Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Historical

This is the story of Thomas "Tommo" Peaceful, a young soldier who finds himself in Belgium, in the trenches of the First World War, with his brother Charlie. It is also the story of Tommo’s life, growing up in Devon with his brothers, and of his love for Molly, the beautiful girl he met on his first day at school. As the story unfolds, from past to present, so approaches the hour when Tommo and Charlie will be separated forever.

Richard Burton narrates the second volume of this famous dramatic chronicle of the English Crown, a treasure of the BBC radio archive published in audiobook 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 installments, 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.

In this BBC full-cast production of Antony and Cleopatra, the soldier and noble prince Mark Antony's enthralment with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra is proving controversial. Will the tumultuous relationship ultimately end in tragedy? Antony and Cleopatra is an intense love story, exploring the...

This history of relatives lost and found was originally broadcast on 3, 10 and 17 May 2011 in the 'Afternoon Play' slot. The first play, 'The Wrong Label', is set in London in 1941. Alice knows that to stop your children from being evacuated is tantamount to siding with Hitler. In 'The Year My...

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation by Michael Butt about the death of the poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe, originally broadcast in the ‘Afternoon Play’ slot on 17 August 2010. In May 1593, the playwright Christopher Marlowe was killed. Apparently, it was because of an argument...

Jane Austen's acclaimed comedy of manners contains a truly memorable cast of characters, including the snobbish Mrs Ferrers, impetuous Marianne, selfish John Dashwood, and his awful, grasping wife. Annette Crosbie captures all the wit and charm of the romance in this BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour reading.

Cyber hero Bob Servant became a cult classic in the best-selling Delete This At Your Peril. Now this much-anticipated sequel tells the life story of one of Scotland's unsung heroes. From his days in the Merchant Navy to his creation of a window-cleaning round and his time as a cheeseburger...

In this BBC full-cast production of The Taming of the Shrew, the freedom and virility of women is frowned upon. Will Petruchio's quest to 'tame' his new wife succeed? Layers of assumed identity, elaborate role-playing, and acerbic exchanges of wit reveal the real relationship between men and...

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Edith Wharton’s 1913 satire of marriage and money in early-20th century American society. The play follows the beautiful Undine Spragg as she arrives in New York and sets her sights on Ralph Marvell, then travels to Paris where she meets a charming...

A new adaptation of L. P. Hartley's story of a boy who is betrayed by a sophisticated young rich woman and her farmer lover who use him to ferry letters back and forth in the blazing summer of 1900 - with Richard Griffiths and Harriet Walter. It's best known from the 1970 film, which focused on the main plot line. But on re-reading the book, adaptor Frances Byrnes found within it another drama perfect for audio in which an old man finds a boyhood diary and is forced to unlock the trauma inside.

In this BBC full-cast production of All's Well That Ends Well, the trials of marriage are hilariously explored. Will Helena complete the Herculean tasks to win Bertram's love? All's Well That Ends Well finds Helena rewarded for her ministries to the sick with the choice of any husband she wishes...

In this BBC full-cast production of Romeo And Juliet, the two star-crossed lovers fight for each other until their dying breath. Can their two feuding families reconcile? With the intimacy of radio, the full beauty and meaning of some of the most lyrical lines ever written can be truly heard...

The legendary demise of Phil Archer's first wife is recalled in these archive editions of the much-loved BBC radio serial, plus a unique behind-the-scenes drama about Grace's death. The Archers is the longest-running radio drama in the world, and in 1955 the death of Grace Archer became one of the most notorious - and controversial - events in the history of the show.

In this BBC full-cast production of Twelfth Night, Malvolio is looking for trouble - and revenge... Michael Maloney, Josette Simon and Anne-Marie Duff star in this fast and funny production of Shakespeare's most sparkling and optimistic comedy, when all the world is turned on its head and...

A BBC Radio 4 play about the marriage of George, Prince of Wales, originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 11 December 2008 (and repeated on 9 December 2010). Facing financial ruin, George was obliged by his father, George III, to marry his first cousin, Princess Caroline of Brunswick...

In this BBC full-cast production of The Merchant of Venice, love, bigotry, greed, and justice are entwined. Shakespeare's classic play explores the eternal themes of love and hate, mercy and justice, with parallel stories centred on the moneylender, Shylock, and the lovers, Portia and Bassanio...

A gripping BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation based on the second novel in C. J. Sansom's best-selling Tudor crime series. Summer, 1540. It has been three years since the terrible events at Scarnsea monastery, and lawyer-detective Matthew Shardlake is living a quiet life in London - until a summons from Cromwell sees him embarking on another dangerous secret assignment.

A thrilling BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation based on CJ Sansom's best-selling Tudor crime novel. Winter, 1537. Henry VIII has declared himself Supreme Head of the Church and instructed his Chief Minister, Thomas Cromwell, to dissolve England's religious houses and seize their wealth. But Cromwell's plot to bring down the abbeys has hit a snag - one of the King's Commissioners has been found brutally murdered in Scarnsea monastery, on the south coast of Kent.

An atmospheric BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation based on C. J. Sansom's best-selling Tudor crime novel featuring hunchback lawyer detective Matthew Shardlake. Autumn, 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Royal Progress to York, aiming to strike fear and awe into his rebellious northern subjects. Shardlake and his assistant, Barak, arrive in the city a day ahead of the 3,000-strong procession.

Stephen Fry, Daniel Rigby and Tamsin Greig star in all three series of the poignant BBC Radio 4 comedy drama. Warhorses of Letters is the world's finest and best-loved equine, military, epistolary romance, comprising the newly discovered love letters between two horses united by passion but cruelly divided by conflict.