Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Biographies & Memoirs

Over the course of his distinguished entertainment career, Alan Bennett has received multiple awards and honours, including two BAFTAs, four Laurence Olivier Awards, two Tony Awards, an Academy Award nomination for his film The Madness of King George, and a British Book Award for Author of the Year in 2006. In this four-part collection of his remarkable Untold Stories, the acclaimed writer considers his childhood, career, and the current state of the world with his customary blend of wit and poignancy.

Alan Bennett is one of the country's most celebrated and best-loved authors. This unmissable collection of diaries and memoirs brings together for the first time Telling Tales, Diaries: 1980-1990, the autobiographical section of Untold Stories, which covers the period 1997-2004, and Keeping On Keeping On: The Diaries 2005-2014. With wit, wisdom, sharp social commentary and perceptive impressions, Alan Bennett's memoirs and diaries are a joy to discover, and a delight to hear again.

Sir Steve Redgrave is a former British rower who won five Gold Medals in five successive Olympic Games. In this collection we hear—in his own words—about why he retired after the Olympic Games in Atlanta, yet returned for his fifth victory in Sydney. He discusses his early days rowing and his post-race emotions, and memories of his last race. He's also open about his retirement and knowing that Sydney was the last time, as well as missing the team and routine.

Sir John Gielgud was one of his generation's leading actors, who won an Academy Award. In this collection we hear—in his own words—about his family and childhood, deciding to be an actor and his first confident performance. He discusses understudying Noël Coward and failing as Romeo, playing Hamlet for the first time and working with other actors. He also talks about bringing Shakespeare back to the West End, directing plays himself, film vs theatre acting, making mistakes and writing his autobiographies.

John Wilson (acclaimed arts and culture reporter and journalist, and presenter of Front Row, Newsnight Review and Pick of the Week) meets up with a variety of public figures from such diverse fields as food, mathematics, politics, writing and music, and takes them back to the influential schools, teachers and early workplaces they may have forgotten, but which have not forgotten them. 

In Our Time is one of BBC Radio's most successful and best-loved programmes, with a weekly listenership of over two million. Since 1998, it has 'transformed the landscape for serious ideas at peak listening time' (The Times), introducing its audience to an astonishing array of intriguing topics, from the epic of Gilgamesh to the gin craze. This special thematic collection focusses on some of the most important rulers, philosophers and writers of ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. 

Vanessa Redgrave is an Oscar-winning actress, well known for her theatre appearances and roles in such films as Howards End and Mrs Dalloway, as well as her political activism. She discusses her life and achievements in this collection of BBC Radio and TV interviews.

Stephen King is one of the world's most successful authors, with a long list of hit novels to his name including Carrie, Misery, The Shining and Doctor Sleep. Here he discusses his life, his writing career and his many achievements in a series of interviews from the BBC radio and TV archives.

Tracey Emin is an internationally renowned artist. Here she discusses her life and achievements in a series of interviews from the BBC radio and TV archives.

Sir Derek Jacobi is an award-winning actor who is famous for his many roles on television, film and on stage. He received a Tony Award for his performance as Benedick in the RSC's production of Much Ado About Nothing and is probably most famous for his TV roles in Cadfael and I, Claudius. In this collection, we hear, in his own words, about his influences, his school years and early acting performances, as well as the many roles he has played.

David Attenborough discusses his life and achievements in this collection of BBC radio and TV interviews.

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. 

Sir Stirling Moss, OBE, is a legendary British racing driver. In this collection we hear - in his own words - about his family and upbringing, on starting out and his early career choices and why he became a racing driver. He discusses being a businessman, his relationships and the bittersweet feelings that occur with racing. He also touches on the many dangers involved with the sport, including the loss of friends. Stirling talks about his crash in 1962 - including his injuries and recuperation - as well as his celebrity lifestyle, his continuing popularity and reaching 70. 

On 25th October 1799—his 18th wedding anniversary—cantankerous Somerset parson William Holland begins his diary, chronicling events at the vicarage and in the small farming community of Over Stowey. He would keep it for the next 19 years, candidly recording the small trials of day-to-day life—from chaotic church services and unruly locals to lazy servants and irksome in-laws.

Beryl Reid, OBE, (1919-1996) was one of Britain's much-loved comedy actresses. She won a BAFTA for Best Actress and received a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards. In this collection, we hear - in her own words - about other funny women, as well as some of her well-known roles in The Belles of St Trinian's and Smiley's People, and the reaction to her role in The Killing of Sister George. 

As the longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II has presided over an era of tremendous social, political and cultural change. In 2012, to mark her Diamond Jubilee, Radio 4 looked back on the long span of her reign, and asked the public to choose high-profile public figures who have helped to define this New Elizabethan Age. Almost a thousand nominations poured in, and the final selection was decided by a panel of leading writers and historians, including Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne and Max Hastings.

Three dramatic true stories, this is investigative journalism at its very best. In these three gripping series, prominent journalists investigate fascinating human stories, shining a light on history and politics and deepening our understanding of the word we live in.

Broadcaster and current affairs specialist Clare English talks to 12 extraordinary trailblazers. Here are the inspiring stories of politicians and inventors, scientists and surgeons, models, parents, creatives and founders. All, in their own field and in their own way, have broken new ground and changed the world. 

Charles Dickens was a literary giant, second only to Shakespeare in the ranks of England's greatest writers. This extensive biographical collection looks at the man, his novels and his legacy to provide an all-round portrait of the much-loved author.

Famous fans choose their favourite writers for BBC Radio 4's Great Lives. For 20 years, Great Lives has been a cornerstone of the Radio 4 schedules, presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and Matthew Parris. Each week, a well-known personality is invited to select someone who has inspired them. They then discuss the 'Great Life' with the presenter and a guest expert to decide whether their hero really merits the accolade.