Showing results by narrator "Alex Jennings" in All Categories

Brought to you by Penguin. Fleeing from the ruins of New Undertown, young librarian knight Rook Barkwater and his colleagues - Felix Lodd and his banderbear friends - must lead the escaping population to a new life in the Free Glades. But perils aplenty are ahead for the crowd, and Rook knows...

Maddox is an old-school journalist struggling to keep up with new technology. He fears the art of finding stories is being forgotten and is not about to let that happen. His online editor Freddy, however, will happily regurgitate a press release and call it a story. But they have a grudging respect for each other, as Freddy helps Maddox stay afloat in the world of Twitter, Facebook and podcasting and Maddox shows Freddy how to land a real scoop.

Introducing Stuart, Gillian and Oliver. One by one they take their turn to speak straight out to the camera - and give their side of a contemporary love triangle. What begins as a comedy of misunderstanding slowly darkens and deepens into a compelling exploration of the quagmires of the heart.

The first volume of David Timson's series retelling of the stories from Shakespeare's plays was widely praised by newspaper and educators alike. Here is volume 2, with more key plays. Including Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, and Henry IV, all texts which regularly appear on the exam syllabus. As before, the stories are illustrated by numerous examples from the plays themselves. They are read by two leading Shakespearean actors, Juliet Stevenson and Alex Jennings.

First published in monthly parts between October 1846 and April 1848. Mike Walker's adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic tale of family relationships tells the story of Paul Dombey, head of the House of Dombey, who lacks a son and cannot reconcile himself to his only daughter.

When Peter Pan flies through the Darling Children's nursery window one night, he is nearly captured and makes a hasty escape, leaving behind his shadow. Returning with the fairy Tinker Bell to reclaim it, he wakes up Wendy, John and Michael and whisks them away to the magical shores of Neverland. There they meet the Lost Boys, befriend Tiger Lily and her Braves, swim with the mermaids in the lagoon and have a host of wonderful adventures. But danger awaits too, for the terrible Captain Hook and his pirate gang are determined to make them walk the plank.

Simon, Jane and Barney, enlisted by their mysterious great uncle, arrive in a small coastal town to help recover a priceless golden grail stolen by the forces of evil, the Dark. They are not at first aware of the strange powers of another boy brought to help, Will Stanton—nor of the sinister...

A radio adaptation of Alan Bennett's short autobiographical play, originally directed by Nicholas Hytner for the National Theatre. Alan looks back on his early life with affection and sadness, revisiting some of the themes and conversations of his memoir 'A Life Like other People's'. Both he and his mother are seduced by the idea that other people's lives are much richer and fulfilling than their own.

When a Russian émigré is found murdered on Hampstead Heath, Smiley is called out of retirement to exorcise some Cold War ghosts from his clandestine past. What follows is Smiley the human being at his most vulnerable and Smiley the case officer at his most brilliant; and it takes to a thrilling conclusion his career-long, serpentine battle with the enigmatic and ruthless Russian spymaster Karla.

Charles Dickens' classic novel stars Alex Jennings as Charles Dickens and Pauline Quirke as Mrs Boffin. Adapted by Mike Walker. Following his father's death, John Harmon returns to London to claim his inheritance. But he finds he is only eligible if he marries Bella Wilfer. To observe her character he assumes another identity and secures work with his father's foreman, Mr Boffin, who is also Bella's guardian.

On the Midwinter Day that is his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers a special gift--he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to keeping the world from dominations by the forces of evil, the Dark. At once, he is plunged into a quest for the six magical Signs that will one day...

Harold Larwood is an England cricketing legend. During the MCC’s notorious 1932–3 Ashes tour of Australia, his ‘Bodyline’ bowling left Australia’s batsmen bruised and battered, halved the batting average of the great Don Bradman – and gave England a 4–1 series victory. But the diplomatic row that followed brought Anglo-Australian relations to the brink of collapse. Larwood was used as a scapegoat by the MCC, which demanded he apologise for bowling Bodyline.

Fleeing a disastrous marriage, Helen Huntingdon retreats to the desolate mansion, Wildfell Hall, with her son, Arthur. There, she makes her living as a painter. Finding it difficult to avoid her neighbors, she is soon an object of speculation and gossip. Brontë portrays Helen's eloquent struggle for independence at a time when society defined a married woman as her husband's property.

In Talking It Over, Gillian and Stuart were married until Oliver - witty, feckless Oliver - stole her away. In Love, etc, Julian Barnes revisits Stuart, Gillian, and Oliver, using the same intimate technique of allowing the characters to speak directly to the listener, to whisper their secrets, to argue for their version of the truth… Love, etc is a compelling exploration of contemporary love and its betrayals.

In this volume we listen to the world through the eyes and words of the English Romantics. This very special poetical period is filled with the loving and tender verse of poets who still beguile us all with their beauty.

When a Hag, an orphan boy, and a troll called Ulf get sent to rescue a princess from an ogre, they expect it to be a fairly standard magical mission. But the ogre is depressed, the princess doesn’t want to be rescued – and the ogre’s dead wife is turning in her grave. The Norns who rule their fates decide to take things in hand – will the Ogre meet a bloody end, or will he get a happy ending?

A dazzling collection of comedies from the later Restoration period England's 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 and the reign of new monarchs William and Mary signified a turning point for Restoration comedy with laws being passed to restrict playwrights' freedoms. The latter years are marked by a...

When the Pott family save Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from the terrible fate of being crushed to the size of a matchbox at the scrapyard, she repays Caractacus, Jeremy and Jemima with the best road trip ever. For Chitty is no ordinary car: she can talk - and float - and fly! The amazing automobile takes the Potts on a trip to the seaside followed by a fantastic journey across the Channel to France, where two cunning criminals are planning to rob Paris’ most famous chocolatier, Monsieur Bon Bon.

A stellar line up of stars, including Celia Imrie (The Crown), Joan Sims (Carry On), Alex Jennings (The Lady in the Van), Geoffrey Palmer (As Time Goes By) and Lynda Bellingham (Loose Women), play a cast of moving and memorable characters in this brilliant six-part comedy drama. Let these sensory delights take you into the classic five senses we know… plus the other one.

Silence is rare in Nature. When we really listen, Nature is conducting symphonies of sound as her world goes about the day and night. Her invisible heartbeat is everywhere, for everyone. Our eyes are constantly bathed in the wonder of her ways, the soft drizzle of rain from soft grey clouds, the bleached harsh desert sand of a noon day, a wave caressing the shore, to the ravenous colours of a departing sunset. Indeed, whenever we look and listen to the vastness of our world Nature’s beauty is always there for us..