Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in All Categories

Newly elected MP Bobby Khan is forced to question his own motivations and political and personal values when his cousin is arrested on a terrorism charge. Bobby Khan has a tight knit community who have backed his campaign to become their MP but as trouble builds in his community, can he navigate his life back home with his life in Westminster.

A BBC radio anthology of the very best short stories by Stacy Aumonier. Stacy Aumonier was an author, stage performer, 'society entertainer', World War One private and draughtsman, who gained an unrivalled reputation for his short fiction in the 1920s. John Galsworthy described him as ‘one of the best short-story writers of all time’, and several of his tales were adapted for television by Alfred Hitchcock.

Lecky Ferguson is growing up in a penniless but close-knit family in Jarrow. He relies on his imaginative Uncle Freddie for explanations of the world’s many mysteries. Packed with humour and adventure, this award-winning full-cast drama tells the life of a young man that is far from ordinary.

Enter a surreal universe where David Dickinson goes looking for weapons of mass destruction in 'Weapons Hunt', the Queen sells off the royal jewels on the QVC shopping channel and Delia Smith turns homicidal and starts cooking up the competition. Elsewhere, Anne Robinson votes off The Weakest Disciple, and Simon Schama and David Starkey battle it out - literally - in order to become television's leading historian.

Focussing on three of the best-known Republican presidents of the 20th century, Jonathan Myerson’s riveting drama series looks at how their triumphs and disasters drove the party's electoral fortunes. Closely based on accounts by those who were there, this political trilogy reimagines the pivotal moments that changed history, and the part played by these famous and controversial leaders.

Charles Dickens was, for a time, editor of a daily newspaper. This series takes an imaginative look at how Dickens would have tackled bringing the news to the masses. We follow Dickens the editor as he contends with railway crashes, gory deaths in the River Thames, having his editorial judgment scrutinised, working with tyrannical landowners, entering the murky worlds of opium and prostitution and, most tragically of all, investigating a child's death. He and his newspaper tackle financial plotting, encountering a young and secretive Disraeli, and the prospect of war overseas.

The Curzon Case is a gripping story of kidnapping, intrigue and sudden death. Boys disappear from a public school, an aeroplane crashes nearby, and a murder occurs. Paul Temple has his work cut out trying to find out if all the events are connected and tracking down the mysterious Curzon.

The complete third and fourth series of BBC Radio 4’s award-winning sketch show, written by and starring the writer of Cabin Pressure. In the third and fourth series of his hit sketch show, John Finnemore examines a typically eclectic range of issues including making friends, the problem with polymath bestselling authors, the colour of posh men’s trousers, and a history of choice.

A two-part radio dramatisation of Vasily Grossman's dark, honest account of the Battle of Stalingrad; a prequel to Life and Fate - plus Stalingrad: Destiny of a Novel. With this astonishing prequel published in its first ever English translation by Richard and Elizabeth Chandler, we are transported back to the very beginning of Vasily Grossman’s panoramic tale, as the ‘harsh whirlwind’ of war approaches the city of Stalingrad.

The complete first and second series of the Orwellian sitcom starring Robert Lindsay and David Threlfall. In this parody of George Orwell’s dystopian classic, everyman Edward Wilson finds his life taking a sinister turn when he becomes embroiled in mysterious government machinations.

Raunchy, risqué and rebellious, early Restoration comedies were a breath of fresh air for 17th century theatregoers. With Charles II restored to the throne in 1660, Oliver Cromwell's ban on stage performances was rescinded, and for the first time, women were invited to tread the boards as actresses. Playwrights developed a new style of social comedy, packed with amorous escapades, bawdy humour, wicked wit and sexual innuendo. This scintillating anthology showcases six leading lights of early Restoration drama.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams is one of the three most important American dramatists of the 20th century, alongside Arthur Miller and Eugene O'Neill. Acclaimed for their lyrical language, dark themes and vivid portrayal of the American South, his works have spawned several Oscar-winning films and been translated and performed worldwide. Collected here are some of the best, beginning with the play that launched Williams' career: The Glass Menagerie. 

Ukrainian-born humorist, dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol is widely believed to have led the realist revolution in Russian literature. His surreal, absurdist satires liberated comedy from its sentimental traditions and influenced writers both within Russia and worldwide, among them Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka and Flannery O’Connor.

Beautiful and intelligent young Anna suffers in her loveless marriage, dreaming of the romantic life she should be living, and the love that others around her should be sharing honestly with one another. When she meets the dashing Vronsky he seems to offer everything she has been craving, but the cost she will pay is higher than she could have imagined. Meanwhile Konstantin Levin, a gentle landowner who shares Anna's belief in sincerity, attempts to channel his beliefs into his land, his family, and his love for beautiful aristocrat Kitty.

Shelagh Delaney was just 19 when her debut play, A Taste of Honey, premiered in 1958. One of the great ‘kitchen sink dramas’, it was ground-breaking in its portrayal of working-class Northern women, gay and Black men, and influenced popular culture from The Smiths to Coronation Street. This collection opens with a 2004 radio production of A Taste of Honey, followed by seven dramas specially written for BBC Radio, all showcasing Delaney’s extraordinary gift for depicting the experiences and emotions of ordinary women and children.

Listen now to fascinating and remarkable conversations between The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and leading men and women as they discuss big questions about humankind. This collection is a must-listen for anyone looking to explore life beyond the sensational headlines and glossy PR that dominate our world. The interviews delve into what it really means to be human, and each guest has an incredible story that is shared in a deeply personal way.

Four gripping historical dramas centred around key figures who shaped America in the 20th century. Award-winning writer Mike Walker has created many acclaimed docudramas and historical dramas for Radio 4, including The Stuarts, Tsar, Caesar! and Plantagenet. This collection includes four nuanced dramas featuring a trio of controversial men who stamped their mark on American history: J Edgar Hoover, Lyndon Baines Johnson and Richard Baines Nixon. Among the casts are William Hootkins, Bob Sherman, Lorelei King, Nathan Osgood and Alex Lanipekun.

For over five decades, Living World has been introducing audiences to the astonishing diversity of British wildlife. Its veteran presenters have travelled the length and breadth of the British Isles, venturing far and wide with their microphones to immerse the listener and capture the excitement of getting close to nature. Hosted by Lionel Kelleway, Brett Westwood, Peter France and Michael Scott, these 15 archive episodes are hand-picked by Lindsey Chapman, who also gives an introduction to each one, bringing us up to date on developments since the initial broadcast.

Meet Maisie and Daisy, the posh private school girls with a unique way of explaining popular culture; jilted bride Wendy, who's determined to give her wedding speech despite her groom's absence; and 'Can-do Candi' Karmel, the 80-year-old diva who won't let old age stop her performing. There's also the acupuncturist who's determined to ensure her clients are relaxed, the humble Cockney charlady who knows her place, and the police officer who can't find the right words.

E Nesbit is widely regarded as the first modern children's writer. Her ground-breaking novels have influenced authors from Oscar Wilde to Jacqueline Wilson, and over 100 years after their first publication, they remain perennially popular. This wide-ranging collection comprises some of her very best children's fiction, commencing with her timeless tale The Railway Children.