Read by Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett: Untold Stories

The complete collected edition of the award-winning writer's unforgettable Untold Stories 
 
Over the course of his distinguished entertainment career, Alan Bennett has received multiple awards and honours, including two BAFTAs, four Laurence Olivier Awards, two Tony Awards, an Academy Award nomination for his film The Madness of King George, and a British Book Award for Author of the Year in 2006. In this four-part collection of his remarkable Untold Stories, the acclaimed writer considers his childhood, career, and the current state of the world with his customary blend of wit and poignancy. 
 
Part 1: Stories is a moving family memoir recalling his parents' marriage, the lives and deaths of his aunts, and the revelation of a long-held family secret. Part 2: The Diaries covers Alan Bennett's celebrated diaries for 1997-2004, in which he celebrates the joys of nature and comments on the state of the arts and politics with humour and sharp observation. Part 3: Written on the Body is a reflection on youth and a meditation on writing itself, with a look at Alan's schooling in Leeds, the growing pains of puberty, and a window into his creative process. Part 4: A Common Assault harks back to a mugging incident in Italy, a glimpse into his own schooldays that became the inspiration for The History Boys, and a light note on his thoughts on the Honours System. 
 
Funny, thoughtful, and fascinating, this wonderful series of essays and stories read by the author offers an extraordinary journey into an exceptional career. For those who want to hear Alan Bennett narrate more of his memoirs, Alan Bennett: Diaries is also available from BBC Audio. 
 
Extracts originally broadcast on Radio 4: 
10 October - 14 October 2005 
20 November - 24 November 2006 
 
Production credits 
Read by Alan Bennett 
Produced by Gordon House 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast drama

Getting On

A full cast BBC production of the much-loved play by the award-winning Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett's television series Talking Heads has become a modern-day classic, as have many of his works for the stage, including Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van, The Madness of George III (together with the Oscar-nominated screenplay The Madness of King George) and an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows. The History Boys won the Evening Standard and Critics' Circle awards for Best Play, The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the South Bank Award.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast production of one of the earliest plays by Alan Bennett 
 
The 1970s are a time of change, but Labour MP George Oliver feels stuck in one place: distrusting the ‘mawkish mentality’ of the young and fearing the encroaching life of the middle-aged, with little to look forward to but the imminent end of a not-very-interesting road. 
 
Ten years into his second marriage, he is world-weary and dissatisfied with his social position and the public he deals with on a regular basis (‘He’s a socialist, but he doesn’t like people’ observes his wife Polly). In his self-absorption, he cannot see that his wife is having an affair, his mother-in-law is dying and his friends and neighbours regard him as a joke. With his trademark wry observational humour, Alan Bennett renders his plight at once poignant and comic. 
 
This bittersweet drama won the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy of 1971, and was described by the Sunday Times as ‘a small jewel of bewilderment and regret’. Keith Barron stars as George in this radio adaptation, with a supporting cast including David Rintoul, Emily Richard and Margaret Courtenay.

The classic BBC Radio 4 monologues plus A Woman of No Importance

The Complete Talking Heads

The complete audio collection of Alan Bennett’s celebrated monologues, published together for the first time and performed by some of Britain’s best actors

Alan Bennett was born and brought up in Leeds and educated at Leeds Modern School and Exeter College, Oxford, where he read history. While doing postgraduate research he began to perform in cabaret, appearing first on the stage with the Oxford Theatre Group revue Better Late at Edinburgh in 1959. The following year he collaborated with Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore to put together the revue Beyond the Fringe which opened in Edinburgh and subsequently in the West End and on Broadway. 
 Bennett’s first stage play, Forty Years On, starring John Gielgud as the Headmaster, was set in a public school and played for more than a year in the West End. Subsequent plays included Getting On (1971) and the farce Habeas Corpus (1973) with Alec Guinness, who also starred in Bennett’s next play The Old Country (1977). Set in Russia, this was a play about a Foreign Office defector in exile, a subject to which Bennett returned in the television play An Englishman Abroad (1983) starring Alan Bates and Carol Browne and directed by John Schlesinger. Espionage of a different sort was the subject of a later play, A Question of Attribution (1988) which examined the treachery of art historian Sir Anthony Blunt. 
 Alan Bennett’s other best known works include his adaptation of The Wind in the Willows (1990) for the National Theatre, The Madness of George III (1991, also for the National and subsequently an Oscar-winning film) and, for BBC TV, two series of the monologues Talking Heads. His collection of diary entries, essays and reviews, Writing Home, was Book of the Year in 1994. 
 Alan Bennett has made many recordings for the BBC, including The Lady in the Van about the eccentric Miss Shepherd, who lived in a van in his garden, and which he adapted for the stage in 1999 and for the cinema in 2014. 2005 saw the publication of his first major collection of writing since Writing Home. Untold Stories brought together the very best of his writing, as well as his much-celebrated diaries from 1996-2004. 
 In 2006, following a sell-out tour, Bennett’s play The History Boys returned to the National Theatre for an extended run. Set in a boys’ grammar school in Sheffield, it garnered many awards and went on to tour New Zealand and Australia and open in New York in 2006. It received six Tony Awards, and was adapted for the cinema that same year. 
 Among Alan Bennett’s more recent work are the stage plays The Habit of Art (2009), People (2012) and Cocktail Sticks (2012) and the novella Smut (2011).

The complete audio collection of Alan Bennett’s celebrated monologues, published together for the first time and performed by some of Britain’s best actors 
 
The Talking Heads monologues are widely regarded as one of Alan Bennett’s finest dramatic achievements. First broadcast on BBC TV and BBC Radio 4 in the 1980s and 1990s, they won a host of awards and huge popular acclaim, and remain among his most admired works today.This collection includes all twelve Talking Heads, plus the precursor of that series, A Woman of No Importance. Beautifully crafted and full of compassion and wry observation, each tale is ripe with the quirky, insightful detail that has become Bennett's trademark. The monologues are:A Woman of No Importance (Patricia Routledge); A Chip in the Sugar (Alan Bennett); A Lady of Letters (Patricia Routledge); Bed Among the Lentils (Anna Massey); Soldiering On (Stephanie Cole); Her Big Chance (Julie Walters); A Cream Cracker Under the Settee (ThoraHird); Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet (Patricia Routledge); The Hand of God (Eileen Atkins); Playing Sandwiches (David Haig); The Outside Dog (Julie Walters); Nights in the Gardens of Spain (Penelope Wilton) and Waiting for the Telegram (Thora Hird). 
 
Intensely moving, deeply engrossing and highly entertaining, these spellbinding soliloquies are essential listening.

Cocktail Sticks

A radio adaptation of Alan Bennett's short autobiographical play, originally directed by Nicholas Hytner for the National Theatre.

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. But when they do, finally, have cocktail parties, they are not at all what his mother would have envisaged.... Alan is played by Alex Jennings and Alan Bennett, supported by the original National theatre cast of Gabrielle Lloyd, Jeff Rawle, Sue Wallace and Derek Hutchinson.

Smut Two Unseemly Stories The Greening Of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding Of Mrs Forbes

Two unexpected tales written and read by the best-selling author of The Uncommon Reader, Untold Stories and The History Boys.

Two unexpected tales written and read by the best-selling author of The Uncommon Reader, Untold Stories and The History Boys. 
"The Greening of Mrs Donaldson" - Mrs Donaldson is a conventional middle-class woman beached on the shores of widowhood after a marriage that had been much like many others: happy to begin with, then satisfactory and finally dull. But when she decides to take in two lodgers, her mundane life becomes much more stimulating… 
"The Shielding of Mrs Forbes" - Graham Forbes is a disappointment to his mother, who thinks that if he must have a wife, he should have done better. True, her own husband isn’t all that satisfactory either. Still, this is Alan Bennett, so what is happening in the bedroom (and in lots of other places too) is altogether more startling, perhaps shocking, and ultimately more true to people’s predilections

The Madness Of George III

A BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation of Alan Bennett's celebrated play, starring Jim Broadbent.

Oscar-winning actor Jim Broadbent stars as ‘mad’ King George III in the title role of this adaptation of Alan Bennett’s award-winning play, which co-stars Cheryl Campbell, Nicholas Farrell and Alun Armstrong. The King is losing his mind. Doctors are brought in as his eccentric behaviour becomes more bizarre and erratic, while his son, the Prince Regent, waits – and plots. Combining Jim Broadbent’s ‘heartbreaking portrayal of the batty old monarch’ (Observer) with Alan Bennett’s trademark dark humour this full-cast drama was first heard on the BBC’s World Service. The Madness of George III was filmed as the Oscar-winning The Madness of King George, starring Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren.

The History Boys

Alan Bennett’s award-winning play as heard on BBC Radio 3, featuring the National Theatre cast.

Intensely moving as well as thought-provoking and funny

Alan Bennett's brilliant, linguists ear for language makes this play a true delight, echoing in the mind long after the talking has ceased

After a sell-out national tour and an extended stage run, Alan Bennett’s phenomenally successful play transferred to BBC Radio 3, with Richard Griffiths, Clive Merrison and Frances de la Tour starring as part of the National Theatre cast. At a boys’ grammar school in Sheffield, eight boys are being coached for the Oxbridge entrance exams. It is the mid-eighties, and the main concern of the unruly bunch of bright sixth-formers is getting out, starting university – and starting life. At the heart of The History Boys are four characters, each with contrasting outlooks on teaching and school: Hector, an eccentric English teacher with no interest in exams; Irwin, a young supply teacher who sees history as ‘entertainment’; Mrs Lintott, a traditionalist, who teaches ‘history, not histrionics’; and a Headmaster obsessed with results. Described as ‘the richest play Bennett has ever written’ (Financial Times), staff-room rivalry and the anarchy of adolescence collide in an intensely moving and thought-provoking play. Winner of the Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics’ Circle and South Bank Show Awards for Best New Play. ‘A superb, life-enhancing play’ – Guardian.

The Lady In The Van

Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett reads his own acclaimed story that sparked a hugely successful West End play and hit film.

The humorous and moving tale of Miss Shepherd, an eccentric old lady who, by a bizarre series of twists and turns, lived in the author’s garden for many years. Alan Bennett reads his own acclaimed work, recently adapted as a West End smash hit starring Maggie Smith as the eccentric old lady.

Alan Bennett  Three Plays

Alan Bennett’s three classic BBC Radio full-cast dramas: Kafka’s Dick, Forty Years On' and An Englishman Abroad.

Clever, funny and poignant, Alan Bennett’s masterful plays are rightly regarded as modern classics. Kafka’s Dick is Bennett’s brilliantly clever comedy drama that examines the relationship between life and art, and asks what was Kafka’s embarrassing little problem... Alison Steadman, Richard Griffiths and Nigel Anthony star in this BBC Radio 4 adaptation, described by the Daily Telegraph’s Gillian Reynolds as ‘Pure joy’. Forty Years On stars Alan Bennett in the production of his own acclaimed satirical comedy about a headmaster of Albion House who is retiring and takes part in the end-of-year entertainment for the last time. It also stars Robert Bathurst and Eleanor Bron. An Englishman Abroad stars Michael Gambon and Penelope Wilton as Guy Burgess and Coral Browne in this BBC Radio full-cast drama based on a real-life chance encounter in 1958 between the world famous spy and a Shakespearean actress.

At The BBC

Alan Bennett presents highlights from his remarkable career at the BBC.

'I tend to think of myself as a man of few words, but looking at this collection it seems to have been gab gab gab for the last thirty years'.   Admittedly not all the words are his own - but even the work of other writers can be transformed by Alan Bennett.   This unique anthology of Bennett's BBC radio and television work features extracts from his diaries and readings, as well as tributes to friends Russell Harty and Peter Cook.   He recollects his early memories of Leeds, reads his favourite children's stories (most of which he only discovered as an adult) and reveals his first and only true comedy performance. He talks about the business of being a writer and muses on language, television, the theatre and his abiding interest in art and architecture.   With an introduction and specially recorded links by Alan Bennett, this collection is essential listening for fans of one of Britain's best-loved authors and storytellers.

Alan And Thora

Alan Bennett introduces three monologues starring Thora Hird, including her final performance.

Until the time of her death in 2003, much-loved actress Thora Hird worked regularly with the playwright Alan Bennett. Now, in a specially written introduction and postscript, Bennett recalls his work and friendship with Thora, and introduces three examples of their collaboration. In The Last of the Sun, Dolly's remaining days in an old people's home are enlivened by a seemingly respectable man. Recorded in 2002, Thora Hird's last ever performance, in a part written especially for her, is moving and memorable. In A Cream Cracker Under the Settee, Doris has taken a fall at home, and until someone comes to rescue her she's left immobile and in reflective mood. This monologue features one of Thora's best-remembered performances. Waiting for the Telegram sees Violet remembering how she lost her first young man - but she does not see how close she is to losing her second. This heartbreaking piece won Thora Hird huge critical acclaim, and showcases her acting genius.

Classic memoirs from the acclaimed English actor, author, playwright, and screenwriter 
 
Alan Bennett is one of the country's most celebrated and best-loved authors. This unmissable collection of diaries and memoirs brings together for the first time Telling Tales, Diaries: 1980-1990, the autobiographical section of Untold Stories, which covers the period 1997-2004, and Keeping On Keeping On: The Diaries 2005-2014. 
 
In his earliest collection of diaries, Alan Bennett offers a fascinating insight into his life in the eighties, working on location for his early films and enjoying life at home in Camden. In the diaries of Untold Stories, he enjoys the simple pleasures of nature and wonders about the state of religion and politics at the end of the twentieth century. In Keeping On Keeping On, he looks back at a busy decade that saw him write four highly acclaimed plays, reflects on his life with his partner, Rupert Thomas, and considers his lately found status as 'kindly, cosy and essentially harmless'. Telling Tales, meanwhile, provides ten childhood snapshots and reminiscences about his early years-charting his development from a schoolboy in Leeds to a doubtful agnostic teen, as well as his undergraduate life at the University of Oxford. 
 
With wit, wisdom, sharp social commentary and perceptive impressions, Alan Bennett's memoirs and diaries are a joy to discover, and a delight to hear again. For those who want to listen to Alan Bennett read Untold Stories in its complete form, Alan Bennett: Untold Stories is also available from BBC Audio. 
 
Originally broadcast on Radio 4: 
4 June - 15 June 2001 (Telling Tales) 
10 October - 14 October 1994 (Diaries 1980-1990) 
10 October - 14 October 2005 (Untold Stories) 
24 October - 4 November 2016 (Keeping On Keeping On: The Diaries, 2005-2014) 
 
Production credits 
Read by Alan Bennett 
 
Music by George Fenton 
Produced by Liz Allard (Telling Tales) 
 
Abridged by Pat McLoughlin 
Produced by Gillian Hush (Diaries 1980-1990) 
 
Abridged and produced by Gordon House (Untold Stories) 
 
Abridged and produced by Gordon House (Keeping On Keeping On: The Diaries, 2005-2014) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Alan Bennett

Books by Alan Bennett

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter