Adrian Fort

Adrian Gilbert

Adrian Henri

Adrian House

About Adrian Houston: Adrian Houston is a tree photographer and passionate conservationist. His work has seen him travel to some of the world's most unexplored and inhospitable terrains, with his powerful photographs subsequently gracing everything from advertising campaigns to magazine covers. In 2021 he published A Portrait of the Tree, a photography book that illustrated how trees connect us all on a universal level. Adrian's work has been exhibited both at The National Gallery and The Royal Academy of Arts. When he is not travelling, he is based at his studio in Soho, central London.

Adrian Houston

About Adrian J. Walker / Adrian J. Walker: Adrian J Walker was born in the bush suburbs of Sydney, Australia in the mid '70s. After his father found a camper van in a ditch, he renovated it and moved his family back to the UK, where Adrian was raised. 
 
Ever since he can remember, Adrian has been interested in three things: words, music and technology, and when he graduated from the University of Leeds, he found a career in software. His novel The End of the World Running Club, a post-apocalyptic running fable about hope, love and endurance, was a Simon Mayo Radio 2 book club choice. 
 
He lives in Aberdeen with his wife and two children. To find out more visit: http://www.adrianjwalker.com/

Adrian J. Walker

Adrian Levy

Adrian Mourby

Adrian Orchard

Adrian Penketh

Adrian Raine

About Adrian Reynolds: Adrian Reynolds was born in South Wales, and after studying at Swansea College of Art and later at Cambridgeshire College of Art and Technology, Adrian worked at Heffers Children's Book Shop before beginning to write and illustrate his own picture books. 
 
Adrian's very first books were published in 1997 and since then he has published more than forty titles, including the hugely popular Harry And The Bucketful Of Dinosaurs series, written by Ian Whybrow. He has won the Red House Picture Book Award and the Sheffield Children's Book Award.

Adrian Reynolds

About Adrian Reynolds: Adrian Reynolds is a hugely talented illustrator who has worked on many picture books,including the wonderful Harry stories and four adventures featuring Pete and Polo. Adrian lives in Cambridge

About Adrian Smith: Adrian Smith was born in Hackney, East London, on 27th February 1957. He joined Iron Maiden at the end of 1980. Adrian is the band member who has collaborated on the most side projects outside of Iron Maiden, as well as writing and recording a series of albums in the early '90s, before rejoining the band. Iron Maiden have sold 90 million albums, and tour the world playing to millions of fans. Onstage, Adrian uses Jackson and Gibson guitars. Offstage, he is an avid tennis player, however his main hobby is fishing. He takes his rod and gear out on tour with him wherever he goes. This is his first book.

Adrian Smith

Adrian Sykes

About Adrian Tchaikovsky: Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the acclaimed ten-book Shadows of the Apt series starting with Empire in Black and Gold, published by Tor UK. His other works for Tor UK include novels Guns of the Dawn, Children of Time, Children of Ruin and the Echoes of the Fall series starting with The Tiger and the Wolf. He has won the Arthur C Clarke and Robert Holdstock awards.

Adrian Tchaikovsky

About Adrian Tinniswood: Adrian Tinniswood is professorial research fellow in history at the University of Buckingham, adjunct professor of history at Maynooth University and the author of many books on British history, including the Sunday Times bestseller The Long Weekend. He was awarded an OBE for services to heritage, and lives in the west of Ireland.

Adrian Tinniswood

Adrian Webster

About Adrian Wooldridge: Adrian Wooldridge is the global business columnist at Bloomberg Opinion. Previously, he worked for the Economist for thirty-two years, including stints as its Lexington, Schumpeter and Bagehot columnist. He earned a doctorate in history from Oxford University, where he was a Fellow of All Souls College. He is the author or co-author of 11 other books, including The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy made the Modern World (2021).

Adrian Wooldridge

Adriana Arden

About Adriana Hunter: Adriana Hunter has translated more than one hundred books, and has won or been shortlisted for numerous translation prizes, most recently as the runner-up for the 2024 Scott Moncrieff Prize for her translation of Hervé Le Tellier’s The Anomaly. She lives in Kent, England.

Adriana Hunter

About Adriana Mather: Adriana Mather is the author of the New York Times bestselling How to Hang a Witch series and the Killing November series. Adriana is also an actor and producer and co-owns Zombot Pictures, a production company that makes feature films.

Adriana Mather

About Adriana Rabinovich: Adriana Rabinovich spent her childhood in Colombia, then moved to the US before coming to Britain in 1984. Following a career in design and marketing, Adriana trained at Leith's School of Food and Wine, then set up her own catering business, followed by The Little Red Barn in 1996. When her daughter was diagnosed with Coeliac disease at the age of eighteen months, Adriana used her catering and cooking knowledge to create recipes that not only worked for Ruthie's needs but appealed to children. The result is The Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids.

Adriana Rabinovich

About Adriana Trigiani: Adriana Trigiani is the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of twenty-one books of fiction and nonfiction published in thirty-eight languages. In 2023, President Sergio Mattarella of Italy named her Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia. She is an award-winning playwright, television writer/producer, and filmmaker. Among her screen credits, Trigiani wrote and directed the major motion picture adaptation of her debut novel, Big Stone Gap. Adriana grew up in Appalachia, in the mountains of southwest Virginia, where she cofounded the Origin Project, an in-school writing program. Trigiani is honored to serve on the New York State Council on the Arts. She lives in Greenwich Village with her family. 
 
 Listen to Adriana and the luminaries of our times discuss the books that built their souls on the You Are What You Read podcast, available everywhere. https://linktr.ee/youarewhatyoureadpodcast

Adriana Trigiani

About Adrienne Adhami: Adrienne Adhami is a leading well-being coach and keynote speaker, known for the motivational podcast Power Hour and the Modern Wellness Podcast. 
 
Adrienne is a sought-after brand advisor, specialising in well-being technology, strategy and innovation. She has delivered workshops and keynote speeches to brands including Apple, Spotify, Bupa and Range Rover. Her expertise ranges from achieving high performance to goal-setting and decision-making. 
 
Adrienne’s debut book, Power Hour, was published in 2020 and has since been translated into four languages. Listed as one of the ‘Top 25 Black Entrepreneurs to Watch’ by HSBC and UKBBS, Adrienne is a trailblazer inspiring individuals and organisations to reach their full potential. Decisions That Matter is her second book.

Adrienne Adhami

About Adrienne Brodeur: Adrienne Brodeur is the author of the memoir Wild Game, which is in development as a Netflix film. She founded the literary magazine Zoetrope: All-Story with Francis Ford Coppola, and currently serves as executive director of Aspen Words, a literary nonprofit and program of the Aspen Institute. She splits her time between Cambridge and Cape Cod, where she lives with her husband and children.

Adrienne Brodeur

About Adrienne Brodeur: In 1995 Adrienne Brodeur co-founded, along with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the National Magazine Award-winning fiction magazine Zoetrope: All-Story. She then worked as a book editor in New York for several years, and is currently the Executive Director of the Aspen Words, a literary non-profit and part of the Aspen Institute in Colorado. She divides her time between New York City and Cape Cod.

About Adrienne Herbert: As well as hosting the weekly Power Hour podcast, Adrienne Adhami is a leading wellness professional, TEDx speaker and a voice of inspiration, encouragement and motivation. Adrienne delivers talks and workshops to some of the world’s largest organisations and she regularly hosts live events and panel discussions. She has partnered with brands such as Adidas, Origins, Virgin Sport, Google and Apple and has been featured in ELLE magazine and the Telegraph, as well as being named a ‘New Face of Wellness’ by British VOGUE.

Adrienne Herbert

Adrienne Kennaway

About Advent Authors: Twenty-Four Books for Advent contains stories from Charles Dickens, Hans Christian Andersen, Louisa May Alcott, Washington Irving, L. M. Montgomery, O. Henry and Susan Coolidge, as well as many more beloved classic writers.

Advent Authors

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Katherine Jakeways

Starring Sheila Hancock (Series 1) and Marcia Warren (Series 2-4) as Hetty, All Those Women is a comedy series about four women living under the same roof. 
 
All Those Women explores familial relationships, ageing, marriages - it's about life and love and things not turning out quite the way that you'd expected them to. Here we join Hetty, Maggie, Jen and Emily as they struggle to resolve their own problems, and support one another. 
 
Also starring Lesley Manville as Maggie, Sinead Matthews as Jen and Lucy Hutchinson as Emily. All Those Women was written by Katherine Jakeaways (North by Northamptonshire, Where This Service Will Termintae). 
 
Produced by Alexandra Smith 
A BBC Studios Production

All Those Women: The Complete Series 1-4

The BBC Radio 4 comedy

John Finnemore

John Finnemore presents the eighth series of his multi-award-winning Souvenir Programme 
 
‘The best sketch show in years, on television or radio’ Radio Times 
 
John Finnemore, creator and star of Cabin Pressure and John Finnemore’s Double Acts, is back with Series 8 of his highly acclaimed radio sketch show, winner of the Academy Silver Award, a Broadcasting Press Guild award and two BBC Audio Drama awards. 
 
In these six episodes, John cooks a particularly good lasagne, Noah gets some bad news about the ark, we hear a legendary swansong, and there’s some helpful guidance on the etiquette of ‘Thank Yous’ – as well as a look into the devastating consequences of World Peace. Plus, there’s some merry names, some handy mnemonics, an epiphany and a show that will make you feel like a princess – whether you want it to or not. And, well… since you ask him whether he believes in ghosts… 
 
Hailed by The Daily Telegraph as ‘funny enough to make even the surliest cat laugh’, John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme also features his regular ensemble cast of Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.

John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme: Series 8

The BBC Radio 4 comedy sketch show

Jim Eldridge

All ten series of the BBC Radio 4 comedy drama set in a small junior school 
 
‘The Sistine Chapel of radio drama’' - The Times 
 
Running for ten series between 1985 and 1988 (with a sequel, King Street Junior Revisited, airing from 2002-2005), this hugely popular school-based sitcom was one of the BBC’s most successful radio programmes. Created by award-winning writer Jim Eldridge, it follows the headmaster and staff of an inner-city primary as they deal with unruly pupils, problem parents, school governors and OFSTED inspectors. 
 
From Parents’ Evening to the PTA, and from supply teachers to staff room squabbles, every day brings fresh challenges for headmaster Mr Beeston. Among the problems facing him are a flu epidemic, a shortage of computers, a phantom prune thief and a mysterious graffiti artist – and there’s trouble in store when in comes to sex education, school trips and Sports Day. 
 
Meanwhile, idealistic newcomers Mr Brown and Mr Sims learn some lessons about teaching, and their battle-scarred colleagues vie for promotion – or look forward to retirement. And as each new term rolls around at King Street Junior, they all prepare to shape the minds of a brand new generation... 
 
Peter Davison stars as Eric Brown, Karl Howman as Philip Sims and James Grout as Mr Beeston, with guest stars including John Craven and Michaela Strachan as themselves. 
 
Created by Jim Eldridge 
Written by Jim Eldridge, Paul Copley, Richard Stoneman, Ivan Shakespeare, Dave Single and Martin Davies 
Produced by John Fawcett Wilson 
Violinist: Sarah Hallam 
Pianist: Max Harris

King Street Junior

A BBC Radio 4 comedy

All four series of the popular follow-up to King Street Junior 
 
King Street Junior and its sequel, King Street Junior Revisited, ran for 20 years and 100 episodes between 1985 and 2005, and were among the BBC’s most successful and popular radio programmes. 
 
In these four series, we return to the inner-city primary in the new millennium. A different Head is in charge, but the challenges remain the same: from planning a big fundraising concert, to searching for a truant, to coping with wintry weather and a disappearing lollipop lady. 
 
In addition, the teachers contend with personal and professional upheavals as Mr Maxwell’s attempts to maintain playground order land him in trouble, Mr Long suffers a painful little problem, Miss Featherstone is arrested – and a surprise awaits the staff as they return from their summer holidays. 
 
But King Street Junior continues to survive and thrive, and as the series draws to a close, the children and teachers prepare to celebrate the centenary of the school’s foundation. 
 
Written by the award-winning Jim Eldridge, this acclaimed sitcom stars Carolyn Pickles as Mrs Devon, Marlene Sidaway as Miss Lewis and Brigit Forsyth as Mrs Eastwood, with a guest appearance from James Grout as Mr Beeston. 
 
 
Created and written by Jim Eldridge 
Produced by John Fawcett Wilson

King Street Junior Revisited

BBC Radio Comedy

Four more extended episodes from the awardwinning BBC Radio 4 series, specially compiled by producer Jon Naismith 
 
‘ISIHAC is still unmissable. It remains the most thrillingly anarchic panel show in any media you care to name’ Simon Mayo, Mail on Sunday 
 
‘The funniest comedy quiz show of them all’ Sue Arnold, The Observer 
 
Another collection of episodes from the famous antidote to panel games, now in its eighteenth edition. Jack Dee challenges regular panellists Tim Brooke-Taylor and Barry Cryer with a series of silly games against which to pit their wits. In tribute to Jeremy Hardy, a long-running guest panellist on the show who passed away in 2019, he features in every episode. 
 
Highlights include One Song to the Tune of Another, Swanee Kazoo, Stars in Their Ears, Sexed-Down Song Titles and Ornitholgists’ Film Club. 
 
Enjoy this fine feast of wit and wordplay, accompanied by Colin Sell on thepiano and with the lovely Samantha keeping score.

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue 18

The award-winning BBC Radio 4 comedy

Andy Hamilton

In Series 1 and 2 of Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers, the much-loved Andy presents a collection of potentially misremembered anecdotes. 
 
He’s been working in comedy for over 40 years and there’s a lot of reminiscing he can do…using comic observation and personal anecdotes he will explore each theme, examining how much (or how little) things have changed in the 60ish years he's been on this planet. 
 
In Series 1, Andy looks at Childhood, Politics, The Human Body and Animals. He remembers his favourite childhood sounds (ice cream van anyone?), the politician he calls ‘the upstairs bathroom’, how his own brain and body occasionally conspire against him and gives listeners top tips on dealing with an angry bear and a grumpy alligator. 
 
In Series 2, Andy sort of remembers tales about Sport, Class, Religion and Stupidity. He tries to convince listeners why everyone should be a sport fan, lets people know why heavyweight champion of the world he spilt wine on, shares fond memories of playing Satan on Old Harry’s Game and how being a middle-class child of working-class parents added some bumps to his university and working life. 
 
Producer: Richard Morris and Claire Jones 
A BBC Studios Production

Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers: Series 1 and 2

BBC Radio 4 stand-up comedy

Christopher Douglas

Andrew Nickolds

Curmudgeonly author Ed Reardon is back - author, pipe smoker, consummate fare-dodger and master of the abusive email, attempts to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and lying charlatans. 
 
'The funniest sitcom to ever grace Radio 4' - Radio Times 
 
In these six episodes, Ed and Elgar return to London (from their failed jaunt living in a shepherd's hut in the country) destitute and on the lookout for a new roof over their respective heads, where he bumps into Geoff Daytona - a rich successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker Ed was at school with. Surely big bucks are in Ed’s future when Geoff commissions Ed with writing his self-help book – The Geoff Daytona Method. Ed then collides with the worlds of reality television and, most surprisingly of all modern parenting. 
 
Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds, this sublimely funny sitcom stars Christopher Douglas as Ed Reardon, with Barunka O'Shaughnessy, Philip Jackson, Monica Dolan, Geoffrey Whitehead, Brigit Forsyth and Stephanie Cole with guest star Meera Syal. 
 
Credits 
Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds 
Produced by Simon Nicholls 
A BBC Studios Production

Ed Reardon's Week: Series 13

The BBC Radio sitcom

Tez Ilyas

Breakthrough comedian Tez Ilyas presents a show for everyone interested in - or interested in becoming - a British Muslim. Everything you need to know is here - the do's, don'ts, and avoid-or-you'll-be-arresteds. 
 
 
How can Muslims integrate better? And who says they don't at the moment? And more importantly, what's Marks &amp; Spencer or hipster beards got to do with it? 
What is the mysterious organisation that is the 'Muslim Community'? Who runs it? What does it do? And does Nadiya from Bake Off speak for them all? All these questions and more, as well as a handy cut-out-and-keep guide on being a British Muslim are tackled by Tez. 
 
 
Simultaneously a hilarious, joyous celebration of British-Muslim life - and a subversive one - Tez Talks is a thoughtful satire on society's attitudes to Islam. 
 
 
Photo by Steve Ullathorne 
Produced by Carl Cooper

Tez Talks: The Complete Series 1-3

BBC Radio 4 stand up comedy

Twelve rare archive editions of the humorous radio quiz show that gives a poke in the eye to the people and stories that make the news. 
 
For over forty years The News Quiz has graced the Radio 4 airwaves with an irreverent sideways look at the headlines. Having first appeared in 1977, it boasts a tantalising archive of episodes to remind us of the news from yesteryear, refracted through the satirical gaze of regular panellists including Alan Coren, Andy Hamilton, Mark Steel, Francis Wheen and Jeremy Hardy. Among the many guest panellists featured here are Boris Johnson, Nigella Lawson, Jo Brand, Eddie Mair, John Sergeant, Linda Smith and Roy Hattersley. 
 
Sit back and enjoy these twelve vintage episodes, previously unpublished in their entirety. Barry Norman, Sheridan Morley, Barry Took, John Sergeant, Simon Hoggart and Sandi Toksvig take turns in the chair as a parade of Prime Ministers, party leaders, US presidents and other newsworthy mortals passes by. 
 
The episodes included in this collection are: 
 
01/04/1977 with Barry Normal as the Chairman and Richard Ingrams, Nigel Dempster, Russell Davies and Alan Coren as the players. 
16/08/1980 with Sheridan Morley as the Chairman and Simon Hoggart, Clement Freud, Bel Mooney and Alan Coren as the players. 
06/05/1995 with Barry Normal as the Chairman and Francis Wheen, Bill Deedes, Alan Coren and Gillian Reynolds as the players. 
20/04/1996 with Barry Normal as the Chairman and Francis Wheen, Roy Hattersley, Alan Coren and Andy Hamilton as the players. 
09/04/1999 with John Sergeant as the Chairman and Boris Johnson, Tony Hawks, Francis Wheen, and Alan Coren as the players. 
01/10/1999 with Simon Hoggart as the Chairman and Andy Hamilton, Francis Wheen, John O’Donnell and Mark Steel as the players. 
29/10/1999 with Simon Hoggart as the Chairman and Nigella Lawson, Jeremy Hardy, Alan Coren and Andy Hamilton as the players. 
19/10/2001 with Simon Hoggart as the Chairman and Jeremy Hardy, Jo Brand, Alan Coren and John Sergeant as the players. 
18/07/2003 with Simon Hoggart as the Chairman and Linda Smith, Francis Wheen, Jeremy Hardy and Eddie Mair as the players. 
29/10/2004 with Simon Hoggart as the Chairman and Richard Ingrams, Francis Wheen, Alan Coren and Sandi Toksvig as the players. 
20/02/2009 with Sandi Toksvig as the Chairman and Jeremy Hardy, Fred MacAulay, Shappi Khorsandi and Mark Steel as the players. 
10/05/2013 with Sandi Toksvig as the Chairman and Francis Wheen, Jeremy Hardy, Bridget Christie and Bob Mills as the players.

The News Quiz Classic Collection

12 original episodes from the topical Radio 4 comedy panel show

Alex Horne

Alex Horne and his special guests bring together stand-up and live music in a free-wheeling and spontaneous combination. 
 
 Each episode sees Alex, his band and guests explore a different topic. These range from love to technology, the seasons to the body. 
 In this collection of the complete series 1-3 Alex is joined by comedians including David O’Doherty, Isy Suttie, Kevin Eldon, Phill Jupitus, Matt Lucas, Doc Brown, Sara Pascoe, James Acaster, Marcus Brigstocke and Adam Buxton. 
 They are also joined by Al Murray and Tim Key in their Edinburgh Special from 2012, and the band kick off celebrations in style with a New Year Special. 
 Come join Alex and his band Joe Auckland (trumpet and banjo), Mark Brown (sax and clarinet), Will Collier (double bass and guitar), Ben Reynolds (drums and percussion) and Joe Stilgoe and Ed Sheldrake (piano and keyboard) for some much needed joy and jolity.

Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section: The Complete Series 1-3

The BBC Radio 4 comedy show

David Renwick

Crabby, crusty, and curmudgeonly he may be, but Victor Meldrew, played brilliantly by Richard Wilson, voices the exasperation of the once silent majority. Accompanied by his long-suffering wife Margaret (Annette Crosbie), Victor's howlingly funny battles against what he perceives as modern-day ills have turned him into one of the great comic creations of our time. 
This collection gathers three of the best TV episodes from the well-known BBC 1 Series and an additional four scripts that were specially adapted for radio by One Foot in the Grave creator David Renwick and fully re-recorded by the cast. 
 
The episodes are: 
Alive and Buried": Made redundant at 60, Victor Meldrew has plenty of time on his hands, except now he has to contend with Age Concern workers and unreliable mechanics. 
 
 "Timeless Time": It's night-time. Victor can't sleep, which means that Margaret won't be able to either. 
 
 "In Luton Airport No-one Can Hear You Scream": Victor and Margaret return from holiday to find their home has been demolished. 
 
 "The Beast in the Cage": Victor encounters road rage when he's stuck in a bank-holiday traffic jam. 
 
"The Man in the Long Black Coat": Following the garden gnome incident, Victor Meldrew's feud with neighbour Patrick continues apace. Added to that, Victor has also bought some radioactive manure for his allotment. 
 
The Broken Reflection": Victor is acting as a neighbourhood vigilante and is not looking forward to his accident-prone brother coming to visit from New Zealand. 
 
The Trial": Although selected for jury service, Victor hasn't yet been required in court. However, he is still on call and therefore stuck at home all day. Can he survive the boredom?

One Foot in the Grave

The Collected BBC Radio Comedies

John Esmonde

Bob Larbey

Meet Surbiton’s most famous residents; Tom, Barbara, Margo and Jerry. 
It is Tom Good's 40th birthday and he feels thoroughly unfulfilled. If only he can discover what 'It' is, and if he can, will his wife Barbara agree to do 'It' with him? 
The subsequent and sudden transformation of the Goods’ home into a smallholding causes consternation for Margo and Jerry next door, and they decide it’s their duty to interfere... 
 
So begins The Good Life, the much loved classic sitcom starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith. 
 
The escapades of the mismatched next-door neighbours whose friendship is constantly being tested to the limits are collected here with thirty hilarious episodes from the much loved BBC television series. 
 
Series One: Plough Your Own Furrow, Say Little Hen, The Weaker Sex?, Pig’s Lib, The Thing In The Cellar, The Pagan Rite, Backs To The Wall. Series Two: Just My Bill, The Guru of Surbiton, Mr Fix-It, The Day Peace Broke Out, Mutiny, Home Sweet Home, Going to Pot. Series Three: The Early Birds, The Happy Event, A Tug of the Forelock, I Talk To The Trees, The Wind-Break War, Whose Fleas Are These?, The Last Posh Frock. Series Four: Away From It All, The Green Door, Our Speaker Today, The Weaver’s Tale, Suit Yourself, Sweet and Sour Charity, Anniversary. The Specials: Silly But It’s Fun…, When I’m 65.

The Good Life: The Complete Collection

Victoria Wood

Dinnerladies is a classic BBC sitcom based around the lives of the staff of the canteen at Manchester factory HWD Components. Written by and starring Victoria Wood a Brenda, these eight classic TV episodes are brilliantly funny, where the jokes fly as thick and as fast as granary torpedoes. 
Along with the day to day feeding the faces of folk, the canteen staff Bren, Twink, Jean (and all the others!) have to contend with the arrival of a Royal on site, a Japanese-themed party complete with costumes, and the controversial delivery of new uniforms. And will Tony finally succumb to Brenda's advances? 
 
With a wonderful cast including Victoria Wood, Celia Imrie and Thelma Barlow also star in this trayful of comedy from the BBC hotplate. 
 
Episode list: 
Monday 
Royals 
Moods 
Party 
Catering 
Minnellium 
Gravy 
Toast 
 
Please note that sound quality may vary due to the archive nature of these recordings 
 
Produced by Adam Fowler 
A BBC Studios production

Dinnerladies: A BBC Collection

8 Classic TV Soundtracks

Rebecca Front presents this two-part look back at Victoria Wood’s stand-up and songs using her own archives and tapes – including never-before-heard material 
 
Victoria Wood was a comedian, actress and all-round national treasure. She wrote and starred in countless sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over four decades, winning numerous awards, and her work remains timeless to this day. With her perceptive observational humour, she made the everyday and mundane hilarious – but how did she do it? 
 
In this BBC Radio 4 documentary, Rebecca Front uses Victoria Wood’s personal rehearsal recordings, rare live performances and behind-the-scenes footage to reveal some of her comedy tricks and techniques. We hear about her instinctive sense of rhythm, amazing rhyming ability and unerring knack for finding the perfect word to make a sentence sing, and learn how she honed her unique talent to become one of Britain’s favourite funny women. 
 
With unprecedented access to Victoria’s own boxes of battered cassette tapes, this programme is a shameless chance to hear some wonderful stand-up comedy, characters and songs, mixed with a look back at what made her so funny and so universally loved. 
 
Executive Producer: Geoff Posner 
Produced by David Tyler 
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.

Victoria Wood: From Soup to Nuts

A BBC Radio 4 Retrospective

Henry Normal

Henry Normal uses poetry, storytelling and comedy to tackle big subjects with his trademark humour. This collection includes five of his funny and moving BBC Radio 4 shows: 
 
A Normal Family is centred around Henry's son, Johnny, who was diagnosed with autism. Through stand-up and poetry, Henry explores what this means for Johnny, for himself, and for his wife, Angela. 
 
A Normal Life continues to draw on Henry's experiences of bringing up a child with autism, and tackles the subjects of life, death, loneliness, loss, human frailty and other classic conversation stoppers. 
 
A Normal Love sees Henry explore love, romance and other unreasonable expectations. 
 
A Normal Imagination looks at the reasons why humans create. 
 
A Normal Nature is an exploration of unsung nature, from the point of view of a busy urban human. 
 
These extended episodes include material never broadcast on the radio. 
 
‘It's a rare and lovely thing: half an hour of radio that stops you short, gently demands your attention and then wipes your tears away while you have to have a little sit down’ - The Guardian 
 
A Normal Life was awarded a Silver ARIA for Best Comedy/Entertainment production at the 2017 Radio Academy Awards. 
 
Written and performed by Henry Normal. 
Produced by Carl Cooper. 
A BBC Studios Production.

A Normal…Family, Life, Love, Imagination & Nature

The BBC Radio 4 stand up shows

Caitlin Moran

A dramatisation of Caitlin Moran's bestseller, the book that brought feminism into the mainstream again. 
 
Adapted and narrated by Caitlin Moran, this brand new radio adaptation intersperses dramatised scenes from Moran's life (from her teenage years in a crowded council house in Wolverhampton, to setting out as a music journalist, to getting married and having children) with her thoughts on subjects that range from the necessity of big knickers, to the experience of giving birth and having an abortion. 
 
Provocative, controversial and very funny - this book is the gateway drug to the feminist resurgence. 
 
Produced by Mary Peate

How To Be A Woman

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Natalie Haynes

All four series of Natalie Haynes’ BBC Radio 4 show combining comedy with classicism 
 
Writer, broadcaster and recovering comedian Natalie Haynes mixes comedy and conversation to bring the ancient world entertainingly up to date in these four radio series. Each episode sees her profiling a key figure from ancient Greece and Rome, and, aided by her special guests, creating a stand-up show around them. 
 
Series 1 investigates Petronius and the worst dinner party in history; asks whether Sophocles invented the TV detective with Oedipus; explains how Virgil was responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and introduces us to the notorious Aspasia. 
 
In Series 2, Natalie stands up for Aristophanes (expect a chorus of frogs and a sex strike); Ovid (featuring frottage at the races); Plato (a bit chunky, but a good wrestler) and Agrippina (pretty well connected and handy with the purse strings). 
 
Series 3 discusses Sappho, whose scorching poetry is now mainly lost; brings us some thousand-year-old gossip about Cicero; gives us the lowdown on Lucian, the forgotten inventor of science fiction; and tells the story of Juvenal, history’s first great stand-up comedian. 
 
Finally, Series 4 explores Phryne, the Greek courtesan famed for her wit and beauty; Horace, the Roman poet who made friends of enemies through his writing; Euripides, whose Medea still shocks us today; and Livy, who gave us Hannibal crossing the Alps and the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. 
 
Guests include Martin Rowson, Richard Dyer, Victoria Rimell, Professor Edith Hall, Frank McGuinness, Andrew Collins, Pamela Helen Stephen, Gordon Cutting, Dr Llewelyn Morgan, Sarah B. Pomeroy, Dr Ian Jenkins, Cate Haste, Rosie Wyles, Fiona Laird, Michael Squire, Philippa Perry, Stella Duffy, LiTTLe MACHiNe, Mark Stephens, Matthew Sweet, Armando Iannucci, Katy Brand, Ben Okri, Mark Ravenhill and Al Murray. 
 
Produced by Christine Hall and Mary Ward Lowery 
A BBC Studios production

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics: Series 1-4

A comical guide to Ancient Greece and Rome

Victoria Coren Mitchell

Victoria Coren Mitchell meets some fascinating women to explore the journeys they have made in the cars that they have known - and the sorts of things they shout in traffic. 
 
Hear what Dawn wrote on the back of her first car; find out which comedian totalled her beloved Cortina; and discover the advantages of the refrigerated glove compartment. Sarah Millican describes a traffic jam that lead to some desperate measures, Sheila Hancock explains how the trick of getting older is actually to speed up, and Jo Brand recounts how her car became an impromptu counselling couch for comedians (and when you shouldn't risk a roadside wee). 
 
Plus you can find out what no driving test examiner should ever say to a successful candidate. 
 
With guests including Dawn French, Germaine Greer, Sarah Millican, Olivia Coleman, Sheila Hancock, Jo Brand, Esther Rantzen and Claudia Winkleman. 
 
Produced by Gareth Edwards. 
A BBC Studios production.

Women Talking About Cars: Series 1-3

Festival of the Spoken Nerd

Get ready to enjoy both series 1 and 2 of the heady combination of maths, science and comedy that is Domestic Science. 
Featuring Matt Parker, Steve Mould and Helen Arney as Festival of the Spoken Nerd, these 8 episodes use stand-up, songs and experiments to investigate the world around us with a level of scientific accuracy not normally found in your average comedy series. 
 
If you've ever pondered where the mint in your toothpaste really comes from, or wondered what The Hot Chocolate Effect is, then come explore and play along at home. The team also investigate everything from radioactive bananas and musical bicycle tyres to assisting you with mathematically efficient sock storage and how to host your very own static electricity party. 
 
UK science comedy phenomenon Festival of the Spoken Nerd created this truly experimental radio show for BBC Radio 4, alongside appearances on BBC2’s QI and sharing stages at the Hammersmith Apollo and Royal Albert Hall with comedian Robin Ince, Professor Brian Cox and Commander Chris Hadfield. They toured their most recent stand-up science show to over 50,000 curious nerds (and non-nerds) and have accumulated millions of views on YouTube for their stand-up maths, songs and science explanations. 
 
Produced by Julia McKenzie

Domestic Science: Series 1 and 2

Steve Punt

The BBC Radio 4 show where Steve Punt turns private investigator, examining little mysteries that perplex, amuse and beguile. 
His methods may be unconventional but he gets the job done in this collection of all 18 epsiodes from series 6-10 of Punt PI. 
Ranging from the bizarre to the macabre, he investigates the following tantalising cases: 
Series 6: 
The Case of the Vanishing Machine Gun Maker, The Holliwell Incident, Pitchfork Murder - Lower Quinton and Who Killed the Bears? 
Series 7: 
The Mysterious Death of Flying Millionaire Alfred Loewnstein, The Baker Street Bank Robbery, The Case of the MP Who Vanished and Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm? 
Series 8: 
The Murder of Hollywood Director William Desmond Taylor, The Case of the Missing Cezanne, and The Great Mull Air Mystery. 
Series 9: 
The Suspicious Death of Emile Zola, The Reclusive Skeleton of Fingringhoe and There's a Kind of Hum. 
Series 10: 
Lost Nukes, Treasure in the Piano, Missing Priest and Taking the Pissoir? 
 
Produced by Laurence Grissell 
A BBC Studios production

Punt PI: Series 6-10

The BBC Radio 4 comedy series

The BBC Radio 4 show where Steve Punt turns private investigator, examining little mysteries that perplex, amuse and beguile. 
His methods may be unconventional but he gets the job done in this collection of all 17 epsiodes from series 1-5 of Punt PI. 
 
Ranging from the bizarre to the macabre, he investigates the following tantalising cases: 
Series 1: 
Steve probes cases including; a couple who find 400 false legs beneath their floor, missing steam trains hidden in case of nuclear war and Britian's own Bermuda triangle. 
Series 2: 
Steve investigates whether Hitler really was going to set up and HQ in Balham, goes on the trail of TV detector vans and searches for the real Manchurian Candidate. 
Series 3: 
The PI turns his hand to investigating the cases of Argelton, a place only existing on internet maps, whether the Nazis developed flying saucer technology, a search for Queen Victoria's voice and a curse of crying boy paintings. 
Series 4: 
Steve delves into the mysteries of a poisoned partridge, the disappearance of a film about David LLoyd George, and the site for the epic Battle of Wattling Street. 
Series 5: 
Our diligent investigator is called on to look into a pensioner's secret stash of arms, the 1928 Charfield Rail crash and a 400 year-old case of a missing person. 
 
Produced by Laurence Grissell 
A BBC Studios production

Punt, PI: Series 1-5

Ray Galton

Alan Simpson

A fascinating collection of rare and remastered radio &amp; TV material starring Tony Hancock 
 
In this fourth treasury of rare archive material, our irrepressible hero forms an association to save Fred’s Pie Stall, in a newly restored 1959 radio episode of Hancock’s Half Hour. From the BBC TV series comes The Italian Maid (1959) in which Tony and Sid are bowled over by the lovely Silvano. 
 
Two 1952 editions of Calling All Forces line up alongside a 1953 edition of Star Bill, and an extract from The National Radio Awards 1951 features Hancock in a rare Educating Archie sketch. 
 
In Hancock’s Helpers, from 2004, Russell Davies looks at Tony Hancock’s on-air and off-air relationship with his co-stars, whilst a 2009 edition of Great Lives examines the legacy of the lad ‘imself. Hancock and Son, from 1998, traces the writing partnership of Galton &amp; Simpson. 
 
In Briers on Hancock (1984) Richard Briers presents an affectionate tribute to Tony’s memory, with contributions from Dennis Main Wilson, Denis Norden, George Fairweather, Ray Galton, Alan Simpson, John Lloyd, John Freeman, Sid James and Bill Kerr. 
 
Also included in this treasury are interviews with Paul Merton, Roger Wilmut and Freddie Hancock, who all talk about the life and career of Tony Hancock. A bonus PDF booklet looks at each item in the context 
of Hancock’s broadcasting career, with insights into how many of these lost or rare items were discovered. 
 
Marking the legacy of one of our greatest comedy entertainers, this collection is a must for fans of Tony Hancock and Hancock’s Half Hour. 
 
Produced by Tom Ronald 
A BBC Studios production

Hancock's Half Hour Collectibles: Volume 4

Tom Neenan

Modern technology is terrifying. The average smartphone carries out three-point-three-six billion instructions per second. The average person can only carry out one instruction in that time. Stop and think about that for a second. Sorry, that’s two instructions; you won’t be able to do that. 
 
But what if modern technology was... literally terrifying? What if there really was a ghost in the machine? Travel through the bad gateway in this modern ghost story as award-winning writer and performer Tom Neenan discovers what horrors may lurk in our apps and gadgets... 
 
In the first episode of the first series, Tom tries out a dating app that seems to find people who may not quite be compatible in terms of age, location… or century… 
 
In Show 2, Tom has acquired a healthy new lifestyle, a shiny new fridge and a terrifying new problem. 
 
In the first episode of Series 2, Tom records a podcast - with an unwanted guest... 
 
In the next episode Tom downloads a taxi app which offers some unexpected destinations... 
 
… and in this final episode Tom attracts the attention of a very persistent vlogger… 
 
This show comes from Pozzitive, proud producers of Cabin Pressure, John Finnemore’s Double Acts, Thanks A Lot, Milton Jones!, Agendum, Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive &amp; Kevin Eldon Will See You Now...

The Hauntening

The Complete Series 1 and 2 of the BBC Radio 4 comedy

Lucy Beaumont

A BBC comedy sitcom from BBC New Comedy Award winner Lucy Beaumont, also starring Maureen Lipman. 
 
Sophie still lives at home with her mum in Hull. They make a living doing car boot sales at the weekend. Except they don't really make a living because her mum can't bear to get rid of any of their junk. Plus, they don't have a car. As their house gets more cluttered, Sophie feels more trapped. She dreams of moving to London to meet her dad and to become a famous actress. Will this dream ever come true? 
 
Starring Lucy Beaumont as Sophie and Maureen Lipman as her mum, Sheila. 
 
Written by Lucy Beaumont 
Produced by Carl Cooper

To Hull and Back: The Complete Series 1-3

Susan Calman

Susan Calman has some very strong opinions and in her radio debut she expresses them with her trademark wit and charm. In Series 1, she examines the current hot political topic of equal marriage; looks at the issues surrounding the death penalty from the perspective gained whilst working on Death Row; considers how best to deal with depression; and evaluates what it means to be Scottish. 
 
In Series 2 she explains why she has never been interested in having children, explores society’s obsession with appearance, discusses intellectual snobbery, and asks what it is that makes us human. 
 The first series of Susan Calman is Convicted won the 2013 Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards for 'Best Radio Comedy'. 
 
Written by Susan Calman 
 Produced by Lyndsay Fenner 
 A BBC Studios Production 
 Cover photograph: Steve Ullathorne

Susan Calman is Convicted: Series 1 and 2

Writer, poet, and broadcaster Pam Ayres has been making her fans smile for more than 30 years, since her first television appearance on Opportunity Knocks. Now some of her best sketches, verses and songs are brought together in this complete collection of series 1-6 of her Radio 4 show, Ayres on the Air . 
 
Each series consists of 4 episodes, with Pam performing witty and wonderful pieces on subjects as diverse as getting older, shopping and a surfeit of beige, bored chickens and school plays. With each sketch, she delights and entertains in a way that is unique to this very special broadcaster.

Ayres on the Air: The Complete Series 1-6

The BBC Radio 4 sketch show

Ed Harris

A rollicking wartime comedy set in the personnel department of the Cabinet War Rooms, starring Fenella Woolgar as Dot. 
 
“Little chills the blood so much as the phrase ‘new Radio 4 comedy’. But, dear reader, be un-chilled… a lovely, period-mocking script delivered with its eyebrow at precisely the right level of archness,” – The Times 
 
“Dot’s quirky wit is all of her own,” – The Observer 
 
“Excellent, eccentrically comic,” – The Daily Mail. 
 
Dot's had quite enough of making tea in the Cabinet War Rooms. When she finds a cryptic message in the newspaper she enlists the help of her gals – will this be the big break Dot's been waiting for? 
 
Follow Dot as she gets squiffy over Agent Bertie Whiff-Whaff, concocts stirring yet pithy slogans for the war effort, and goes on a mission to St Horribly Vulture’s School for Boys to enlist a teacher for… “shhhh… Bletchley Park!” 
 
Dot will do her bally utmost for King and Country in these spiffing tales of derring-do (and, occasionally, derring-don’t), whether investigating suspicious deaths, outwitting dastardly spies, or helping the Prime Minister with his French vocab. 
 
Cast: 
Dot…Fenella Woolgar 
Myrtle…Kate O’Flynn 
Peg…Freya Parker 
Millicent…Jane Slavin 
Peabody…David Acton 
 
Other parts played by Roslyn Hill, Stephen Critchlow, Adie Allen, Alicia Ambrose-Bayly, Susan Jameson, Sean Baker, Brian Protheroe, Sam Rix, Nick Underwood, Scarlett Brookes, David Sterne, Nicholas Murchie, John Dougal, Emma Handy, Ryan Whittle, Stephen Hogan, Elizabeth Counsell, Sean Murray, John Lightbody, Lauren Cornelius and introducing Officer Background as himself. 
 
Written by Ed Harris. 
Produced and directed by Jessica Mitic (Series 1 and 2) and Sasha Yevtushenko (Series 3)

Dot: The Complete Series 1-3

What would Jonathan Agnew do if he wasn't a cricket commentator? Who would play Romesh Ranganathan in a film of his life? What's the naughtiest thing Sara Pascoe did as a child? 
 
It's not what you know, but who you know that matters... and indeed, how well you know them. The show is a bit like ‘Mr and Mrs’, except that it's not played by husbands and wives. Instead, panellists can pick anyone they like: dad, cousin, best friend, mother-in-law. 
 
What is Bridget Christie's worst fear? Or Ainsley Harriott's worst habit? Or Seann Walsh's worst gig? 
 
All these burning questions, and more, will be answered in this BBC comedy panel show hosted by Miles Jupp, where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest. 
 
Get to know panellists such Rebecca Front, Roisin Conaty, Mark Steel, Tom Wrigglesworth, Ed Byrne, Tony Hawks, Rachel Riley, Richard Madeley, Dave Gorman, Lucy Porter, Richard Osman, Frankie Boyle, Susan Calman, Sara Cox, Katherine Ryan, Alan Johnson and Sarah Millican. 
 
Produced by Sam Michell.

It’s Not What You Know: Series 1-5

The BBC Radio 4 comedy panel show

Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers star in ten classic episodes of The Goon Show, plus a host of bonus features. 
 
Immensely popular and hugely influential, The Goon Show changed the face of British comedy. This fourteenth and final collection returns to the programme's fourth series and includes the episodes 'The History of Communications', 'The Kippered Herring Gang', 'The Tooth-Paste Expedition', 'The Case of the Vanishing Room', 'The Greatest Mountain in the World', 'Collapse of the British Railways Sandwich System', 'The Case of Agent X2' (aka 'The Silent Bugler'), 'The Story of Brain' (aka 'Western Story'), 'The Saga of the Internal Mountain' and 'Bank of England Robbery'. 
 
Also included is the special satirical show The Starlings, recorded without an audience or orchestra, plus radio programmes including Vivat Milligna!, Growing Up with the Goons and Radio Fun: The Story of Radio Comedy Part 7. Documentary extracts include items from Kaleidoscope and Dad Made Me Laugh, as well as 'The Disconnected Thoughts of Chairman Spike', featuring unused interview material from At Last the Go On Show. 
 
Remastered using new material and the latest technology to give the best possible sound quality, these recordings are sure to appeal to all collectors of The Goon Show. 
 
The Goons is a classic comedy which reflects the broadcast standards, language and attitudes of its time. 
 
©2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Goon Show Compendium Volume 14: Series 4, Part 2

Episodes from the classic BBC radio comedy series

Tim Key

Ever wondered just how much of life you can understand through poetry? 
 
Tim Key is never far from stage and screen - from Peep Show to Alpha Papa to Taskmaster. But now he's back doing what he does best - attempting to recite poetry whilst tormenting his friend and musician, the equally brilliant, and long suffering, Tom Basden. 
 
From ruminating on the meaning of family via his narrative poem The Godfather, attempting to get to the bottom of death via his poem The Boy Who Faked His Own Death, and also organising an impromptu stag party, Tim Key uses poetry to help him understand every situation. 
 
'In any other sphere apart from comedy, we'd probably class this way of looking at the world as certifiable. Here it feels like genius.' The Telegraph 
 
"The show... has a kind of artistry and strange beauty that makes it unlike any other hour of stand-up you are likely to see." The Observer 
 
'...You never know when Key will suddenly toss you a fantastic joke or startlingly well-constructed line.' Radio Times 
 
Audio updated April 2019

Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme: The Complete Series 1-4

Clementine Rose

Coco Wyo

Code Red

Cold Case Quartet

Commissaire Adamsberg

Confessions

Confessions of a Working Girl

Conversations from a Long Marriage

Cosy Colouring

County Cup

Coven of Bones

Crash Bang Wallop

Crazy House

Crimson Lake Series

Crimson Sails

Critical Role

Cross My Heart

The Crossfire series is a quintet that follows the emotional and romantic journey taken by Gideon Cross and Eva Tramell. A number one internationally bestselling series, the Crossfire books are available in forty territories . . . and counting.

Crossfire

Crown

Cruel is the Light

D is for Death

Detective Harry Virdee should be at home with his wife, but he's been suspended from work just as the biggest case of the year lands on what would have been his desk. He can't keep himself away . . . 
 
Luther meets The Wire in this gritty crime series set in Bradford.

D.I. Harry Virdee

DC Icons

London has a new detective - DC Max Wolfe is on the hunt and he means to get his man, whatever the consequences…

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