Aidan Smith

Aidan Storey

Aidan Trimble is the Chief Instructor to the Federation of Shotokan Karate and a former British, European and World Karate Champion, winning the world title in Tokyo - the home of Karate. Aidan has trained with some of the world's leading teachers of 'traditional' and 'sport' karate and is now an award-winning instructor and teacher who is in demand throughout the world. He can be contacted via www.fsk-karate.com.

Aidan Trimble

Aiden Aslin is a British-born resident of Ukraine. Living in Mykolaiv with his fiancé, he joined the Ukrainian marines in 2018 and was called to the frontline ahead of the Russian invasion in February 2022. He was one of over a thousand soldiers who surrendered after the month-long siege at the Mariupol steelworks, whereupon he was singled out for his British passport. His surrender, captivity, treatment and subsequent release received global media attention.

Aiden Aslin

Aiko Bethea is the founder of RARE Coaching &amp; Consulting, a leadership development company that helps aspiring leaders successfully navigate the workplace with more impactful approaches to leadership. She has worked with Fortune 100 companies, research &amp; academic institutes, and global non-profit organisations. Bethea is also Senior Leadership Consultant for the Brené Brown Education &amp; Research Group and was named by Forbes as a leading anti-racism educator. Bethea was a contributing writer in the New York Times bestselling anthology You Are Your Best Thing (2021). Anchored, Aligned, Accountable is her first book.

Aiko Bethea

Ailie Busby

Ailsa McFarlane was born in 1997 in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Snowdonia in the United Kingdom. After leaving school, she studied veterinary science before dropping out to travel the United States and Europe by road. Highway Blue is her first novel.

Ailsa McFarlane

Aimee Bender is the author of the novels The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, a New York Times bestseller, and An Invisible Sign of My Own; and of the collections The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, Willful Creatures and The Color Master. Her work has been widely anthologised and has been translated into sixteen languages. She lives in Los Angeles.

Aimee Bender

Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) was a Martinican poet and politician who played a leading role in the struggle to liberate the French colonies of Africa and the Caribbean. Renowned for co-founding the Négritude movement, Césaire was a pioneer in surrealist poetry. His achievements as a writer were recognised worldwide with awards including the International Nâzim Hikmet Poetry Award, the Laporte Prize, the Viareggio-Versilia Prize for Literature, and the Grand Prix National de Poésie; in 2002, he was made Commander of the Order of Merit of Cote d'Ivoire. His works include the plays A Tempest (1969) and A Season in the Congo (1966), the searing political essay Discourse on Colonialism (1956), and the long poem Return to My Native Land (1950), dubbed "nothing less than the greatest lyrical monument of this time" (Andre Breton).

Aimé Césaire

Aingeala Flannery

Aingelda Ardizzone

Ainsley Harriott is nothing short of a cookery legend; a pioneer in quick and easy home cooking, he has hosted some of the UK's most popular culinary series. His love of food and people, together with his natural curiosity and accessible recipes, make him a much-loved British TV personality. Recent popular ITV shows include Ainsley's Caribbean Kitchen, Ainsley Mediterranean Cookbook, Ainsley's Food We Love and now Ainsley's Good Mood Food.

Ainsley Harriott

Air Fryer UK

Aishling Morgan

Aisling Bea

Aisling Fitzsimons

Aislinn Hunter is the author of a novel, Stay; a collection of stories, What's Left Us; and two collections of poetry, Into the Early Hours and The Possible Past. The World Before Us is her first book of fiction in twelve years. After travelling to London and Edinburgh over the past few years to study for a PhD, Aislinn Hunter now lives and teaches in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Aislinn Hunter

Aiste Gazdar

Ajahn Sumedho

Ajay Chowdhury, the inaugural winner of the Harvill Secker-Bloody Scotland prize, is a tech entrepreneur and theatre director. His children’s book – Ayesha and the Firefish, was published in 2016 and adapted into a musical which premiered in San Francisco. 
 
 
The Waiter (Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month), was published in 2021, and is the first in his critically-acclaimed crime series about Detective Kamil Rahman, an ex-policeman from Kolkata who has moved to Brick Lane in London. It is being adapted for television by Moonage Pictures.The Cook (Guardian Top Crime Books of the Year) was published in May 2022 to excellent reviews and deals with the issue of homelessness. The third book in the series – The Detective (Sunday Times Top Crime Books of the Year) – is about government surveillance and AI. The Spy (Longlisted Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing), the fourth book, sees Kamil infiltrate a terrorist cell. The Shadow (A Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month) is the latest book in the series.

Ajay Chowdhury

Ajaz Ahmed is the CEO of AKQA, the ideas and innovation company he founded aged 21. AKQA today employs over 1,500 people in 15 offices around the world. In 2014 AKQA won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Innovation. Ajaz co-authored Velocity: The Seven New Laws for a World Gone Digital. For essays and thoughts visit http://www.akqa.com/ajaz.

Ajaz Ahmed

Akasha Moon is a professional Tarot reader, medium and vocational healer. Under her other pen name Kala Trobe, she has published Invoke the Goddess and Invoke the Gods with Llewellyn. She's passionate about her subject and believes that, although it can bring about some serious benefits, magic can be a lot of fun.

Akasha Moon

Akiyuki Nosaka (1930-2015) was a novelist, singer, lyricist and former member of the House of Councillors in Japan. Born in Kamakura, Kanagawa, his memories of living through the Second World War – including the loss of his adoptive father in the 1945 Kobe bombings – served as the inspiration for his most famous short stories. In 1967, he won the Naoki Prize for Grave of the Fireflies and American Hijiki, both based on the Japanese experience of the War. Nosaka also wrote erotic fiction, including The Pornographers (1963), and in later life he continued his career as a newspaper and TV journalist, as well as a politician and chanson singer.

Akiyuki Nosaka

Dr Akong Tulku Rinpoche was an experienced meditation master of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was co-founder of the Samye Ling Tibetan Centre and supervised many other centres in Europe, Africa and Asia. He formed several humanitarian organisations for the aid of refugees, the distressed and the poor and was advisor to a large number of people, including therapists in the UK and Europe. He died in 2013.

Akong Tulku Rinpoche

Akshi Singh is an associate editor at Parapraxis and deputy editor at Critical Quarterly, and is the editor of a special collection of Critical Quarterly presenting new writing on Marion Milner. She collaborates regularly with the Derek Jarman lab, and writes for the London Review of Books. Singh moved to the UK from India to study for a PhD in psychoanalysis and literature with Jacqueline Rose. She is currently training to be a psychoanalyst at the Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research.

Akshi Singh

Al Ewing

Al Franken

Al Gore

Al Holloway

Al Murray is a Perrier Award-winning comic, TV personality and, as 'The Pub Landlord', the author of the bestselling The Pub Landlord's Book of British Common Sense and Think Yourself British. Most recently, he has taken on the leadership of the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP).

Al Murray

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John Milton

Sir Ian McKellen stars as Milton in this dramatised retelling of John Milton’s epic poem about the fall of Man 
 
"devilishly good... I urge you to give it a listen" The Telegraph 
 
Milton’s biblical masterpiece, first published in 1667, is one of English literature’s most seminal works. Straddling three worlds – Heaven, Hell and Earth – it tells the gripping story of fallen angel Satan’s rebellion against God, his temptation of Adam and Eve and their subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden. 
 
Written to ‘justify the ways of God to men’, it aimed to show what caused Mankind's fall and the consequences for the world, both bad and good. By reaching back to the beginning of time, Milton hoped to discover the events that had led to the political and societal upheaval of his own era – as well as using allegory to ask powerful questions about authority, government, tyranny and disobedience. In this brand new dramatisation, Milton himself (Sir Ian McKellen) is the blind narrator grieving the loss of his wife, played by Frances Barber. 
 
Also starring Simon Russell Beale as Satan, and adapted by award-winning poet and broadcaster Michael Symmons Roberts, this enthralling drama is a vital piece of storytelling with striking parallels to contemporary events. 
 
Cast and credits 
 
Milton……………………Sir Ian McKellen 
Elizabeth……………………Frances Barber 
Satan……………………Simon Russell Beale 
Beelzebub……………………Jonathan Keeble 
Adam……………………Ashley Margolis 
Eve……………………Emily Pithon 
Christ……………………David Seddon 
Raphael……………………Conrad Nelson 
God……………………Russell Dixon 
All other parts were played by members of the company 
 
Written by John Milton 
Dramatised by Michael Symmons Roberts 
Produced and directed by Susan Roberts

Paradise Lost

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Spring 1905, England. 
 
When Helen Schlegel goes to stay at Howards End - the country home of the Wilcox family, her own life, along with that of her sister Margaret, is changed forever. This is the tale of three families at the beginning of the twentieth century: the rich Wilcoxes, the gentle, idealistic Schlegels and the lower-middle class Basts. 
 
Frequently cited as E. M. Forster's finest work, Howards End brilliantly explores class warfare, conflict and the English character. This BBC dramatisation skilfully brings the classic novel to life. 
 
Starring John Hurt as the Narrator, Lisa Dillon as Margaret Schlegel, Jill Cardo as Helen Schlegel, Tom Ferguson as Tibby Schlegel, Alexandra Mathie as Aunt Juley, Malcolm Raeburn as Henry Wilcox, Ann Rye as Ruth Wilcox and Joseph Kloska as Charles Wilcox.

Howards End

A BBC Radio 4 full cast dramatisation

Simon Armitage

Lily Cole stars as Helen of Troy, ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’, in Simon Armitage’s vivid, visceral adaptation of Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid 
 
For ten years, the Greeks have been laying siege to Troy to win back their abducted queen, Helen. But as the war drags on, and the battlefields run scarlet with blood, the opposing forces are entrenched in a bitter stalemate. As Gods and mortals squabble amongst themselves for the spoils of war, the exhausted warriors go to extreme lengths in a desperate grab for victory… 
 
Dramatised by multi-award-winning poet and playwright Simon Armitage, The Last Days of Troy was first produced as a stage play at the Manchester Royal Exchange and Shakespeare’s Globe, and this radio version features the original cast. Both a tense action adventure and a powerful commentary on the futility of war, it brings Homer’s ancient myth to dynamic life and explores themes that still resonate today, in a world locked in cycles of conflict and revenge, East versus West and with the same dangerous combination of pride, lies and self-deception that fuelled the Trojan War. 
 
‘Armitage was the real star, with his vivid and muscular dialogue and occasional flashes of humour…The Last Days of Troy was a powerful reflection on the folly of men and the cruelty of war.’ – Independent 
 
Cast and credits 
Agamemnon..................................................................David Birrell 
Achilles..................................................................Jake Fairbrother 
Zeus..................................................................Richard Bremmer 
Odysseus..................................................................Colin Tierney 
Hera..................................................................Gillian Bevan 
Andromache/Thetis................................................Claire Calbraith 
Hector..................................................................Simon Harrison 
Helen..................................................................Lily Cole 
Paris..................................................................Tom Stuart 
Athene/Briseis..................................................................Francesca Zoutewelle 
Priam..................................................................Garry Cooper 
Patroclus..................................................................Brendan O’Hea 
Astyanax..................................................................Luca Rawlinson 
 
Original music by Alex Baranowski 
Directed for radio by Susan Roberts 
First directed for The Royal Exchange Theatre by Nick Bagnall

The Last Days of Troy

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

W E Johns

Michael Palin reads this classic adventure by W. E. Johns, featuring pilot-adventurer James ‘Biggles’ Bigglesworth 
 
When Biggles receives a letter from an old wartime chum asking for help, he responds at once. With his comrades, Algy, Ginger and Flight Sergeant Smyth, our hero flies to Fort Beaver in Canada, where winter is closing in around the remote airfield. There he discovers that his buddy Wilks is being menaced by a sinister character called ‘Brindle’ McBain and his cronies. 
 
Wilks has started a small airline business, but McBain wants to take over and he’ll stop at nothing to get Wilks out of the way. With the threats of sabotage, theft, and even murder in play, all their lives are now in danger. 
 
Can Biggles save the day and defeat McBain? Or will they perish in the frozen north?

Biggles Flies North

Charles Dickens

Captivating radio dramatisations of seven of Charles Dickens' most famous novels. 
 
Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned authors of all time, and this first digital volume of the dramatised canon of his work includes seven of his most popular novels. 
 
This collection includes the episodic adventure Nicholas Nickleby, comic tale The Pickwick Papers, poignant melodrama The Old Curiosity Shop and the much-loved Oliver Twist. Plus, there’s the gripping historical novel Barnaby Rudge, picaresque comedy Martin Chuzzlewit and bittersweet tale of family relationships Dombey and Son. 
 
With their compelling plots, larger-than-life characters and vivid descriptions of Victorian life, Dickens’ stories have captivated generations of readers. These radio adaptations bring out all the hope and happiness, pathos and tragedy, satire and social realism of his seven classic masterpieces. 
 
Among the star cast are Anna Massey, Alex Jennings, Phil Daniels, Julia McKenzie, Tim McInnerny and Robert Glenister. 
 
Track listing: 
1-6: The Pickwick Papers 
7-12: Oliver Twist 
13-42: Nicholas Nickleby 
43-67: The Old Curiosity Shop 
68-70: Barnaby Rudge 
71-80: Martin Chuzzlewit 
81-100: Dombey and Son

The Charles Dickens BBC Radio Drama Collection: The Early Years

Seven BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations

Enthralling radio dramatisations of eight of Charles Dickens' much-loved novels. 
 
Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned authors of all time, and this second digital volume of the dramatised canon of his work includes eight of his classic novels. 
 
This collection includes the epic masterpiece David Copperfield, described by Dickens as his ‘favourite child’; suspenseful mystery Bleak House; Dickens’ most openly political novel, Hard Times and Little Dorrit, a sweeping tale of imprisonment, poverty and riches. Also included are A Tale of Two Cities, set during the French Revolution; coming-of-age novel Great Expectations; sweeping satire of wealth and corruption Our Mutual Friend and Dickens’ final, unfinished story The Mystery of Edwin Drood. 
 
With a star cast including Robert Glenister, Robert Lindsay, Honeysuckle Weeks, Kenneth Cranham, Sir Ian McKellen, Alison Steadman, Geraldine McEwan, Andrew Scott and Ian Holm, these radio adaptations bring Dickens’ imaginative world to colourful, captivating life. 
 
Track listing: 
1-20: David Copperfield 
21-25: Bleak House 
26-29: Hard Times 
30-34: Little Dorrit 
35-39: A Tale of Two Cities 
40-45: Great Expectations 
46-65: Our Mutual Friend 
66-70: The Mystery of Edwin Drood

The Charles Dickens BBC Radio Drama Collection: The Later Years

Eight BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations

Franz Kafka

Benedict Cumberbatch reads Franz Kafka's famous story of man-turned-insect, Metamorphosis 
 
Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018 
 
After a night of troubled dreams, Gregor Samsa wakes to discover that he has turned into a huge, monstrous, cockroach-like creature, with an armour-plated back and multiple limbs. 
 
Gradually, he comes to terms with his new state - but his parents and sister are horrified and increasingly revolted. To them, Gregor is unclean, verminous and entirely repellent, and as he becomes more and more of a burden, their horror turns to a terrible indifference... 
 
First published in 1915, Kafka's surreal existential novella explores concepts such as the absurdity of life, alienation and the disconnect between mind and body. Read by Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek, The Imitation Game), this tale - often described as one of the greatest in the history of fiction - is chilling, captivating and darkly comic. 
 
 
 ©2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Metamorphosis

A BBC Radio 4 reading

The highly-acclaimed BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Milton's epic poem telling the story of the fall of man, and also its sequel, "Paradise Regained". 
 
Out of chaos shall come order and out of darkness shall come light. Paradise is lost - and then regained. 
 
John Milton's epic, biblically inspired poems are wonderfully dramatised for BBC Radio starring Denis Quilley as Milton, Ian McDiarmid as Satan and Robert Glenister as Christ, enhanced by specially composed music. 
 
First published in 1667, Paradise Lost describes Satan's plot to ruin God's new and most favoured creation, Mankind, and recounts the temptation of Adam and Eve and their banishment from the Garden of Eden. 
 
Paradise Regained, published in 1671, tells of the temptation of Christ by Satan as he wanders in the wilderness for forty days and nights. 
 
Full cast: 
Milton: Denis Quilley 
Satan: Ian McDiarmid 
Christ: Robert Glenister 
Raphael: John Rowe 
God: Godfrey Kenton 
Adam: Linus Roache 
Michael: Mark Straker 
Abdiel/Andrew: Julian Rhind-Tutt 
Nisroc: John Church 
Simon/Angel: Matthew Morgan 
Belial: Steve Hodson 
Angel: David Thorpe

Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained

Two BBC Radio 4 dramatisations

John Galsworthy

Jessica Raine stars in all four BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of John Galsworthy's Forsyte novels. 
 
An irresistible family saga of love, money and betrayal, The Forsytes: The Complete Series encompasses four acclaimed BBC Radio 4 productions of Galsworthy’s perennially popular epic, spanning 50 years from 1886 to 1936. 
 
The Forsytes sees wealthy Soames Forsyte questioning his relationship with his beautiful wife Irene. As evidence of her betrayal emerges, the family is torn apart and scandal unleashed. In The Forsytes Continues, it is 1920 and Soames would do anything for his sparkling daughter, Fleur. But when she falls in love with the wrong man, how can he stop history repeating itself? The Forsytes Returns picks up Fleur’s story four years later, as she vows to put her past behind her and settle down. But those around her are intent on stirring up trouble. The Forsytes Concludes introduces young Dinny Cherrell, Fleur’s cousin. Unbeknown to both, their lives will be paralleled in ways neither could have predicted... 
 
Starring Jessica Raine, with a cast including Joseph Millson, Juliet Aubrey, Jonathan Bailey, Ben Lambert and Sarah Ridgeway, this compelling drama delves behind the Edwardian façade to reveal Galsworthy's wonderful wit, observation and insight into human nature.

The Forsytes: The Complete Series

BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

John le Carré

Julian Rhind-Tutt is Magnus Pym in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast adaptation of John le Carré’s superb spy novel 
 
Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 
 
‘Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love.’ 
 
So says Magnus Pym, the spy of the title; and he has betrayed a lot in his life – countries, friends, family and lovers. When Magnus disappears after his father’s funeral, MI6 launches an urgent manhunt to prevent his defection. But Pym is on a search of his own – to unravel the mystery of what made him the perfect spy. 
 
Was it the duplicity of his con artist father, Rick? Or his MI6 mentor and father figure Jack Brotherhood? Or was it Axel, the Czech agent he has known since his teens? All have marked him in crucial ways, and as the net closes around Magnus, he attempts finally to make sense of his life and find the source of his talent for deception... 
 
A Perfect Spy is le Carré’s most autobiographical novel, and has been hailed as his masterpiece. This superlative radio production, starring Julian Rhind-Tutt, Bill Paterson, Michael Maloney and Anton Lesser, is a compelling exploration of identity, treachery and the complexities of the human heart.

A Perfect Spy

David Attenborough

David Attenborough, Britain’s voice of natural history, narrates his early adventures in Indonesia, New Guinea and Northern Australia. 
 
David Attenborough first appeared in front of a television camera in the 1950s when, together with London Zoo's Curator of Reptiles, Jack Lester, he persuaded the BBC to mount and film an animal-collecting expedition. The result was Zoo Quest. Specially recorded for audio, David Attenborough’s early adventures are sometimes life-threatening, often hilarious and always totally absorbing. The warmth and enthusiasm that have made him a broadcasting legend are instantly apparent here as he recounts this magical journey. 
 
This collection includes three volumes from Attenborough’s chronicles of his early expeditions: 
 
In Zoo Quest For A Dragon, Attenborough tells of the crew’s hazardous boat trip with a gun-smuggling captain and the terror of erupting volcanoes. He also depicts for the listener some of the incredible sights he and his team witnessed – breathtaking butterflies, taking tea with Charlie the orang-utan and the the voyage to the little-known island of Komodo to capture the elusive Komodo Dragon. 
 
Quest in Paradise describes his next animal collecting and filming trip to New Guinea, home of the exotic Birds of Paradise. David tells of his adventures during the trip: being an onlooker at a formal lovemaking ceremony, seeing the skills of ritual axe making, trying to master pidgin English and witnessing a ‘sing sing’ at which hundreds of tribesmen came together from all parts of the country. 
 
In Quest Under Capricorn, David Attenborough ventured to the Northern Territory of Australia. In his first expedition to the other side of the world, he meets Aborigines, goes walkabout in the bush, and learns the craft of the artists of Arnhem Land. 
 
Also included is David Attenborough In His Own Words, a collection of interviews taken from the BBC radio and TV archives.

David Attenborough: The Early Years Collection

The BBC Collection

Arthur Conan Doyle

Clive Merrison stars as Holmes with Michael Williams as Watson in these twelve adventures from the unique, fully dramatised BBC canon of Conan Doyle's short stories and novels. 
 
The twelve dramatisations are The Illustrious Client; The Blanched Soldier; The Mazarin Stone; The Three Gables; The Sussex Vampire; The Three Garridebs; The Problem of Thor Bridge; The Creeping Man; The Lion's Mane; The Veiled Lodger; Shoscombe Old Place; The Retired Colourman. 
 
These short stories are the very last ones written by Arthur Conan Doyle about his much-loved fictional detective. Holmes and Watson are faced with cases that range from the suspicious to the seemingly supernatural, and encounter characters as diverse as an evil Austrian adventurer, a formidable female criminal, a distinguished professor who is acting oddly and a mysterious tenant who refuses to show her face. 
 
Gripping, suspenseful and hugely entertaining, these acclaimed dramatisations were adapted by Bert Coules from the original short stories. Among the guest cast are Hannah Gordon, Robert Glenister, Michael Troughton, Alexandra Bastedo, Harriet Walter, Douglas Henshall and George Cole.

The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes

Stella Gibbons

Patricia Gallimore and Miriam Margolyes star in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the classic comic novel. Strong of will and slender of ankle, 20-year-old orphan Flora Poste is blessed with every virtue save that of being able to earn her own living. Casting around for suitable relatives with whom she can make her home, Flora alights on the mysterious Starkadders and, ignoring the horrified shrieks of her friends, heads down to darkest Sussex. 
 
There she is confronted by an exceptionally odd cast of characters: grief-stricken Judith, fervently religious Amos, the lusty smouldering Seth, wild and mysterious Elfine and, of course, the invisible tyrant Great Aunt Ada Doom who saw something nasty in the woodshed. Many would be overcome by the simmering passions of the Starkadder family, but not Flora. All they need is a little organising. 
 
Stella Gibbons' deliciously witty parody has been delighting readers since 1932 and retains its original sunny charm in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation.

Cold Comfort Farm

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation	

Leo Tolstoy

Paterson Joseph, John Hurt, Lesley Manville and Harriet Walter are among the stellar cast of this landmark BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Leo Tolstoy’s epic saga. 
 
‘Tolstoy’s imagined world is recreated on air brilliantly by the extraordinary cast’ The Spectator 
 
One of the greatest novels of all time, War and Peace explores historical, social, ethical and religious issues on a scale never before attempted in fiction, and reflects the panorama of life at every level of Russian society during the 19th Century. 
 
Adapted for radio by Timberlake Wertenbaker, this riveting, wide-ranging drama follows the fortunes of four Russian aristocratic families during the Napoleonic War. Told in flashback over ten episodes, it moves from fashionable society soirées in St Petersburg and Moscow to the battlefields of Austerlitz and Borodino, as protagonists Pierre, Natasha, Marya and Nikolai describe to their children the events that shaped their lives and those of every Russian who lived through this turbulent time. 
 
First broadcast on New Year's Day 2015, this dynamic full-cast dramatisation features specially composed music by Stephen Warbeck. It stars Paterson Joseph as Pierre, Phoebe Fox as Natasha, Natasha Little as Marya and Sam Reid as Nikolai, part of a stunning cast including Alun Armstrong, Simon Russell Beale and Roger Allam. 
 
Duration: 10 hours approx.

War and Peace

Louisa May Alcott

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the evergreen classic novel by Louisa May Alcott. 
 
With their father away fighting in the American Civil War, the four March girls are facing a lean Christmas with their mother. But the sisters’ close bond and determination to make the best of things enables them to find happiness despite their poverty. 
 
As the years go by we follow their fortunes as they journey into womanhood. Meg the beauty, Jo the tomboy, shy Beth and precocious Amy will encounter adventure, hardship, joys and disappointments, and learn to meet the challenges of life as they become independent and make their way in the world. While marriage and motherhood may beckon for the sisters, their most enduring love is always for each other. 
 
First published in 1868 and never out of print since, this iconic coming-of-age tale is a perennial favourite that has touched the hearts of generations of readers. This moving BBC Radio 4 dramatisation stars Natasha J Barnes, Julianna Jennings, Bryony Hannah and Samantha Dakin as Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, with Tara Ward as Mrs March and Alex Lanipekun as Laurie.

Little Women

Robert Louis Stevenson

A gripping BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the classic adventure story by Robert Louis Stevenson 
 
It is 1751, and seventeen-year-old David Balfour is all alone in the world. Recently orphaned, he receives a letter instructing him to seek out his sole remaining relative at the House of Shaws. But on meeting his uncle Ebenezer, David soon realises that he is a shifty, miserly man with designs on his inheritance. 
 
After an attempt on David's life fails, Ebenezer tricks him into boarding the brig Covenant, where he is knocked unconscious, kidnapped and taken to sea. His fate seems sealed – he is to be transported to a plantation in the Carolinas and sold into slavery. 
 
But David's adventures are only just beginning – for when he meets charismatic Jacobite Alan Breck, he soon finds himself shipwrecked, wanted for murder and fleeing for his life across the Scottish Highlands... 
 
This action-packed adaptation, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's enthralling tale of danger, intrigue, betrayal and friendship, stars Owen Whitelaw, Michael Nardone and David Hayman.Duration: 2 hours approx

Kidnapped

Bert Coules

Clive Merrison stars as Holmes with Michael Williams as Watson in these four adventures from the unique, fully dramatised BBC canon of Conan Doyle stories 
 
A Study In Scarlet 
The Sign of the Four 
The Hound of the Baskervilles 
The Valley of Fear 
 
A Study in Scarlet introduces the most famous partnership in fiction, as Watson is drawn into Holmes's investigations following the discovery of a body in a blood-stained room in Brixton. 
 
In The Sign of the Four, a beautiful young woman comes to Holmes with a mystery which is to stretch even his remarkable deductive skills. 
 
The Hound of the Baskervilles finds Holmes and Watson travelling to Dartmoor to investigate the death of Sir Charles Baskerville and protect his heir. Are the Baskervilles being stalked by a satanic hell-hound, or is the creature part of a sinister conspiracy? 
 
In The Valley of Fear, a coded warning sends Holmes and Watson to the country house of the reclusive Jack Douglas. Arriving too late to prevent a tragic death, they must follow a series of bewildering clues to find a murderer who has vanished into thin air... 
 
Brian Blessed, Judi Dench, Donald Sinden, Iain Glen and Ronald Pickup are among the guest cast of these thrilling dramas, adapted by Bert Coules. Duration: 7 hours 50 mins approx.

Sherlock Holmes: The Four Novels Collection

A brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. At its heart is an enigma: what is the strange connection between the apparently unrelated Dr Henry Jekyll and Mr Edward Hyde? A battle between good and evil is played out in Victorian London, and its origins are stranger than anyone could imagine. Duration: 1 hour 30 mins approx.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

William Makepeace Thackeray

Stephen Fry narrates this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the famous Victorian comic novel. 
 
Orphan Becky Sharp and wealthy Amelia Sedley are best friends at Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies. On leaving school, ambitious, social-climbing Becky looks for a rich man to support her, while the sweet-natured Amelia meets her old friend Dobbin, who is instantly captivated. 
 
Becky takes a job in the service of Sir Pitt Crawley, and uses her charm to hook his dashing son. However, marriage to Captain Rawdon of the Guards does not provide the fortune she seeks. Meanwhile, Amelia rejects the faithful Dobbin and becomes engaged to the handsome George Osborne - but destiny has some shocks in store for her, too. 
 
As time goes by, the girls' fortunes rise and fall. War, financial disaster and the ruin of her reputation leave the resourceful Beckyundaunted, but Amelia finds it harder to bear fate's blows. It will be many years before their story is played out, and their futures finally decided... 
 
William Makepeace Thackeray's classic satire of passion and ambition, first published in 1847 and 1848, is a deliciously ironic portrait of English society and its mores. This engaging 2004 radio production, published for the first time on audio, features a distinguished cast including Emma Fielding as Becky Sharp, Katy Cavanagh as Amelia and Toby Jones as Jos Sedley.

Vanity Fair

Bram Stoker

Tom Hiddleston (The Night Manager) stars as Jonathan Harker with David Suchet (Poirot) as Dracula in Liz Lochhead and John Foley's powerful BBC radio adaptation of the classic novel by Bram Stoker. 
 
When solicitor Jonathan Harker sets off for Transylvania to sell the mysterious Count Dracula a Gothic mansion, his bride-to-be Mina begs him to stay – to no avail. 
 
But on arrival at Dracula's castle, deep in a black forest surrounded by wolves, Harker wishes he had listened to his fiancée. The Count is welcoming but unnerving, and his castle oppressive. Plagued by nightmares, Harker soon longs to leave... 
 
Back in Whitby, Mina is increasingly worried. She has heard nothing from Jonathan, and now her sister Lucy – newly engaged to Harker's friend, Dr Seward – is becoming pale and thin. In Seward's lunatic asylum in London, a madman named Renfield babbles about his master who is coming. And as a midnight storm rages, a black ship heads towards the English coast... 
 
Acclaimed poet and playwright Liz Lochhead's adaptation was first performed on stage in 1985, and this thrilling radio drama was broadcast on the World Service in 2006. Suspenseful, chilling and suffused with dark eroticism, it retains all the eerie dread of Stoker's infamous horror novel. Duration: 2 hrs approx.

Dracula

Starring David Suchet and Tom Hiddleston

Aldous Huxley

A gripping BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Aldous Huxley's classic dystopian novel 
It's 2116, and Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson are token rebels in an irretrievably corrupted society where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science, and morality turned upside down. There is no poverty, crime or sickness - but no creativity, art or culture either. Human beings are merely docile citizens: divided into castes, brainwashed and controlled by the state and dependent on the drug soma for superficial gratification. 
 
Into this sterile society comes an outsider, John - a man born into squalor and suffering, but raised on The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, a book which has shaped his entire life. When he discovers that treasured ideals such as love mean nothing in this 'brave new world', where romance is ridiculous, marriage shocking and parenthood shameful, John's world is shattered - and his reaction will show Bernard and Helmholtz what rebellion really means... 
 
Based on Aldous Huxley's 1932 masterpiece, widely considered one of the greatest novels of all time, this chilling dramatisation set in a futuristic totalitarian society stars Jonathan Coy, Justin Salinger, Milton Lopes and Anton Lesser. Running time: 2 hours 
 
"...outstanding, right from the cheery music that kicks the thing off through to all the subtle sound effects that help to set the scenes perfectly"

Brave New World

Thrilling full-cast radio dramatisations of three of Charles Dickens' classic novels. Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned novelists of all time, and this second volume of the dramatised canon of his work includes the gripping historical novel Barnaby Rudge, picaresque comedy Martin Chuzzlewit and bittersweet tale of family relationships Dombey and Son. 
 
Barnaby Rudge Against the background of the anti-Catholic riots of the 1780s, young Barnaby Rudge becomes entangled with the fanatical George Gordon and his campaign for 'No Popery'. But mob violence, the burning of Newgate Prison and the shadow of murder put his life in danger... 
 
Martin Chuzzlewit Disinherited by his wealthy grandfather because of his love for the beautiful Mary, Martin Chuzzlewit sets sail for America to seek his fortune. 
 
Dombey and Son Wealthy Paul Dombey is desperate for a male heir to continue the family business, and neglects his six-year-old daughter Florence. Then, at last, the longed-for son is born – but Dombey's hopes for him go unfulfilled... 
 
With a star cast including Simon Cadell, Bill Nighy, Alex Jennings, Robert Glenister, Geraldine James and Pam Ferris, these BBC radio adaptations bring out all the suspense, adventure, satire and social realism of Dickens' three classic masterpieces. Duration: 19 hours approx.

Charles Dickens: The BBC Radio Drama Collection: Volume Two

Barnaby Rudge, Martin Chuzzlewit & Dombey and Son

Rachel Joyce

Charlotte Brontë

Amanda Hale and Tom Burke star in a brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Charlotte Brontë's most beloved novel, adapted by Rachel Joyce. 
 
Orphan Jane learns at an early age that self-control is the surest means of retaining self-respect in adversity. It is a lesson that serves her well in the years ahead as she endures the misery of life with her cruel, uncaring aunt, followed by the harsh regime at Lowood Institution, a charity school for poor children. 
 
After taking the post of governess at Thornfield Hall, she meets the master of the house, the brooding, enigmatic Edward Rochester, and finds herself falling in love with him. It seems as if happiness may finally be within her grasp – but a series of strange events leads her to believe that Rochester is concealing a dark secret. When the truth is revealed, the heartbroken Jane will need all her inner strength and resilience to face up to it... 
 
Dramatised for radio by bestselling novelist Rachel Joyce (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry), this iconic love story stars Amanda Hale as Jane and Tom Burke as Rochester. Suffused with romance, passion, mystery and danger, it is a spellbinding tale that is as real and relevant today as when it was first published in 1847. 
 
Duration: 2 hours 30 mins approx.

Jane Eyre

Jane Austen

A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels Jane Austen is one of the finest writers in the English language, and this volume includes all six of her classic novels. 
 
Mansfield Park: On a quest to find a position in society, Fanny Price goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle. 
 
Northanger Abbey: Young, naïve Catherine Morland receives an invitation to stay at the isolated Gothic mansion Northanger Abbey. 
 
Full chapter listing: 
 
Chapters 1-10: Mansfield ParkChapters 11-13: Northanger AbbeyChapters 14 and 15: Sense and SensibilityChapters 16-18: Pride and PrejudiceChapters 19 and 20: EmmaChapters 21-23: Persuasion 
 
Sense and Sensibility: Forced to leave their family home after their father's death, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood try to forge a new life at Barton Cottage. 
 
Pride and Prejudice: Mrs Bennet is determined to get her five daughters married well, so when the wealthy Mr Bingley and his friend Mr Darcy move into the neighbourhood her hopes are raised… 
 
Emma: Emma Woodhouse declares she will never marry, but she is determined to find a match for her friend Harriet. 
 
Persuasion: Eight years ago, Anne Elliot rejected a marriage proposal from a handsome but poor naval officer. Now her former love has returned… 
 
With an all-star cast including David Tennant, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julia McKenzie, Jenny Agutter, Toby Jones, Eve Best and Juliet Stevenson, these BBC radio adaptations are full of humour, romance, love lost and love regained.

The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection

Six BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations

Powerful full-cast radio dramatisations of four of Charles Dickens' most famous novels 
 
Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned novelists of all time, and this first volume of the dramatised canon of his work includes four of his best-loved stories. 
 
The Pickwick Papers 
Mr Samuel Pickwick, founder of the Pickwick Club, forms a Corresponding Society for members to report back about their travels. So begins the chronicle of their hilariously comic journeys. 
 
Oliver Twist 
Born and brought up in the workhouse, orphan Oliver escapes to London - only to fall into the hands of the notorious Fagin and his gang of child pickpockets. 
 
Nicholas Nickleby 
Left penniless after his father's death, nineteen-year-old Nicholas Nickleby takes a teaching position at Dotheboys Hall, where the brutal Wackford Squeers presides. 
 
The Old Curiosity Shop 
Pretty, innocent Little Nell's childhood is shattered when evil moneylender Quilp discovers her grandfather is in debt. The duo are forced to leave their curiosity shop and go on the run... 
 
With an all-star cast including Pam Ferris, Tim McInnerny, Alex Jennings, Anna Massey, Ken Campbell, Tom Baker, Julia McKenzie and Sandi Toksvig, these BBC radio adaptations bring out all the humour, romance, pathos and tragedy of Dickens' four classic masterpieces.

Charles Dickens: The BBC Radio Drama Collection: Volume One

Classic Drama from the BBC Radio Archive

William Shakespeare

David Tennant stars as Malvolio in Shakespeare's comedy of disguise, madness and love. 
 
One of Shakespeare's happiest plays, Twelfth Night is both a comedy of misrule and a trenchant attack on puritanism. Disguise and deceit leads to misadventure, madness and mistaken love. Orsino loves Olivia, but she loves Cesario, who really does love Orsino (for Cesario is actually Viola). But Malvolio believes his mistress, Olivia, loves him, as he is a victim of a trick played on him by those who would make him mad. Naomi Frederick and Paul Ready are Viola and Orsino in his sparkling BBC Radio 3 production.

Twelfth Night

A BBC Radio 3 full-cast drama

Wilkie Collins

Toby Stephens and Juliet Aubrey star in a BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Wilkie Collins’ chilling Gothic drama 
 
A lonely stretch of road on Hampstead Heath is the venue for Walter Hartright’s midnight first encounter with a mysteriously distressed figure in white. As he helps the woman to escape from unnamed pursuers, he has little understanding of the way she will affect his future. 
 
At Limmeridge House, in Cumberland, Walter meets and falls in love with Laura, who strangely resembles the woman in white. She, however, is soon to marry the financially embarrassed Sir Percival Glyde. Events at Limmeridge take a surprising turn when Anne Catherick arrives, and Walter recognises her as the mystery figure. 
 
It appears that Anne’s recent incarceration in a mental asylum was at the behest of Sir Percival, who is all too aware of the secret she holds. More than one life will be lost before Walter’s mystery of the woman in white can be fully explained. 
 
A strong cast brings Wilkie Collins’ tale to life in this BBC Radio 4 production, recorded on location at Beacon Hill, London in 2001

The Woman in White

Christopher Marlowe

Ben Jonson

Martin Jenkins

Richard Burton narrates the second volume of this famous dramatic chronicle of the English Crown, a treasure of the BBC radio archive published on audio for the very first time. 
 
Vivat Rex is the landmark drama series first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977. Over the course of 26 instalments, each one narrated by Richard Burton with a full cast, the fortunes of the English Crown are followed through 225 years of British history, from Edward II’s accession in 1307 to the birth of Elizabeth I. 
 
Each drama is adapted by Martin Jenkins from the works of Shakespeare, Marlowe and their Elizabethan contemporaries.This second volume features the final 13 instalments, beginning with Martin Jarvis as Henry V and concluding with the birth of Elizabeth I. Vivat Rex includes a stirring musical score by Christopher Whelen.

Vivat Rex: Volume 2

Landmark drama from the BBC Radio Archive

Rudyard Kipling

Samuel West reads ten of Rudyard Kipling’s famous tales, as broadcast on BBC Radio 4. 
 
How the Whale Got His Throat 
How the Leopard Got His Spots 
The Beginning of the Armadillos 
How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin 
The Cat That Walked By Himself 
How the Camel Got His Hump 
The Crab That Played With The Sea 
The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo 
The Butterfly That Stamped 
The Elephant’s Child 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as part of Just So Science, these charming tales are sure to delight listeners of all ages.

Just So Stories

Samuel West reads a selection of Just So Stories

Victor Hugo

Joss Ackland, Roger Allam and Leslie Phillips star in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel. 
 
When poverty drives Jean Valjean to steal a loaf of bread from a baker’s window, it is an action that will haunt him for the rest of his life. A citizen of post-revolutionary France, he is sentenced to nineteen years’ hard labour. On his release, his fortunes change and he becomes a respectable businessman and member of society - and yet his past continues to dog him in the form of the sadistic Inspector Javert, who seems determined to pursue Valjean to the grave. 
 
A student uprising is gaining momentum in Paris, and barricades are being built around the city. Valjean’s adopted daughter, Cosette, has fallen in love with the young revolutionary Marius, and the lives of all three are in peril unless they can flee to safety. 
 
Some of the most significant moments in 19th Century history form the backdrop for Victor Hugo’s powerful story, in which love and heroism march in the face of poverty and social injustice.

Les Miserables

Detective Harriet Blue Series

Detective Inspector Antonia Hawkins

Detective Inspector Helen Grace

Detective Kamil Rahman

Detective Konrad

Detective Luc Moncrief Series

Dexter Procter

Diary of a Submissive

The adventures of wise-cracking middle school student Greg Heffley who must somehow survive the scariest time of anyone's life: middle school. The hilarious and internationally bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diddly Squat

Dino Dad

Dino Racers

Dinosaur Train

Discworld Graphic Novel Universe

The Discworld is undoubtedly Sir Terry Pratchett's most famous creation. A universe teeming with dwarves, trolls, witches, and social and cultural issues that parallel those in our own world, all wrapped up in Pratchett's inimitable comic delivery. This iconic series will make you laugh, then make you think.

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