Almudena Solana

Alon Hilu

Alon Ziv has a degree in neuroscience and was awarded the Certificate of Distinction in Teaching in Biology from UCLA.

Alon Ziv

Alonso Cueto

Alphonse Daudet was born in Nimes in 1840. He made his name with gentle stories and novels portraying life in the French provinces, notably Lettres de mon Moulin (1869). He died in 1897. His extraordinary notebooks detailing the effects of syphilis on his life were first published under the title In the Land of Pain by Daudet's widow in 1931. The first English translation by Julian Barnes was published by Cape in 2002.

Alphonse Daudet

Alua Arthur is a death doula, a recovering attorney and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organisation. She travels the world as a keynote speaker, addressing audiences at medical and end-of-life conferences, universities, seminaries, senior citizens’ communities, and more. She can be found @going_with_grace and @alualoveslife on Instagram. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Alua Arthur

Alun Anderson

Alun Carter

Alun Cochrane

Alun Richards

Alvar Ellegard

Alyce Faye Cleese

Alyissa Johnson is a graphic designer and lettering artist who focuses on positivity and feminism. You can find Alyissa playing with her dog Luna or selling prints at a local pop-up shop in Kansas City, Missouri.

Alyissa Johnson

Alys Cummings is a writer and journalist based on the north-east coast. She is an Emerging Creative Associate with New Writing North and a member of their North East Novelists group. As a producer and director, Alys has made documentaries for BBC Panorama on subjects including domestic abuse, the world of the UK’s conspiracy theorists, and avoidable deaths in maternity care. Her most recent film was shortlisted for Scoop of the Year at the British Journalist awards. 
 
Murder Most Cryptic is her first novel, and won Pitch Perfect at the 2024 Bloody Scotland festival.

Alys Cummings

Alys Fowler

Born in Silchester, Hampshire, Alys Fowler had a rural childhood, growing up surrounded by animals in the countryside. She was influenced by her mother's gardening talents and, after leaving school in 1996 she studied at the Royal Horticultural Society, the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, and later the New York Botanical Gardens, returning to the UK to complete a masters at UCL in 2002. 
 
Alys spent some years presenting the long-running BBC series Gardeners' World and has since become a prominent horticultural journalist, writing a popular weekly column in the Guardian.

Alyson Walsh

ALYSSA DAY is an award-winning and New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romantasy, mystery, and romance whose books have sold more than a million copies and been translated into many languages. She is also a mental health advocate who has lived with depression since she was a teenager. 
 
 
She’s an Ohio State grad and graduated summa cum laude from Capital University Law School and practiced as a trial lawyer for a decade, when she also served as an advocate for at-risk children. She lives in Florida with her Navy Guy husband, has two amazing kids, and rescues dogs. Especially pugs. So Many Pugs.

Alyssa Day

Alyssa Villaire is a writer of young adult fantasy. While she's based in Los Angeles, most of her stories harken back to the places where she grew up—from the woods of rural Indiana to the lakeshores of Wisconsin and Michigan. She has published short stories in Luna Station Quarterly and in an anthology titled Journeys to Uncharted Lands. When she’s not writing, Alyssa is probably eating spicy food, watching horror movies, or waiting in a virtual Ticketmaster line.

Alyssa Villaire

Alyssa Wees grew up writing stories starring her Beanie Babies, in between training in ballet and watching lots of Disney movies. She earned a BA in English from Creighton University and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago. She lives outside of Chicago with her family.

Alyssa Wees

Alzheimer's Society

Aman Sethi

Amanda Archer

Amanda Barry

Amanda Berriman was born in Germany and grew up in Edinburgh, reading books, playing music, writing stories and climbing hills. She works as a primary school teacher and lives on the edge of the Peak District with her husband, two children and dogs.

Amanda Berriman

Amanda Berry

Amanda Brunker

Amanda Doyle is a Founder of Treat Media, an award-winning media company that makes art for humans who want to stay human. With Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach, she authored We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life’s 20 Questions, the book being hailed as ‘the guidebook for being alive.’ Named one of the ‘50 Most Powerful People in Podcasting,’ Amanda is co-host of the chart-topping podcast We Can Do Hard Things, which has received over a half billion plays. She is an executive producer of the Sundance award-winning film Come See Me in the Good Light. Amanda was Vice President and General Counsel of Together Rising, a non-profit organisation which distributed more than $55 million to women, families and children in crisis. Amanda practised law at a global corporate firm and as a Legal Fellow with International Justice Mission in Rwanda, securing land rights for women and accountability for child victims of sexual violence. Her academic and political work sits at the intersection of social, institutional and interpersonal systems of violence, oppression and liberation – laser-focused on practical justice in everyday lived experience.

Amanda Doyle

Amanda Eyre Ward is the critically acclaimed author of seven novels, including How to Be Lost, Close Your Eyes, The Same Sky, and The Nearness of You. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her family.

Amanda Eyre Ward

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Jane Austen

In this BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of one of Jane Austen's most beloved works, Mrs Bennet is determined to see her five daughters married off and secure a future for them all. 
 
When the wealthy Mr Bingley arrives in the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet wastes no time in making his acquaintance. His friend Mr Darcy, however, discourages Mr Bingley from marrying Jane Bennet, and also appears to snub her sister Elizabeth. 
 
When Elizabeth hears that Mr Darcy himself is of poor character, her innate prejudice of him is reinforced, and she roundly refuses his unexpected proposal of marriage. But then, when she discovers that she was misinformed, Elizabeth wonders if she can ever hope to see Mr Darcy again.... 
 
Published over 200 years ago, Pride and Prejudice remains one of the British nation's favourite novels. Among the star cast in this radio production are Amanda Root, Pippa Nixon, Samantha Spiro and David Troughton. 
 
This title is part of the BBC's Jane Austen collection. 
 
© 2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (p) 2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Pride and Prejudice

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Michael Morpurgo

This production - adapted by John Tams and Sally Ward at the behest of the author - is a moving tale of a boy's extraordinary bond with his horse during World War One. The story of a farm horse sold from Devon into the mire, wire and machine guns of the Great War of 1914-1918 brings together a stellar cast, including Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn and Bob Hoskins, with music and songs from some of the UK's finest folk musicians. This drama was directed by John Tams, who was nominated for an Olivier Award for his work on the phenomenally successful War Horse stage epic at the National Theatre ('the theatrical event of the decade' - Times) and which also inspired the Steven Spielberg film. 'Sublime' - Michael Morpurgo, on hearing this completed drama.

War Horse

Neil Gaiman

Beneath the streets of London there is another London. A subterranean labyrinth of sewers and abandoned tube stations. A somewhere that is Neverwhere... An act of kindness sees Richard Mayhew catapulted from his ordinary life into the strange world of London Below. There he meets the Earl of Earl's Court, faces a life-threatening ordeal at the hands of the Black Friars, comes face to face with the Great Beast of London, and encounters an Angel. Called Islington. Accompanied by the mysterious Door and her companions, the Marquis de Carabas and the bodyguard Hunter, Richard embarks on an extraordinary quest to escape from the fiendish assassins Croup and Vandemar and to discover who ordered them to murder her family - all the while trying to get back to his old life in London Above. Adapted for radio by the award-winning Dirk Maggs, this captivating dramatisation features a stellar cast including David Harewood, Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Anthony Head and David Schofield. Contains over 25 minutes of additional unbroadcast material, including extended scenes, bloopers and outtakes. 
 
 
 ©2013 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2013 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Neverwhere

A BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisation

Jason Byrne

The complete series of the BBC Radio 2 family sitcom written by and starring Irish comedian Jason Byrne and co-starring Pauline McLynn, Lucy Montgomery, Dominic Applewhite, Dermot Crowley and Michael Smiley. Tom (played by Jason) starts a new life as a house husband looking after the kids and doing a few domestic chores. What could be simpler? Things, however, don't go well for Tom and he is soon on the run from the law, with multiple problems, including some stolen dogs.

Father Figure The Complete Series

John Nicholson

A Christmas Carol, but not as you've ever heard it before. A surprise all-star cast gather to bring Dickens' timeless classic to life. Introduced by Jonathan Dimbleby. Starring John Nicholson and Richard Katz, with Jane Horrocks, Dara O Briain, Charlotte Green,_x001A_Richard Madeley, Peter Purves, Gwyneth Williams and Chris Evans. Written by John Nicholson and Richard Katz. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Marley Was Dead

William Makepeace Thackeray

Series of five comic tales by William Makepeace Thackeray, adapted by Stephen Wyatt, recounting the rise and fall of early-19th century footman Charles Yellowplush. 
 
 Episode 1: Charles attracts the attention of an elegant gentleman, Frederick Altamont, who is pursuing the lovely Mary. Charles does his best to matchmake, until the awful truth about Altamont comes to light. With full cast. Directed by Jessica Dromgoole. 
 
Episode 2: Charles helps his new employer Captain Rook, a wily and roguish cardsharp, to fleece a rich but naive gentleman. With full cast. Directed by Abigail le Fleming. 
 
Episode 3:Charles finds himself in Paris in attendance on a young aristocrat of very dubious morals who has fled England to escape his creditors. With full cast. Directed by Jessica Dromgoole. 
 
Episode 4: When a fashionable society novelist comes to stay at Diddlesex Towers, he inspires Charles to undertake an ambitious and scandalous enterprise. With full cast. Directed by Jessica Dromgoole. 
 
Episode 5: Charles suddenly finds himself a very rich man. He leaves service and embarks on a life of opera, society dinners and balls. And goes a little mad. With full cast. Directed by Jessica Dromgoole. 
 
©2013 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2013 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Yellowplush Papers

Various

The last in a short series of stories that each take us to a different part of the UK. He hasn't told anyone, but today is Charles' last early shift, sweeping the streets of the North Laine in Brighton. This afternoon he's leaving. Forever. All he wants to do is get to the Pavilion Gardens for dawn, to say goodbye properly. But it's not going to be that simple. Directed by Abigail le Fleming.  Ed Harris is a young Brighton-based playwright and poet. His plays include Mongrel Island (Soho Theatre), The Cow Play and Never Ever After (shortlisted for the 2008 Meyer-Whitworth Award). He has also written numerous radio plays including TROLL which won The Writers' Guild Award for best radio drama, and The Moment You Feel It (BBC Radio 4) which was nominated for the Tinniswood award.

Take Me To The North Laine

John Steinbeck

Set against the backdrop of America's Great Depression and Dust Bowl, a family of farmers from Oklahoma head west in search of work, only to discover thousands like them are also on the move. Following a violent altercation with some locals, they head back on the road with their dream of a promised land in tatters. And life is set to get much worse for the Joads... John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about economic migration and the endurance of the human spirit is dramatized by Donna Franceschild and directed by Kirsty Williams.

The Grapes Of Wrath

W.G. Sebald

Inspired by an old photograph album to investigate the life of a lost relative, a man finds himself on a journey that traverses the 20th century, leading him from an American asylum to the shores of the Dead Sea. Adapted by Edward Kemp from W G Sebald's acclaimed novel about the experiences of Jewish emigrants. Starring John Wood, Henry Goodman, Eleanor Bron, Ed Bishop, Margaret Robertson, Andrew Sachs, Cosmo Solomon, Thomas Arnold, Jasmine Hyde and Maximilian Graber. Music by Gary Yershon. Directed by Edward Kemp.

Emigrants, The Ambros Adelwarth

Four acclaimed novelists write their first stories for radio. The Coup by Tom Rachman describes how a protest threatens to turn into a coup, in London' s genteel Kensington, which is next door to where the two Geralds have just moved in.  Steak by Evie Wyld, describes how a group  of male barflies in small town Australia are unsettled by the appearance of Mariella..   In She Wiped The Surface, Louisa Young, describes how  a mother happily arranges her daughter's birthday party, but this masks a family bereavement. How to cope? In Holding On by Ross Raisin, a woman stands at the end of a cliff, which is at the end of her garden - which means what,  exactly?

Friday Firsts ( Complete Series)

The true story of English sisters Louise and Ida Cook (better known as romantic novelist Mary Burchell), whose love of opera led them into a life of danger, rescuing Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.

The Righteous Sisters

Mark Michalowski

George's friend, Kaz, arrives at the flat with a staggering request: she and her partner Gail want to have a child, and they'd like George to be the father. George is warming to the idea - he's always wanted kids, and he can be as involved in the baby's life as he wishes - but he is wary: what if his condition is genetic? Mitchell and Annie don't approve of the new plan, but Mitchell is wrestling with a difficult decision of his own. A patient at the hospital, Leo, is surprisingly good company for a pasty older bloke who believes the 1980s were a golden age. But he seems a little too interested in Mitchell's history - and he has a surprising request of his own in store for his new friend... 
Featuring Mitchell, George and Annie, as played by Aidan Turner, Russell Tovey and Lenora Crichlow in the hit series created by Toby Whithouse for BBC Television.

Being Human Chasers

Hannah McGill

A woman puts pen to paper and writes to her bank manager after an unforeseen spending spree. Read by Barbara Rafferty. Writer and critic Hannah McGill is a former Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Dressing Natalie

Annamaria Murphy

When a delirious Irishman arrives in a Cornish harbour, baker Mary Kneebone takes him in, and soon the sick and gullible are queuing at her door. A wry comedy about faith, love and redemption from outstanding Cornish playwright Annamaria Murphy. Starring Mary Woodvine, Barbara Jefford, Stephen Hogan, Alison Pettit, John O'Mahony and Charles Barnecut. First broadcast: BBC Radio 4, 25 March 2010.

Scummow Things Washed Up By The Sea

Abbie Spallen

The Wire is BBC Radio 3's showcase for works that push the boundaries of drama and narrative. In Rapture Frequency, analyst Michael Shorthall is listening to the black box recording of an ill-fated transatlantic flight when he stumbles across an unexpected sound. Interference, white noise, or could it possibly be proof of something more celestial? A story of obsession and one man's extraordinary quest, starring Richard Dormer as Michael Shorthall. Also featuring Esther Hall, Shaun Dooley, Philip Jackson, Marty Maguire, Richard Howard, Paul Kennedy, Susie Kelly, Laura Conway and Abbie Spallen. Written by Abbie Spallen. Sound Design by Bill Maul, John Simpson and Matthew Laughlin. Producer/Director: Heather Larmour.

Rapture Frequency

Katie Hims

Cal is expecting a baby with his girlfriend Sophie. As deaf parents, in amongst the excitement, they have a few concerns. But every time Sophie has a scan at the hospital Cal is sick. His behaviour becomes more and more uncharacteristic. Sophie begins to worry when Cal finds letters from an old girlfriend and decides he has to go and see her. Cal has to resolve the past before he can move forward as a father and fully enjoy Sophie's pregnancy. In order to get there he has to return to the place he grew up in - Rochdale - and re-examine his past. Specially written for David Bower and Sophie Woolley, who play Cal and Sophie. Also starring Sarah McDonald Hughes, Amerjit Deu, Eric Potts and Zoe Iqbal. Developed in partnership with Signdance Collective. Produced in Manchester by Susan Roberts. Written by Katie Hims.

Dragonfly

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Kate Clanchy

Finnish teen eco-blogger, Ulli Earthgirl, wins a competition to join a low-carbon expedition to the North Pole by foot, to measure the melting ice. Blogging her way across the Arctic, she has to navigate deadly cracks in the ice, as well as the treacherous currents of environmental controversy in the blogosphere. Soon she's afloat in both worlds, as all her certainties begin to dissolve. Starring Samantha Dakin, Felicity Montagu, Colin Stinton and Adam Billington, with Adjoa Andoh, Victoria Inez Hardy, Gerard McDermott, Carl Prekopp, Alex Rivers, Christopher Webster, and Tracy Wiles. Written by Kate Clanchy. Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting. Guitar played by Carl Prekopp.

Iced

Merryn Glover

When Lily, a young girl from a troubled background becomes pregnant, she insists she is still a virgin. A host of professionals swing into action. Lily becomes increasingly isolated: her belief is diagnosed as delusion, there are suspicions of abuse, and the unborn baby is shown to be severely disabled. But despite all of this, her conviction that God has chosen her for a miracle finds proof in the most unexpected ways. Starring Helen Mackay, Cathleen McCarron, Ken Drury, Jane Whittenshaw, Jenny Lee, Ali Craig and Megg Nicol. Written by Merryn Glover. Producer/director: David Ian Neville.

Immaculate

Simon Bovey

Elver season on the River Severn - a time of mystery and danger. The wrong time and place for a young man to be searching for his place in the world. Starring Robert Lonsdale, Emily Wachter, Ian Gelder, Stuart McLoughlin, Lizzy Watts, Stephen Hogan, Benjamin Askew and Matt Addis. Written by Simon Bovey. Directed by Marc Beeby.

Sargasso

Mark Lawson

An intriguing murder mystery exploring the desire of the artist to remain illusive and anonymous behind work which is heavily codified and seemingly impenetrable. When a brilliant young art historian flies in the face of the received wisdom regarding the work of the reclusive Anderson Perrine, the artist feels a distinct invasion of his privacy. He sets about laying a series of false trails but her pursuit of him is unrelenting and he is obliged to take radically evasive action. Starring Hattie Morahan, Joss Ackland, Miche Doherty, Mark Lawson and Robin Read, with Aine McCartney, BJ Hogg and Mark Lambert. Written by Mark Lawson. Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan and produced in Belfast for Radio 4.

The Artist Is Thinking

Michael Knowles

John Le Mesurier, Ian Lavender and Bill Pertwee star in four episodes of the radio sequel to Dad's Army. Inspecting the Piles: In order to save money, Hodges, Pike and Wilson decide to inspect the foundations of Frambourne Pier in an inflatable rubber dinghy - at night. Pike in Love: Uncle Arthur is called in to give Pike a lesson on the birds and the bees. The Friends of Frambourne Pier: Pike and Hodges decide to launch a campaign asking for volunteers and so The Friends of Frambourne Pier Association (FOFPA) is born. The First Meeting: The first meeting of The Friends of Frambourne Pier Association is convened. Arthur Wilson attends, but has to explain his evening out to a suspicious Mrs Pike. With John Le Mesurier as Arthur Wilson, Ian Lavender as Frank Pike and Bill Pertwee as Bert Hodges.

It Sticks Out Half A Mile

Continued

John Godber

Jack and Liz are in Blackpool for one last time. John Godber's classic stage play tells the touching and funny story of a marriage through a lifetime of holidays together. Starring Jane Godber, and John Godber. Directed by Toby Swift. John Godber is one of the country's most successful and prolific playwrights. Famously he was identified as the third most performed playwright in the UK after Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn. September in the Rain, written very early in his career, dates from 1983 and drew heavily on his grandparents' relationship. A play for two actors, it was originally performed by the author and his now wife, Jane. They resume their partnership for this radio production many years after last performing it together.

September In The Rain

Ayeesha Menon

Award-winning writer Ayeesha Menon's rework of Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit is set amongst the Catholic community in modern-day Mumbai.  Convinced his relatives are after his money, Martin Chuzzlewit, a wealthy old landlord, has adopted orphan girl Mary as his carer with the understanding she will be housed and fed as long as he lives - but on his death, she will inherit nothing. But when his grandson Mickey falls in love and wishes to marry Mary, Martin's plans are thrown into disarray...   Told from the point of view of orphan Thomas, an observer into the world of the Chuzzlewits, this is a fast-paced drama full of intrigue, romance, suspense and murder.   Starring Roshan Seth, Karan Pandit, Zafar Karachiwala and Nimrat Kaur.  Producer: John Dryden. A Goldhawk Essential Production for BBC Radio 4.   'A dazzling transposition of Dickens across centuries and continents' - Gillian Reynolds, Telegraph.

The Mumbai Chuzzlewits

Hugh Costello

Dublin, 1997. When Joe Finnerty marries into Dublin's political aristocracy his fortune appears to be made. Lucrative government contracts and the ready patronage of his heavy hitting father-in-law ensure that Joe soon becomes a man to be reckoned with. His own career in politics seems pre-ordained, until a disgruntled Party apparatchik leaks information concerning the unexplained death of Joe's ex-partner, creating a scandal which shakes the Finnerty empire and threatens to destroy Joe and everything he once held dear.  A cautionary tale about an individual's pact with political preferment - Irish style.  Written by Hugh Costello and directed by Eoin O'Callaghan. Starring Patrick Fitzsymons, John Kavanagh, Amanda Hurwitz, Cathy White, Michael J Murphy, Hugh Costello, Frankie McCafferty, Nicky Doherty and Padraig Doon.

Smoke And Daggers

Christopher Green

A comic monologue by Christopher Green, starring Caroline Quentin. 
 
A feisty woman has taken to her bed in the spare room and she is not getting up - ever. She's 39 and has decided that she is not having children. She claims her boyfriend is in denial, though in reality he is in Zurich. 
 
Directed by Claire Grove. 
 
©2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Second Best Bed

Katharine Way

Sarah has got the job of her dreams. Working with Cal, an Astronomy Professor at a remote observatory in New Zealand. Sarah loves her work, but she would rather look at stars than deal with people. Cal's an exciting person to work with - brilliant and intuitive, generous, funny. He also has an incredible capacity for work and never seems to sleep. They're busy looking at Black Holes when something strange happens - a transmission from a planet that is being destroyed. Cal is convinced it is genuine. But could this be the Holy Grail? 
 
Written by Katharine Way. 
Starring Julia Haworth as Sarah and Philip Bretherton as Cal 
Produced by Gary Brown. 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 2 May 2011 
 
 
©2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Star Struck

Gary Ogin

A BBC Radio 4 comedy exploring the crippling effects of acute social anxiety on work, hopes and relationships, starring Stuart McLoughlin. 'Shy Baby' was originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 17 Mar 2011.  Lionel Stillman has a new job, a girlfriend he thinks he loves, and a secret ambition - to be a stand-up comic. But he also has a problem. People make him nervous.  As Lionel stumbles from bad date with Emma to bad first day at a call centre, he struggles with an inner voice telling him he's boring and useless – 'or just plain weird'. At first, Emma thinks he's attractively shy. Then she decides he's a drinker.  But Lionel does have friends. At a weekly support group his fellow sufferers Simon, Max and Rosie uncover his ambition to be a comic and encourage him to take it further by setting a challenge: to perform in a comedy club. As the night approaches, the idea seems ludicrous. How can a man who can't bring himself to meet his girlfriend's parents stand up and perform in front of a raucous pub crowd? Rosie holds the key.  'Shy Baby' features Stuart McLoughlin as Lionel, Alex Tregear as Rosie, and Polly Barsby as Emma. The play was researched with the help of Social Anxiety support groups in London and Bristol.

Shy Baby

Peter Souter

A BBC Radio 4 romantic comedy about the separation of Sam (Alex Jennings) and Juliet (Tamsin Greig). 'That's Mine, This is Yours' was originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 4 May 2011.Sam and Juliet are to divorce. We join them as they meet to divide up their possessions in the house they've shared ever since they married. As they discuss what belongs to whom we learn all we need to know about their characters, what drew them together and what has driven them apart. We'll also learn if there is still some hope for them, even on the eve of their separation.The early signs are not good. They seem to have drifted apart and to have very little in common. Sam is an avid hoarder and collector; not of anything of great value, simply things that he feels should be kept together. For example he owns a single example of every toy ever given away with a McDonald's Happy Meal. Juliet's drive and decisiveness, once so sexy and stimulating, to him now feel like coldness and self-obsession.But is there still some way back from the brink for the couple?Starring Tamsin Greig ('The Archers', 'Episodes', 'Love Soup') as Juliet and Alex Jennings ('Goldfish Girl') as Sam, with Eleanor Butters as Amanda.

That's Mine, This Is Yours

Julia Blackburn

A BBC Radio 4 drama of mesmerising delicacy from Julia Blackburn, winner of the Pen Ackerley prize for memoir 2009, and daughter of poet Thomas Blackburn. Originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 29 March 2011.  Thomas Blackburn was an alcoholic before he became a poet, but in spite of his drunken rages, his erratic behaviour and his crazy obsession with death, Julia always knew that he loved her. She learnt the transforming power of words from him, and she clung to them, a life raft in a stormy sea. 'Find the metaphor, darling!' he'd say, 'and when you've got that, you're on the way towards facing whatever it is that needs to be faced!'  Julia is older now than her father ever became, and here is her son Daniel, about to get married. She worries about the impression she has given Daniel of his grandfather. There are no aunts or uncles to give a different twist on Thomas' life so it has all come from her: stories of bad behaviour and drunken excess, told to make Daniel laugh with disbelief but not to bring him closer to the man who was his grandfather. And what has Daniel inherited as well as that lanky body and those bushy eyebrows? Could there be a locked box of trouble somewhere inside him, a smouldering present from the past?  'The Spellbound Horses' stars Diana Quick as Julia, David Troughton as Tommy and Martin Bonger as Daniel. Also featured amongst the cast are Sally Orrock, Jacqueline Tong and Brian Bowles.

The Spellbound Horses

Alan Ayckbourn

Christmas is the season of good cheer and harmony among men, but things are not working out quite that way in the Bunker household. As a motley collection of friends and relatives fill the house with their own wishes, dreams and attitudes, the stage is set for seasonal disharmony and romantic intrigue. It’s Christmas Eve and while Belinda is rushing around decorating the tree and seeing to all the guests and their needs, Eddie and Pattie are having a serious bust-up. Added to all of this, Bernard is conducting a chaotic rehearsal of his annual gift for the children - a puppet show of The Three Little Pigs - as his wife, Phyllis gets quietly sloshed in the kitchen on the cooking wine. Then something disastrous occurs...

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