Al Murray's alter ego, The Pub Landlord, is one of the most recognizable and successful comic creations of the past twenty years, and Murray, who has won numerous awards and accolades, continues to fill arenas and theatres around the world. 
 
He is also the author of many successful books including Watching War Films with My Dad and Command, a sharply entertaining analysis of the key allied military leaders in the Second World War. He is well known for co-hosting the hugely popular Second World War history podcast, We Have Ways of Making You Talk with fellow bestselling military author James Holland. 
 
Arnhem: Black Tuesday is his first history book about a single campaign.

Al Murray

Actor and director Al Pacino is a unique and enduring figure in the world of American stage and film. He grew up in New York City’s South Bronx, attended the School of Performing Art, and studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio with Charles Laughton and the Actors Studio with mentor Lee Strasberg. 
 
 
He has been nominated for the Academy Award nine times, for movies including The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, The Godfather Part II, and The Irishman, and won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1992 for Scent of a Woman. He has been nominated for the Golden Globe Award nineteen times, and won four, and has been nominated for three Tonys and won two. 
 
 
Pacino has been awarded the Kennedy Center Honor, the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award, the National Merit of Arts from President Obama, and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures.

Al Pacino

Al Pittampalli

Al Rodin is a writer and illustrator from London. He studied children's book illustration at Cambridge School of Art and received the 2019 Sebastian Walker Prize. Al enjoys working with a wide variety of materials including acrylic, watercolour and collage. His paintings have been exhibited in galleries around Europe and Asia, and he was selected for lllustrators' Exhibition at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in 2019. Little Echo is his first book.

Al Rodin

Al Smith

Alain Gheerbrant

Alain de Botton is the bestselling author of fifteen books, including The School of Life: An Emotional Education, How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Consolations of Philosophy, The Art of Travel and The Course of Love. He is the founder of The School of Life (theschooloflife.com).

Alain de Botton

Alaina Urquhart is the science-loving co-host of the chart-topping show Morbid: A True Crime Podcast. As an autopsy technician by trade, she offers a unique perspective from deep inside the morgue. Alaina hails from Boston, where she lives with her wonderful husband, John, their three amazing daughters, and a ghost Puggle named Bailey. She is about 75 percent coffee, and truly believes she and Agent Clarice Starling could be friends. 
 
Before writing her first psychological horror novel, she received degrees in criminal justice, psychology, and biology. When she isn't hosting Morbid, she hosts the Parcast original show Crime Countdown, and a horror movie podcast called Scream!. Her days are usually spent either recording or eviscerating. The way she sees it, when she hangs up her microphone for the day, it's time to let the dead speak.

Alaina Urquhart

Alaine Hood

Alan Alda

Alan Ayckbourn

Born in London in 1939, Alan Ayckbourn is one of  the world's most popular and prolific playwrights. He has written 74  full length plays and more than 20 other revues and plays for children.  He is also an acclaimed director. Alan Ayckbourn was awarded a CBE in  1987. Ten years later to the day, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II  'for services to the theatre.'

Alan Baker

Alan Barker

Alan Beattie

Alan Bennett is one of Britain's best-loved and most highly acclaimed writers. He has written widely for radio, television and theatre. His latest play, The History Boys, won several awards, including Evening Standard and Critics' Circle Awards for Best Play and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. It also won six Tony Awards, including Best Play, following an extremely successful transfer to Broadway. In 2006 Bennett was named Author of the Year at the British Book Awards for Untold Stories, his collection of memoirs and diaries.

Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett's television series Talking Heads has become a modern-day classic, as have many of his works for the stage, including Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van, The Madness of George III (together with the Oscar-nominated screenplay The Madness of King George) and an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows. The History Boys won the Evening Standard and Critics' Circle awards for Best Play, The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the South Bank Award.

Alan Bishop

ALAN BOOTH was born in London in 1946 and travelled to Japan in 1970 to study Noh theatre. He stayed, working as a writer and film critic, until his untimely death in 1993.

Alan Booth

Alan Brazil is a Scottish broadcasting legend and former football player, most notably for Ipswich Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and internationally for Scotland. He played as a forward before being forced to retire due to a recurring back injury. 
 
After retirement, Alan moved into media presentation, initially on television, before a career in radio where for many years he has presented the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show on TalkSPORT.

Alan Brazil

Alan Bullock

Alan Carr is one of Britain's most successful and treasured comedians. His unique humour and effortless stage presence have earned him a catalogue of awards including Best Chat Show host at the publicly voted for 2015 National Television Awards, winner of the 2013 BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance and 2013 British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. In previous years he has garnered a clutch of awards, from the 2012 National Television Award for Best Talk Show and the 2012 Loaded LAFTA Award for Best Stand-up to the 2010 TV Choice Awards for Best Entertainment Show. There were also nominations for Best New British Comedy &amp; Best Comedy Entertainment Personality at the 2009 British Comedy Awards. 
 
The success of the first series of his own chat show, 'Alan Carr: Chatty Man', in the summer of 2009, led to Channel 4 commissioning 16 further series' as well as numerous Christmas Specials and New Year Specstaculars. In September 2013, the 100th episode aired with A-list guests Justin Timberlake and Rihanna. Guests from past series include: Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, Vin Diesel, Adele, Grace Jones, Naomi Campbell, Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Robin Williams, David Walliams, Mariah Carey, Russell Brand, Samuel L Jackson, Miley Cyrus, Robbie Williams, Bette Midler, Sharon Osbourne, One Direction, Gok Wan and Miranda Hart. 
 
The DVD of Alan's 2007 debut stand-up show, 'Tooth Fairy Live' topped the HMV charts and was a Christmas 2007 top seller. 
 
His best-selling debut autobiography 'Look Who It Is' was published in September 2008 by HarperCollins. 
 
In 2011, Alan travelled the country with his second live tour. 'Spexy Beast Live' was a 33-date arena tour and culminated in the successful DVD of the same name. 
 
Throughout 2015, Alan hit the road once again and performed at over 150 sold-out theatre's across the UK and Ireland with his 'Yap, Yap, Yap!' live show. His third stand up DVD 'Alan Carr - Yap Yap Yap! Live' was released by Universal Pictures (UK) in November 2016. 
 
2016 has also seen Alan go global with international performances of his Yap Yap Yap! live show throughout Scandinavia, Montreal (at the prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival) and can currently be seen on tour this summer in New Zealand and Australia this summer, with two shows at the iconic Sydney Opera House. 
 
Alan also hosts Channel 4's flagship fundraising show 'Stand Up To Cancer' which in 2014 went on to raise an amazing £14 million for Cancer Research. Alan returns once again to host 'Stand Up To Cancer' on Channel 4 this October. 
 
Alanatomy: The Inside Story is Alan's second memoir, and will be published by Penguin in October 2016.

Alan Carr

Alan Clark

Alan Clements

Alan Connor is the author of Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword ("witty, charming, encyclopaedic and highly readable" - Spectator) and The Joy of Quiz ("An absolute delight" - Mail on Sunday). He has made quizzes for various TV shows and newspapers and written comedy including BBC Film's The Rack Pack, A Young Doctor's Notebook (Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe) and Have I Got News For You.

Alan Connor

Alan Connor has been the question editor for BBC2's Only Connect and Richard Osman's House of Games. He is the author of books for Pointless and The Traitors and is the puzzle consultant for the BBC1 drama Ludwig. He writes puzzles for various newspapers and has written for Charlie Brooker series and Have I Got News for You. His favourite quiz question is: What word was intentionally omitted from the screenplay of The Godfather?

Alan Cowell

Alan Curtis

PublicationStatus

Brand

Format

AgeRange

Series

Imprint

CategoryLabel

Laurence Olivier

Regarded by many as the greatest actor of the 20th Century, Laurence Olivier enjoyed a stellar career in film, theatre and television, winning multiple awards along the way from the 1920s to the 1980s. 
 
 In this absorbing collection of archive interviews he discusses his schooldays and early acting career; his drama training; his spells as actor-manager running the Old Vic and the National Theatre (which he helped create); his wartime service, and his friendship and collaboration with fellow actors including John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. 
 
 Hear all the highlights from Olivier's legendary life, as he recounts his fascinating story in his own words. 
 
 Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Laurence Olivier In His Own Words

Glenda Jackson

This fascinating collection of archive interviews with the renowned actress and MP begins with an archive radio interview in 1970 and runs through to a guest appearance on Desert Island Discs in 1997. Along the way Glenda Jackson appears on numerous programmes including Omnibus, Profile, Parkinson, In The Psychiatrist's Chair and Start the Week, during the course of which she discusses her background and early years, women in theatre, and her journey from being a highly successful actress to becoming a Member of Parliament (and Minister of Transport). She also appears on A Chance to Meet Glenda Jackson and In The Hot Seat, where she faces the questions of an invited audience and discusses a wide range of topics. 
 
The included interviews are: radio archive interview (first broadcast 5 August 1970); Omnibus, BBC television (19 September 1971); Profile, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 20 March 1972); A Chance to Meet Glenda Jackson, BBC television (first broadcast 1 October 1972); Parkinson, BBC One (first broadcast 24 November 1973); Parkinson, BBC One (first broadcast 23 October 1976); In The Psychiatrist's Chair, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 31 July 1982); Start the Week, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 9 July 1990); In The Hot Seat, BBC radio (first broadcast 31 August 1990); Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4 (28 December 1997). 
 
Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Glenda Jackson In Her Own Words

Noel Coward

In interviews ranging from 1960 to 1972, Noël Coward talks about being a legend; whether he is a cynical writer; his early days in acting and about his early reputation for upsetting fellow actors on stage. He also discusses acting with Laurence Olivier; his affection for the Navy; his film-making; his knighthood, and writing 'Private Lives' for his friend Gertrude Lawrence. 
 
Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Noel Coward In His Own Words

Spike Milligan

Comic icon Spike Milligan recollects highlights from his stellar career. The comic genius of Spike Milligan changed the face of radio comedy through 'The Goon Show'. Here Milligan chooses and introduces classic clips from his astonishing career: readings from his books 'Puckoon' and 'Adolf Hitler, My Part in his Downfall', poems, songs, sketches, extracts from 'Q6' and 'In the Psychiatrist’s Chair'. He reminisces about India and Bexhill and reads his favourite poems including 'Fred Fernakerpan'. Also included is the complete version of 'The Starlings' - the only 'Goon Show' recorded outside of London and without a studio audience. Plus, of course, there’s a generous helping of 'Goon Show' clips, including 'The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-on-Sea' and 'The Pevensey Bay Disaster', featuring Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers. In this recording you can hear in his own words why Spike was one of the biggest figures in British comedy.This recording was previously released as 'Spike Milligan at the Beeb'.

Remembering Spike Milligan

Mike Leigh

Brenda Blethyn, Lesley Manville and Phil Davis star in this special Mike Leigh collection, featuring the iconic hit Abigail’s Party and a banned play from the BBC archives 
 
One of Britain's most prolific and influential writers, Mike Leigh has directed some of the best British films of the last 50 years, including Life is Sweet, Secrets & Lies and Vera Drake. He has written a plethora of plays for the BBC, among them the bleakly comic drama Abigail’s Party and the sharply observed Too Much of a Good Thing. Both plays feature here, along with a fascinating interview with Leigh, in which he explains his creative process and shares stories from his life. 
 
Abigail’s Party – Set in 1977, this dark comedy of manners revolves around Beverley, a suburban housewife attempting to throw a cocktail party. She’s invited all the neighbours, and the drinks are flowing freely – but as her guests loosen up, things start to become somewhat fraught… Brenda Blethyn stars as Beverley in this 1986 World Service adaptation of Mike Leigh’s caustic satire on middle-class respectability. 
 
Too Much of a Good Thing – Initially censored by Radio 3 for its sexual explicitness, this 1979 drama, specially written for radio and recorded on location in London, sees a driving instructor and his pupil tentatively embarking on an affair. Graham woos Pamela with trips to the Berni Inn and the local boating lake, but what will happen when she finally succumb to his advances? Starring Lesley Manville and Phil Davis. 
 
Calling the Shots: Mike Leigh – In this absorbing Radio 5 profile, the filmmaker and sometime dramatist tells us about his main aims: to depict real life and make his audience laugh and cry. We hear about his childhood passion fo rthe pictures, his early TV plays Hard Labour and Nuts in May, how he came to conceive Abigail’s Party, and his breakthrough pieces Grown-Ups and Meantime. 
 
NB: Contains scenes of a sexual nature 
 
Production credits 
Written by Mike Leigh 
All rights reserved 
 
Abigail’s Party 
Beverly Moss – Brenda Blethyn 
Laurence Moss – Tim Stern 
Tony Cooper – John Salthouse 
Angela Cooper – Teresa Streatfield 
Susan Lawson – Thelma Whitely 
 
Directed by David Hitchinson 
Technical presentation: Graham Harper 
First broadcast BBC World Service, 2 March 1986 
 
Too Much of a Good Thing 
Mr Payne – Eric Allan 
Pamela – Lesley Manville 
Graham – Philip Davis 
 
Produced by Liane Aukin 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 14 July 1992 
 
Calling the Shots 
With Mike Leigh 
Compiled by Paul Wells 
Produced by Ann Hines 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 5, 23 July 1991 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 2026

Abigail’s Party & Too Much of a Good Thing

Two Full-Cast BBC Radio Drama Productions

Samuel Beckett

Broadcaster Matthew Sweet presents a sequence of radio plays by Samuel Beckett, with star casts including Stephen Rea and Ian McKellenSamuel Beckett captured the pathos and irony of modern life like no other dramatist. In the decade following the success of Waiting for Godot (1952), he wrote some of his most absorbing work for radio, among them this sequence of short pieces. Suffused with the same musicality as his stage plays, they are increasingly different in tone and conception, giving us insight into the development of Beckett’s style and his approach to sound. With the exception of From an Abandoned Work, they can be heard in binaural surround sound through headphones or earbuds, creating an intimate, immersive audio experience. Matthew Sweet introduces the plays, providing context to the productions.From an Abandoned Work – Developed from the fragments of an unfinished novel, this radio monologue stars Stephen Rea as the unnamed elderly protagonist, who looks back on three days of his youth spent wandering the rural roads in all weather. As he recalls his mother waving him goodbye, the sight of a white horse and a murderous tribe of stoats, he ponders questions of life and death…Rough for Radio 1 – Monica Dolan and Ron Cook star in this debut BBC production of Beckett’s two-hander centred on a taciturn man, his curious female visitor who has ‘come to listen’ and his subsequent frantic phone calls… Abstract and experimental, Rough for Radio 1 utilises music and voices, silence and pauses, to explore themes of isolation, the impossibility of communication and the disconcerting nature of audio technology.Rough for Radio 2 – In this companion piece to Rough for Radio 1, starring Stephen Dillane, Louise Brealey, Brian Protheroe and Nick Underwood, we find ourselves in an interrogation room, where an animator is trying to force his victim, Fox to speak. With them are the stenographer, whose transcription shows that something is fundamentally amiss, and Dick, who has nothing to say…Words and Music – Commanded by the irascible Croak, unwilling collaborators Words and Music (aka Joe and Bob).are forced to improvise on the themes of ‘Love’, ‘Age’ and ‘The Face’ in an attempt to create art. Ian McKellen and Carl Prekopp star in Beckett’s absurdist meditation on the limitations of language. featuring a specially-written score by Roger Goula.Cascando – Story and sound work together once more in Cascando, controlled and conducted by the Opener who turns them on and off like a radio. In tandem, they try to tell the tale of Woburn, struggling to perfect it so they can finish and sleep… Starring Stanley Townsend and David Seddon, with music by Roger Goula, Beckett’s 1961 drama delineates the challenges of composition and the writer’s desperate search for inspiration.Production creditsWritten by Samuel BeckettFrom an Abandoned WorkPerformed by Stephen ReaRough for Radio 1He – Ron CookShe – Monica DolanRough for Radio 2Animator – Stephen DillaneStenographer – Louise BrealeyFox – Brian ProtheroeDick – Nick UnderwoodWords and MusicCroak – Ian McKellenWords – Carl PrekoppCascandoVoice – Stanley TownsendOpener – David SeddonDirected by Gaynor MacfarlaneMusic composed and directed by Roger GoulaComposer's assistant: Jessica JonesMusic performed by Kit Downes (piano), Georgia Hannant (violin), Oli Langford (viola), Nicola Baigent (bass clarinet), Michael Liu (flute), Raphael Lang (cello), Jessica Jones (synth)First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 2 October 2016© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Radio Beckett

Five Full Cast BBC Audio Plays by Nobel Prize winning writer Samuel Beckett

Peter Child

Peter Matthews

The classic 1970s sitcom about a lively gang of labourers working on the motorways 
 
In 1971, Radio 2’s Comedy Parade – a showcase for new comedy – aired two pilots that would go on to become the highly popular series Parsley Sidings and The Motorway Men. Though the latter ran for just one series in early 1972, it succeeded in gaining up to five million listeners. 
 
Featuring the comic escapades of unruly road crew Number 9 Gang, it starred Dad’s Army stalwarts Bill Pertwee and James Beck as flustered foreman Ponsonby and naive Cockney lad Steve, alongside bolshy shop steward Irish (Milo O’Shea), wily Welshman Randy (Richard Davies), bungling bosses Hanson (Anthony Sagar) and Fairfax (Richard Caldicot) and camp surveyor Peter Stephens. Titillating their palates and keeping them all well provisioned is posh canteen manager Gladys (Amanda Murray). 
 
In these nine entertaining episodes, the hapless highway operatives go on the fiddle to sell off some surplus coal and cement; run into a spot of bother with a bulldozer; get their link roads and their flyovers in a muddle (and accidentally bury Steve in the process); and uncover an ancient Roman hypocaust, only to find themselves participating in an archaeological dig. 
 
They also get into a bit of argy-bargy with Farmer Barrett (and his bull); attempt to impress an observer from a Chinese trade delegation; are sent to extend the runway at London Airport (and end up winging it) and have a bit of trouble with technology in the shape of a new-fangled American steamroller and a specially customized boat... 
 
Content warning: the humour in this programme reflects the era in which it was broadcast and may not reflect current attitudes 
 
Cast and credits 
 
Written by Peter Child and Peter Matthews 
Produced by Alastair Scott Johnston 
 
Ponsonby – Bill Pertwee 
Steve – James Beck 
Irish – Milo O'Shea 
Randy – Richard Davies 
Mr Fanshaw/Mr Fairfax – Richard Caldicot 
Hanson – Anthony Sagar 
The Surveyor – Peter Stephens 
Gladys/Air Traffic Controller – Amanda Murray 
The Minister – Nigel Graham 
Victoria – Gretta Gouriet 
Farmer Barrett – Alan Thompson 
 
With thanks to Keith Wickham and The Radio Circle 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 2, 21 March 1971 (pilot episode), 2 February-22 March 1972 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Motorway Men

The Classic BBC Radio Comedy

Dragonborn

Dragoneye

Dragonlance Destinies

Dread Pirate Fleur

Dream Master

Drenai Novels

DropZone

Duggee's Little Library

Dungeon Crawler Carl Series

Duty Calls

A gripping three-part series based on real historical events. Three Roman legions massacred. Three Imperial Eagles lost. One man vies for revenge.

Eagles of Rome

For thirty years, the O’Donnels have ruled the East End, but there’s a price to pay for this power, and it’s usually in blood.

Eastend Trilogy

Easterleigh Hall

Eat Around Italy

Eat Around Spain

Eat Right For Blood Type

Ebb and Flo

Ed Reardon's Week

Elemental Emergence

Elfies Spellbook

Eliot Biographies

Emma Trilogy

Emma and James

Empire of Salt

In the Swedish town of Engelsfors, a mysterious forcedraws seven teenagers together. They are the Chosen Ones, and they have been chosen to drive back the demons that threaten to overwhelm the world

Engelsfors Trilogy

England's Medieval Queens

English Heritage

Erica Martin Thriller

Eternal Ones

Eve of Man Trilogy

biblio.categories.code

biblio.publicationStatus

biblio.brand

biblio.workEditions.format

biblio.ageRange

biblio.series.seriesName

biblio.imprint.description

biblio.type

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

Search Results

Wuthering Heights

The Brontë Sisters (Boxed Set)

Wuthering Heights (Vintage Classics Bronte Series)

New historical fiction books to read in 2025

Reading lists

Crafts &amp; activities

Download these activities for Very Hungry Caterpillar Day!

Penguin Random House UK Response to Government Consultation on Copyright and AI

Extracts

Extract: Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister

11 Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy writers join Penguin’s WriteNow programme 

Download your Free Barbara's Very Useful Guide to Moods Chart!

Features

How does the new Bridget Jones film differ from the book?

Books that will change your perspective on love

Download our You Choose activity pack!

Half-term activities for the family this February

News

Charlotte Raven: 1969 - 2025

The best books out this month

Ladybird activity pack download

Read an extract from The Troublemakers

Read an extract from Letty and the Mystery of the Golden Thread

Fascinating books about Psychology

Nine timeless quotes from Zadie Smith's White Teeth

Interviews

Jodi Picoult on the theory behind Shakespeare’s plays

Michael Longley: 1939 – 2025

A day in the life of a Publicist with Alison Barrow

Extract: No &amp; Other Love Stories

stemming

Filters

Category

Publication Date

Format

Series

Imprint

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter