Showing results by author "BBC" in All Categories

A collection of full-cast dramatisations and readings from the best-selling author. Maeve Binchy was one of Britain's best-loved storytellers, and this compilation of her finest fiction, as heard on BBC Radio, demonstrates all the warmth, wit and compassion that made her so popular.

In this popular collection, actors Andrew Branch and Anne Rosenfeld perform over 50 fantastic nursery rhymes, from familiar favourites to lesser-known gems, speaking the rhymes aloud and chatting about their meanings. As they listen, children are encouraged to think about and appreciate the words, increasing their communication skills as they join in and play. This unique collection brings to life traditional nursery rhymes with music and sound effects to thrill a new generation, and is ideal for preschool children who can listen and follow along. 

With music, sound effects, and all the expertise of the BBC, these 10 traditional fairy tales are bought magically to life. Included are "Sleeping Beauty", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Hansel and Gretel", and "Little Red Riding Hood".

"Jack and the Beanstalk", read by Lenny Henry
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears", read by Sheridan Smith
"Puss in Boots", read by Lenny Henry
"Snow White", read by Sheridan Smith. Here are four fantastic stories, full of magic and fun, that young children are sure to love!

The story of the Second World War told by former BBC newsreader Richard Baker, with original recordings from the BBC. From Neville Chamberlain's historic declaration of war on Germany in 1939 to the sounds of rejoicing crowds on VJ Day in August 1945, the BBC - regarded at home and abroad as the very voice of Britain and the world's most trusted broadcaster - brought the full picture to an attentive nation.

Here's a collection of songs to amuse your child. Songs include: "Shopping Theme", "To Market to Market", "This Little Pig", "Betty Botter's Butter", "Pat-a-cake", "Hot Cross Buns", and "Have you seen the Muffin Man?"

An unsettling collection of full-cast dramas from the long-running BBC Radio 4 horror series. Throughout five series of Fear on 4 from 1988-1997, Edward de Souza was The Man in Black, a sinister raconteur who introduced a weekly half hour of terror and suspense. Here, he welcomes us to his house of horrors as he presents 13 terrifying tales that will make your flesh crawl. With eerie sound effects that enhance the atmosphere of dread, these bloodcurdling adaptations run the gamut from the mysterious to the macabre. With superb casts including Imelda Staunton, Bernard Cribbins, Anna Massey, Thora Hird and Sean Barrett.

In 1985, The Observer magazine sent Douglas Adams to Madagascar to look for the exotic and potentially extinct aye-aye lemur. There he met zoologist Mark Carwardine, and together they made a radio pilot about their travels, In Search of the Aye-Aye. This led to a hugely popular radio series, Last Chance to See, later adapted as a best-selling book. Douglas Adams died in 2001, but his friend Stephen Fry took his place for a follow-up 20th anniversary television series, broadcast on BBC Two in 2009.

A collection of classic nursery rhymes and songs brought to you by the BBC. Join in with over 40 minutes of fun with familiar favourite rhymes including This Little Piggy, Incy Wincy Spider and Baa Baa Black Sheep. Pre-schoolers will love to sing, dance and learn with this traditional compilation of 30 cheerful songs. Head down to the farm with Old McDonald, count with One Potato Two Potato and discover the delightful joys of Hey Diddle Diddle with a CD that will soon become an essential soundtrack to those precious early years.    

A fantastic collection of 20 songs, nursery rhymes, stories, puzzles and tongue-twisters performed by Sophie Aldred and Richard Mitchley. Join in with actions, words and games!

John Arlott was BBC's Voice of Cricket for more than 30 summers and reported on all the key cricket matches from the 1940s to his final commentary in 1980 at Lords. The imagery and wit of an incomparable broadcaster is captured here in a unique collection of historic moments.

Robin of Locksley returns from the Crusades to find his people starving and oppressed by the new Sheriff of Nottingham. Under this tyrannical regime, the slightest crime attracts the heaviest punishment, and dissent is impossible. Robin soon discovers that the only way to reason with the Sheriff is with bow and arrow, even if it means sacrificing his lands and becoming an outlaw. This exciting adventure is read by Richard Armitage, who plays Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood. It also features Robin and his loyal band of brothers, as seen in the hit BBC TV series. 

A fun collection of all-time favourite pre-school playgroup songs for everyone to enjoy....

Learn and improve your English with the BBC. Collected here for the first time are 12 episodes from BBC Learning English's popular 6 Minute English series. Aimed at intermediate level learners of English, each programme examines a different topic which is discussed and explained to help learners increase their knowledge of the English language.

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew introduces a new collection of anecdotes and reflections from some of the best-loved characters of international cricket: Jack Russell, Derek Pringle, Graham Gooche, Ian Botham, Derek Underwood, Geoff Lawson and many more.

This six-part comedy series was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1988. Hosted by Stephen Fry, accompanied each week by Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Emma Thompson, and a selection of guests including Phyllida Law, Robert Bathurst, Julia Hills, and Alison Steadman, the show takes the form of a roundtable discussion, interspersed with sketches that veer tangentially from the sublime to the ridiculous.

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.

Simon Mayo hosts a comedic battle between three teams to find out which is the funniest generation. Will the Up and Comers, the Current Crop or the Old Guard be crowned as the Golden Age of Comedy?

It’s the 100th series of The News Quiz – let the centennial celebrations commence! To mark the occasion, each of these eight episodes is presented by a different guest host from the world of comedy, who keeps the chair warm in their own inimitable style (and with their cushion of choice). Zoe Lyons, Angela Barnes, Patrick Kielty, Andrew Maxwell, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Andy Zaltzman, Phil Wang and Nish Kumar lead a panel of guests as they dissect the latest political machinations and round up news stories both big and small. 

In this selection of episodes, the entertaining players brave enough to employ their wits and ingenuity against both the clock and their competitors are Paul Merton, Julian Clary, Sheila Hancock, Josh Widdicombe, Gyles Brandreth, Fern Britton, Jenny Eclair, and Kerry Godliman.