Alan Cutler

Alan Davies

Alan Dean Foster

Alan Duff

Alan Durant is the author of books for a wide age-range, from picture books such as Burger Boy, Angus Rides the Goods Train and Always and Forever to top-end teenage thrillers (Blood, Flesh and Bones). Having worked as a copywriter at Walker Books, he is now a full-time author. 
 
He's married, with three children and lives in Brighton. He does a lot of school visits throughout the UK and abroad and also runs writing workshops.

Alan Durant

Alan Edge

Alan Ereira

Alan Garner

Alan Gilbey

Alan Gordon is the founder and director of the Pain Psychology Center in California, a leading treatment facility for chronic pain sufferers that sees over 1,500 patients from around the world every year. Debilitated by chronic pain throughout his body for several years and frustrated by the lack of effective treatment, Gordon developed the ground-breaking Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) – a highly effective system of psychological techniques that rewire the brain’s neural circuits to turn off “stuck” pain signals. He is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Southern California.

Alan Gordon

Alan Grant

Born in 1926 in New York City, Alan Greenspan worked as a Juilliard-trained professional musician before studying Economics at New York University, where he earned his PhD. From 1974 to 1977, he served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Gerald Ford. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed him Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, a position he held until his retirement in 2006. He is the author of the bestselling The Age of Turbulence and The Map and the Territory 2.0.

Alan Greenspan

Alan H Guth

Alan Hansen was one of Britain's most respected football players and is now one of the most outspoken and popular football pundits.

Alan Hansen

Alan Harris is a Welsh playwright who has written several plays for BBC radio including The Lighthouse and The Gold Farmer. His play A Good Night Out in the Valleys launched the new National Theatre Wales in 2010 and he has also been awarded a prestigious Creative Wales Award.

Alan Harris

Alan Hill

Alan Hollinghurst was born in 1954. He is the author of one of the most highly praised first novels to appear in the 1980s, The Swimming-Pool Library, and was selected as one of the Best of Young British Novelists 1993. His second novel, The Folding Star, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize. His novel The Line of Beauty won the Booker Prize in 2004. His most recent novel, The Sparsholt Affair, was published in 2017.

Alan Hollinghurst

Alan Hooper is a founder and Honorary Fellow of the Centre for Leadership Studies, 
University of Exeter, and is also a visiting Professor at Bristol Business 
School. He has been a CEO in the public sector and now consults widely on 
senior management development and the management of change.

Alan Hooper

Alan Isler was born in England in 1934, emigrating to the US at the age of 18. After serving in the US army he went on to study literature at Columbia University, and taught for much of his adult life. Isler was the author of several novels including Kraven Images, The Bacon Fancier, Clerical Errors, The Living Proof and The Prince of West End Avenue, which won the National Jewish Book Award in 1994. Isler died in 2010. 
 .

Alan Isler

Alan J Wilson

Alan Jenkins

Alan Johnson was born in May 1950. He is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. Johnson was the Member of Parliament for Hull West and Hessle until his retirement from politics in 2017. 
 His first book, This Boy, won the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Orwell Prize in 2013. His second, Please Mister Postman, won the National Book Award for Autobiography of the Year in 2014. His third, The Long and Winding Road, was published in 2016 and won the Parliamentary Book Award for Best Memoir.

Alan Johnson

Alan Jones

Belfast-born twins Alan and Gary Keery love cereal. As creators of The Cereal Killer Café, the trendiest new eatery on Brick Lane, they have turned that love of the nation’s favourite comfort food into a thriving business. The opening of their first café saw extraordinary interest with press and broadcast coverage from all over the world. The café was voted best new restaurant by Hot Dinners in 2014. A second café is opening in summer 2015.

Alan Keery

Alan Langford

Alan Lerner

Alan MacDonald

Alan Macdonald

Alan Macfarlane

Alan McDonald

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Kenneth Grahame

Richard Briers, Adrian Scarborough and Terence Rigby star in this full-cast dramatisation, narrated by Alan Bennett.When Mole abandons his spring cleaning one morning, he surfaces into the sunlight and encounters the Water Rat. Mole stays with Ratty in his snug waterside home, and soon he meets Ratty’s friends: Badger, who lives in the Wild Wood, and the incorrigible Toad of Toad Hall. This timeless tale of waterside Britain has been loved by generations of children and acclaimed as a classic. The story of Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad and their escapades never fails to enchant. Many of the original cast from Alan Bennett's acclaimed National Theatre production appear in this Radio 4 dramatisation, including Richard Briers as Rat, Adrian Scarborough as Mole and Terence Rigby as Albert - with Alan Bennett as the narrator.

The Wind In The Willows

Robert Louis Stevenson

Jack Shepherd and Iain Cuthbertson star in a BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the classic swashbuckling tale. Having outwitted a band of pirates to obtain a map disclosing the whereabouts of Captain Flint's treasure, Young Jim sets sail for Treasure Island. But the crew of the Hispaniola are not what they seem. Revealing themselves as another gang of cut throats, led by the villainous Long John Silver, they are hell-bent on seizing both the ship and the treasure. Will they succeed? The struggle of Young Jim and his friends as they do battle on the high seas is thrillingly played out in this full-bodied production starring Jack Shepherd, Iain Cuthbertson, Buster Merryfield and James McPherson as young Jim Hawkins.

Treasure Island

Jane Austen

BBC Audio presents Persuasion, Jane Austen's last novel. Anne Elliot had never forgotten the personable Captain Wentworth, who reappears in Anne Elliot's life several years after she had been persuaded to break off their engagement. 
 
He makes no secret of his angry indignation. Newly wealthy from success at sea, a marriage with Frederick Wentworth could walk Anne and her entire family back from the brink of financial ruin. Can Wentworth forgive, and can the couple reunite? 
 
Narrated by Janet Suzman. 
 
© 2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (p) 2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Persuasion

A BBC Radio 4 reading

Daphne du Maurier

'There was Manderley, our Manderley, secretive and silent as it had always been...Time itself could not wreck the perfect symmetry of those walls, nor the site itself, a jewel in the hollow of a hand.' 
 
When Maxim de Winter brings his shy new bride to his beautiful stately home on the Cornwall coast, it seems like all her dreams have come true. The terrace slopes to the lawns, the lawns stretch to the sea, and the gardens are full of scented flowers. 
 
But she soon finds that Manderley is haunted by the shadow of Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, who died the year before. It was Rebecca who made the house and gardens the showpiece of the county and her memory is revered by all, especially the housekeeper Mrs Danvers. 
 
As the hot summer fades, the mystery of Rebecca's death grows, weaving a spell of fear and foreboding. In a series of climactic revelations, Rebecca's memory is finally laid to rest.... but at what cost?

Rebecca

William Shakespeare

In this BBC full-cast production of All's Well That Ends Well, the trials of marriage are hilariously explored. Will Helena complete the Herculean tasks to win Bertram's love? 
 
All's Well That Ends Well finds Helena rewarded for her ministries to the sick with the choice of any husband she wishes. Her choice, Bertram, is unwilling to have her as his wife and sets her a number of seemingly impossible tasks to complete before he will relent. 
 
Starring Emma Fielding as Helena, Siân Phillips as the Countess and Miriam Margolyes as the Widow, with Richard Griffiths as the King, Simon Russell Beale as Parolles and Carl Prekopp as Bertram. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

All's Well That Ends Well

A BBC Radio Shakespeare production

In this BBC full-cast production of Antony and Cleopatra, the soldier and noble prince Mark Antony's enthralment with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra is proving controversial. Will the tumultuous relationship ultimately end in tragedy? 
 
Antony and Cleopatra is an intense love story, exploring the constant conflict between duty and emotion with characters so charismatic they continue to fascinate after 2,000 years. Shakespeare achieved some of his most beautiful poetry in this play, and the richness of the language makes it perfect for audio. 
 
Frances Barber stars as Cleopatra and David Harewood as Antony in this towering tale of great love, political intrigue and tragedy. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Antony And Cleopatra

In this BBC full-cast production of As You Like It, Rosalind is banished from the Royal court, heartbroken over Orlando. Will the two find a way to reunite? 
 
A comedy of wit, disguise and love, Shakespeare's tale about the enchanted world of the Forest of Arden remains as moving as it is funny. 
 
Helena Bonham Carter stars as Rosalind, with David Morrissey as Orlando and Natasha Little as Celia. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

As You Like It

In this BBC full-cast production of Coriolanus, allies and enemies become blurred just as Rome is in sight... 
 
Coriolanus tells of a proud Roman general who captures the town Corioli but subsequently falls from favour with the Roman people. He allies himself with the Volscians and leads an attack on Rome, but allegiances are won and lost before the final tragic end. 
 
Starring Samuel West as Coriolanus and Susannah York as Volumnia. 
 
 BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Coriolanus

In this BBC full-cast production, the ghost of Hamlet's father orders him to kill the man who took his life, his throne and his wife: Claudius. 
 
In a tale of caution, tragedy and revenge, Hamlet is driven to madness by his mission and his father's legacy. 
 
Michael Sheen stars as Hamlet, with Kenneth Cranham as Claudius, Juliet Stevenson as Gertrude and Ellie Beaven as Ophelia. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Hamlet

A BBC Radio Production

In this BBC full-cast production of Henry IV Part 2, civil war is ravaging England. Rebels are rallying together, unified against Henry. Will Henry and his son, Hal, emerge victorious - or alive? 
 
Father and son Julian Glover and Jamie Glover star as King Henry and his son Hal in the powerful production which also stars Timothy West and Prunella Scales. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Henry IV Part Two

In this BBC full-cast production, Julius Caesar is triumphant after his victory over the sons of Pompey. But as bad omens and weather plague Rome, even his most loyal friends are starting to see the signs... 
 
Political intrigue and fierce battle rage in this tense and dynamic production in which a country is torn apart under the legacy of Julius Caesar, 'the colossus'. 
 
Gerard Murphy, Stella Gonet, Samantha Bond and Nicholas Farrell star in Shakespeare's turbulent Roman history. 
 
 BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Julius Caesar

In this BBC full-cast production, King Lear tests his three daughters' love, with disastrous consequences. 
 
Some of the most stirring scenes Shakespeare ever wrote resonate powerfully in this dramatic radio production. Tortured madness, pure evil, and the fatal struggle for power grip the listener until the final, shockingly tragic conclusion. 
 
Starring Corin Redgrave as King Lear, with Justine Waddell as Cordelia, Robert Glenister as Edgar, Geraldine James as Goneril and Kika Markham as Regan 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

King Lear

In this BBC full-cast production, a trio of witches predicts Macbeth's early demise. 
 
In a tale of fate, fulfilment and ego, Macbeth and his wife desire the Scottish kingship. Macbeth's temptation and descent into evil, his wife's ruthlessness and subsequent madness and the overarching presence of the supernatural charge this gripping production. Will their conscience, and the prophecy, catch up with them before the crown can be secured? 
 
Ken Stott stars as Macbeth and Phyllis Logan as Lady Macbeth. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Macbeth

In this BBC full-cast production, Othello is drawn further and further into jealous rage by the manipulative Iago. 
 
In this story of evil cunning perverting a once noble mind, radio captures Iago's sly hints and boasts to the audience with shocking clarity. The listener is led along an emotional path that grips with fascinating horror until the play's tragic conclusion. 
 
Staring Ray Fearon as Othello, James Frain as Iago and and Anastasia Hille as Desdemona. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Othello

In this BBC full-cast production of Richard II, the male ego and narcissism of monarchs are hung out to dry... 
 
Written entirely in verse, the rhythms of the language in this epic tragedy encompass its themes of dignity and kingship with fitting grandeur and pathos, as the capricious and narcissistic Richard is brought to his own destruction. 
 
Starring Samuel West as Richard II. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Richard II

In this BBC full-cast production of Romeo And Juliet, the two star-crossed lovers fight for each other until their dying breath. Can their two feuding families reconcile? 
 
With the intimacy of radio, the full beauty and meaning of some of the most lyrical lines ever written can be truly heard: tenderness and passion, betrayal and bigotry are brilliantly evoked as the tale comes to its tragic conclusion. 
 
Douglas Henshall stars as Romeo, with Sophie Dahl as Juliet and Susannah York as Lady Capulet in Shakespeare's passionate story of doomed love. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Romeo And Juliet

In this BBC full-cast production of The Merchant of Venice, love, bigotry, greed, and justice are entwined. 
 
Shakespeare's classic play explores the eternal themes of love and hate, mercy and justice, with parallel stories centred on the moneylender, Shylock, and the lovers, Portia and Bassanio. Shylock's angry insistence on the repayment of his debt from Bassanio ends in the Venetian courts, where he demands his pound of flesh. Portia meanwhile, a wealthy young Venetian woman, must marry one of her many suitors. Her late father's will has set the challenge by means of three caskets: one gold, one silver and one lead. 
 
Warren Mitchell stars as Shylock, with Martin Jarvis as Antonio, Samuel West as Bassanio and Juliet Aubrey as Portia. 
 
This superb production of Shakespeare's dramatic and complex play is directed by the award-winning Peter Kavanagh, and features specially-composed music by the renowned Barrington Pheloung. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

The Merchant Of Venice

Homer

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast production of Homer’s epic seafaring adventure, dramatised by award-winning poet Simon Armitage and starring Tim McInnerny, Amanda Redman & Benedict Cumberbatch. 
 
‘My fame is written in the heavens, and my fate too...’ So speaks Odysseus as he starts to recount his struggles to sail home to Ithaca, in one of the greatest pieces of storytelling in Western literature. 
 
'The Odyssey' is his incredible traveller’s tale – and also the story of his faithful wife Penelope who waits for him, besieged by suitors, and their son Telemachus who has a quest of his own. In a twenty-year journey, fabulous fantasy mixes with extraordinary reality as Odysseus encounters enchantresses, nymphs, monsters, prophets and ghosts. From the temptations of the lotus flowers and the Sirens’ song to the horrors of the Cyclops’ cave and the Land of the Dead, the story of his encounters is riveting. We hear of Circe, who turned his men into swine; Calypso, who held Odysseus prisoner for seven years; and the dreadful six-headed monster Scylla who devoured some of his crew. And we hear of the Gods, who have a vital role to play.... 
 
Dramatised by major contemporary poet Simon Armitage to celebrate the return of the Olympics to Athens, this full cast production brings Odysseus’s adventures to vivid life, conveying all the excitement, suspense and poetry of the original. A stunning aural rollercoaster ride, 'The Odyssey' will have your heart in your mouth and stir your soul. 
 
'As irresistible as gravity ... a production so thrilling that it rapidly becomes unthinkable to press the stop - or even the pause - button' - Independent on Sunday. 
 
Odysseus: Tim McLnnerny 
Penelope: Amanda Redman 
Telemachus: Benedict Cumberbatch 
Athena: Janet McTeer 
Zeus: John Wood 
Eurycleia: Mary Wimbush 
Hermes: Bertie Carvel 
King Alcinous: Geoffrey Whitehead 
Queen Arete: Cheryl Campbell 
Princess Nausicaa: Alice Hart 
Calypso: Adjoa Andoh 
The Cyclops: Barrie Rutter 
Antinous: Danny Webb 
Eurymachus: Jonathan Keeble 
Amphinomus: Chris Pavlo 
Eurylochus: Ewan Bailey 
Polites: John Rowe 
Elpenus: Stephen Hogan 
Eurybates: Philip Fox 
Antiphus: Jon Glover 
Eumaeus: Ioan Meredith 
Circe: Frances Barber 
Ghost of Anticleia: Joanna McCallum 
The Sirens: Elena Ferarri 
The Sirens: Belinda Sykes 
The Sirens: Harriet Williams

The Odyssey

In this BBC full-cast production of The Taming of the Shrew, the freedom and virility of women is frowned upon. Will Petruchio's quest to 'tame' his new wife succeed? 
 
Layers of assumed identity, elaborate role-playing, and acerbic exchanges of wit reveal the real relationship between men and women in this exuberant production of one of Shakespeare's earliest comedies. 
 
Gerard McSorley stars as Petruchio and Ruth Mitchell as Katherina in Shakespeare's sharply witty comedy. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

The Taming Of The Shrew

In this BBC full-cast production of The Tempest, a magical storm washes some sailors up on a peculiar island, changing the course of their lives forever... 
 
Raging storms and rich beautiful music combine to magical effect in this production of Shakespeare's allegorical last play, where mystical forces work to restore harmony and order to an estranged community. 
 
Staring Philip Madoc as Prospero and Nina Wadia as Ariel. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

The Tempest

In this BBC full-cast production of Twelfth Night, Malvolio is looking for trouble - and revenge... 
 
Michael Maloney, Josette Simon and Anne-Marie Duff star in this fast and funny production of Shakespeare's most sparkling and optimistic comedy, when all the world is turned on its head and authority is usurped, when by civil misrule girls become boys and women lust after women. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Twelfth Night

E.R. Braithwaite

A trio of novels by the renowned author, dramatised for BBC Radio Guyanese writer E. R. Braithwaite is probably best known for his semi-autobiograpical, internationally bestselling novel To Sir with Love, which was adapted as an award-winning film starring Sidney Poitier. Collected here are dramatisations of three of his acclaimed novels, with casts including Kwame Kei-Armah and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.To Sir with Love – Having been rejected from various roles due to the colour of his skin, ex-RAF pilot Rick Braithwaite gets a job as a teacher in a progressive inner-city school in postwar London. The students are tough, foul-mouthed and angry, but he inspires them as they inspire him. Kwame Kwei-Armah stars in this tale of a black teacher’s struggles to connect with his students.Paid Servant – Seconded to London County Council as a child welfare officer, former teacher Rick Braithwaite faces further prejudice. There, he finds himself taking over the case of Roddy Williams, a vulnerable mixed-race boy in need of a family. Kwame Kwei Armah reprises his role as Rick in this moving sequel to Braithwaite’s 1959 novel To Sir With Love.Choice of Straws – Rootless Teddy boys Jack and Dave go looking for trouble, but the night ends in tragedy when a man is fatally stabbed. Shocked and remorseful, Jack must deal with anguish and loss, and learn how to live again. Set in the racially intolerant London of the 1950s, this powerful drama stars Harry Hepple and Luke Norris as Jack and Dave, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Michelle and Annabelle Dowler as Ruth.NB: Choice of Straws contains language reflecting attitudes of the timesProduction creditsTo Sir with LoveRick – Kwame Kwei-ArmahGillian – Sasha BeharWeston – Simon TrevesClinty – Liza SadovyFlorian – Sam DaleDenham – Steven WebbPam – Clare CorbettSeales – Ashley ChinPotter – Freddy WhiteBabs – Leanne RoweDramatised by Roy WilliamsProduced and directed by Claire GroveFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 August 2007-2 September 2007Paid ServantRick – Kwame Kwei-ArmahMr Bentham – Jimmy AklngbolaMrs Bentham – Clare PerkinsJim – John RoweMrs Larkin – Lisa StevensonMr Larkin – Chris PavloEllesworth – Nyasha HatendiElla – Liz SutherlandMatron – Joan WalkerRoddy – Cara HallsAbridged by Anne EdyveanDirected by Jessica DrumgooleFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9-13 June 2008Choice of StrawsJack – Harry HeppleDave – Luke NorrisMichelle – Gugu Mbatha-RawMum – Ellie HaddingtonDad – David HargreavesRuth – Annabelle DowlerMr Spencer – Alex LanipekunPolice officer – Stephen HoganDramatised by Roy WilliamsProduced and directed by Claire GroveFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 19 September 2009© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

E.R. Braithwaite: A BBC Radio Collection

Three Full-Cast Dramatisations including To Sir, With Love

Ovid

Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Hattie Naylor

Nick Warburton

Colin Teevan

Lucy Catherine

Ten contemporary reimaginings of Ovid’s iconic tales from Metamorphoses, with star-studded casts including Toby Jones, Shaun Dooley and Robert Glenister 
 
Roman love poet Ovid ranks alongside Virgil and Homer in the canon of Western literature. Like them, he has influenced writers past and present, his witty, sexy tales inspiring authors from Shakespeare to Ezra Pound. Included here are ten scintillating retellings that take a fresh look at his classic works, viewing these ancient stories from a modern perspective. 
 
First up are five dramas from New Metamorphoses, themed around the topics of desire, seduction and transformation: 
In Zeus and Semele, by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, paparazzo Harry gets in over his head when he is welcomed into the glamorous world he feeds on. 
And in Hattie Naylor’s Echo and Narcissus, Mat joins a gym, while Debbie becomes mesmerised by the boy across the road. 
Myrrah by Colin Teevan sees a teenage girl gripped by a terrible passion, 
and in Callisto by Nick Warburton, a photographer faces a dilemma when he captures a photo he never intended to take. 
Meanwhile, Phaethon by Katie Hims revolves around a family reunion and a promise that cannot be broken… 
 
Continuing the leitmotifs of fluidity, change and the different aspects of love, Transformations features five more adaptations, dramatised by Lucy Catherine with a special introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate: 
Ceyx and Alcyone centres on the King of Trachis, who is determined to travel by ship to visit the Oracle. But the winds at sea are capricious and cruel, and a storm is coming… 
Pygmalion tells of a sculptor who, alone and broken, becomes enamoured of one of his own statues. Will the goddess of love be kind, and bring her to life? 
In Orpheus and Eurydice, when his beloved wife is killed by a snake, Orpheus travels to the realm of the dead in a desperate bid to bring her back. 
Byblis and Cannus sees a young girl falling hopelessly in love with her own brother… 
And in Baucis and Philemon, an elderly couple find their lives changed when they receive two unexpected guests. 
 
We conclude with two bonus programmes - In Our Time: Ovid finds Melvyn Bragg conversing with a panel of experts to discuss the great writer, and in Ovid: Changing Times, Tom Holland investigates the impact and lasting resonance of Metamorphoses. 
 
 
Cast and Credits 
New Metamorphoses 
 
Zeus and Semele 
Starring Toby Jones, Daniel Cerqueira, Robert Glenister, Lyndsey Marshal, Peter Mann 
 
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz 
Produced and directed by Jessica Drumgoole 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 3 Mar 2008 
 
Echo and Narcissus 
Starring Toby Jones, Carl Prekopp, Laura Molyneux, Burn Gorman, Harry Myers, Deborah Findlay, Gbemisola Ikumelo 
 
Written by Hattie Naylor 
Produced and directed by Sasha Yevtushenko 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4 Mar 2008 
 
Myrrha 
Starring Toby Jones, Gerard McSorley, Marcella Plunkett, Niall Buggy, Derbhle Crotty, Jonathan Forbes, Ben Crowe, Chris Pavlo, Liz Sutherland, Peter Marinker, Kate Binchy 
 
Written by Colin Teevan 
Produced and directed by Jeremy Mortimer 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5 Mar 2008 
 
Callisto 
Starring Shaun Dooley, Joannah Tincey, Rachel Atkins, John Rowe, Anna Bengo, Ben Onwukwe 
 
Written by Nick Warburton 
Produced and directed by Tracey Neale 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 6 Mar 2008 
 
Phaethon 
Starring Toby Jones, Rosie Cavaliero, Vincenzo Nicoli, Paul Hilton, Steven Webb, Robert Madge, Liza Sadovy 
 
Written by Katie Hims 
Produced and directed by Marc Beeby 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7 Mar 2008 
 
Transformations 
Written by Lucy Catherine 
Directed by Marc Beeby 
 
Ceyx and Alcyone 
Starring Jim Norton, Clare Corbett, Philip Bretherton, Neil McCaul, Isabella Inchbald, Tayla Kovacevi-Ebong, Abby Andrews 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 15 Jan 2018 
 
Pygmalion 
Starring Jim Norton, Rupert Holliday Evans, Gary Duncan, Abbie Andrews, Isabella Inchbald 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 16 Jan 2018 
 
Orpheus and Eurydice 
Starring Jim Norton, Tom Forrister, Madeline Hatt, Neil McCaul, Philip Bretherton, Isabella Inchbald, Clive Hayward 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 17 Jan 2018 
 
Byblis and Cannus 
Starring Jim Norton, Abbie Andrews, Adam Fitzgerald, Isabella Inchbald, Ellie Darvill, Kath Weare 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 18 Jan 2018 
 
Baucis and Philemon 
Starring Jim Norton, Sheila Reid, John Rowe, Clive Hayward, Tayla Kovacevi-Ebong 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 19 Jan 2018 
 
In Our Time: Ovid 
Presented by Melvyn Bragg 
With Maria Wyke, Gail Trimble and Dunstan Lowe 
Produced by Simon Tillotson 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 Apr 2001 
 
Ovid: Changing Times 
Presented by Tom Holland 
Produced by Mark Rickards 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4 Feb 2017 
 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ovid’s Modern Metamorphoses

10 Full-Cast Contemporary BBC Radio Dramatisations including Orpheus, Euridice, Phaethon, Echo & Narcissus

Everyman's Library Barbreck

Everyman's Children's Classics has more than 50 titles in print. It offers the finest editions currently available of the world's greatest children's books in handsome, full cloth hardcover bindings. 
 
The library brings back into print major illustrators such as Ivan Bilibin, Kate Greenaway, Arthur Rackham, Nicolas Bentley, Walter Crane, Aubrey Beardsley, Edward Ardizzone, W.Heath Robinson and Mervyn Peake.

Everyman's Library CHILDREN'S CLASSICS

The finest editions available of the world's greatest classics from Homer to Achebe, Tolstoy to Ishiguro, Proust to Pullman, printed on a fine acid-free, cream-wove paper that will not discolour with age, with sewn, full cloth bindings and silk ribbon markers, and at remarkably low prices. All books include substantial introductions by major scholars and contemporary writers, and comparative chronologies of literary and historical context.

Everyman's Library CLASSICS

P G Wodehouse is widely recognized as the greatest English comic writer of the twentieth century. 
 
His characters and settings have entered our language and our mythology. The first ever collected edition (Wodehouse had many publishers in his lifetime), the Everyman Wodehouse, will contain all the novels and stories, newly edited and reset from the first British edition. 
 
Printed on cream-wove, acid-free paper, sewn and bound in cloth, each Everyman volume is already recognized as the finest edition of the master ever published.

Everyman's Library P G WODEHOUSE

Everyman's Pocket Classics complements highly successful Pocket Poets series, offering the best prose writing in a handy pocket-sized format. Like all Everyman Library books, each title is printed on a cream-wove, acid-free paper with full cloth sewn binding, headbands and silk ribbon marker. Eminently collectable and great gifts.

Everyman's Library POCKET CLASSICS

Pocket clothbound volumes from the world's greatest poets, and with a stunning range of anthologies. Each volume has an elegant jacket, full cloth sewn binding, silk ribbon marker and headbands, with gold stamping on front and spine and decorative endpapers. In size, price and presentation they make ideal gifts and are a joy to read and collect. More than eighty titles in print.

Everyman's Library POCKET POETS

Everyman’s Library Contemporary Classics

Ex-Heroes

Explore with Peter Rabbit

Extraordinary Lives

Factory Girls

Fairwick Chronicles

Fairytale in Progress

Faith, Hope and Glory

Laid-back Roman detective Marcus Didius Falco investigates crimes in the dangerous world of first century Rome, a place of political intrigue, corruption and murder.

Falco

Fall of the Dragon

Luce doesn’t like the sound of the Sword and Cross reform school, and it lives up to all her expectations. Until she meets Daniel. He’s perfect, but what she doesn’t realise is that they have met before. Many times. He is a fallen angel, and each time they meet they are torn apart, Luce dying and Daniel forced to live on without her. They think that they have found a way to break the curse, but they will have to make great sacrifices along the way. Love never dies in this darkly romantic series which spans centuries in its storytelling.

Fallen

Falling Kingdoms

Far Out Five

Far-Flung Adventures

Sam and Remi Fargo are a husband and wife team on a quest. Treasure hunters, they travel the world looking for ancient artefacts and exotic bounty. They're in it for the history and the mystery, but others are not so honourable, and the Fargo's often find themselves caught up in ancient riddles, desperate to solve the puzzle before the bad guys get there first.

Fargo Adventures

Fate & Flame

Father Brown

Father, I Don’t Want This Marriage

Faust

Feral Love

More than 100 million copies sold worlwide, this is a series that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

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