Abolqasem Ferdowsi

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham L. Newman is a professor at the School of Foreign Service and Government Department at Georgetown University. He is a 2022-2023 Berlin Prize winner and his work has been published in leading outlets like The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, Nature, Science, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Harvard Business Review, and Politico.

Abraham Newman

Abraham Verghese

Absolut Vodka

Ad Putter

Ada Moncrieff is the author of Murder Most Festive, Murder at the Theatre Royale and Murder at Maybridge Castle. She lives and works in London.

Ada Moncrieff

Adam Aleksic is a linguist and content creator posting educational videos as the “Etymology Nerd” to an audience of over two million. As a linguistics student at Harvard College, he founded and served as president of the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society. He’s discussed online language on NPR, repeatedly contributed to The Washington Post, and his work has been mentioned in The New York Times, The Economist, and The Guardian. He’s lectured on language and social media at Stanford, Yale, Georgetown, and other top universities, including a TEDx talk at the University of Pennsylvania. Adam is based in New York City, where he spends a lot of time scrolling TikTok for “research.”

Adam Aleksic

Adam Alter is an Associate Professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, and holds an affiliated appointment within the Psychology Department. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel and Behave and has written for The New York Times, New Yorker, Atlantic, Wired, Popular Science and numerous other publications.

Adam Alter

Professor Adam Balen is lead clinician at one of the UK's largest and most successful IVF units at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. In recognition of his research on fertility and related conditions, he holds a DSc (the highest academic degree in medicine) from the University of Leeds. Adam is internationally renowned, holding roles with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Federation of Gyneacology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gyneacologists (RCOG). He runs both NHS and private fertility clinics so he understands the issues that arise from both sides and he works closely with fertility patient support organisations across the UK. Adam regularly features in the media on all aspects of reproductive health and lectures widely throughout the world.

Adam Balen

Adam Baron

Adam Bornstein

Adam Brookes grew up in the UK and was a journalist with BBC News for many years. As a foreign correspondent he was based in Indonesia, China and the United States. Along the way he reported from many other countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan and North Korea. He lives in Washington DC.

Adam Brookes

Adam Buxton

Adam Christopher is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith and Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town. He has also written official tie-in novels for the hit CBS television show Elementary and the award-winning Dishonored video game franchise. Co-creator of the twenty-first-century incarnation of Archie Comics superhero The Shield, Adam has also written for the universes of Doctor Who and World of Warcraft, and is a contributor to the internationally bestselling Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View anniversary anthology series and the all-ages Star Wars Adventures comic. Adam’s original novels include Made to Kill and The Burning Dark, among many others, and his debut novel Empire State was both a SciFi Now and Financial Times book of the year.

Adam Christopher

Adam Foulds's most recent books are In the Wolf’s Mouth, The Quickening Maze, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Encore Award and the European Union Prize for Literature, and The Broken Word, which won the Costa Poetry Award and the Somerset Maugham Award. He has recently been awarded the E.M. Forster Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and named as one of Granta’s ‘Best of Young British Novelists’.

Adam Foulds

Dr Adam Fox is a highly qualified and respected allergy specialist and consultant paediatric allergist and clinical lead for Allergy at Guy's &amp; St Thomas' Hospitals. The Times recently named him as one of Britain's top 100 children’s doctors. 
 
www.allergyfreebabyandtoddler.com

Adam Fox

Adam Frost

Adam Galinsky is currently the Morris and Alice Kaplan Professor of Ethics and Decision in Management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He received his PhD from Princeton University in Social Psychology and his B.A. from Harvard University.

Adam Galinsky

Adam Glasser

Adam Goodfellow

Adam Goodwin

Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist at Wharton, where he has been the top-rated professor for seven straight years. His books have sold millions of copies, his TED talks have been viewed more than 30 million times, and he hosts the hit podcast Re:Thinking. His pioneering research on motivation and meaning has enabled people to reach their aspirations and exceed others' expectations. His viral piece on languishing was the most-read New York Times article of 2021 and the most-saved article across platforms. He has been recognized as one of the world's ten most influential management thinkers and Fortune's 40 Under 40, and has received distinguished scientific achievement awards from the American Psychological Association and the National Science Foundation. Grant received his B.A. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and he is a former Junior Olympic springboard diver. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and their three children.

Adam Grant

Adam and Charlotte met in Zanzibar while working with Voluntary Services Overseas. Upon their return to the UK, Charlotte completed an MA at Oxford Brookes and started her career in publishing. Adam in the meantime became writer-in-residence at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre before co-founding Storytelling Schools, an international organisation dedicated to training teachers in oracy, literacy and creativity. Adam and Charlotte's first book together was the best-selling and award-winning Spaghetti with the Yeti. Since then, Adam and Charlotte have continued to follow their passion for creating engaging books that inspire interaction and creativity in young readers.

Adam Guillain

ADAM HAMDY is a bestselling author and screenwriter. His most recent novel, The Other Side of Night, was an NPR best book of 2022 and a New York Times best thriller of the year, and has been described as ingenious and deeply moving. He is the author of the Scott Pearce series of modern spy thrillers, Black 13, Red Wolves and White Fire, and the Pendulum trilogy. Keep up to date with his latest books and news at www.adamhamdy.com.

Adam Hamdy

Adam Hart-Davis

Adam Haslett is the author of the story collection You Are Not a Stranger Here and the novels Imagine Me Gone and Union Atlantic. He has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and his books have been translated into over thirty languages. His journalism on culture and politics has appeared in The Financial Times, Esquire, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, The Nation, and The Atlantic, among others. He lives in New York City.

Adam Haslett

Adam Henson is perhaps the best-known farmer in the UK, presenting on BBC's Countryfile to millions of viewers each Sunday evening. He's also appeared on Lambing Live, Secret Britain, Coast and Inside Out. Adam also runs the award-winning Cotswold Farm Park in Gloucestershire, which welcomes family visitors all year round and is home to many rare breeds. He has a monthly column in Countryfile magazine, as well as the Cotswold Life magazine. He has written several books including the Sunday Times bestseller Like Farmer, Like Son. This is his first children's book and it is the perfect introduction to the farm.

Adam Henson

Adam Henson presents Countryfile, often from his 650-hectare farm in the Cotswolds. Having studied Agriculture at college, Adam took over Bemborough Farm from his father, Joe. The farm now grows wheat, spring barley and oilseed rape, runs a flock of 400 commercial ewes and has the UK's leading collection of rare breeds, many of which are in demand for film sets and advertisements. Cotswold Farm Park (www.cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk) offers a total countryside experience for all the family, welcoming more than 100,000 visitors each year. 
 
Adam presented Lambing Live with Kate Humble, writes for Countryfile magazine and has appeared on Radio 4's On Your Farm and Farming Today. He is the author of three previous books, Adam’s Farm: My Life on the Land, the Sunday Times bestseller, Like Farmer, Like Son and A Farmer and His Dog.

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Lindsey Davis

Full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of the first five Falco novels by Lindsey Davis, starring Anton Lesser as Marcus Didius Falco. 
 
The Silver Pigs: 
One fine day, A.D. 70, Sosia Camillina quite literally runs into Marcus Didius Falco on the steps of the Forum. It seems Sosia is on the run from a couple of street toughs, and after a quick and dirty rescue, P.I. Falco wants to know why. Hoping for future favors from Sosia's powerful uncle, Falco embarks on an intricate case of smuggling, murder, and treason that reaches into the palace itself. 
 
Shadows in Bronze: 
Rome, AD 71. Against his better judgement, Marcus Didius Falco secretly disposes of a decayed corpse for the Emperor Vespasian, then heads for the beautiful Bay of Naples with his friend Petronius. But this will be no holiday: they have been sent to investigate the murderous members of a failed coup, now sunning themselves in luxurious villas and on fancy yachts in Neapolis, Capreae, and Pompeii. 
 
Venus in Copper: 
A small accounting error has left Marcus Didius Falco sharing a cell with a large rat. But the Roman Empire's most hard-done-by investigator is finally bailed out, and promptly accepts a commission to help a family of freed slaves fend off a professional bribe.... 
 
The Iron Hand of Mars: 
Falco is dispatched to one of the most hostile parts of the Empire to deliver a new standard, an iron hand, to one of the legions. Germania is cold, wet, dismal, and full of dark forests inhabited by bloodthirsty barbarians, but Falco has an even bigger problem to worry about: he has forgotten Helena Justina's birthday, and she is being pursued by the Emperor's son Titus Caesar. 
 
Poseidon’s Gold: 
Returning to Rome after his mission to Germania, Falco finds that his mother is being harassed by a centurion named Censorinus, who says he is chasing a debt owed to him by Falco's late brother Festus. When Falco refuses to cough up the money, he and Censorinus end up fighting... and later, the centurion turns up dead. Under suspicion of murder, Falco must confront his past and uncover his brother's secrets before he can clear his name and solve the mystery. 
 
These funny and fast-moving adaptations are a treat for all Falco fans. 
 
Cast: 
Falco… Anton Lesser 
Helena… Fritha Goodey/Anna Madeley 
Petronius…Ben Crowe 
Ma…Frances Jeater 
Pa…Trevor Peacock 
Vespasian …Michael Tudor Barnes 
Titus …Jonathan Keeble 
 
Dramatised by Mary Cutler 
Directed by Peter Leslie Wild 
 
Sound quality varies due to the age of these recordings.

Falco: The Complete BBC Radio collection

Five full-cast dramatisations

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. 
 
Crammed with action, humour, wit, and romance, this fantastic adaptation of the classic tale brings the legendary outlaw hero to life for a whole new generation.

Robin Hood: The Complete Series 1

Based on the BBC TV series

Glendan Swarthout

A BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation of this landmark Western, starring Brian Cox and Michelle Fairley. 
 
‘The Shootist’ is John Bernard Books, the last surviving top gunfighter in a vanishing American West. He rides into El Paso in the year 1901, to be told by a doctor that he has a terminal illness. As word spreads that the famous assassin has reached the end, an assortment of vultures gather to feast upon his corpse. Most men would end their days quietly, but Books outwits them all by selecting the where, the when, and the manner of his death. 
 
The Shootist is a classic Western novel written by Glendon Swarthout in 1975. It won the Spur Award for Best Western Novel of 1975, and was chosen in the Western Writers of America’s members’ poll in 2000 as one of the 10 greatest Western novels of the 20th century. It was made into a 1976 film starring John Wayne and Lauren Bacall, which was John Wayne’s final film role. 
 
Brian Cox (X-Men 2, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy) stars as John Bernard Books, with Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones, 24: Live Another Day) as the widow Bond Rogers, with whom he finds affection in his final days. 
 
Cast: 
John Bernard Books…Brian Cox 
Bond Rogers…Michelle Fairley 
Gillom Rodgers…Joe Jameson 
Marshal Thibido…Craige Els 
Charles Hostetler…Michael Bertenshaw 
Shoup…Joe Sims 
Norton…Ashley Kumar 
Mrs Woodling…Heather Craney 
Bartender…Clive Hayward 
Adapted by Nick Perry 
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko

The Shootist: A Classic Western

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Robert Forrest

A thriller and love story set in 10th-century Japan. 
 
Lady Shonagon is an imperial courtesan, living at the court of the Japanese Emperor in the 10th century. When a series of disturbing thefts within the palace walls throws the court into confusion and unrest, Shonagon is appointed guide and assistant to Lieutenant Yukinari as he investigates. 
 
Together, Shonagon and Yukinari must solve the mysteries and escalating crimes that plague the Japanese court, and their romance blossoms in the tightly enclosed world behind the high palace walls. But soon Shonagon's lover Tadanobu becomes uncomfortable with how closely they are working together... 
 
The Pillow Book is inspired by the writings of Sei Shonagon, a poet and lady-in-waiting to the Empress of the 10th Century Japanese court. The work of the real-life Sei Shonagon consists of essays, lists, anecdotes, poems, and descriptive passages about her daily life. 
 
This full-cast drama stars Ruth Gemmell as Sei Shonagon, with Yukinari played by Mark Bazeley in Series 1-3 and Cal Macaninch in series 4-11. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Tadanobu is Series 1. 
Directed by Lu Kemp.

The Pillow Book: Series 1-11

A full-cast historical crime drama

R C Sherriff

Journey's End is an unflinching vision of life in the tranches towards the end of the First World War. 
 
The play opens in a dugout in the trenches in France. Raleigh, a new 18-year-old officer fresh out of school, joins the besieged company of his friend and hero Stanhope. But when he arrives in the trenches, he finds Stanhope dramatically changed. 
 
This vintage BBC radio production from 1970 stars Martin Jarvis as Captain Stanhope. 
 
Bonus content: This BBC radio release includes The Man From Esher and his Theatre of War, a 30-minute documentary about R C Sherriff and the story behind Journey’s End. 
 
Journey's End was an instant stage success in 1928 (starring Laurence Olivier) and remains a remarkable anti-war classic, regularly revived in theatres. A film was released in February 2018, starring Sam Claflin (Hunger Games, Me Before You) as Stanhope and Asa Butterfield (Hugo) as Raleigh, along with Paul Bettany, Toby Jones and Tom Sturridge. 
 
Cast: 
Captain Stanhope...Martin Jarvis 
Osborne...Garard Green 
Raleigh...Derek Seaton 
Trotter...Kevin Brennan 
Hibbert/Private...Michael Harbour 
Colonel...Richard Hurndall 
Sergeant Major...John Bentley 
Mason...Malcolm Hayes 
Hardy...John Graham 
German soldier...Patrick Tull 
 
Adapted by Peter Watts. 
Produced by Christopher Venning.

Journey's End

A BBC Radio 4 drama

Simon Armitage

Lily Cole stars as Helen of Troy, ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’, in Simon Armitage’s vivid, visceral adaptation of Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid 
 
For ten years, the Greeks have been laying siege to Troy to win back their abducted queen, Helen. But as the war drags on, and the battlefields run scarlet with blood, the opposing forces are entrenched in a bitter stalemate. As Gods and mortals squabble amongst themselves for the spoils of war, the exhausted warriors go to extreme lengths in a desperate grab for victory… 
 
Dramatised by multi-award-winning poet and playwright Simon Armitage, The Last Days of Troy was first produced as a stage play at the Manchester Royal Exchange and Shakespeare’s Globe, and this radio version features the original cast. Both a tense action adventure and a powerful commentary on the futility of war, it brings Homer’s ancient myth to dynamic life and explores themes that still resonate today, in a world locked in cycles of conflict and revenge, East versus West and with the same dangerous combination of pride, lies and self-deception that fuelled the Trojan War. 
 
‘Armitage was the real star, with his vivid and muscular dialogue and occasional flashes of humour…The Last Days of Troy was a powerful reflection on the folly of men and the cruelty of war.’ – Independent 
 
Cast and credits 
Agamemnon..................................................................David Birrell 
Achilles..................................................................Jake Fairbrother 
Zeus..................................................................Richard Bremmer 
Odysseus..................................................................Colin Tierney 
Hera..................................................................Gillian Bevan 
Andromache/Thetis................................................Claire Calbraith 
Hector..................................................................Simon Harrison 
Helen..................................................................Lily Cole 
Paris..................................................................Tom Stuart 
Athene/Briseis..................................................................Francesca Zoutewelle 
Priam..................................................................Garry Cooper 
Patroclus..................................................................Brendan O’Hea 
Astyanax..................................................................Luca Rawlinson 
 
Original music by Alex Baranowski 
Directed for radio by Susan Roberts 
First directed for The Royal Exchange Theatre by Nick Bagnall

The Last Days of Troy

Jules Verne

A thrilling new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Jules Verne's classic novel. 
 
‘Descend, bold traveller into the crater of the Jokul of Snæfell, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July and you will attain the centre of the earth. Which I have done.’ 
 
Renowned professor Otto Lidenbrock discovers a mysterious runic cryptogram in a rare manuscript. His nephew, Axel, accidentally cracks the code, which is by a Sixteenth Century alchemist who claims to have found a pathway to the centre of the Earth! Lidenbrock decides he must see for himself if such a journey is possible, and with the reluctant Axel and their guide, Hans, the three venture into the heart of a dormant Icelandic volcano. 
 
Shock and peril await at every turn, from a raft voyage across a subterranean sea - where they witness a battle between two prehistoric monsters - to a terrifying lightning storm that threatens to capsize them, and an expedition into the magma chamber of an active volcano filled with boiling lava. Will they ever make it back to the surface? 
 
Full of action, surprise and discovery, this suspenseful dramatisation of Verne’s ultimate adventure story stars Joel MacCormack and Stephen Critchlow. 
 
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes approx.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

H. Rider Haggard

Tim McInnerny stars as Allan Quatermaine in this dramatic full-cast BBC Radio 4 adaptation of H Rider Haggard's classic Victorian novel. 
 
A chance meeting with Sir Henry Curtis and his friend John Good leads professional game hunter Allan Quatermaine on a dangerous expedition to the uncharted, hostile heart of Africa. Curtis’s brother disappeared while searching for the legendary diamond mine of King Solomon, and he needs Quatermaine’s expertise to re-trace his brother’s journey. Quatermaine agrees to Curtis’s generous terms, on the condition that the money is paid to his son if he does not survive. 
 
Joined by the imposing, mysterious Zulu Umbopa, the trio set off into the unknown. As they journey from the barren desert to the precipitous mountains, they discover clues from a past adventurer, now dead – and come close to death themselves. 
 
They encounter fierce Kukuana warriors, the beautiful Foulata, the blood-thirsty King Twala and his ancient, evil witch-finder Gagool – but will they find the mine and the treasure that is rumoured to lie within it? And if they do, will they make it out alive? 
 
This vivid dramatisation of Haggard’s popular adventure story is a combination of thrilling treasure hunt, suspenseful mystery and gripping psychological drama. 
 
Among the cast are Sope Dirisu and Adjoa Andoh. 
 
Duration: 2 hours approx.

King Solomon's Mines

Francis Durbridge

Three complete radio dramas featuring writer and amateur detective Paul Temple, plus bonus archive material. 
 
When it comes to classic crime partnerships, Paul Temple and his wife Steve are the crème de la crème. Between 1938 and 1968 their glamorous exploits enthralled generations of radio listeners around the world. Here, presented in chronological order, are some of the amateur detective's earliest adventures. Send for Paul Temple (1940) is an early remake of the now-lost original 1938 BBC production. Paul Temple Intervenes (1942) finds Paul and Steve investigating a series of celebrity murders, whilst Paul Temple and the Vandyke Affair (the original 1950 production, presented here for the very first time) concerns the strange disappearance of the Desmond baby and her sitter. Hugh Morton, Bernard Braden, Carl Bernard and Peter Coke play Paul in these episodes, with Bernadette Hodgson, Peggy Hassard and Marjorie Westbury as Steve. 
 
A bonus track features rare archive material from otherwise lost productions, including the final episodes of Send for Paul Temple (1938) and Paul Temple and the Front Page Men (1938). 
 
Caution: these programmes contain language that may cause offense, and dated attitudes that reflect the age in which they are set.

Paul Temple: The Complete Radio Collection: Volume One

The Early Years (1938-1950)

Jimmy Perry

David Croft

Twenty-six episodes from the third BBC Radio series starring Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and Clive Dunn, plus the pilot episode of It Sticks Out Half a Mile 
 
In 1973 the BBC adapted its hit wartime TV series for radio, featuring the original television cast and characters. Three series were broadcast between 1974 and 1976, with episodes adapted by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles. 
 
Now you can enjoy once again these unique recordings, with a supporting cast including John Laurie, Arnold Ridley and Ian Lavender. Among the twenty-six episodes are A Man of Action, Keep Young and Beautiful, Absent Friends, The Deadly Attachment, Things That Go Bump in the Night, My British Buddy, Asleep in the Deep, Time On My Hands and Is There Honey Still for Tea? Also included is the 1981 pilot episode of the radio sequel to Dad’s Army, It Sticks Out Half a Mile, starring Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier. 
 
Also in this set is a sixteen-page PDF booklet with comprehensive programme history, synopses for all Series Three episodes, original transmission dates, photographs and cast biographies.

Dad's Army: Complete Radio Series 3

Erich Maria Remarque

A full-cast dramatisation of one of the greatest war novels of all time. 
 
First published as a novel in 1929, All Quiet on the Western Front tells the story of a group of young German soldiers who are enduring, and then coming to terms with, the realities of the First World War. 
 
At the age of 19, following the outbreak of the First World War, Paul Bäumer enlists in the German Army. He is deployed to the Western Front, where the experience of life and death in the trenches has an enormous effect on him. He begins to feel disconnected from his past life: his family, his love of poetry, and his feelings. As the war progresses, Paul becomes increasingly lost in battle. 
 
Haunting yet comic, lyrical yet desperate, the novel became a bestseller on its original publication. It inspired an Oscar-winning film of the same name, and has been adapted for television and stage. This powerful radio dramatisation stars Robert Lonsdale as Paul Bäumer, with a supporting cast including Simon Trinder, Stephen Critchlow, Carolyn Pickles and Malcolm Tierney.

All Quiet on the Western Front

A BBC Radio Drama

Michael Morpurgo

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the powerful novel set in the First World War, from the author of War Horse. 
 
This is the story of Thomas ‘Tommo’ Peaceful, a young soldier who finds himself in Belgium, in the trenches of the First World War, with his brother Charlie. It is also the story of Tommo’s life, growing up in Devon with his brothers, and of his love for Molly, the beautiful girl he met on his first day at school. 
 
As the story unfolds, from past to present, so approaches the hour when Tommo and Charlie will be separated for ever. The horrors of the First World War, and the injustice meted out to the soldiers who fought in it, are movingly described. 
 
Recorded on location Iddesleigh, the Devon village where the book is set, this radio dramatisation features among its cast Paul Chequer, Nicholas Lyndhurst and author Michael Morpurgo himself. 
 
It also features; Ted Allpress, Harvey Allpress, Amy Reade, Daniel Houghton, Paul Chequer, Mark Quartley, Annette Chown, Ben Allen, Alison Reid, Nick Brimble, Christopher Bianchi, Peter Ellis, Jonathan Keeble, Terence Mann, Simon Reade and Susan Roberts.

Private Peaceful

Lewis Grassic Gibbon

Gerda Stevenson

Gerda Stevenson's dramatisation of the 1932 novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, set in north-east Scotland before and during the First World War. Episode 1: Chris Guthrie is torn between her love of the land and her ambition to become a teacher. As Chris' domineering father struggles with the harshness of the land, her mother's fear of childbirth leads her to despair. A full cast dramatisation. Directed by David Ian Neville.Episode 2: After her father's death, Chris is determined to stay and work the farm alone if need be. Joined by Ewan Tavendale in marriage and on the farm, Chris gives birth to a son. But the outbreak of the First World War brings devastating change to her family, the rural landscape and the community. A full cast dramatisation. Directed by David Ian Neville.

Sunset Song

James Joyce

The young poet Stephen has been recalled from Paris to Dublin to be at his mother’s deathbed. But he refuses her dying wishes: to kneel and pray for her. Now, holed up in his Martello tower outside the city walls, he has to suffer the taunts of Buck Mulligan by day and, by night, the vision of ‘her eyes, shaking out of death to shake and bend my soul.’ Timelessly evocative, Ulysses is far more than the story of Stephen Dedalus’ journey through Dublin. It is a huge, rich portrayal of human life. In this magnificent, highly accessible, part reading part dramatisation - which includes the famous Molly Bloom soliloquy - the power and truth of Joyce’s vision is as potent as ever. Ulysses stars Stephen Rea and Sinead Cusack, with an introduction by Seamus Heaney. ‘The best book at bedtime’ - Sunday Telegraph.

Ulysses

Daniel Defoe

Young Robinson Crusoe has a burning ambition to be a sailor. Paying no attention to his parents’ warnings he runs away to sea to embark on a series of thrilling adventures: struggles with Barbary pirates, a shipwreck and the extraordinary meeting with Man Friday... Roy Marsden plays the older Robinson Crusoe looking back on a life of recklessness, daring and adventure – and the survival of twenty-eight years, two months and nineteen days on a desert island. Based on the real-life adventures of Alexander Selkirk, Robinson Crusoe was one of the very first adventure stories to be published in English literature. It remains as gripping today as it did on first publication in 1719, and this enthralling dramatisation perfectly evokes the excitement and adventure of the original book.

Robinson Crusoe

Jean Paul Sartre

A selection of the renowned French philosophers Sartre’s plays. 
 
This collection features several dramatisations of Jean-Paul Sartre's works, including The Roads to Freedom, No Way Out (or "Huis Clos"), Assassins and Nekrassov. These productions showcase Sartre's exploration of existentialism, freedom, and political themes. Notable cast members include David Haig, James Fleet, Zoe Wanamaker, Imogen Stubbs, Ciaran Hinds, and Maurice Denham. 
 
Additionally, the collection includes two pieces exploring Sartre's life and work, providing a comprehensive look at his contributions to literature and philosophy.

Jean-Paul Sartre: The Roads to Freedom & more

Four Full-Cast BBC Radio Productions

Victor Pemberton

Three semi-autobiographical plays by Victor Pemberton telling the story of one family across the 20th century 
 
Novelist and playwright Victor Pemberton was best known for scripting Doctor Who and working on Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock. His many plays for BBC Radio included The Slide, Kill the Pharaoh. and this three-part family saga, a love story inspired by the lives of his own parents and starring Nerys Hughes, Nigel Anthony, Sheila Grant and Wendy Richard. 
 
The Trains Don’t Stop Here Any More – 1916. When 18-year-old Letty Edginton goes to work in a munitions factory, she meets and falls for Oliver Hobbs, a young man whose leg was severely wounded at the Somme. Despite their different backgrounds and her snobbish mother’s objections, they marry and set up home – but married life proves more challenging than Letty had expected. 
 
Don’t Talk to Me About Kids! – It’s 1939, and, like so many other Londoners, Letty and Ollie find themselves living through the horrors of another world war. As German bombs begin to fall on the city, their kids Eddie and Mick are evacuated to the countryside, and their eldest son Ron is called up to fight in the Royal Navy. But Letty is determined that whatever troubles and tragedies lie ahead, her family should survive and be reunited. 
 
Down by the Sea – 1963. Letty and Ollie have always dreamed of living by the sea and, having reached their sunset years, they’ve retired to a seaside bungalow bought for them by their children. After a long and happy marriage, they celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary in the company of family and friends, but back at home, they must face the problems of old age alone... 
 
Production credits 
Written by Victor Pemberton 
Pianist: Mary Nash 
 
1. The Trains Don’t Stop Here Any More 
Letty Edginton – Nerys Hughes 
Beatrice, her mother – Sheila Grant 
William, her father – Malcolm Hayes 
Oliver Hobbs – Nigel Anthony 
Violet – Wendy Richard 
Tom – Derek Seaton 
Frank O'Malley – Bill Monks 
Nicky/Bugle Boy – Adam Godley 
Bill Brooks – Kenneth Shanley 
Amy Lyall – Eve Karpf 
Mr Cotton – Eric Allan 
Mr Pearson/Gateman – Robert Trotter 
Directed by John Tydeman 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8 July 1978 
 
2. Don’t Talk to Me About Kids! 
Letty Hobbs – Nerys Hughes 
Oliver Hobbs – Nigel Anthony 
Beatrice – Sheila Grant 
Sam – Philip Sully 
Violet – Wendy Richard 
Ron/Malcolm/Train Guard – Jonathan Tafler 
Florrie – Eva Stuart 
Colonel Meecham – Laurence Payne 
Bill Brooks/Warden – Michael Tudor Barnes 
Tilly Brooks – Emily Richard 
Mother Superior – Julie Berry 
Mick – Rickey Coombes 
Eddie – Nicholas Delve 
Janey/Doreen – Zelah Clarke 
Directed by David Spenser 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 14 January 1989 
 
3. Down by the Sea 
Letty Hobbs – Nerys Hughes 
Oliver Hobbs – Nigel Anthony 
Beatrice – Sheila Grant 
Mick – Spencer Banks 
Eddie – Sean Barrett 
Mary – Karen Archer 
Jonathan – Rory McNicholl 
Bill Brooks – Michael Tudor Barnes 
Tilly Brooks/District Nurse – Emily Richard 
Fred Golding – Norman Bird 
Gladys Golding/Alice – Joan Matheson 
Cypriot man/Newsreader – John Baddeley 
Cypriot woman – Julie Berry 
Reporter/Charlie – Kim Wall 
Doctor/Brian – Steven Harrold 
Guests at the Golden Wedding played by members of the cast 
Dance band: Les Brown Trio 
Directed by David Spenser 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 21 January 1989 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Our Family: The Edginton’s Wars

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Drama Trilogy

Jeffery Farnol

A vintage 13-part dramatisation of Jeffery Farnol’s historical romance 
 
When 22-year-old Barnabas Barty, the son of a landlord and ex-prize fighter, unexpectedly inherits £700,000 from his uncle in Jamaica, he decides to fulfil his dream of becoming a gentleman. Leaving his father’s country inn in Kent, he sets off to London determined to enter the beau monde. 
 
En route, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful woman, and engages in fisticuffs with an arrogant aristocrat in a green coat. Though the lady vanishes before Barnabas can ask for her name, he later learns that she is Lady Cleone Meredith… and that he has several rivals for her affections. He also learns that he has made a powerful enemy – for the man he knocked down was Sir Mortimer Carnaby, a member of the Ton and a close friend of the Prince Regent… 
 
Has Barnabas blighted his chances of becoming a person of quality? Can he ever win the heart of the fair Cleone? And what will fashionable London make of this amateur gentleman? 
 
Alongside Georgette Heyer, Jeffery Farnol largely originated the ‘Regency romance’ genre, and in his 50-year career he wrote over 40 bestselling tales of love and adventure. The Amateur Gentleman was among his most popular novels, and was adapted as a film three times in the 1920s and 1930s. First broadcast in 1966, this classic BBC Radio dramatisation stars Brian Hewlett as Barnabas, with Anthony Jackson as the Storyteller and Eva Haddon as Cleone. 
 
Cast 
Barnabas Barty – Brian Hewlett 
Storyteller – Anthony Jackson 
John Barty/Captain Slingsby – John Dearth 
Mr Crabtree – Stephen Jack 
Nathaniel Bell/Jack Truelove/Jaspar Gaunt – Wilfred Babbage 
A Chapman/Pufton, a Gentleman-in-Powder/Quinly – Michael McClain 
Sir Mortimer Carnaby/Jerry Tucker, the Bosun/Coachman/Waiter//Mr Tressider/Bow Street Runner – Ronald Herdman 
Cleone – Eva Haddon 
John Chumley/Gamekeeper/Jaspar Shrig – Basil Jones 
Viscount Devenham – Henry Stamper 
Milo – Nigel Anthony 
Mr Chichester/Guard – Anthony Hall 
John Peterby/A landlord – Kevin McHugh 
Clemency Dare – Carol Marsh 
Billy Button/Corporal Richard Roe/Nick, the Cobbler – Michael Kilgarriff 
A Fussy Gentleman/Sir George Annersley/Mr Bimby – Walter Fitzgerald 
Gabriel Martin/Major Piper – Alan Dudley 
Digby Smivvle – Harold Kasket 
The Marquis of Jerningham – John Justin 
Ronald Barrymaine – Allan McClelland 
A woman debtor/Mrs Smummitt – Anna Burden 
Duchess of Camberhurst – Noel Hood 
Countess of Orme – Joan Matheson 
Marquis of Jerningham – John Justin 
Ralph Darville – Noel Howlett 
 
Adapted by Felix Felton and Susan Ashman 
Produced by John Powell 
First broadcast BBC Home Service, 29 July-21 October 1966 
 
Episode list 
1. The Road to London 
2. The Lace Handkerchief 
3. At Oakshott’s Barn 
4. The Duties of a Valet 
5. The Misfortunes of Ronald Barrymaine 
6. Annersley Revisited 
7. Barnaby Bright 
8. Wagers and Warnings 
9. The Great Steeplechase 
10. The Gathering Shadows 
11. Account Settled 
12. The Harder Way 
13. The Duchess Decides 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Amateur Gentleman

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisation

Rudyard Kipling

Dramatisations of some of Kipling’s finest fiction for adults, including ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ and The Light That Failed 
 
Well-known for his poems and stories set in India during British Imperial rule, Rudyard Kipling was the first English author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was also offered a knighthood and the Poet Laureateship, but turned down both. His books remain immensely popular today, and this collection showcases a selection of his best adult works. 
 
Set deep in the Hindu Kush mountains, the chilling cautionary tale ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ tells the story of two conmen with an insane and dangerous plan to conquer a remote region of Afghanistan. Blake Ritson, Richard Ridings and Samuel James star in this thrilling drama about friendship and the folly and glory of imperial ambition. 
 
First broadcast in 1994 to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rudyard Kipling, Kipling in Love comprises eight half-hour dramas based on his short stories – ‘His Wedded Wife’, ‘Lispeth’, ‘Venus Annodomini’, ‘The Courting of Dinah Shadd’, ‘In the Pride of His Youth’, ‘Love O’Women’, ‘Beyond the Pale’ and ‘On Greenhow Hill’. Among the star casts are Jack Klaff, Mamta Kaash, Alex Jennings, Steve Hodson, Frances Jeater, Terry John, Samuel West, Meera Syal, Michael Troughton and Nina Wadia. 
 
Adapted from Kipling’s debut novel, The Light That Failed revolves around war illustrator Dick Heldar, his struggles to become a successful artist and his unrequited love for his childhood sweetheart, Maisie. It stars Steve Hodson, Stuart Organ and Natasha Pyne. Wrapping up this collection is ‘They’, a haunting supernatural tale of a motorist’s mysterious encounters with a group of elusive children. Narrated by Tony Britton, this 1982 World Service production stars Annette Crosbie and Douglas Blackwell. 
 
First published 1888 (‘The Man Who Would Be King’, ‘His Wedded Wife’, ‘Lispeth’, ‘Venus Annodomini’, ‘In the Pride of His Youth’, ‘Beyond the Pale’), 1891 (‘The Courting of Dinah Shadd’, ‘On Greenhow Hill’, The Light That Failed), 1893 (‘Love-o’-Women’), 1904 (‘They’) 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Rudyard Kipling 
 
The Man Who Would Be King 
 
Kipling in Love 
<ul><li>His Wedded Wife</li><li>Lispeth</li><li>Venus Annodomini</li><li>The Courting of Dinah Shadd</li><li>In the Pride of His Youth</li><li>Love O’Women</li><li>Beyond the Pale</li><li>On Greenhow Hill</li></ul> 
 
The Light That Failed 
They 
 
Copyright © 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Selected works of Rudyard Kipling

11 Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramas

James Swallow

A thrilling full-cast adaptation bringing Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell universe to life 
 
Veteran Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher has a new mission recruiting and training the next generation of Splinter Cell operatives for the National Security Agency's covert action division. But when a lethal assassin from Fisher's past returns from the dead on a mission of murder, he is thrust into a race against time as a sinister threat to global security is revealed. With his daughter Sarah signed up as his newest recruit, Sam Fisher has everything to lose in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The father and daughter duo must work together to stop a deadly villain from executing a horrific plan. 
 
In this fast-paced and thrilling listen both Sam and Sarah are forced to face their past. Can Sarah steel herself to take a life? And will Sam finally come face-to-face with his old nemesis Dima Aslanov? 
 
Number one best-selling thriller writer Tom Clancy is best-known for his spy thrillers set during the Cold War. The Hunt for the Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and the Jack Ryan novels have all been turned into popular films and TV shows. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell is a series of action-adventure video games with accompanying novels, on which this stunning radio production is based. Starring Andonis Anthony (The Archers, Emmerdale), Daisy Head (Guilt, The Syndicate), Will Poulter (Black Mirror, Guardians of the Galaxy), Sacha Dhawan (Doctor Who), Nikesh Patel (Starstruck) this is an all-star production not to be missed. 
 
This immersive, action-packed thriller is recorded in 3D binaural audio. For the surround-sound experience please listen on headphones. 
 
Written by James Swallow 
Adapted by Sebastian Baczkiewicz 
Directed by Nadia Molinari, Lorna Newman and Jessica Mitic 
Produced by Lorna Newman, Jessica Mitic, Nadia Molinari 
Sound design by Sharon Hughes and Steve Brooke 
 
Cast 
Sam Fisher - Andonis Anthony 
Sarah Fisher - Daisy Head 
Anna Grímsdóttir - Rosalie Craig 
Charlie Cole - Sacha Dhawan 
Brody Teague - Will Poulter 
Samir Patel - Nikesh Patel 
Stone - Mihai Arsene 
Eighteen - Olga Fedori 
Jan Freling/Kathy - Rina Mahoney 
Buzzard - Tijan Sarr 
Gator/Gary Borden - Tom Kiteley 
Train Guard/Operator/Policeman - Joe Belham 
Andriy Kobin/Chef Jean Claude - Riad Richie 
Nabil - Ali Gadema 
Delim - Lloyd Thomas 
First Pilot /Guard/LeBeau - David Hounslow 
Second Pilot/Guard/Reporter/Bray/Killer - Roger Ringrose 
Portuguese announcer - Charis Jardim-Hinds 
 
First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 2nd December - 20th January 2023 
 
©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Firewall

A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

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