Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Entertainment & Performing Arts

Gudrun, a young woman in 11th-century Iceland, must forge her path through a world of unearthly beauty yet uncompromising harshness. Lucy Catherine's Viking epic of love, revenge and faith inspired by the Icelandic sagas and starring the original Nordic noir heroine, Gudrun.

A fascinating collection of rare and remastered broadcast material starring Tony Hancock, Sid James and others. This first volume features the recently discovered soundtrack of 'The Horror Serial', a television episode of Hancock's Half Hour from 1959, plus remastered versions of the following radio shows: 'The Blackboard Jungle', 'The Student Prince' and 'The Test Match'. Also included are previously unreleased editions of 'Variety Bandbox', 'Calling All Forces' and 'Educating Archie'.

In this major new BBC radio series, Neil MacGregor investigates the role and expression of shared beliefs through time and around the world. One of the central facts of human existence is that every society shares a set of beliefs and assumptions - a faith, an ideology, a religion - that goes far beyond the life of the individual. These beliefs are an essential part of a shared identity. They have a unique power to define - and to divide - us, and are a driving force in the politics of much of the world today. 

In this sitcom, Harry Hill stars as the governor of Britain’s remotest prison. In Series 1, he has to contend with the prison inspectors, mysteriously malfunctioning CCTV cameras, escaping prisoners and even the prison being attacked by a pair of mating whales. In Series 2, he and the team pitch a new invention to Dragon’s Den, he tries to get his stomach around a food shortage and a self-destruct button is found in the prison.  

Tommy Franklin and Sheila Parr, winners of the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest, find themselves unexpectedly thrust back into the limelight. The trouble is, they can no longer stand the sight of one another. As fame beckons for a second time, they must put aside their differences to deal with publicity problems, a threat from Tommy’s dodgy past and their sneaky agent’s scheme to sell off their back catalogue.

In this fascinating 10-part series, Lenny Henry traces the long and painful road that black Britons have travelled on stage and screen, from the overt racial discrimination of the 19th century, via the thinly veiled slurs that persisted through the first 70 years of the 20th, to today's more equal society. Interviewing playwrights, actors, directors and filmmakers - including Mustapha Matura, Roy Williams, Lolita Chakrabarti, Michael Buffong, Horace Ové and Steve McQueen - he tells the story of black drama and the influential artists who have shaped it over the past hundred years.

Bath-based BBC Audiobooks hosted a sell-out event for the Bath Literature Festival. Reading Between the Lines: From Page to Production featured Rula Lenska, Lynne Truss, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Lorelei King in an entertaining and lively discussion about the art of the audiobook. They were joined by Sunday Times audio critic Karen Robinson, BBC Audiobooks' Publishing Director Jan Paterson, and Senior Producer Kate Thomas.

Starring the cream of UK writer/performers and comedians over its lifetime, including Simon Pegg, Sue Perkins, Miranda Hart, Nick Frost, Bill Bailey and Armando Iannucci, this is the complete and utter award-winning silly panel game that's not about music, sport, advertising or hats.

Stephen Fry and John Bird star in all four series of the BBC Radio 4 satirical comedy, plus the 2006 special episode. Set in the Machiavellian world of modern PR, Absolute Power introduces us to London-based 'government-media relations consultancy' Prentiss McCabe, whose partners Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe are frequently embroiled in the machinations of the British political system.

A dark, quirky parody of Desert Island Discs, Desolation Jests is a post-apocalyptic sketch show that takes a not-altogether-accurate look at the history of comedy. Featuring faux interviews with spurious celebrities, conducted by the Roy Plomley-esque host JP Doom, it poses the question ‘Which comedy sketches would you most want at your side to face the end of the world?’

Five dramas by Katie Hims exploring the symbolism and significance of the wedding dress. In 'True Love', Maggie's dress is so beautiful she can't bear to take it off. In 'The Rescue', Lauren resorts to drastic measures to stop her sister getting married. In 'The Scarecrow', Carla suddenly finds herself the object of attention for all the village men. In 'Janey's Big Day', Janey is unprepared for quite how involved her mother is in her wedding plans.

Five interlinked short plays for Woman's Hour around the theme of separation, based on experiences submitted to the programme by listeners. In 'Empty Nest', Sheila is inconsolable when her daughter leaves home for a gap year. Can an eccentric elderly neighbour help her to feel needed again? In 'Fatima the Catima', Karen tries to keep normal family life going and her anxieties at bay while her husband is fighting in Afghanistan.

The complete series of the Asian radio station comedy starring Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nitin Sawhney, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia. Spice up your life with Masala FM, East London’s most happening community radio station. It’s the home of banging tunes, advice for the lovelorn and the hottest news from the street – all brought to you by down-with-the-kids DJ Maz Mazoo, no-nonsense agony aunt ‘Auntieji’, romance show smoothie Khalid and hard-hitting investigative reporter Shanta.

The first ever publication of a long-lost episode of Hancock's Half Hour, featuring Peter Sellers - plus bonus material. Legendary sitcom Hancock's Half Hour ran for 102 episodes on BBC Radio between 1954 and 1959. Over 20 shows were subsequently lost - but now one of the funniest and most sought-after, 'The Marriage Bureau', has been rediscovered. The penultimate episode of Series 1, it features a unique appearance from Peter Sellers, standing in for Kenneth Williams. Available for the first time since its original broadcast in 1955, it sees Hancock looking for a job - and a wife...

Brian Cox and Robin Ince return to take a witty, irreverent and unashamedly rational look at the mysteries of the universe in these four series. Joining them for some hot science and flagrant comic nerdery are a panel of eggheads and entertainers, all eager to take a deep dive into topics ranging from cosmic dust to coincidence.

Explore the green and nether regions of the South West with ‘Bob Bradman’s Bed & Breakfast’; join Quentin Montreal for ‘New Movements’, as he looks into such disturbing trends as the suffragette diet, fox hunting in Maida Vale and blind motor racing; and help yourself to a heaped spoonful of Sugar Cane, the sultry Detective Sergeant whose hand is firmly wrapped around the throbbing pulse of crime.

Hosted by the peerless Sandi Toksvig, these 25 episodes take us through the highlights and lowlights of 2008, a year dominated by the global financial crisis and the US presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Scrutinising stories both world-shaking and whimsical are an esteemed panel of comedians, journalists and commentators, among them Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, Phill Jupitus, Francis Wheen, Kevin Day, Carrie Quinlan, Mark Steel, Hugo Rifkind, Justin Edwards, Sue Perkins and Robin Ince.

Taking over the News Quiz chair from Simon Hoggart, comedian and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig steps up to the plate to lead the intrepid panellists in a round-up of the biggest (and smallest) news stories of 2006 and 2007. With the exception of one show, hosted by Clive Anderson when Sandi had the flu, she chairs each of these 33 episodes with her characteristic wit, charm and erudition.

Oozing with satire and sass, these fun-size yet deliciously satisfying musical comedies do for your ears what chocolate does for your taste buds. Based on the lives and careers of well-known public figures, each one takes a politician or VIP who has hit the headlines, and gives them a West End make-over. Their fabricated stories are told in an original, never-heard-before, musical that will have your toes tapping to the rhythm and shoulders shaking to the laughs.

Radio 4's longest-running panel show, in which contestants are challenged to speak on a on a given topic for 60 seconds without hesitation, deviation or repetition, returns with Sue Perkins at the helm for this complete collection of episodes from 2023. Featuring quickfire improvisation, inspired ad-libbing and spontaneous hilarity - as well as a live studio audience - join Sue Perkins and her guests as they battle for points, glory and the perfect, uninterrupted minute.