Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Great Britain

'The most persuasive and patriotic exhortations to arms since the Agincourt address from Henry V.' - The Guardian. Sir Winston Churchill steered Britain through its darkest hours during World War II. He was one of the 20th century's greatest orators and the speeches that he painstakingly...

Bill Bryson is the world's funniest travel writer, and a master of comic observation. His hugely popular books, spanning topics from linguistics to Shakespeare to the human body, have sold over 16 million copies and been translated into 30 languages, and his 2003 science book A Short History of Nearly Everything won the prestigious Aventis and Descartes prizes.

Glaswegian comedian and history enthusiast Susan Morrison mines the rich, sometimes murky, depths of Scotland's past in this thrilling radio series. Aided by producer/historian Louise Yeoman and a host of 'history detectives', the amazing stories she uncovers are sometimes dark, sometimes funny - but always fascinating.

The events of 1950-1999 are described by the people who saw them happen, from the Festival of Britain in 1951 through to the dawn of a new millennium at the end of 1999. In between are the eras of the Angry Young Men, the Teddy Boys and the Punk Rockers; the arrival of rock and roll and the permissive society; the advent of industrial strife in England and sectarian unrest in Northern Ireland; the rise to power of Margaret Thatcher; the miners' strike, three-day week and Winter of Discontent; the Queen's Silver Jubilee....

1982 was a historic year, a year in which the battle for a small group of islands in the South Atlantic dominated the news. From the initial broadcasts of the growing Argentine threat and Mrs Thatcher's speech to the Commons informing them that a Task Force will sail, to the battles for Goose Green and Port Stanley, the Argentine surrender and the controversial sinking of the Belgrano—all these historic moments, together with all the other important events of the Falklands War, are recorded here, in live BBC Radio News coverage.

Down Your Way was one of the most popular programmes on radio and spanned six decades. Every week the presenter would visit towns and villages throughout the UK, discovering fascinating people and places. Brian Johnston presented the series for fifteen years and 733 programmes. For this...

Eyewitness accounts from the BBC Archive are at the heart of this unique history of the first half of the 20th century, narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith. The events of 1900-1949 are described by the people who saw them happen, from the death of Queen Victoria and accession of Edward VII through the First World War, to the sinking of the Titanic, the General Strike and the Great Depression, to the Second World War and its aftermath.

Andrew Martin reflects on Britain's customs, attitudes and social and supernatural phenomena in these six BBC Radio series. Drawn from Radio 3's The Essay strand and presented by journalist and award-winning author Andrew Martin, this beguiling collection brings together his witty, Alan Bennett-esque observations on England's disappearing pastimes, rituals and beliefs.

From warrior queens to King Arthur, this epic collection explores the tribes, rulers and civilisations of Britain's Iron Age In the first millennium BC, the Iron Age arrived in Britain, bringing with it huge technological and social changes. New civilisations arose, the landscape was transformed...

From climate change, fake news and vaccine hesitancy to mental health, addiction and domestic violence, there are no shortage of societal problems facing the UK right now. But while we are aware these challenges exist, without personal experience it is hard for us to understand what it is like to struggle with them, and harder still to envision potential solutions. These compelling documentaries introduce us to a range of individuals who have confronted various hardships, telling their stories and following them as they ask difficult questions and endeavour to drive positive change.

Neil MacGregor, former director of the National Gallery and the British Museum, knows the importance of public museums. In The Museums That Make Us, he takes us around the country to visit twenty local museums and to talk to their curators, staff and local figures about the most prized objects in their collections. Often a child's first experience of valuable objects and historical belongings, these regional spaces can be a wonderful way to recognise local pride and shine a light on buried history.

In this remarkable collection exploring the state of the United Kingdom and the future of its union, five presenters examine the identities, history and struggles of the nations, and ask what keeps them together as a united country.

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.

In this collection, Melvyn Bragg surveys how English has evolved over 1,000 years. He starts by looking at the disappearance of old dialects like that of Cumbria, and how English has been enriched by foreign languages, from Latin and Old French to dozens more as conquest, trade and immigration played their part in recent centuries. He also examines new coinages, puns and wordplay; how accents and social class are entwined; swear words; attempts to stop the evolution of language in its tracks and, lastly, the many varieties of English that are spoken around the world today.

In this captivating 10-part series, Melvyn Bragg brings all his enthusiasm, experience and expertise to a subject that has enthralled him his entire life: the importance of the North in shaping the United Kingdom. Joined by special guests, he charts the ebb and flow of Northern power and influence, examining how one smallish geographical region came to have such an enormous effect on our culture worldwide: from science and philosophy to music and sport.

Anne McElvoy traces the emergence of three key political movements in British history: conservatism, liberalism and socialism. Using interviews, readings and fascinating anecdotes, McElvoy guides us through 300 years of British political history that ground the emergence of these key ideologies within their historical and social contexts.

Christopher Lee's highly acclaimed and award-winning BBC Radio 4 history of the British Empire.

All five volumes from the landmark BBC radio series This Sceptred Isle: The 20th Century. Christopher Lee’s vivid, compelling history tells the story of Britain from the death of Queen Victoria to the dawning of a new millennium. This collection includes the original volumes 1-5.

In these two series of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 show, comedian Mark Steel is on the road again, visiting places that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. Along the way, he delves into the history, heritage and culture of each town, before going on to write and perform a bespoke evening of comedy for the local residents. His first stop is Hastings, where he finds that a lot’s happened since 1066 - including an annual Pirates’ Day.

All 10 episodes of BBC Radio 4’s ambitious global series, presented by Neil MacGregor. With the United Kingdom on the brink of potentially momentous change, historian and broadcaster Neil MacGregor embarks on a worldwide voyage to discover how Britain is perceived from abroad. Visiting Germany, Egypt, Nigeria, Canada, India, Singapore, the United States, Spain, Australia and Poland - all countries with significant historical links to the UK - he talks to leading opinion formers to find out how they, as individuals and members of their wider communities, see Britain.