - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Brown - Jonathan Coy 
Donald Howard - David Tennant 
Roger Quaife - Iain Glen 
Lord Collingwood - Ronald Pickup 
Caro Quaife - Julia Watson 
Lord Gilbey - John Woodvine 
Diana Skidmore - Avril Clark 
Phillips - Richard Firth 
Osbaldiston - David Leonard 
Brodzinski - Christopher Rozycki 
Ellen Smith - Emma Bown 
Monteith - Paul Venables 
Trafford - Stephen Critchlow 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Strangers and Brothers

An epic BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Harry Venning

David Ramsden

The first six series of the Sony Award-winning sitcom about a social worker with all the right jargon, but none of the practical solutions 
 
'Completely engaging... beautifully observed characters and lots of very funny material' The Sony Judges 
 
Meet Clare Barker, the social worker who likes nothing more than sorting out other people's problems (while failing to deal with her own). Wracked with guilt over being white, middle-class and heterosexual, she has a dedicated social conscience (unless it's inconvenient for her) and lives to interfere in other people's lives - both on a personal and professional basis. Bearing the brunt of her control freakery and lack of self-awareness are her family, colleagues and long-suffering teacher partner, Brian - all of whom have their own frustrations, disappointments and dramas. 
 
In these six series, Clare and Brian try to shore up their rocky relationship, as Brian contemplates proposing, persuades Clare to attend couples counselling, and considers splitting up. Will their baby son, Thomas Paine, bring them back together - or will new nanny Nali prove a further obstacle to domestic bliss? Meanwhile, the Sparrowhawk Family Centre is threatened with closure, and the team are joined by new member Libby - 'an Aussie and a lesbo', proud to be both, and after Clare's job... 
 
Based on the long-running cartoon strip in the Guardian's 'Society' section, this wonderfully entertaining series stars Sally Phillips as Clare and Alex Lowe as Brian, alongside an ensemble cast including Nina Conti, Richard Lumsden, Ellen Thomas, Gemma Craven, Liza Tarbuck, Andrew Wincott and Sarah Kendall. 
 
 Production credits 
Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden 
Produced by Katie Tyrrell 
Executive Producer: Paul Schlesinger 
 
Cast 
Clare - Sally Phillips 
Brian - Alex Lowe 
Megan/Nali - Nina Conti 
Ray - Richard Lumsden 
Irene - Ellen Thomas 
Helen - Gemma Craven/Liza Tarbuck 
Simon - Andrew Wincott 
Libby - Sarah Kendall 
 
Other parts played by members of the cast 
 
With Paul Chequer, Emily Wachter, Nicholas Boulton, Helen Longworth, Stephan Hogan, Richenda Carey, Alex Tregear, Sartaj Garewal, Bharti Patel, Delroy Brown, Vicki Pepperdine, John Cummins, Gerard McDermott, George Harris, Roy Hudd, Brigit Forsyth, Phil Davis, Christine Kavanagh, Lewis MacLeod, Mel Hudson, Geraldine McNulty, Mark Straker, Joseph Kloska, Martin Hyder, Shaban Arifi, Anna Bengo, Rad Lazar, Ben Onwukwe, Sam Pamphilon, Lloyd Thomas, Donnla Hughes, Chris Pavlo, Philip Pope, Rosemary Leach, Doreen Mantle, Jess Robinson and Paterson Joseph. 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 November-31 December 2004 (Series 1), 4 November-9 December 2005 (Series 2), 18 December 2006-22 January 2007 (Series 3), 16 January-20 February 2008 (Series 4), 18 February-25 March 2009 (Series 5), 31 May-5 July 2010 (Series 6) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Clare in the Community: The Complete Series 1-6

A BBC Radio 4 Comedy

Series 7-12 of the Sony Award-winning sitcom featuring the splendidly self-obsessed social worker - plus Christmas and Edinburgh Festival Specials 
 
'An impressive cast and some genuinely funny writing make this a must' The Stage 
 
Well-meaning do-gooder Clare Barker is back, and dealing with more office politics, troublesome clients and domestic dramas. Secretly regarding herself as a cross between Mother Theresa and Wonder Woman, she's got all the right jargon for every problem, but never any practical solutions. However, in today's 'Big Society' there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker (or even Clare)... 
 
These six series find her struggling once again to control both her professional and private life. At the Sparrowhawk Centre, Clare finds herself in hot water on more than one occasion; and the team find themselves moving offices, facing up to possible redundancies, bidding a fond farewell to old colleagues and welcoming new ones. And at home, Clare's relationship with Brian is as thorny as ever. As we follow the duo through break-ups, wedding bells, separations and reconciliations, can they finally find happiness - or does fate have other ideas? 
 
Sally Phillips stars as Clare, with a stellar cast including Alex Lowe, Sarah Thom, Nina Conti and Gbemisola Ikumelo. Also included are a special instalment recorded live at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 'In Treatment', and a one-off Christmas outing, 'Christmas With... Clare Barker', featuring guest star Hugh Bonneville. 
 
Production credits 
Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden 
Produced by Katie Tyrrell (Series 7-8 and Edinburgh Special) and Alexandra Smith (Series 9-12 and Christmas Special) 
A BBC Studios production 
 
Cast 
Clare - Sally Phillips 
Brian - Alex Lowe 
Megan/Nali - Nina Conti 
Ray - Richard Lumsden 
Helen - Liza Tarbuck/Pippa Haywood 
Simon - Andrew Wincott 
Libby - Sarah Kendall 
Joan - Sarah Thom 
Mrs Singh - Nina Wadia 
Cilla - Gbemisola Ikumelo 
 
Other parts played by members of the cast 
 
With Sophie Thompson, Gerard McDermott, Simon Bubb, Victoria Inez Hardy, Georgia Lowe, Nathan Caton, Stefan Ramsden, Adam Billington, Eleanor Crooks, Will Howard, Robert Blythe, Ben Crowe, Bharti Patel, Patrick Brennan, Robert Blythe, Adam Nagaitis, Paul Stonehouse, Stephanie Racine, Peter Mitchell, Hannah Gordon, John Norton, Arthur Hughes, Alex Tregear, Carolyn Pickles, Hugh Bonneville, Shaun Mason, Lizzie Roper, Karl Theobald, Anil Goutam, Eleanor Curry, Amelia Lowdell, Neet Mohan, Elliot Steel, Dustin Demri-Burns, Clare Perkins, Alison Belbin, Sean Baker, Colin Hoult, Amita Dhiri, Alex Macqueen, Elizabeth Bennett, Nicola Ferguson, Emma Sidi, Rebecca Root, George Fouracres, Jenny Bede, Jenny Murray and Tony Way. 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 September-28 October 2011 (Series 7), 2 January-6 February 2013 (Series 8), 27 August 2013 ('In Treatment'), 8 January-12 February 2014 (Series 9), 29 December 2014 ('Christmas With... Clare Barker'), 10 July-14 August 2015 (Series 10), 15 November-20 December 2016 (Series 11), 24 September-29 October 2019 (Series 12) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Clare in the Community: The Complete Series 7-12

John Peacock

Toulouse-Lautrec's iconic Parisian poster stars come to life in these full-cast dramas, set in 19th-century Montmartre 
 
1889, Paris. When Charles Zidler's extravagant pleasure palace, the Moulin Rouge, opens in bohemian Montmartre, he commissions local artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec to create a series of posters to promote it. The striking lithographs Henri produces will make his name - and launch the careers of the performers he portrayed. 
 
This sparkling collection of plays introduces us to eight of those legendary artistes, whose lives were as vivid as Lautrec's paint. It opens with Yvette Guilbert, the story of a singer whose dreams of wealth and fame lead her to a brand new cabaret on Boulevard de Clichy.... In The Boneless Wonder, we meet can-can dancer Valentin Renaudin. Merely a silhouette in Toulouse-Lautrec's poster, what is he in real life? La Goulue tells the tale of his famous partner, Louise Weber, whose soubriquet reflects her love of food and life. And in Jane Avril, we hear about Henri's muse, whose nickname 'Crazy Jane' didn't simply refer to her exuberant dancing. 
 
May Belfort explores the Irish singer turned lady of the night, who relied more on her beauty than her voice. In Footitt and Chocolat, a circus double act is in danger of drifting apart; while in Casque d'Or, a group of passionate revolutionaries make a fatal last stand. Finally, Aristide Bruant sees the socialist club owner becoming a fashionable success - against all his intentions. He needs to find a new direction: as does Yvette Guilbert... 
 
Created by award-winning writer John Peacock, these dazzling dramas will transport you to Belle Époque Paris, in all its glamour and decadence. The star casts include Julie Covington as Yvette Guilbert, Frances Barber as La Goulue, Bonnie Langford as May Belfort, Bernard Hill as Aristide Bruant and Miranda Richardson as Marie Briand. 
 
Written by John Peacock 
Directed by Jane Morgan 
Music by Stephen Warbeck 
Technical presentation: David Greenwood, assisted by Anne Bunting and Colin Guthrie 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Posters of the Moulin Rouge

Eight BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas based on the characters of Toulouse-Lautrec

Winsome Pinnock

Roy Williams

Rex Obano

A major BBC Radio series charting the history of post-war Britain through the lives of Hope Kiffin, Eunice Lamming and Gloria de Soto, bound forever by one moment in 1946. 
 
London, 1946. Struggling to cope with the idea of raising her daughter in a hostile environment, African-Caribbean nurse Hope makes the difficult decision to entrust her precious baby to her best friend, Eunice, to take back home to Antigua. But their plan goes disastrously wrong. 
 
In the decades that follow, all of them will witness - and play a part in - the seismic changes rocking the British Isles, as the old establishment crumbles, immigration builds and the country adjusts to the realities of a post-war, post-colonial future. 
 
This compelling series interweaves brilliant intimate domestic stories, told from multiple perspectives, that together illuminate the emergence of modern Britain. Written by leading Black playwrights Roy Williams, Rex Obano and Winsome Pinnock, it stars Danielle Vitalis as Hope, Shiloh Coke as Eunice/Faith and Pippa Bennett-Warner as Gloria, with a full cast including Martins Imhangbe, Stefan Adegbola, Emma Handy and Hasan Dixon. 
 
 
Production credits 
Written by Roy Williams, Rex Obano and Winsome Pinnock 
Musical Director: Peter Ringrose 
Produced and directed by Mary Peate and Jessica Dromgoole 
 
Cast 
Jim - Martins Imhangbe 
Hope - Danielle Vitalis 
Eunice/Faith - Shiloh Coke 
Gloria - Pippa Bennett-Warner 
Clement/Waiter - Stefan Adegbola 
Waitress/Ida/Matron/Ag - Emma Handy 
Trevor - Gary Beadle 
Neville - Chris Jack 
Olubuki - Rex Obano 
Martina - Clare Perkins 
Gerard/Dennis/Musician - Hasan Dixon 
Stephens/Johnnie/Florist - Ian Dunnett Jnr 
Post Mistress/Millie - Jane Whittenshaw 
Sallow/Neighbour - Roger Ringrose 
Lorraine - Lizzy Watts 
Bert - Ben Crowe 
Caleb - Dermot Daly 
Parent - Cecilia Appiah 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Faith, Hope and Glory: Series 1 and 2

An epic BBC Radio 4 drama

John Fowles

Full-cast dramatisations of John Fowles' three best-known novels, with star casts 
 
John Fowles won international acclaim for his innovative, allusive novels The Collector, The Magus and The French Lieutenant's Woman. All were critical and commercial successes, translated into several languages and adapted as feature films. This collection brings together the BBC Radio adaptations of these three modern classics, with stellar casts including Judi Dench, Charles Dance and John Hurt. 
 
The Collector - When a lonely, obsessional office clerk wins a fortune on the football pools, he turns from collecting butterflies to 'collecting' a beautiful art student... This dark, disturbing dramatisation stars Judi Dench and Nigel Anthony. 
 
The Magus - Disillusioned young graduate Nick Urfe accepts a teaching post on an idyllic Greek island. There, he meets the mysterious Maurice Conchis, and becomes embroiled in a world of bizarre encounters and psychological tricks. As reality and illusion intertwine, what strange game is Conchis playing with Nick? Tom Burke, Charles Dance and Hayley Atwell star in this eerie, Lynchian drama. 
 
The French Lieutenant's Woman - Lyme Regis, 1867. Gentleman naturalist Charles Smithson is engaged to be married to the respectable Ernestina - but when he falls in love with notorious social outcast Sarah Woodruff, his complacent snobbery is shattered. Narrated by John Hurt, this multi-layered tale of forbidden passions in Victorian Dorset stars Jonathan Firth and Emily Bruni. 
 
 
Text copyright © John Fowles 1963 (The Collector), 1966, 1977 (The Magus), 1969 (The French Lieutenant's Woman) 
 
The Collector 
Miranda - Judi Dench 
Clegg - Nigel Anthony 
Other parts played by Douglas Blackwell, Martin Friend, Jane Knowles and John Rowe 
Adapted by David Parker 
Produced by Richard Wortley 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 July 1972 
 
The Magus 
Nick - Tom Burke 
Conchis - Charles Dance 
Lily - Hayley Atwell 
Alison - Anna Skellern 
Margaret - Josie Taylor 
Mitford - David Seddon 
Meli - Chris Pavlo 
Rowena - Lynsey-Anne Moffat 
Anton - Maarten Dannenberg 
German Colonel - Bodo Friesecke 
Greek resistance fighter/Ticket seller - Andreas Karras 
Lily de Seitas - Beth Goddard 
Kemp - Rachel Atkins 
Briggs - Michael Shelford 
Mrs Marks - Elaine Claxton 
Benji - Rudi Goodman 
Adapted by Adrian Hodges 
Produced and directed by Heather Larmour 
Harpsichordist: Maggie Cole 
Recorder player: Martin Feinstein 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 March-3 April 2016 
 
The French Lieutenant's Woman 
Narrator - John Hurt 
Charles - Jonathan Firth 
Sarah - Emily Bruni 
Ernestina - Kelly Reilly 
Mrs Tranter - Elizabeth Spriggs 
Dr Grogan - TP McKenna 
Mrs Poulteney/Mrs Endicott - Susan Jameson 
Sam - Nick Sayce 
Mary - Ella Smith 
Dairyman/Mr Freeman - Gerard McDermott 
Mrs Fairley/Mrs Rogers - Colleen Prendergast 
Ostler/Montague - Wayne Foskett 
Prostitute - Sophie Roberts 
Curate - John Cummins 
Dramatised by Graham White 
Produced by Peter Kavanagh 
First broadcast BBC World Service, 23-30 September 2006 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

John Fowles: The Collector, The Magus & The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Three BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations

Various

42 letters written by Titanic passengers and crew, plus two documentaries relating survivors' stories and bringing the tragedy to life through the voices of the wireless operators 
 
The largest, most luxurious liner in the world, the RMS Titanic captured the public's imagination. But four days into her maiden voyage, on 14 April 1912, she hit an iceberg and sank, taking the lives of over 1500 people. 
 
This commemorative anthology opens with the emotional letters from the individuals who were there that fateful night - those who lived, and those who died. They talk of life on board the ship, describing its size, opulence and vaunted 'unsinkabiity'; write about the friends they've made; make disparaging remarks about fellow travellers; and send fond messages of love, signed with a dozen kisses. 
 
Here, too, are heartrending eyewitness accounts of the shipwreck and its aftermath, written from the safety of the rescue ship Carpathia. Among them are letters from a woman who lost her mind on the Titanic, a newlywed who left the ship a widow, a message in a bottle from a despairing 19-year-old - and a missive accusing an unknown man of having dressed as a woman to get on a lifeboat. Introduced by Ciaran Hinds, who also reveals the writers' fate, each letter is read by a different celebrity, including Amanda Burton, Patrick Kielty, Eamonn Holmes, Christine Bleakley and Gloria Hunniford. 
 
Also included are two fascinating documentaries. Omnibus: Titanic - The Unsinkable Legend, asks why the story of the doomed ship still fascinates us today. Including an interview with Titanic survivor Eva Hart, who was just seven years old when the ship went down, it looks at the influence the iconic ship has had on media and culture in the 100 years since its sinking. 
 
And in Discovery: Titanic - In Her Own Words, Sean Coughlan narrates the Marconi wireless operators' version of the Titanic disaster. Converting their Morse code into speech synthesis, this enthralling programme gives us a remarkable 'black box recording' of the event, as the young operators in the vicinity frantically communicated with one another across the freezing expanses of the North Atlantic in an effort to mount a rescue mission. 
 
Poignant, absorbing and deeply affecting, this unique radio collection reveals the human stories behind the terrible maritime tragedy. 
 
Production credits 
 
Titanic Letters 
Presented by Ciaran Hinds 
Read by Amanda Burton, Patrick Kielty, Eamonn Holmes, Brian Kennedy, Dame Mary Peters, James Ellis, Christine Bleakley, John Linehan, Colin Murphy, Martin Lynch, Donna Traynor, Eddie Irvine, Gloria Hunniford, Dr Stephen Myers, Ian McElhenny, Phil Coulter, Bronagh Gallagher, Barry Douglas, Ciaran McMenamin, Frances Tomelty, Paul Rankin, Dana, Noel Thompson, Tim Wheeler, Maggie Cronin, Dan Gordon, Janet Gray, Susan Lynch, Colin Bateman, Wendy Austin, Marie Jones, Baroness May Blood, Conleth Hill, Charles Lawson, Stella McCusker, William Crawley, Olivia Nash, Brian Keenan, Sarah Travers, Glenn Patterson, Leila Webster, Ciaran Hinds 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio Foyle &amp; BBC Radio Ulster, 9-22 April 2012 
 
Omnibus: Titanic - The Unsinkable Legend 
With Eva Hart, Ronnie Brock, Bob Pryor, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Bill McQuitty 
First broadcast BBC World Service, 13 January 1998 
 
Discovery: Titanic - In Her Own Words 
Presented by Sean Coughlan 
Conceived and created by Susanne Weber 
Produced by Alex Mansfield 
First broadcast BBC World Service, 9 April 2012 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Titanic Letters

A BBC Radio 4 drama collection

Leo Tolstoy

BBC Radio adaptations of Tolstoy's three major novels, plus a reading of his profound philosophical memoir, an original drama based on his life and a bonus documentary 
 
One of the greatest novelists of all time, Leo Tolstoy is famed worldwide for his masterpieces of realist fiction, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. This comprehensive collection contains both those iconic works, as well as his final novel Resurrection; his autobiographical essay A Confession; Stephen Wakelam's dramatic account of his tempestuous marriage, Mrs Tolstoy; and In Our Time: Tolstoy. 
 
War and Peace - 1805, and Napoleon Bonaparte is threatening the peace of Europe. In St Petersburg and Moscow, the lives of three aristocratic families are about to be changed forever... This epic dramatisation stars Simon Russell Beale, Gerard Murphy, Amanda Redman and Emily Mortimer. 
 
Anna Karenina - In 19th Century Russia, bored high society wife Anna embarks on an affair with the handsome Count Vronsky - but her passion sets her on a path to self-destruction. Starring Teresa Gallagher and Toby Stephens. 
 
Resurrection - Serving on the jury in a murder trial, Prince Dimitri recognises the young prostitute in the dock as Katerina Maslova, the girl he seduced years before. Knowing he is partly responsible for her plight, he attempts to atone for his mistakes and find redemption. Katherine Igoe and Richard Dillane star in this powerful adaptation of Tolstoy's final novel. 
 
A Confession - Read by Joss Ackland, this compelling religious testament describes Tolstoy's search for God, faith and the meaning of life. 
 
Mrs Tolstoy - In his fifties, Leo Tolstoy has a spiritual crisis. Converting to Christianity, he gives up writing, stops sleeping with his wife, won't see his children and wants to give away all his possessions. But Sofya is ready to fight for her husband and family... Starring Ian McDiarmid and Haydn Gwynne. 
 
In Our Time: Tolstoy - Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Tolstoy's life and writings, exploring his urgent desire to represent real life in his work, how he strove to convey truth to the reader - and why he ultimately gave up on literature to concentrate on religious and political philosophy. 
 
Please note that the chapter headings have been updated as of 10th February 2022. 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Leo Tolstoy BBC Radio Drama Collection

Full-cast dramatisations of War and Peace, Anna Karenina & more

Amanda Whittington

Sarah Daniels

The award-winning story of Skye and Dexter and their ordinary/extraordinary life 
 
Skye lives in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, with her little brother Dexter and Spider the cat. Their mum, Jak, isn't around much - she's on and off the booze, so it's up to Skye to look out for Dexter, play with him, and make sure he's clothed and fed. He likes it best when she plays her guitar, an electric guitar she found under a heap of clothes in her mum's bedroom. The bailiffs didn't take it even when they came back for the telly. 
 
When we first meet them, Skye is eleven years old, and Dexter two-and-a-half. Through seven series, we follow their highs, lows and struggles to survive through Skye's eyes, as she battles to keep her dysfunctional family together. 
 
From coping with Jak's alcoholism and Dexter's special needs, to being taken into care by social services, getting excluded from school, trying to home educate Dexter during the Covid crisis, falling in love and coming to terms with her sexuality, she has far more on her plate than any young person should have to deal with. 
 
And as Skye turns 18 and prepares to face the challenges of adulthood, we bid farewell to her in a special one-off finale. 
 
Dark, delightful, funny, heartbreaking and heart-warming, this authentic, truthful drama won Best Drama Series/Serial at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2016. It was developed through close collaboration with BBC Children in Need and projects they fund (including Home-Start UK, Hull Children's University, Voice of Young People in Care, Can Cook, Footsteps 2000, Young Carers' Transition Project and SAYiT) and was inspired by long-term research and ongoing voluntary work with children and families in Gainsborough. 
 
 
Written by Amanda Whittington (series 1-7) and Sarah Daniels (Finale) 
Guitar: Pip Moore and Tom Constantine 
Music by Black Sabbath, the Smashing Pumpkins, Beyoncé, The Breeders and David Bowie performed by Tom Constantine 
Poem by Octavia Bettis 
Directed by Mary Ward-Lowery 
 
Cast 
Skye - Sydney Wade 
Dexter - Elsa Rodgers/Alfie Johnson-McCann 
Jak - Una McNulty 
Evan - Samuel Holland 
Alice - Jane Thornton 
Mags - Sarah Parks 
Lin - Martha Godber 
Joe - Bill Rodgers 
Uncle Dean - Peter Caulfield 
Amber - Liz Godber 
Ant - John Elkington 
Boy - Harry Steel 
Dog Man - John Elkington 
Shelagh - Sarah Parks 
Kim/Clare - Jane Godber 
Shanice - Zoe Johnson 
Leanne - Etta Fusi 
Mia - Julie Riley 
Mr Doshi - Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong 
Nasty Girl - Octavia Bettis 
Pearce - Beau Anten 
Alex - Don Gilet 
Alisha - Megan Huntley 
Alice - Lauren Bowler 
Scarlett - Scarlett Courtney 
Ryan - Adam Courting 
Aiden Hardy - Will Kirk 
Ed - Mark Addy 
 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

D for Dexter

The complete BBC Radio full-cast drama

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of A.S. Byatt's 'Frederica Quartet', plus selected short stories and a fascinating talk by the author 
 
Inspired by the novels of D.H. Lawrence, particularly The Rainbow and Women in Love, this ambitious quartet from Booker Prize-winning novelist A.S. Byatt charts the lives of the Potter family between 1953 and 1970. Set against the changing social and political landscape of England in the '50s and '60s, it follows the heroine, Frederica, from precocious teenager to TV talk show host, and from her Yorkshire home to the heart of swinging London. 
 
The Virgin in the Garden sees the Potters preparing to celebrate Elizabeth II's coronation, while Frederica auditions for a play about Elizabeth I written by the beautiful Alexander Wedderburn. Will she win the part, and Alexander's heart? In Still Life, Frederica's ambitions - both academic and sexual - come to fruition, as she gains a place at Cambridge University to study English - and men. In Babel Tower, she has given up her carefree, independent lifestyle - but as the Sixties' cultural revolution explodes and the quest for personal and public freedom becomes all-important, will settling down bring her happiness? And in A Whistling Woman, as events build to a tragic climax in Yorkshire, back in London, Frederica is faced with a difficult choice... These acclaimed adaptations star Rosemary Leach, Hannah Watkins and Indira Varma as Frederica. 
 
Also included are four fantastic short stories: 'The July Ghost', dramatised with a star cast including Kate Buffery and Clive Owen; and 'Rose-Coloured Teacups', 'Gode's Story' and 'A Stone Woman', read by Anna Massey, Sheila Mitchell and Penelope Wilton respectively. Plus, in Finding A Voice, A.S. Byatt reflects on her approach to her work, explaining where her desire to write came from and how she honed her craft. 
 
Track listing 
1: Introduction 
2-9: The Virgin in the Garden 
10-16: Still Life 
17-24: Babel Tower 
25-31: A Whistling Woman 
32: The July Ghost 
33: Rose-Coloured Teacups 
34: Gode's Story 
35-37: A Stone Woman 
38: Finding a Voice 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
 
Text copyright © AS Byatt 1978 (The Virgin in the Garden), 1985 (Still Life), 1987 ('The July Ghost', 'Rose-Coloured Teacups'), 1994 ('Gode's Story'), 1996 (Babel Tower), 2002 (A Whistling Woman)

The Frederica Quartet: The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life, Babel Tower & A Whistling Woman

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation plus selected short stories

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Dolya Gavanski

Ed Stoppard stars as obsessive pianist Alexei in this modern-day take on Dostoevsky's classic The Gambler 
 
When brilliant but penniless pianist Alexei is hired to tutor the 10-year-old daughter of Russian oligarch Mikhail, he is drawn into a world of chance, obsession and violence. Hopelessly infatuated with Mikhail's beautiful stepdaughter Polina, he vows to do anything to win her love: and so begins his involvement in a dangerous, high-stakes game... 
 
Seduced by the lure of the roulette wheel, and embroiled in the complications and machinations of Polina and her family, Alexei's life takes a dark turn. The unexpected arrival of Mikhail's mother Anastasia from Russia offers hope of rescue from financial ruin: but an obsession with risk-taking threatens to destroy everything... 
 
This lively reimagining, set in contemporary London, was written by Dolya Gavanski, who also plays Polina. Ed Stoppard (Home Fires) stars as Alexei, with Eleanor Bron (A Little Princess) as Anastasia and Matthew Marsh (Love, Lies and Records) as Mikhail. 
 
Production credits 
Adapted by Dolya Gavanski, from Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Gambler 
Directed and produced by John Dryden 
Original music composed by Sacha Puttnam 
All music performed by Sacha Puttnam 
Casting: Toby Whale 
Script Editor: Mike Walker 
Sound Design: Steve Bond 
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
Cast 
Alexei - Ed Stoppard 
Mikhail - Matthew Marsh 
Polina - Dolya Gavanski 
Vika - Isabella Blake Thomas 
Astley - Graham Seed 
Francois - Orlando Seale 
Katie - Lucy May Barker 
Inokenti - George Lasha 
Masha - Irina Karatcheva 
Mullighan - Jay Taylor 
Office Worker - Alana Ramsey 
Blake - Timothy Walker 
Anastasia - Eleanor Bron 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 17-24 November 2013 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Russian Gambler

A BBC Radio full-cast adaptation

Ian McMillan

All 36 episodes of the maverick literary quiz 
 
Poet Ian McMillan is our host in this gleeful game of literary tomfoolery, outrageous parody and biting wit. Joining him for some lighthearted competitive wordplay are a quartet of writers and comedians, all ready and eager to run riot through the halls of great literature. 
 
Their bookish challenges include 'New Beginnings and Endings', which sees them topping and tailing well-known literary works to produce some very tall tales, 'Sound Effects', where they have to guess a book title from a mélange of sounds, and 'Conversation Consequences', where they imagine some unlikely meetings between fictional characters. Mrs Malaprop shares a Jacuzzi with Eliza Doolittle, Inspector Clouseau takes Blanche Dubois to a dance and The Dong with the luminous nose honks hooters with Cyrano de Bergerac... 
 
In addition, the panellists seize the chance to liberate famous authors from their individual genres and turn them loose on something different. Among their freewheeling stylings are Hunter S Thompson writing a public school prospectus, John Betjeman creating the copy for a Ford Probe brochure and Franz Kafka dispensing self-help advice in his Little Book of Calm. 
 
Wreaking havoc with the literary canon are Roger McGough, Miles Kington, Mark Thomas, Dillie Keane, John Hegley, Rory Motion, Mark Radcliffe, Arthur Smith, David Stafford, Helen Lederer, Sophie Hannah, Simon Armitage, Stuart Maconie, Linda Smith and Mark Steel. 
 
Presented by Ian McMillan 
Devised by Marc Jobst 
Produced by Marc Jobst and Viv Beeby 
 
NB: contains some dated attitudes and language 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 31 October-5 December 1995 (Series 1), 18 February-25 March 1997 (Series 2), 14 October-18 November 1997 (Series 3), 2 July-6 August 1998 (Series 4), 25 November-30 December 1998 (Series 5), 22 June-27 July 1999 (Series 6) 
 
 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Booked!: The Complete Series 1-6

The BBC Radio 4 literary panel game

Primo Levi

Graham White

Scientist, resistance fighter and Holocaust survivor, Primo Levi was one of Italy's greatest writers and an internationally renowned chronicler of human nature. In his masterpiece The Periodic Table, he charts his incredible life story through the medium of chemistry, using the titular list of elements - the building blocks of everything - as a prism to explore his experiences and search his soul. 
 
In this superlative BBC adaptation, all 21 of the peerless stories in Levi's memoir are incorporated into 11 radio episodes, comprising both compelling dramatisations (starring Henry Goodman as the older Primo and Akbar Kurtha as his younger self) and eloquent readings by Paul Copley, Ben Crowe, Evie Killip and Henry Goodman. The chapters are preceded by a short introductory feature by Janet Suzman, discussing Levi's life and writing and featuring archive interviews with Levi himself. 
 
We hear of Levi's student days in Fascist Italy, his battles as a partisan, his imprisonment in Auschwitz, his subsequent career as a professional chemist, and his imagined meeting with his Piedmontese ancestors - as well as his job in a paint factory in the 1960s and an unsettling encounter with his past. Alongside these autobiographical meditations are fabulous fictional tales of a European prospector, a little girl enchanted by white paint, an 1820s captain living on a remote island with strange chemical properties, and the incredible, centuries-long journey of a single carbon atom... 
 
Named 'the best science book ever' by the Royal Institution of Great Britain, this astonishing compilation fuses autobiography and fantasy, science and emotion, to extraordinary effect. Vivid, powerful and breathtaking, it will surprise, amuse and move you, lingering in your imagination and changing the way you look at the world. 
 
Written by Primo Levi 
Dramatised by Graham White from the translation by Raymond Rosenthal 
Introduced by Janet Suzman 
Produced and directed by Emma Harding and Marc Beeby 
 
Vanadium, Part 1 
Older Primo - Henry Goodman 
Cometto - John Rowe 
Dr Muller - Erich Redman 
Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha 
Lucia - Juliet Aubrey 
Polish overseer - Chris Pavlo 
 
Argon 
Older Primo - Henry Goodman 
Cesare - John Rowe 
Jacob - David Horovitch 
Moses - David Hounslow 
Samuel - Sam Dale 
Abigail - Jessica Turner 
Zepora - Debra Baker 
 
Sulphur 
Read by Ben Crowe 
 
Titanium 
Read by Evie Killip 
 
Lead 
Read by Paul Copley 
 
Mercury 
Abrahams - Paul Hilton 
Maggie - Amelia Lowdell 
Hendrik - Nicholas Murchie 
Willem - Leo Wan 
Andrea - Chris Pavlo 
Gaetano - George Watkins 
Burton - Richard Pepple 
Rebecca - Debra Baker 
Woman - Katie Redford 
 
Iron 
Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha 
Older Primo - Henry Goodman 
Enrico/Marchetti - Caolan McCarthy 
Rina - Debra Baker 
Lazzari - Sam Dale 
Luca - Leo Wan 
Giulia - Rebecca Hamilton 
Caselli - Stephen Critchlow 
Bettega - George Watkins 
Rita - Katie Redford 
Sandro - Andrew Rothney 
Dallaporta - Richard Pepple 
Antaeus - David Hounslow 
Alida - Amelia Lowdell 
 
Gold 
Older Primo - Henry Goodman 
Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha 
Vanda - Rebecca Hamilton 
Silvio - Leo Wan 
Lina - Evie Killip 
Aldo - George Watkins 
Militiaman 1/Prisoner - David Hounslow 
Militiaman 2 - Caolan McCarthy 
Fossa - Stephen Critchlow 
Cagni - Nicholas Murchie 
 
Cerium 
Older Primo - Henry Goodman 
Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha 
Alberto - Leo Wan 
Guard - Erich Redman 
Prisoner 1- David Hounslow 
Prisoner 2 - Sam Dale 
 
Arsenic and Silver 
Older Primo - Henry Goodman 
Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha 
Versino - Jessica Turner 
Lentini - Nicholas Murchie 
Bruni - David Horovitch 
Cometto - John Rowe 
Lucia - Juliet Aubrey 
Gallery director/Emilio's father - Stephen Critchlow 
Emilio - Caolan McCarthy 
Farmer - David Hounslow 
Customer - Ben Crowe 
Bonino - Sam Dale 
Gina - Rebecca Hamilton 
 
Vanadium, Part 2 
Older Primo - Henry Goodman 
Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha 
Cometto - John Rowe 
Dr Muller - Erich Redman 
Lucia - Juliet Aubrey 
Polish overseer - Chris Pavlo 
Postwoman - Debra Baker 
 
Carbon 
Read by Henry Goodman

Primo Levi's The Periodic Table

Dramatisations and readings from the award-winning anthology

Mary Cooper

Jonathan Tafler

Anna Linstrum

Alistair McGowan

Elizabeth Lewis

Robin Brooks

Lucy Caldwell

Sarah Wooley

Stephen Wakelam

Frances Bingham

David Pownall

Katie Hims

Ian Billings

Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre

Judith Adam

18 biographical dramas based on the lives and loves of celebrated writers 
 
These surprising, revealing dramas take a behind-the-scenes look at some of our best-loved authors, mingling fact and fantasy to explore their extraordinary hidden lives. From love affairs, friendships and family relationships to traumas, tragedies and journeys of self-discovery, we glimpse the unwritten worlds that shaped their unforgettable fiction. Among the star casts are Andrew Scott, Toby Jones, Richard Dormer, Glenda Jackson, Bella Ramsey, Julia Davis, Ian McDiarmid, Haydn Gwynne, David Threlfall, Alistair McGowan, Tom Goodman-Hill, Hattie Morahan, Rosie Cavaliero, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Paul Ritter and Lia Williams 
 
Jane and Tom - Writing to her sister, Jane Austen describes her love for Tom Lefroy - a love that would lead to Pride and Prejudice. 
 
When Fanny Met Germaine - A delightful romp through the passionate, scandalous friendship between two 18th Century writers: Fanny Burney and Mme de Stael. 
 
Comrade Ackland - Dorset, 1936. Newly returned from an illicit trip to Civil War Spain, Sylvia Townsend Warner and her lover Valentine Ackland have an unexpected visitor.... 
 
Tongues of Fire - 1913. When a Nobel laureate visits Dublin's Abbey Theatre, fireworks erupt between WB Yeats and Sean O'Casey. 
 
A Year at the Races - Approaching the end of his career, Groucho Marx meets a wisecracking fan determined to teach him new comedy tricks. 
 
Spike and the Elfin Oak- A comic fantasy inspired by Spike Milligan's madcap attempts in the mid-1960s to preserve a curious sculpture in Kensington Gardens. 
 
Everybody's Got Conditions - Casting Bette Davis in his play The Night of the Iguana proves the biggest mistake in Tennessee Williams' career... 
 
I Believe I Have Genius- Humble and obscure, young Charlotte Brontë travels to Brussels to study at a girls' school. 
 
Marian and George - Marian Evans (aka George Eliot) must choose between her adored brother and the love of her life... 
 
Lying Low - An intriguing drama imagining what happened to Samuel Beckett during his mysterious three weeks in Folkestone in 1961. 
 
A Terrible Beauty - WB Yeats travels to France to propose to beautiful Maud Gonne, soon after her husband's execution in the 1916 Easter Rising. 
 
The Watcher on the Wall - Dramatised from his letters, this is the story of Louis MacNeice's transatlantic love affair and the poetry it inspired. 
 
Edith Sitwell in Scarborough - Returning to her birthplace, Edith Sitwell sets out to wreak revenge. 
 
Mrs Tolstoy - A five-part drama charting the tempestuous marriage between Leo and Sofya Tolstoy. 
 
The 'B' Word - The opening night of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion causes a scandal and sparks a passionate love/hate triangle... 
 
The Rules of Palship - The young Noël Coward demanded fierce loyalty from his friends - but did he live up to his own high standards? 
 
The Lost Road - A playful tribute to the long friendship between CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien and how it influenced their respective masterpieces. 
 
Luxembourg Gardens - Re-imagined from Katherine Mansfield's stories, letters and journals, this Mansfieldesque play explores her last day in Paris, where she is dying of consumption aged 34. 
 
Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Behind the Author's Desk: Dramas of Famous Writers' Real Lives

Jonathan Franzen

In 2006, Bret Easton Ellis declared the novel "one of the three great books of my generation." 
 
This dramatisation of Jonathan Franzen's acclaimed, epic, award-winning novel revolves around the troubles of an elderly Midwestern couple and their three adult children, tracing their lives from the mid-20th century to "one last Christmas" together near the turn of the millennium. 
 
A family saga, that sits against the backdrop of this century's changing face of America. The novel was published 10 days before 9/11 but is widely considered an observation of what happened to the American psyche after 9/11. 
 
It traces American societies, changing attitudes and standing on the world stage through the eyes of the Lambert's three children: Gary, a banker in Philadelphia who's greed is determined to make his parents sell their Midwest property; Chip, a struggling professor who leaves his life to pursue being a writer in New York City; and Denise, who has escaped a disastrous marriage and had an equally disastrous affair. 
 
In the finale; the final Christmas together, can they settle their differences, bridge gaps and make the changes they need to survive? 
 
The novel won the 2001 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2002 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize. 
 
In 2005, The Corrections was included in TIME magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923. 
 
Adapted by Marcy Kahan for BBC Radio 4, directed by Emma Harding and starring Richard Schiff (The West Wing), Maggie Steed (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Colin Stinton (Rush, The Bourne Ultimatum) and Julian Rhind-Tutt (Lucy, Rush, Notting Hill). 
 
Full Cast List: 
Narrator - Richard Schiff 
Enid Lambert - Maggie Steed 
Alfred Lambert - Colin Stinton 
Gary Lambert - Richard Laing 
Chip Lambert - Julian Rhind-Tutt 
Denise Lambert - Rosyln Hill 
Julia Vrais - Kelly Burke 
Eden Procuro - Elaine Claxton 
Gitanas Misevicius - Sam Dale 
Melissa Paquette - Bettrys Jones 
Caroline Lambert - Jane Slavin 
Caleb Lambert - Adam Thomas Wright 
Jonah Lambert - Sean McCrystal 
 
 
First Aired on BBC Radio 4 Extra on 10th and 11th January 2015 
 
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Corrections

Vikram Seth

A BBC Radio 3 dramatisation of Vikram Seth's verse novel about the lives and loves of a group of twentysomethings in 1980s San Francisco 
 
Award-winning novelist Vikram Seth is renowned worldwide for his magnum opus A Suitable Boy. But his dazzling debut, though less well-known, is equally innovative, masterly and ambitious. First published in 1986. and inspired by Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, it is written entirely in verse, comprising almost 600 stanzas of rhyming sonnets. 
 
This epic poem focusses on the interconnected stories of five young professionals, as they make their way in the 'unfettered city' of San Francisco in the '80s. There's lonely computer engineer John; his sculptor ex-girlfriend Jan, a drummer in a heavy-metal band; his best friend Phil, a divorced dad who's turned his back on Silicon Valley to become a peacenik; lawyer Liz, devoted to her cranky, elderly cat Charlemagne and Ed, Liz's brother, a fervent Christian torn between his faith and his homosexuality. 
 
We follow them from coffee shops to concerts, parties to peace protests, Sonoma Valley wineries to singles bars as they forge (and break) friendships, flirt, date, start relationships, split up and try again with someone new. Their search for romance, fulfilment and self-realisation - for 'someone who will do for love, and who may love us too' - will bring them happiness, heartbreak, joy and pain... 
 
Not merely a portrait of youthful love and loss, but also of a time and a place - San Francisco at its zenith, before gentrification and the tech giants took over - Seth's delightful verse narrative is by turns funny, playful, lyrical and profound. This BBC Radio 3 adaptation, first broadcast in 1999, stars Mark Leake as John, with Barbara Barnes as Liz, Laurel Lefkow as Jan and Michael Neil as Phil. 
 
 
Production credits 
Written by Vikram Seth 
Produced by Ekene Akalawu 
 
Cast 
John - Mark Leake 
Liz - Barbara Barnes 
Jan - Laurel Lefkow 
Phil - Michael Neil 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3, 7-11 June 1999 
 
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Golden Gate

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Jon Canter

Miles Jupp stars as James Boswell, Dr Johnson's time-travelling biographer, with a host of top actors and comedians as his celebrity interviewees 
 
'Blisteringly funny... essential listening' Radio Times 
 
Before James Boswell penned a biography of his friend, Dr Johnson, they were both nobodies. But his Life of Samuel Johnson made them famous - so now Boswell's out to work his magic on other celebrities. Travelling through the centuries, he gives 12 legendary figures the Boswell treatment, hoping to do for them what he did for Johnson... 
 
Series 1 sees him attempting to write a biography of Sigmund Freud (Henry Goodman) - but it's Freud asking all the searching questions. Talking to Maria Callas (Arabella Weir), he gets up close and personal with her poodle; encountering Harold Pinter (Harry Enfield) he receives his very own 'Pinter pause' and, trying to beat Boris Johnson (Alistair McGowan) at whiff-whaff, he finds he's facing a fiendish opponent. 
 
In Series 2, Boswell tries to help Muhammad Ali (Lenny Henry), who's been banned from boxing and is in the wilderness. Interviewing Karl Marx (Julian Rhind-Tutt), he finds himself collaborating on Das Kapital, but on meeting Madonna (Debra Stephenson), he struggles to get into the groove. And will he succeed in immortalising Alan Bennett (Alistair McGowan), or will they simply be talking heads? 
 
Series 3 finds Boswell buttonholing Lord Byron (Freddie Fox) to find out if he's really mad, bad and dangerous to know; receiving some lessons in equality from Simone de Beauvoir (Amelia Bullmore); becoming involved in a murder mystery with Agatha Christie (Vicki Pepperdine) and attempting to become a better man under the guidance of Gandhi (Phaldut Sharma). But abstinence drives him to distraction - and worse... 
 
Created by scriptwriter and novelist Jon Canter, this engaging, entertaining series won the 2015 Best European Radio Fiction Series or Serial of the Year at the prestigious Prix Europa. 
 
 
Production credits 
Written by Jon Canter 
Directed by Sally Avens 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 February-17 May 2015 (Series 1), 21 March-11 April 2016 (Series 2), 7-28 March 2018 (Series 3) 
 
Cast 
James Boswell - Miles Jupp 
Sigmund Freud - Henry Goodman 
Maria Callas - Arabella Weir 
Harold Pinter - Harry Enfield 
Boris Johnson/Alan Bennett - Alistair McGowan 
Muhammad Ali - Lenny Henry 
Boxing commentator - Ewan Bailey 
Karl Marx - Julian Rhind-Tutt 
Madonna - Debra Stephenson 
Lord Byron - Freddie Fox 
Simone de Beauvoir - Amelia Bullmore 
Agatha Christie - Vicki Pepperdine 
Rose - Abbie Andrews 
Gandhi - Phaldut Sharma 
Mr Fortescue/The Prince of Wales - Clive Hayward 
 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Boswell’s Lives: The Complete Series 1-3

A BBC Radio 4 comedy

Wilkie Collins

BBC radio productions of the finest works of Wilkie Collins: sensation novelist, early master of the mystery story, and pioneer of detective fiction 
 
Wilkie Collins was one of Victorian England's best-loved and best-selling authors, and a crime fiction pioneer. His enthralling 'sensation novels' such as The Woman in White paved the way for today's thrillers, and his tour de force The Moonstone is one of the first, and greatest, modern detective stories. 
 
This collection features dramatisations of these two masterpieces, with star casts including Toby Stephens (The Woman in White) and John Sharp (The Moonstone). Also included are adaptations of three of Collins' other major novels: No Name, The Law and the Lady and The Haunted Hotel, starring Sophie Thompson, Abigail Docherty and Henry Lloyd respectively. 
 
Collins was a prolific short story writer, and included here are a number of his shorter tales, such as a full-cast dramatisation of the ghost story 'Mad Monkton', starring Gary Bond, and readings of five tales of suspense: 'The Dream Woman' (read by David Suchet), 'The Biter Bit' (read by John Rowe), 'A Terribly Strange Bed' (read by Paul Daneman), 'The Stolen Letter' (read by Garard Green) and 'The Dead Hand' (read by Peter Marinker). Plus, the darkly comic 'Mrs Badgery' is read by Christopher Harper, while Ronald Pickup reads the murder mystery 'Who Killed Zebedee?', taken from the 1887 short story collection Little Novels. There are also dramatisations of five additional Little Novels tales: 'Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman', 'Mr Marmaduke and the Minister', 'Miss Bertha and the Yankee', 'Miss Morris and the Stranger' and 'Mr Percy and the Prophet', all starring Ronald Pickup as Wilkie Collins. 
 
A lifelong friend of Charles Dickens, Collins collaborated with him on several works including 'A House to Let', which was co-written by Collins, Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Proctor. Marcia Warren stars in an adaptation of this exciting tale of secrets and intrigue. 
 
Finally, in Night Waves: The Woman in White, Matthew Sweet joins Simon Callow, Kate Summerscale, Paul Lewis and Lisa Appignanesi to discuss the groundbreaking novel that catapulted Collins to literary stardom, exploring its lasting influence and asking how it stands up today. 
 
 
Contents 
1. The Woman in White 
2. No Name 
3. The Moonstone 
4. The Law and the Lady 
5. The Haunted Hotel 
6. 'Mad Monkton' 
7. 'The Dream Woman' 
8. 'The Biter Bit' 
9. 'A Terribly Strange Bed' 
10. 'The Stolen Letter' 
11. 'The Dead Hand' 
12. 'Mrs Badgery' 
13. 'A House to Let' 
14. 'Who Killed Zebedee?' 
15. 'Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman' 
16. 'Mr Marmaduke and the Minister' 
17. 'Miss Bertha and the Yankee' 
18. 'Miss Morris and the Stranger' 
19. 'Mr Percy and the Prophet' 
20. 'Night Waves: The Woman in White' 
 
 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Wilkie Collins BBC Radio Collection

Dramatisations and readings of his sensational stories including The Woman in White & The Moonstone

Iris Murdoch

Full-cast dramatisations and a reading of works by Iris Murdoch, plus a bonus interview with the author herself 
 
Booker Prize-winning author Iris Murdoch is renowned for her sublime fiction, exploring themes such as art, passion, morality and human freedom. Included in this collection are adaptations of two of her finest novels and a reading of her only published short story, as well as an edition of Writers Revealed in which Murdoch discusses her ideas and beliefs. 
 
The Sea, The Sea 
Charles Arrowby, celebrated actor, writer and director, has retired from his London world and come to the sea to become a hermit and draft his memoirs. But the past will not let him rest… This dramatisation of Murdoch’s most famous novel, which won the Booker Prize in 1978, stars John Wood as Charles and Joyce Redman as Hartley. 
 
A Severed Head 
When Martin Lynch-Gibbon's wife runs off with her analyst and his best friend, Palmer Anderson, the three characters attempt to behave in a civilised manner. But there is the matter of Martin's mistress and Palmer's sister to contend with – and undoubtedly the thin veneer of civilisation will crack… Iris Murdoch’s blackly comic satire on analysis and amorality stars Julian Rhind-Tutt, Victoria Hamilton and Matthew Marsh. 
 
Something Special 
Young Irishwoman Yvonne passionately believes that there is more to life than marriage to Sam, a respectable tailor's apprentice. But a night out in Dublin forces her to confront reality… Read by Catherine Cusack. 
 
Writers Revisited: Iris Murdoch 
Iris Murdoch talks about faith, religion and the creative process in conversation with Rosemary Hartill.

Iris Murdoch: The Sea, The Sea, A Severed Head & Something Special

A BBC Radio Collection

Paul Mayhew-Archer

All 19 episodes of the BBC radio comedy about an aspiring actor with dreams of stardom 
 
Young actor Robert Wilson is desperately seeking work – and he’s prepared to do almost anything for his big break. He’s convinced that he’s only one audition away from fame and fortune: but while he builds castles in the air, his agent Desmond and girlfriend Sue try their best to bring him back down to earth. 
 
In these three series, Robert gets a part as a chauffeur (except he can’t drive), gets carried away in a romantic leading role and gets his party politicals in a bit of a pickle. Plus, his role in a seedy sex farce leads to a sticky situation with Sue’s parents; his job performing in a prison means he finally has a captive audience; and his appearance on children’s TV causes his flat to be surrounded by press – but is that an actor’s dream, or an actor’s nightmare? 
 
Written by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who went on to co-write The Vicar of Dibley and Mrs Brown’s Boys, this lively comedy was a huge success on radio, and transferred to TV in 1991 for one series. John Gordon Sinclair plays Robert, with Caroline Quentin and Gina McKee as Sue.

An Actor’s Life for Me: The complete series 1-3

Victor Canning

Two BBC Radio 4 adaptations of Victor Canning’s comic novels about the exploits of a shy solicitor’s clerk, starring Richard Griffiths 
 
Edgar Finchley is middle-aged, unassuming and not in the habit of taking holidays – but in these two delightful dramatisations, he unexpectedly discovers the delights of travel as he crosses the Channel to the Continent and explores the English countryside. 
 
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris finds our hero on his way to France to track down a rather irresponsible client. But before he sets off, he has an important question to put to a certain widow of his acquaintance… On arrival in Paris, he has a contretemps with a haddock, gains a guide, makes a move, visits a fair and gets caught up in a kidnapping – but is it a case of mistaken identity? 
 
In Mr Finchley Takes the Road, he falls in love with a canary-coloured caravan and a rather stubborn horse, and heads off for a series of adventures touring 1930s Kent. Along the way, he meets an unlikely teller of salty tales, is captured by two gamekeepers and accused of poaching, visits an old haunt and goes on a crusade. But someone is following hot on his trail… 
 
Dramatised by father-and-son team Eric Merriman (Beyond Our Ken) and Andy Merriman, these whimsical stories are narrated by James Villiers and star Richard Griffiths as Mr Finchley. 
 
Written by Victor Canning 
Adapted by Andy and Eric Merriman 
Produced by Gareth Edwards 
 
Starring Richard Griffiths as Edgar Finchley 
Narrated by James Villiers 
 
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris 
Mrs Crantell – Anna Cropper 
Mr Sprake – James Grout 
Lawrence Hume – Piers Gibbon 
Mrs Patten – Jill Graham 
David White – James Taylor 
Mavis – Teresa Gallagher 
Frenchman – Barry Gordon 
Marie Peters – Serena Evans 
Robert Gillespie – James Cohen 
Madame Mignard – Jacqueline Tong 
Waiter – Keith Anderson 
Mr Hammerton – Nicky Henson 
Michel – Jeffrey Holland 
Jerome Giraud – Simon Roberts 
Gaston/Jacques – David Howarth 
Baptiste Mignard – Albert Welling 
Mr Barker – John Bird 
Esmond Lockwood – Edward de Souza 
Perkins – Richard Ridings 
Lanky Harris – Alex Arkell 
 
Mr Finchley Takes the Road 
Mrs Finchley – Dinah Sheridan 
Mr Rivers– Ron Pember 
Turk – Peter Vaughan 
Mr Sprake – James Grout 
Mr Harricot– Alan Thompson 
Colonel Greatorex – Ronald Fraser 
Marshall – Joe Melia 
Garge – Chris Emmett 
Ernie – Jon Glover 
Young woman – Susie Brann 
Mr Blain – John Bird 
Captain – Clive Swift 
Mrs Maberley – Auriol Swift 
Duffy – Richard Ridings 
Mr Greevey – Albert Welling 
Robert Finchley – Robert Gill 
Mr Harbottle – Piers Gibbon 
Miss Slater– Kate Binchy 
Sir Simon Penickle – Alan Thompson 
Mechanic – David Howarth 
Jenks – Ian Bartholomew 
Joe Turnbull – Bill Wallis 
James Grimes – Geoffrey McGivern 
Clarence Armitage – Sebastian Brennan 
Mrs Armitage – Jacqueline Tong

Victor Canning's Mr Finchley

Two BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations

Tanika Gupta

All ten episodes of the BBC Radio 4 comedy about an eccentric 'olderpreneur' and her adventures in business 
 
At the age of 51, Bindi Banerjee unexpectedly finds herself out of a job. But she has her redundancy pay-off and a can-do attitude, and as Series 1 opens, Bindi decides to start up her own business. Bindi’s Beauty Box soon gets off to a promising start, but Bindi must get her reluctant children on board if she is going to succeed. When she runs into some bumps in the road, Bindi wonders if she’s taken on more than she can manage – can she overcome the obstacles and make the business prosper? 
 
In Series 2, fresh from her first flush of success, Bindi takes on an exciting new business venture in property development but discovers that Slough just isn't ready for her visionary micro-pods. But Bindi is an unstoppable force of nature, and is determined that nothing will get in her way. As stress levels rise and pressure starts to mount, help arrives from an unexpected source – but just as she is preparing for the big opening, she is put to the test when she finds that not everyone shares her vision... 
 
Created by award-winning dramatist Tanika Gupta, this entertaining comedy-drama about the highs and lows of enterprise stars Meera Syal (Goodness Gracious Me) as Bindi. 
 
Cast 
Bindi – Meera Syal 
Raj – Chris Nayak 
Anu – Krupa Pattani 
Hema – Rina Fatania 
Sam – Will Ash 
Buzz – Tachia Newall 
Uncle Bash – Vincent Ebrahim/Sagar Arya 
Dwayne – Andonis Anthony 
Marcus – Mark Strepan 
Anil – Nitin Ganatra 
 
Production credits 
Written by Tanika Gupta 
Directed by Nadia Molinari

Bindi Business

A BBC Radio Full-Cast Drama: Series 1 and 2

Edna O'Brien

All three BBC radio dramatisations of Edna O’Brien’s coming-of-age trilogy set in 1950s Ireland 
 
 Now a much-loved modern classic, The Country Girls Trilogy was fiercely controversial when first published in the 1960s. Banned by the Irish censors and burned by the Church, the books nonetheless achieved widespread acclaim and international success, and launched Edna O’Brien’s literary career. 
 
 These three BBC radio adaptations follow the lives and loves of best friends Kate and Baba, two teenage girls growing up in repressive rural Ireland in the years before the sexual revolution. The Country Girls sees the duo leaving their small country village for convent school – but the bright lights of Dublin beckon, promising glamour, adventure and romance. In The Lonely Girl, dreamy Kate longs for love, while worldly-wise Baba makes the most of the opportunities the big city offers. Girls in Their Married Bliss finds the two friends living across the sea in London, where both have found husbands – but will marriage and motherhood bring happiness or heartbreak? 
 
 Funny, moving and painfully honest, these evocative dramas are a passionate affirmation of female friendship and desire, and a vivid portrait of a country struggling to throw off the shackles of prudishness, misogyny and religious conservatism. Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley) stars as Kate, with Aoibhinn McGinnity (Resistance, Nightflyers) as Baba. 
 
Edna O'Brien is the much acclaimed author of The Country Girls Trilogy. She recently won the David Cohen Prize for Literature for having “broken down social and sexual barriers for women in Ireland and beyond and moved mountains both politically and lyrically through her writing”. 
 
 Written by Edna O’Brien 
 Dramatised by Lin Coghlan 
 Produced and directed by Sally Avens and Jessica Dromgoole 
 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 August-6 September 2019 (The Country Girls), 14-25 October 2019 (The Lonely Girl), 9-13 December 2019 (Girls in Their Married Bliss)

The Country Girls

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the landmark trilogy

A Private Thriller

A series of children's modern classic novels by renowned 20th century children's writers. All the titles in this series have the A Puffin Book logo, contemporary-style covers, and child-friendly endnotes.

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