Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Iain Banks

Selected readings and full-cast dramatisations from across the literary and science fiction of Iain Banks 
 
Iain Banks, aka Iain M Banks, came to fame in 1984 with his transfixing debut The Wasp Factory, described as both ‘a work of unparalleled depravity’ and 'a masterpiece'. In 1993 he was acknowledged as one of the Best of Young British Writers, and his numerous bestselling books include The Crow Road, Complicity and the ‘Culture’ sci-fi series. Collected here are three of his best works, as heard on BBC Radio. 
 
The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks’ controversial first novel features one of literature’s most unsettling teenage boys. Sixteen-year-old Frank invites us inside his macabre world, as he describes experimenting with explosives, torturing insects – and killing his relatives. But he is not alone in his madness – his brother, Angus, has escaped from a psychiatric hospital and is making his way back home… Joseph McFadden reads this blackly comic cult classic, abridged by multi-award-winning playwright Craig Warner. 
 
The State of the Art – Arriving on Earth in 1977, the Culture ship Arbitrary finds a planet on the brink of self-destruction, obsessed with alien concepts such as ‘property’ and ‘money’. When agent Dervley Linter decides to go native, can Diziet Sma change his mind? Antony Sher, Nina Sosanya and Paterson Joseph star in this thrilling sci-fi novella, adapted for radio by Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell. 
 
Piece – As he waits to board a plane, Munro recalls two previous journeys. Travelling by bus and then train, he finds himself in parallel arguments started by the books he is carrying, pitching reason against faith. But life is too complicated for there not to be continual coincidences… This radio adaptation by Craig Warner of Iain Banks’ short story stars Bill Paterson. 
 
Espedair Street – Told in the style of a Radio 1 documentary, Paul Gambaccini presents the story behind the spectacular rise and tragic fall of the fictional 1970s mega-band, Frozen Gold – from the album deal that set a rock industry record, to the mysterious deaths of two of the band members. At the centre of it all is Weird, the songwriting genius from a Paisley housing scheme, who suddenly finds himself living a life of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll… Starring John-Gordon Sinclair, Louise Beattie, James MacPherson and Steven McNicoll, and featuring original music by Iain Banks. 
 
Text copyright © Iain Banks 1984 (The Wasp Factory), 1987 (Espedair Street), 1989 (‘Piece’) 
The State of the Art copyright © Iain M Banks 1989 
 
The Wasp Factory 
Read by Joseph McFadden 
Abridged by Craig Warner 
Produced by Alex Burrett 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 March-5 April 1997 
 
The State of the Art 
The Ship – Antony Sher 
Diziet Sma – Nina Sosanya 
Dervley Linter – Paterson Joseph 
Li – Graeme Hawley 
Tel – Brigit Forsyth 
Sodel – Conrad Nelson 
Dramatised by Paul Cornell 
Directed by Nadia Molinari 
First broadcast BBC Radio 5, 5 March 2009 
 
Piece 
Munro - Bill Paterson 
Jack- Harry Jones 
Mo - Bash Kher 
Eve/the Voice - Susan Sheridan 
Adapted by Craig Warner 
Produced and directed by John York 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 6 June 1991 
 
Espedair Street 
Weird – John Gordon Sinclair 
Christine – Louise Beattie 
Davey – James MacPherson 
Ric – Steven McNicoll 
McCann – Sandy Morton 
Jean Webb – Margaret Clark 
Wes – Douglas Russell 
Wee Tommy – Martin Docherty 
Inez – Gowan Calder 
Nightclub manager – Graham Debanzi 
Pop biographer – Paul Gambaccini 
Dramatised by Joe Dunlop 
Music by lain Banks and Nigel Clark 
Keyboards: Brian Kellock, Guitar: Nick Clark, Drums: Gordon Wilson, Vocals: Monica Queen 
Directed by Dave Batchelor 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8-29 January 2008 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Iain Banks: A BBC Radio Collection

Including The Wasp Factory, The State of the Art & Espedair Street

Neil Gaiman

A gripping BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Neil Gaiman's bestselling and much-loved novel 
 
When his father dies, Fat Charlie Nancy discovers that not only was the late Mr Nancy actually the god Anansi, but that he also has a long-lost brother, Spider, who is everything Fat Charlie is not. When Spider begins to take over Fat Charlie's life, flat and even his fiancée Rosie, Fat Charlie is forced to make a pact that lands him in trouble with the gods themselves... 
 
Anansi Boys is a story of love, laughter, music and murder, old gods and new tricks that takes Fat Charlie from his home in South London to Florida, the Caribbean, and the very Beginning of the World itself. Or the End of the World. Depending on which direction you’re coming from. 
 
Jacob Anderson stars as Charlie, and he has written and performed a specially commissioned song – ‘Charlie's Song’ – which forms part of the magical fabric of Anansi Boys. 
 
Dramatised for Radio 4 by the award-winning Dirk Maggs (Neverwhere, Good Omens, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), the stellar cast of this series also includes Joseph Marcell, Lenny Henry, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Adjoa Andoh,Julie Hesmondhalgh and Julian Rhind-Tutt, as well as a cameo appearance from Neil Gaiman himself.

Anansi Boys

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Robert Holmes

Patrick Troughton’s Doctor gets involved in galactic intrigue and piracy in this exclusive recording of a ‘lost’ television adventure, with linking narration by Frazer Hines.   The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe become victims of piracy when they materialise on a space beacon, minutes before it is literally blown to pieces. So begins their quest to be reunited with the TARDIS, whilst treading perilously across the paths of the Interstella Space Corps and a gang of murderous bandits.   The eccentric prospector Milo Clancey gives the travellers passage in his ageing spaceship, but the old man is himself the focus of Space Corps investigations. Could he possibly be behind the destruction and salvage of so many beacons in the sector? What is the position of Madeleine Issigri, who runs her father’s mining corporation on the planet Ta – and how might a locked room provide the answer to this mystery?   Half the galaxy is spanned in a game of cat and mouse between the law enforcers – led by no-nonsense General Hermack and his V-Ship crew – and the pirates Caven and Dervish, who will apparently stop at nothing to continue their lucrative racket.   This six-part adventure, brimming with visions of space travel in the 21st century, offers space opera on a grand scale and was the penultimate story of the second Doctor’s TV era.

Doctor Who: The Space Pirates (TV Soundtrack)

Maeve Binchy

A collection of full-cast dramatisations and readings from the bestselling author 
 
‘There’s nobody like Binchy for warming the cockles’ Times 
 
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. 
 
Firefly Summer is a moving, humorous novel about a sleepy Irish town facing monumental change, dramatised in six parts with a full cast including David Soul and Lorcan Cranitch. 
 
No Nightingales, No Snakes features full-cast dramatisations of five Maeve Binchy short stories, with a distinguished cast including Niamh Cusack, Sam Dale and Harry Towb. 
 
The Garden Party contains four short stories specially commissioned for BBC Radio 4, read by Niamh Cusack, Dervla Kirwan, Doreen Hepburn and Stella McCusker. 
 
The Homecoming comprises four more stories exclusively written for BBC Radio 4, read by Sean Campion, Joanna Myers, Patricia Hodge and Kate Binchy. 
 
Dealing with families, friendship, love, loss, sorrow and joy, these stories will delight all Maeve Binchy fans. Duration: 6 hours approx

Maeve Binchy: Collected Stories

Collected BBC Radio adaptations

Tony Bagley

Cantankerous bachelor Robin Lightfoot is happily single – until one morning he awakes to discover he’s married with two children. And he has two half-brothers... both called Ian. Is it a nightmare, a practical joke or something more sinister? 
 
Robin gradually realises that he’s in an alternate universe, where the Lib Dems are in power, the Dimbleby brothers are sports commentators and alcohol is a class-A drug. He discovers that Arthur Smith is a children’s entertainer, Stephen Fry is a Royal Biographer, and Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark is a homeless waif who sets fire to telephone boxes. 
 
But just as he’s adjusting to the situation and warming to his new family, his life is up-ended once more when he learns of the existence of his evil doppelganger, who is wreaking havoc in both universes. 
 
With events spiralling out of control, Robin gets set for divorce from the woman he never married in the first place, is accused of murder and faces the death penalty, and discovers the awful truth about Operation War of the Worlds. And as the two universes collide, vortices open and temporal and spatial anomalies multiply, Robin begins to suspect he may be personally responsible for the whole mess. Can he solve the riddle and save the world, or is he just too grumpy to try? 
 
Created by award-winning writer Tony Bagley, this madcap parallel universe comedy stars Hugh Bonneville as Robin and Josie Lawrence as Lesley, with co-stars including Stephen Frost, Lewis MacLeod and Arthur Smith. 
 
Written by Tony Bagley 
Produced by Claire Jones 
Theme music: ‘I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive’, written and sung by Hank Williams

Married: A BBC Radio Sci-Fi Comedy: Series 1-3

A.L. Kennedy

An original novel by A.L. Kennedy featuring the Fourth Doctor, as played by Tom Baker in the BBC TV series. 
 
Something distinctly odd is going on in Arbroath. It could be to do with golfers being dragged down into the bunkers at the Fetch Brothers’ Golf Spa Hotel, never to be seen again. 
 
It might be related to the strange twin grandchildren of the equally strange Mrs Fetch – owner of the hotel and fascinated with octopuses. It could be the fact that people in the surrounding area suddenly know what others are 
thinking, without anyone saying a word. Whatever it is, the Doctor is most at home when faced with the distinctly odd. With the help of Fetch Brothers’ Junior Receptionist Bryony, he’ll get to the bottom of things. Just so long as he does so in time to save Bryony from quite literally losing her mind, and the entire world from destruction. 
 
Because something huge, ancient and alien lies hidden beneath the ground – and it’s starting to wake up...

Doctor Who: The Drosten's Curse

A 4th Doctor novel

Andrew Lane

Dan Starkey recounts a brand new adventure in Victorian Wales for the Eighth Doctor, as played on TV by Paul McGann. 
 
In 1890s Cardiff, reporter James MacFarlane is intrigued by rumours of 'anaesthesia frolics', at which gatherings the latest frontier in pain relief is demonstrated to influential guests. 
 
After he speaks to someone who attended several such 'frolics' - and left with a hand and two fingers missing - James realises that the events have a dark side. Contriving an invitation, he is astounded to find another guest also investigating - it's his old friend the Doctor! 
 
Reunited in mystery, the Doctor and James enter the murky underbelly of polite Cardiff society, where they uncover a shattering secret - and a monster lurking at its heart. 
 
Dan Starkey, who played Strax in the BBC TV series, reads Andrew Lane's dark and brooding tale. 
 
Reading produced by Neil Gardner 
Project Editor & Executive Producer: Michael Stevens 
Sound Design: David Darlington 
? 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Doctor Who: The Code of Flesh

8th Doctor Audio Original

These three stories - The Myth Makers, The Massacre and The Highlanders - see the TARDIS landing in Ancient Greece, 16th Century France and 18th Century Scotland. In The Myth Makers, the time travellers arrive on the plains of Asia Minor, not far from the city of Troy - where the Doctor finds himself hailed as the god Zeus. In The Massacre, he is mistaken for the Abbot of Amboise when the TARDIS materialises in Paris in 1572 - a time of dangerous tension between Protestants and Catholics. And in The Highlanders, The Doctor, Ben and Polly arrive in Scotland after the Battle of Culloden, where they are taken prisoner by Scots rebels. William Hartnell stars as the Doctor in The Myth Makers and The Massacre, whilst Patrick Troughton steps into the role for The Highlanders. Linking narration is provided by Peter Purves and Frazer Hines.

Doctor Who: Adventures In History

Eoin Colfer

Douglas Adams

The brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast series based on And Another Thing… the sixth book in the famous Hitchhiker’s Guide “trilogy”. 
 
Winner of the 2019 Audie Award for Science Fiction. 
 
Forty years on from the first ever radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent and friends return in six brand new episodes, in which they are thrown back into the Whole General Mish Mash in a rattling adventure involving Viking Gods and Irish Confidence Tricksters, with our first glimpse of Eccentrica Gallumbits and a brief but memorable moment with The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast Of Traal. 
 
Starring John Lloyd as The Book, with Simon Jones as Arthur, Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Sandra Dickinson and Susan Sheridan as Trillian, Jim Broadbent as Marvin the Paranoid Android and Jane Horrocks as Fenchurch, the cast also includes Samantha Béart, Toby Longworth, Andy Secombe, Ed Byrne, Lenny Henry, Philip Pope, Mitch Benn, Jon Culshaw and Professor Stephen Hawking. 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018, the series is written and directed by Dirk Maggs and based on And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams. This edition also includes over 50 minutes of unbroadcast bonus material. 
 
Listeners are reminded that the relaxed attitude to danger provided by Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses is no substitute for running around, screaming. 
 
Music by Philip Pope 
Production research by Kevin Jon Davies 
Written and directed by Dirk Maggs 
Based on the novel And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer, with additional material by Douglas Adams 
Recorded at The Soundhouse Ltd. by Gerry O'Riordan 
Sound Design by Dirk Maggs 
Produced by Dirk Maggs, Helen Chattwell and David Morley 
A Perfectly Normal Production for BBC Radio 4

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase

And Another Thing...

Lucy Catherine

London, 2049. 
 
Full body transplants on sale here: the more you pay, the better the body. But can an expensive upgrade really fulfil the life-changing expectations of demoralised mortician Caroline McAleese? 
 
Caroline is desperate to be promoted to the sales team - but she's overweight and over 40, and in a world where attractiveness is prioritised ahead of intelligence, her prospects are slim. Then she hits the jackpot in the Citizens' Lottery, and gets the chance to trade up to the perfect new body: one that's young, lithe and beautiful. 
 
It's a dream come true for Caroline - until she starts to experience teething problems. Her behaviours begin to change, and she is haunted by violent dreams. She's not alone in her new body, and no longer in control. What shadows have been left by her body's former inhabitant? And whose voice is it she hears in her head? 
 
Developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental Stories scheme, this dark, futuristic series was written by award-winning dramatist Lucy Catherine, whose credits include Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, Gudrun and The Master and Margarita. It stars Jill Halfpenny as Caroline, with Shelley Conn, Samantha Dakin and Chetna Pandya. 
 
Cast 
Caroline - Jill Halfpenny 
Gloria - Shelley Conn 
Rowan/Benefits Office Computer - Adam Courting 
Anastasia - Samantha Dakin 
Tom/Car Salesman - Ian Conningham 
Waiter/Security Guard - Greg Jones 
Bar Guy/Che - Ikky Elyas 
Virtual James - Will Kirk 
Government Computer/Stan - Neil McCaul 
Work Computer/Library Computer - Sinead MacInnes 
Lift Voice/Young Mum - Lucy Reynolds 
Paulina - Chetna Pandya 
Mel - Liza Sadovy 
Trevor - Clive Hayward 
Karina - Heather Craney 
BodyEx Computer - Scarlett Courtney 
Hotel Computer - Laura Christy 
 
Directed by Toby Swift 
Developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental Stories scheme 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11-13 March 2020

Body Horror

A BBC Radio dystopian thriller

Seven colourful stories featuring K9 in the company of Sarah Jane, Brendan, Aunt Lavinia, the Doctor and Romana. 
 
Everyone's favourite mutt-shaped automaton discovers that both outer space and 1980s Earth can be fraught with danger in these colourful tales from the pages of K9 Annual and Doctor Who Annual. 
 
Following their exploits in K9 & Company, Sarah Jane and K9 embark on a watery mission in The Monster of Loch Crag. In Powerstone there's something extraordinary in the cellar of Aunt Lavinia's house, and then K9 is the centre of attention at a Midsummer Night's ceremony in Hound of Hell. Later, Sarah finds that the thrills of a blockbuster movie set are all too real in The Shroud of Azaroth. 
 
K9's travels in the TARDIS are also covered in this collection: when the Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive at an intergalactic conference they must avert The Voton Terror. Later they're ensnared by the Light Fantastic on Planet UX80, and when the Doctor visits an old friend they encounter some very Reluctant Warriors. 
 
John Leeson, Bonnie Langford, Dan Starkey and Geoffrey Beevers read these nostalgic and much-loved adventures. "Affirmative!" 
 
(P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
 
Readings produced by Neil Gardner 
Sound design by David Darlington 
Executive producer: Michael Stevens

Doctor Who: The K9 Audio Annual

From the Worlds of Doctor Who

Phil Whelans

The complete series 1 and 2 of My First Planet - a sitcom set on a shiny new planet, starring Nicholas Lyndhurst, Vicki Pepperdine (Jo Brand's Getting On) &amp; Tom Goodman-Hill (Another Case of Milton Jones) 
 
The story so far: Unfortunately, Burrows the leader of the colony has died on the voyage, so his Number 2, Brian (Nicholas Lyndhurst), is now in charge. He's a nice enough chap, but no alpha male, and his desire to sort things out with a nice friendly meeting infuriates the colony's Chief Physician, Lillian (Vicki Pepperdine), who'd really rather everyone was walking round in tight colour-coded tunics and saluting each other. She's also in charge of Project Adam, the plan to conceive and give birth to the first colony-born baby. 
 
Unfortunately, the two people hand-picked for this purpose - Carol and Richard - were rather fibbing about being a couple, just to get on the trip. Add in an entirely unscrupulous Chief Scientist, Mason, and also Archer, an idiot maintenance man who believes he's an "empath" rather than a plumber, and you’re all set to answer the question: If humankind were to colonize space, is it destined to succumb to self-interest, prejudice, and infighting? (By the way, the answer’s "yes". Sorry.)

My First Planet

The Complete Series 1 and 2

Dan Starkey reads this original adventure for the Eighth Doctor - as played on TV by Paul McGann - and Victorian journalist James MacFarlane. 
 
The Doctor is working undercover in 1890s Galway whilst investigating the mysterious sinking of the RMS Majestic. Witnesses recall something huge crashing into the sea, causing a massive wave which overturned the ship. Could it have been the mythical sea creature known as the Dobhar-chu? 
 
Also on the scene is James MacFarlane, intrepid journalist and friend of the Doctor. Reunited, the pair discover death stalking the area in the form of animated corpses. The Doctor soon realises that aliens are present, and unless stopped their plans could kill everyone in County Connemara! 
 
Dan Starkey, who played Strax and other characters in the BBC TV series, reads this zombie chiller from Andrew Lane. 
 
? 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. 
 
Reading produced by Morrison Ellis. Sound design by David Darlington. Executive producer for BBC Audiobooks: Michael Stevens

Doctor Who: The Force of Death

Dan Starkey reads a brand new audio adventure for the Eighth Doctor, set in Victorian Edinburgh. It's the late 1890s, and newspaper journalist James MacFarlane is on the trail of a supernatural entity. He's joined in his investigations by a mysterious stranger, who calls himself the Doctor and professes to know a lot about vampires. 
 
As gangs of locals gather zombie-like on the city's streets, James and the Doctor find themselves on a dangerous trail to find the truth. What links the secretive Lord and Lady Elmhurst to local events? What strange force is luring ordinary men and women to a local quarry? The Doctor soon realises that the answers lie in his own past... 
 
 Dan Starkey, who played the Sontaran Strax in the TV series, reads this original story by Andrew Lane featuring the Eighth Doctor, as played on TV by Paul McGann. 
 
Reading produced by Neil Gardner 
Sound design by David Darlington 
Project Editor: John Ainsworth 
Executive Producer: Michael Stevens

Doctor Who: The Scent of Blood

Nick Perry

A child in an East End garden plays with an imaginary friend. One day she goes to the bottom of the garden and never returns. A homeless man desperately tries to stay awake, believing that whenever he falls asleep he wakes up in a different century. A London Underground maintenance engineer walks the two miles between adjacent stations in less than four minutes. 
 
While travelling on the London Underground one afternoon, Alice meets the gaze of a man standing on the platform of a mysterious "ghost station". As her train hurtles into a tunnel, he's gone. She's convinced that the man was her brother Alan who has been missing presumed dead for the past five years. 
 
 This fleeting encounter is the beginning of Alice's increasingly bizarre, desperate and labyrinthine search for her missing brother, a journey that leads her back through time into London's past. 
 
 As Alice soon discovers, London is not one but many cities, a city of curious anomalies and dark secrets, of hidden portals to other dimensions, a city so vast and varied that the weird and the uncanny blend seamlessly with the ordinary, where the person sitting next to you on the bus, or walking beside you on the pavement, may in fact be a visitor from another time. 
 
Alice . . . . . Scarlett Brookes 
Alan . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr 
Mum/Jackie . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw 
Lizzie . . . . . Emma Handy 
Dorian/Doctor/Churchill . . . . . Roger Ringrose 
Simon/Morris . . . . . Joseph Ayre 
Kelechi/Jack . . . . . Stefan Adegbola 
Stefania/Jill . . . . . Charlotte East 
Child/Isaac . . . . . Aaron Gelkoff 
Pianist: Peter Ringrose 
 
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko

London Particular

A BBC Radio sci-fi drama

Stephen Cole

When a naval cruiser sinks in mysterious circumstances in the North Sea, all aboard are lost. Rose is saddened to learn that the brother of her friend, Keisha, was among the dead. But then he appears to them as a ghostly apparition, begging to be saved from the coming feast... the feast of the drowned. As the dead crew haunt loved ones all over London, the Doctor and Rose are drawn into a chilling mystery. What sank the ship, and why? When the cruiser’s wreckage was towed up the Thames, what sinister force came with it? The river’s dark waters are hiding an even darker secret, as preparations for the feast near their conclusion... Read by the Tenth Doctor himself, this exciting adventure features the Doctor and Rose, as played by David Tennant and Billie Piper in the acclaimed hit series from BBC Television. Also included is an exclusive bonus interview with the author, Stephen Cole, compiled by David Darlington of Doctor Who Magazine.

Doctor Who: The Feast Of The Drowned

H G Wells

Yevgeni Zamyatin

Franz Kafka

Aldous Huxley

George Orwell

John Wyndham

Full-cast dramatisations of six masterpieces from the founding fathers of dystopian fiction 
 
Dark and disturbing, provocative and prescient, dystopian literature has long captured our imagination with its nightmarish visions of forbidding future worlds. Included here are six classic novels of time-travel, totalitarianism and terror, written by some of the masters of speculative fiction and adapted for radio with all-star casts. 
 
The Time Machine by HG Wells - A Victorian inventor takes a fateful journey into the far future, where mankind has diverged into two species - the Eloi and the Morlocks. Robert Glenister and William Gaunt star in this pioneering science fiction adventure. 
 
We by Evgeny Zamyatin - In a post-revolutionary future, OneState is ruled according to the principles of rationality. The penalty for dissent is death. But when engineer D-503 meets the beautiful 1-330, he begins to question everything... Starring Anton Lesser, Don Warrington and Brigit Forsyth. 
 
The Trial by Franz Kafka - Josef K is an ordinary man who lives a quiet life. Then, one morning, he is awoken by two men and arrested - but what is his crime? Mike Gwylim stars in this gripping dramatisation by Hanif Kureishi. 
 
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - It's 2116 and Helmholtz Watson and Bernard Marx are token rebels in a society where eugenics, promiscuity and happiness are gently enforced. Into this world comes an outsider, John, who will show the duo what rebellion really means... Starring Justin Salinger, John Coy and Milton Lopes. 
 
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell - Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history to suit the Party. When he finds love with Julia, he awakens to new possibilities - but free thinking is forbidden, and Big Brother is always watching... Christopher Eccleston and Pippa Nixon star in Orwell's chilling tale. 
 
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham - In a post-apocalyptic world devastated by genetic mutation, the God-respecting people of Waknuk regard deviation as the work of the Devil. Young David and his friends can communicate by telepathy: but as Mutants, they must hide their powers or face the consequences of discovery... Starring Matthew Beard, Verity-May Henry and Emma Cunniffe. 
 
First published 1899 (The Time Machine), 1921 (We), 1925 (The Trial), 1932 (Brave New World), 1949 (Nineteen Eighty-Four), 1955 (The Chrysalids) 
 
(P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. © 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Classic Dystopias: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

The Time Machine, We, The Trial, Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Chrysalids

Scotland, 1745. The Doctor, Ben and Polly arrive in Scotland after the Battle of Culloden and meet a band of Highlanders who are fleeing in defeat. Their Laird is injured and the three offer to help tend his injuries. Polly and Kirsty McLaren, the Laird's daughter (played in a guest appearance by Hannah Gordon) go to fetch some water but while they are gone the others are captured by Redcoat troops.   Things become worse when the group is taken again - this time by the crooked Solicitor Grey, who is part of the West Indian slave trade. The prisoners, Ben amongst them, are bundled on board the Annabelle where the wicked Captain Trask issues dire threats of drowning.   Meanwhile the Doctor is on dry land confusing all and sundry in a variety of disguises. However, his bumbling manner hides a sharp brain and eventually he, Polly and Ben are reunited in the TARDIS together with the young piper Jamie McCrimmon, who went on to become one of the most popular companions of the series.

Doctor Who: The Highlanders (TV Soundtrack)

Justin Richards

Gareth Roberts

Steve Lyons

Stuart Milligan, Anthony Head and Camille Coduri are the readers of these three original novels featuring the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack, as played on TV by Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper and John Barrowman. 
 
In these adventures in time and space, the travellers discover a dangerous alien predator at an abandoned Soviet naval base, a Neanderthal man in modern day London, and a world on which fiction has been outlawed. 
 
The stories are The Deviant Strain by Justin Richards, Only Human by Gareth Roberts, and The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons. Based in the hit BBC TV series. 
 
Stuart Milligan played President Nixon in two Doctor Who TV episodes; Anthony Head played Brother Lasser in the episode School Reunion; Camille Coduri played Jackie Tyler in the series from 2005 onwards.

Doctor Who: Ninth Doctor Novels Volume 2

9th Doctor Novels

Mark Michalowski

For Donna Noble, the Andromeda galaxy is a long, long way from home. But even two-and-a-half-million light years from Earth, danger lurks around every corner... A visit to an art gallery turns into a race across space to uncover the secret behind a shadowy organization. From the desert world of Karris to the interplanetary scrapyard of Junk, the Doctor and Donna discover that appearances can be deceptive, that enemies are lurking around every corner, and that the centuries-long peace between humans and machines may be about to come to an end. Because waiting in the wings to bring chaos to the galaxy is The Cult of Shining Darkness. Featuring the Doctor and Donna as played by David Tennant and Catherine Tate in the hit TV series from BBC Television, Shining Darkness is read by Debbie Chazen, who played Foof Van Hoff in the TV episode Voyage of the Damned.

Doctor Who: Shining Darkness

Ian Marter

Jamie Glover reads a thrilling novelisation of an adventure in history for the First Doctor. 
 
 It's 1794, and the TARDIS materialises some distance from Paris during the French Revolution, the scene of the infamous Reign of Terror. Soon the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara find themselves caught up in the tangled web of historical events. 
 
 Who is James Stirling, the master-spy to whom Ian must deliver a message? What world-shattering events are being discussed in a deserted inn off the Calais road? And can the Doctor and his friends escape a violent and bloody death at the dreaded guillotine? 
 
Jamie Glover, who played William Russell in BBC TV's An Adventure in Space and Time, reads Nigel Robinson's novelisation of the 1964 TV serial by Dennis Spooner. 
 
 (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd © 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror

1st Doctor Novelisation

Gerry Davis

History books don't always tell the whole story. Certainly there is no record of an episode that occurred when the Scots, led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, were defeated by the English at the battle of Culloden in 1746... And the presence at the time of a blue police box on the Scottish moors seems to have escaped the notice of most eye-witnesses... The Highlanders sets the record straight. And while the incidents described may not be of great interest to historians, for Jamie McCrimmon they mark the beginning of a series of extraordinary adventures. Anneke Wills, who played the Doctor's companion Polly in the original BBC TV serial, reads Gerry Davis's complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1984.

Doctor Who: The Highlanders

Paul Cornell

An unabridged reading of the 7th Doctor novel by Paul Cornell which formed the basis for the 10th Doctor television story Human Nature / The Family of Blood. Hulton College in Norfolk is a school dedicated to producing military officers. With the First World War about to start, the boys of the school will soon be on the front line. But no one expects a war – not even Dr John Smith, the college’s new house master… 
 
The Doctor’s friend Benny is enjoying her holiday in the same town. But then she meets a future version of the Doctor, and things start to get dangerous very quickly. With the Doctor she knows gone, and only a suffragette and an elderly rake for company, can Benny fight off a vicious alien attack? And will Dr Smith be able to save the day?

Doctor Who: Human Nature

A 7th Doctor novel

William Emms

Maureen O’Brien reads this exciting classic novelisation of a First Doctor TV adventure. 
 
Following a skirmish in deep space, two alien spacecraft have crash landed on a barren planet in Galaxy Four. The Drahvins are a race of beautiful females, led by the imperious Maaga. The Rills are hideous tusked monstrosities, accompanied by their robotic servants, the Chumblies. 
 
When the Doctor arrives, with companions Vicki and Steven in tow, he discovers that the planet will explode in two days' time. The Drahvins desperately seek his help in escaping the planet and the belligerent Rills. But things are not always as they seem... 
 
Maureen O’Brien, who played Vicki in the BBC TV series, reads William Emms’s complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1986. 
 
Duration: 4 hours approx. 
 
“This range of classic Target audiobooks continues to go from strength to strength…” Doctor Who Magazine 
.

Doctor Who: Galaxy Four

Michel Faber

A BBC Radio adaptation of Michel Faber’s science fiction masterpiece, starring Dougray Scott, Joe Armstrong and Hayley Atwell 
 
Peter is a devoted husband and man of faith who is called to the mission of a lifetime – one that takes him galaxies away from his wife, Beatrice. Hired as a preacher by an enigmatic corporation called USIC, he must leave behind everything he loves to travel to the far distant planet of Oasis, where the company has its base. 
 
The native inhabitants – a gentle, peaceable community – welcome Peter to their settlement, and are eager to hear the teachings of the Bible, which they call ‘The Book of Strange New Things’. As he becomes acquainted with his new flock, he tells them about where he has come from, and shows them photos of life on Earth. 
 
But in his absence, climate change has wreaked devastation on Peter’s home planet. Letters from his wife tell of food shortages, natural disasters and societal breakdown – and as survival on Earth becomes more and more difficult, the distance between Peter and Beatrice grows ever vaster. As their relationship is put under increasing strain, can they find a way to reconnect with each other? 
 
Winner of the Saltire Book of the Year Award 2015, The Book of Strange New Things is an extraordinary, unforgettable tale of love, faith and what happens when both are tested to breaking point. This mesmerising dramatisation stars Dougray Scott as the Narrator, Joe Armstrong as Peter and Hayley Atwell as Beatrice. 
 
Cast and credits 
Narrator – Dougray Scott 
Peter – Joe Armstrong 
Beatrice – Hayley Atwell 
Grainger – Kelly Burke 
Oasan/Tuska – Mark Edel-Hunt 
Jesus Lover Number One/Severin – Michael Bertenshaw 
Jesus Lover Number Five/BG – Damian Lynch 
Jesus Lover Number Four – David Acton 
USIC Psychologist – Jane Slavin 
USIC Doctor – Elaine Claxton 
Other parts played by members of the company 
 
Written by Michel Faber 
Adapted by Miranda Emmerson 
Directed by Emma Harding 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 6-17 October 2014

The Book of Strange New Things

Niel Bushnell

Adjoa Andoh reads a dynamic new story featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose, as played on TV by Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. 
 
 When the Doctor diverts an asteroid from its collision course with Earth, the TARDIS is invaded by an ancient menace: a Solonite. Racing to save her friend's life, Rose lands the TARDIS in Northumberland, Earth in 1986, and they find shelter in an isolated farmhouse. 
 
 Teaming up with Peggy, a grieving artist, the travellers realise the terrible truth: the Solonite has accompanied them to Earth, and is now at large. As the terrifying entity seeks to possess them, its fearful purpose becomes clear - and it involves the TARDIS... 
 
 Adjoa Andoh, who played Francine Jones in the BBC TV series, reads Niel Bushnell's electrifying original story, with accompanying sound design. 
 
 (P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
 Reading produced by Neil Gardner 
 Sound design by David Roocroft 
 Executive producer: Michael Stevens

Doctor Who: The Ashes of Eternity

9th Doctor Audio Original

Paul Barnhill

Neil Warhurst

James Fleet stars as Captain ‘Flashdance’ Gordon Taylor in this science fiction sitcom set in the 22nd century 
 
It’s the year 2104, and a fleet of research cruisers has been launched into space on a mission to seek out new life. Every moment on board has been captured, preserved and transmitted back to Earth – and in these unique recordings from The Really Invincible III, Macclesfield Division, we get to eavesdrop on all the goings-on of the plucky but inept crew... 
 
From a problematic meeting with an alien princess to a horde of space tourists on a holiday from hell, life on the cruiser is never less than eventful. Indecisive Captain Taylor is faced with disaster when another of the fleet’s spaceships, The Indestructible III, suddenly explodes; relentlessly nice Communications Officer Karen embarks on a forbidden romance with ship’s engineer Stuart; and medical scientist Clive 55 causes chaos when he is arrested for murdering his 136 clones, and experiments with dark matter to catastrophic effect. 
 
Having survived a trip into a black hole, the team run into trouble with some murderous plant life; get into a spot of bother with a marauding, undead space pirate; contract a mystery plague that causes them to age at an alarming rate; and find reality reflected back at them in the mirror at the end of the universe... 
 
Created by Clayton Grange writers Paul Barnhill and Neil Warhurst, who also play Stuart and Clive 55, this zany space comedy features an ensemble cast including James Fleet, Emily Joyce and Rosie Cavaliero. 
 
 
Written by Paul Barnhill and Neil Warhurst 
Directed by Sally Avens 
 
Cast 
Captain Gordon Taylor – James Fleet 
Melissa Patterson – Emily Joyce 
Karen Trex – Rosie Cavaliero 
Stuart Jackson – Paul Barnhill 
Clive 55 – Neil Warhurst 
Princess Urrgh/Captain Ponter/The King of the Dwapeye – Stephen Hogan 
Urrgh Emperor/Ion – Jason Chan 
Narrator – Nicholas Boulton 
Trevor – Rob Hastie 
The Pendula Verbularis – Anna Bengo 
Captain Jones – Simon Treves 
Therapy Computer – Joannah Tincey 
Spam – Ben Crowe 
Doreen – Rachel Atkins 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 7, 27 June-1 July 2005 (Series 1), 25–29 February 2008 (Series 2) 
 
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Spaceship: The Complete Series 1 and 2

A BBC Radio Sci-Fi Comedy

Bob Ayres

Dan Starkey reads this original adventure for the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory. 
 
“Hello, I’m the Doctor… Doctor someone… can’t remember who at the moment. Hoping it will come back to me.” 
 
On a planet with twin suns, three people wake in the shadow of a crashed spaceship. They don’t know who they are or where they are. All they have to go on is a photograph of themselves marked ‘Amy and her boys: Rory and the Doctor’. It’s obvious who Amy is – but which of them is the Doctor? 
 
A voice recorder in one of their pockets reveals how the TARDIS materialised some days earlier in the centre of a stone circle and the travellers met blue-skinned Sunaya, apparent sole survivor of the crashed ship. 
 
Yet Sunaya isn’t who she claims to be, and she is also far from alone. She and her children have been waiting to feed on the memories and identities of the living. 
 
And as their own memories fade, the Doctor, Amy and Rory are in danger of being left behind for ever… 
 
Dan Starkey, who has played several roles in the BBC TV series, reads Bob Ayres's intriguing tale. 
 
Reading produced by Morrison Ellis 
Sound design by James Murray 
Executive Producer: Michael Stevens 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Doctor Who Circle of Memory

11th Doctor Audio Original

Jim Poyser

Jim Poyser's BBC radio riotous six-part comedy of time travel and delight 
 
 
Jason Slater is a very average twenty-first-century English teacher from Cheadle Hulme, but somehow wakes up after a few drinks in nineteenth-century Macclesfield. Apparently, he's now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport, with a faithful valet, a suspicious brother, a spurned ex-girlfriend (who's now going out with his brother) - and no obvious way he'll ever get back home again. 
 
From toasted sandwich makers and the perfect beer, to root canals and royal visits, can Jason - Tarquin, that is - change the course of history and make 1834 his playground? Or will all his modern sentiments and inventions cause total disaster for the rest of time - or at least the rest of his life)? A fun comedy of historical proportions, 1834: Time Travelling Teacher is created by the writer of Stockport: So Good They Named It Once and The Architects. 
 
 
 
Cast 
Jason Slater: Michael Begley 
Ned: Joe Caffery 
Hoskins: Kenneth Alan Taylor 
Lord Belfort: Mark Chatterton 
Henry: James Nickerson 
Luddite/Highwayman: Toby Hadoke 
Millicent: Julia Rounthwaite 
Stubbs: Glenn Cunningham 
Duke of Cranmere: John Craig 
Queen Victoria: Caroline Harding 
 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
11 June - 16 July 2003 
 
Production credits 
Written by Jim Poyser 
Directed by Polly Thomas 
 
©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

1834 Time Travelling Teacher

A BBC Radio 4 Comedy

Richard Turner

William Osborne

The complete first and second series of the Orwellian sitcom starring Robert Lindsay and David Threlfall 
 
In this parody of George Orwell’s dystopian classic, everyman Edward Wilson finds his life taking a sinister turn when he becomes embroiled in mysterious government machinations. 
 
Nineteen Ninety-Four sees our hero hired by the Ministry of the Environment. Probing a strange incident in Cumbria, he learns more about Sellingfield – a new town watched over by the guardians of consumerism. As his knack for blunt honesty gets him noticed (though not in a good way), he is put up for promotion (without really knowing why), and before long Edward is in charge of the Environment – but for how long? 
 
Nineteen Ninety-Eight finds Edward trying to hang on to his girlfriend and dodging explosions. Forced to go on the run, he meets the Leopard, and soon his quest for truth becomes the Movement. But as Edwards’s allies are absorbed by Am Jap, he and Tabitha must finally face their foe, Colonel Brad. Is this the end of the line for the daring duo? 
 
This funny, futuristic sitcom stars Robert Lindsay and David Threlfall as Edward, with a cast including Pam Ferris, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Mike Myers. 
 
Written by Richard Turner and William Osborne 
Produced by Nick Symons 
Archive BA: Kevin Gordon 
 
Starring Robert Lindsay (Nineteen Ninety-Four) and David Threlfall (Nineteen Ninety-Eight)as Edward 
With Christopher Barr, Pam Ferris, Stephen Fry, David Goodland, Mark Knox, Hugh Laurie, Jenny Luckraft, Mike Myers, Siobhan Redmond, Paul Shearer, Steve Steen, Rebecca Stevens, Emma Thompson and Richard Turner 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4: 23 March-27 April 1985 (Nineteen Ninety-Four), 28 March-9 May 1987 (Nineteen Ninety-Eight)

Nineteen Ninety Four & Nineteen Ninety-Eight

The complete series 1 and 2 of the Orwellian BBC Radio sitcom

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