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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Liam Williams

From Liam Williams, a two-time Edinburgh Festival Award Nominated comedian, comes a rich storytelling series about Liam's teenage misadventures in the Yorkshire suburbs. 
 
The first series delves into Liam's memories of his first fight, virginity loss, the best house party ever organised, and his marvellous outwitting of an entire teaching staff. This is the New Labour, post-mining, aspirational heartland, meeting 50 Cent and Generation Y ennui, represented in a bourgeois radio format - by one of Britain's most exciting comedians. 
 
Series two sees Liam anxiously awaiting A-Level results before trying to find his feet in a most alien of new environments, Cambridge University. There, he searches for hedonism, torn between the laddish drinking societies and the artsy intelligentsia of Cambridge University. 
 
Liam Williams is a critically acclaimed comedian, known for his wry poetic presentation style. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2013 Edinburgh Fridge Comedy Awards, and for Best Show at the 2014 awards. He has appeared as a guest stand up on Russell Howard’s Good News, and on Channel 4’s Drunk History. His successful mockumentary series on BBC Three in 2017 was called Pls Like, about a man trying to become a YouTube star. 
 
The series was recorded in Leeds and stars teens from Yorkshire as the young Liam and his mates. Ladhood received a commendation for Best Scripted Comedy at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2018. 
 
Produced by Arnab Chanda (Series 1) and Joseph Nunnery (Series 2).

Ladhood: The Complete Series 1 and 2

A BBC Radio 4 comedy

Maya Angelou

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Maya Angelou's poignant, powerful autobiography, starring Adjoa Andoh, Indie Gjesdal and Pippa Bennett-Warner. 
 
Abandoned by their parents, Maya and her older brother Bailey are sent to live with their grandmother and uncle in the small Southern town of Stamps in Arkansas. Struggling with rejection, they endure the prejudice of their white neighbours and suffer several racist incidents. 
 
One day, their father unexpectedly returns and takes the children to live with their mother in St Louis, Missouri. Aged only eight, Maya is abused by her mother's boyfriend, an experience that haunts her for a lifetime. Filled with guilt and shame, she refuses to speak to anyone except Bailey – until she meets Mrs Bertha Flowers, who encourages her love of books, helping her to find her voice and regain her own strong spirit. 
 
Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic, beloved worldwide, which recounts a youth filled with curiosity, wonder, disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and hard-won independence. This radio dramatisation, starring Adjoa Andoh, Indie Gjesdal and Pippa Bennett-Warner, plays out her extraordinary story with dramatic verve and poetic brilliance. 
 
Cast: 
Narrator (Older Maya)...Adjoa Andoh 
Maya...Indie Gjedsal/Pippa Bennett-Warner 
Bailey...Roshawn Hewitt 
Momma...Cecilia Noble 
Uncle Willie/Freeman/Daddy...Richard Pepple 
Steward/Lawyer...John Lightbody 
Girl...Francesca Elise 
Mother...Ellen Thomas 
Bertha Flowers...Nikki Amuka-Bird 
Spanish voices... Maider Jáuregui, Rocío Mesonero, Celia Romo, Julio Villa-García, Hugo Sánchez and Francisco Oda-Ángel @ Instituto Cervantes,Manchester 
Receptionist...Lauren Cornelius 
 
Dramatised by Patricia Cumper 
Produced by Pauline Harris

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Mark Bostridge

Alan Bishop

A selection of the powerful and poignant wartime letters of Vera Brittain and her friends.‘If war spares me,’ wrote Vera Brittain to her brother Edward in 1916, ‘it will be my one aim to immortalise in a book the story of us four.’ Seventeen years later, Vera was to achieve her aim with the acclaimed Testament of Youth. 
 
This series of letters was the inspiration behind Testament. Written between Vera, her brother, her fiancé Roland Leighton and their two best friends Victor Richardson and Geoffrey Thurlow, they give a unique perspective on the most horrifying conflict the world has ever seen. 
 
They show the heartbreaking disillusionment of an idealistic public-school generation, raised on ideas of patriotism and duty, as the reality of war emerged. Yet they also give a fascinating insight into the era as a whole: their generation’s literary tastes and the place of women in society. 
 
Read by Amanda Root, Jonathan Firth, Rupert Graves, James Wallace and Robert Portal, and first heard on BBC Radio 4, these deeply moving letters let us hear for ourselves the voices of Vera Brittain’s lost generation.

Letters from a Lost Generation

First World War letters of Vera Brittain and four friends

Eric Appleby

Phyllis Kelly

A landmark drama series telling the compelling real-life WW1 love story of English soldier Eric Appleby and his Irish sweetheart Phyllis Kelly 
 
Eric Appleby was an engineering student from Liverpool, who joined the Royal Field Artillery when war began in 1914. Posted to Athlone, he met and fell in love with solicitor's daughter Phyllis Kelly at a dance. Their romance was interrupted when he was sent to fight in the trenches on the Western Front, but they kept their love alive through a series of wonderfully crafted letters. 
 
This radio series charts their extraordinary correspondence, including over 200 letters, field service postcards and telegrams in which Eric describes his experiences from the time he left Athlone in March 1915 until the tail-end of the Somme offensive in October 1916. Discovered on a top shelf in Belfast's Linen Hall Library by producer Ian Dougan, the letters reveal a touching, unique and bittersweet story. 
 
From memories of their courting days of dances and boat trips, to quarrels, jealousy and the pain of being apart, Eric pours out his deepest feelings of love and loneliness to Phyllis. And as the casualties mount around him, he confides to her the horrors he has witnessed, painting a vivid, shocking picture of the stress and terror of life at the Front. In each letter, the voices of Eric and Phyllis interweave, as if in an intimate conversation, as they reach out across the miles that separate them. 
 
Read by Ruairí Tohill and Roisin Gallagher, and featuring music and sound effects that bring the story to life, this remarkable, moving series will touch your heart. Also included is a 30-minute documentary, Introducing Love Letters from the Front, in which the actors discuss the challenges of performing the letters (they never met during the recording, so that their two perspectives could be kept separate). Plus, presenter Maggie Cronin talks to Phyllis Kelly's relatives, Tom and Patrick, about who Eric and Phyllis really were; and discusses the remarkable context in which their memorable words were written. 
 
 
Read by Ruairí Tohill and Roisin Gallagher 
Produced by Ian Dougan 
First broadcast BBC Radio Ulster &amp; BBC Radio Foyle, 21 April-28 October 2016 
 
Introduction to Love Letters from the Front 
Presented by Maggie Cronin 
With Ruairí Tohill, Roisin Gallagher, Tom Kelly and Patrick Kelly 
First broadcast BBC Radio Ulster &amp; BBC Radio Foyle, 17 April 2016 
 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Love Letters from the Front

A BBC Radio dramatisation of a true love story

Sarah Dillon

Corin Throsby

Literary detectives Sarah Dillon and Corin Throsby investigate the stories behind the stories of nine great novels 
 
In this engrossing series, Drs Sarah Dillon and Corin Throsby set off on a quest to discover how some of our most famous, best-loved books were written. What was happening in the author's lives, and how did that influence the process of creation? Following the clues, they attempt to solve the mysteries of these great works of literature - uncovering a wealth of fascinating information along the way. 
 
Beginning with Great Expectations, Sarah asks why Dickens wrote it so quickly - in a mere 9 ½ months - and why he famously changed the ending right at the moment. She investigates why it took Jean Rhys 27 years to publish Wide Sargasso Sea, and reveals the story behind Jane Austen's last completed novel, Persuasion, and its posthumous publication. We hear of James Joyce's epic struggles to publish Dubliners - including battles with publishers, a fire at the printers and leaving Ireland for good - and trace the remarkable clandestine journey of EM Forster's gay love story Maurice, passed hand to hand from Cambridge to America by men who risked prosecution for possessing it. 
 
Sarah also discovers the story behind RL Stevenson's horror tale Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, a work he claimed was inspired by a dream, and shows how adultery, revolution and exile played a part in the writing of Victor Hugo's masterpiece Les Misérables. Next, Corin Throsby takes up the baton to divulge how Truman Capote met and befriended two psychopathic murderers to create the 'non-fiction novel' that would launch the true crime genre: In Cold Blood. The final literary pursuit explores how William Golding's Lord of the Flies was saved from the reject pile by lucky chance - and how it went on to become a modern classic. 
 
Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. ? 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
Presented by Sarah Dillon and Corin Throsby 
Produced by Sara Conkey and Miles Warde 
Edited by James Cook 
Readers: Juliet John, Samuel West, Diana Quick, Jessica Raine, Damien Molony, Paul Chahidi, Aurélie Amblard and Matthew Bisson 
 
With guests including: Michael Slater, John Drew, Elaine Savory, Carole Angier, Diana Athill, Ruth Webb, Dr Kathryn Sutherland, Paula Byrne, Margaret Drabble, Timothy Young, David Norris, Terence Killeen, Wendy Moffatt, Philip Gardner, Peter Parker, Sir Christopher Frayling, Claire Harman, Jeremy Hodges, Professor Richard Dury, Jean-Marc Hovasse, Louis Hegarty Lovett, Vincent Gille, Florence Naugrette, Thomas Fahy, Brenda Currin, Ed Pilkington, James Linville, Ralph Voss, Ebs Burnough and Lawrence Elman 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3, 10 January 2016-22 March 2020

Literary Pursuits

The mysteries behind 9 classic books

Mary Webb

Mary Webb’s award-winning novel adapted for radio with a full cast, plus a dramatised biography of the celebrated authorNovelist and poet Mary Webb is as closely associated with Shropshire as Thomas Hardy with Dorset and the Brontës with Yorkshire. She wrote six books set against the timeless landscape of the county she knew and loved so well, but only achieved literary success after her death when the then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin praised her work, describing her as a neglected genius. Her final novel, Precious Bane, was awarded the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse, and is featured here alongside a bonus programme exploring Webb’s life.Precious Bane – Born with a cleft lip, Pru Sarn is an outcast in her superstious rural community, who regard her as cursed and suspect her of being a witch. Yet her gentle heart longs for love and honest communication with her neighbours – in contrast with her brother Gideon’s all-consuming desire for wealth. As Pru works side-by-side with him on the family farm, she becomes increasingly disturbed by his single-mindedness – and ever more attracted to the handsome weaver, Kester Woodseaves. But when Gideon’s obsessive ambition results in tragedy, Prue finds herself accused of murder – and only Kester can save her… Miriam Margolyes stars as Pru, with Terry Molloy as Gideon and Peter Davidson as Kester.The Shropshire Lass – Based on Gladys Mary Cole’s biography of Mary Webb, The Flower of Light, this dramatised profile explores how Webb lived ‘betwixt and between’ – half in the world and half out of it. The heroine of a fairy story with a sad ending, she yearned for fame, riches and admiration, but spent her life struggling against illness and disillusion. Narrated by John Darran, with Dillwyn Jones as the reader, Sue Jones-Davies as Mary Webb and Gareth Armstrong as her husband Henry.Cast and creditsPrecious BanePru – Miriam MargolyesGideon – Terry MolloyKester – Peter DavidsonMrs Sarn – Penelope LeeMr Sarn – Haydn JonesMrs Beguildy – Jill MeersWizard Beguildy – Robert VaheyJancis Beguildy – Elspeth CharltokGideon (aged 7) – Henry MilnerTiwy – Cecily HobbsSexton – Roger SnowdonCallard – John RoweDorabella – Patricia GallimoreSquire Camperdine – David VannFelena – Kathryn HurlbuttSukey – Deirdre LeeMoll – Hedli NiklausMrs Sexton – Carol SnapeMrs Grimble/Mrs Callard – Ysanne ChurchmanGrimble/Grandfather Callard – Gordon ReidHuglet – Malcolm GerardMiller’s Tim – Peter O’DwyerApothecary – Stephen HancockSexton’s Sammy – David LandbergDoctor – Denys HawthorneWritten by Mary WebbDramatised by Michelene WandorDirected by Vanessa WhitburnTraditional folk music sung and played by Sue Harris, John Kirkpatrick and Ann WellerFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 April-10 May 1981The Shropshire LassNarrator – John DarranMary Webb/Susan Buchan – Sue Jones-DaviesHenry Webb/Caradoc Evans – Gareth ArmstrongReader – Dillwyn OwenWritten by Herbert WilliamsBased on The Flower of Light by Gladys Mary ColesProduced by Robin C. RollinsonFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 July 1986© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Precious Bane

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisation

Denise Mina

Denise Mina examines the most famous - and infamous - cases in Scottish legal history, and participates in a mock trial 
 
Denise Mina is well known for her bestselling 'Tartan Noir' novels. She has twice won the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award, and her 'Paddy Meehan' series has been adapted for BBC TV. Before becoming a novelist, she studied law, and she has a particular interest in true crime. 
 
In these six episodes, she uncovers some of Scotland's most dramatic trials that continue to fascinate us years later. Also included is a bonus documentary, The Street Lawyer. 
 
The Paisley Snail - 1928. When May Donoghue pours ginger beer into her ice-cream float and a decomposed snail slithers out of the bottle, it sparks a case that will make legal history... 
 
Oscar Slater - Rich spinster Marion Gilchrist is brutally murdered in her Glasgow home in 1908. The hunt for her killer leads to Scotland's most dramatic miscarriage of justice: the Oscar Slater trial. 
 
The Douglas Cause - In this notorious 18th Century cause célèbre, two leading aristocratic families go head-to-head in a scandalous inheritance battle involving a secret elopement and stolen babies. 
 
The Moorov Doctrine - Glasgow, 1930, and a #MeToo-style case of sexual harassment in the workplace establishes one of the most important legal principles in Scottish law today. 
 
Madeleine Smith - In 1857, socialite Madeleine Smith is on trial for murder, accused of poisoning her French lover Emile L'Angelier. But did she do it, or not? 
 
Burke and Hare - Denise Mina looks at the notorious 19th Century murderers, talking to fellow authors Marisa Haetzman and Ian Rankin about the legalities of body snatching and the legacy of Burke and Hare's grim deeds. 
 
The Street Lawyer - Mina joins street lawyer Emmanuel De Abreu and sixth-formers from Glasgow's Lochend Community High School as they take on the roles of defence and prosecution to simulate a famous US murder case. 
 
 
Credits 
 
Denise Mina's Case Histories 
Presented by Denise Mina 
Legal consultant: Andrew Tickell 
Produced by Liza Greig 
Edited by Heather Kane 
Senior Producer: Lynsey Moyes 
 
With Katie Barclay, Alice Bowman, John Cairns, Clare Connelly, Owen Dudley Edwards, Lindsay Farmer, Pamela Ferguson, Michael Fry, Eleanor Gordon, Marisa Haetzman, Martin Hannan, David Hay, Andy Hughes, Helena Kennedy, Bruno Longmore, Hamish MacPherson, Nadine Martin, Mandy McIntosh, Allan Nicol, Janet Philip, Ian Rankin, Alison Rosie and Susanne Tanner 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio Scotland, 1 May - 27 December 2019 
 
The Street Lawyer 
Presented by Denise Mina 
With Emmanuel De Abreu and pupils from Lochend Community High School 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio Scotland, 2 April 2019 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Denise Mina’s Case Histories

A BBC Radio True Crime Series

Mark Jones

A unique collection of historic recordings covering the events of 1916, from the final evacuation of Gallipoli to the aftermath of the Somme. These fascinating and often poignant first-hand accounts describe the humiliating retreat by Allied forces from Gallipoli, starvation during the Siege of Kut-al-Amara in Mesopotamia, the Easter Rising - viewed from both sides of the Irish divide - and the costly battles of Jutland and the Somme. At Jutland, the only full-scale fleet-to-fleet encounter of the war, 6,000 sailors died. Survivors are haunted by memories of their drowning comrades but it is the Somme which arouses the strongest feelings. Soldiers speak bitterly of the carnage and needless sacrifices as men were cut down ‘like sickled grain’. With a final toll of over 600,000 Allied casualties and no decisive breakthrough, the battle marked the point at which hope began to fade. Among the reminiscences, conscientious objectors defend their beliefs, the poets Edmund Blunden and Robert Graves offer their own distinctive observations on life in the trenches and a fusilier on the Western Front recalls meeting his new battalion commander, Lt-Col Winston Churchill. Finally, David Lloyd George, looking back on 1916, remembers a ‘dark and desperate’ time for the country.Duration: 2 hours approx.

First World War: 1916

Voices from the BBC Archive

Boswell James

Dramatisation by Robin Brooks of James Boswell's biography of Samuel Johnson, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Johnson's birth. Episode 1:  Young Boswell comes to London to seek out his hero. He wants to write a biography of the great man 'in scenes', with Johnson's conversation cast as dialogue. Nothing quite like this has ever been attempted before.Episode 2:  Boswell visits Johnson only intermittently, but relies on him more and more. Johnson meets Hester Thrale, who becomes his devoted friend and confidante, and the most important person in his life. Starring Kenneth Cranham and full cast. Directed by Claire Grove.

The A-Z Of Dr Johnson

Boswell's Life Of Johnson

Seneca

Full-cast productions of Seneca’s most famous tragedies, plus letters from the Roman philosopher read by Paul Scofield 
 
Stoic philosopher and playwright Lucius Annaeus Seneca lived through the reigns of Caligula and Claudius, and was tutor and adviser to Nero, before his untimely suicide in AD65. His gory, outrageous tragedy Thyestes inspired Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, and is widely considered his masterpiece. It opens this collection, which also includes his classic Oedipus, a selection of his correspondence and two special documentary programmes exploring the man and his life. 
 
Thyestes – Brothers Atreus and Thyestes have fought a long and bitter civil war. After seducing Atreus’ wife and stealing the golden ram of kingship, Thyestes is defeated and banished. A pretend offer of friendship sees him returning home with his three sons, ostensibly to share the throne of Argos – but in reality, Atreus Is plotting a horrifying act of revenge. Denis Quilley and Richard Pasco star as Thyestes and Atreus, wih Anton Lesser as the Messenger. 
 
Oedipus – Cursed by the gods, Oedipus flees his native city of Corinth for Thebes. There, he solves the riddle of the Sphinx, is proclaimed King and marries Queen Jocasta. But when the city is struck by drought and a deadly plague, he is faced with a new riddle: and the answer spells his own doom… Seneca’s reworking of the Ancient Greek legend is adapted by onetime Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, and stars Martin Jarvis and Siân Phillips. 
 
Seneca’s Letters – Paul Scofield reads a selection of Seneca’s lively, humorous philosophical letters to his young friend Lucilius, in which he discurses on topics including the evils of crowds, the pleasures of old age, the perils of drunkenness, the folly of wanderlust and the part played by philosophy in advancing civilization. 
 
Is Seneca Possible? – In a personal reflection on the celebrated playwright, poet James Fenton attempts to put him into historical context. T S Eliot asserted that Seneca ‘created his own genre’, but with so few examples of Roman tragedy remaining, has our view been distorted by the drama we’ve lost? 
 
In Our Time: Seneca the Younger – Melvyn Bragg and guests Mary Beard, Catharine Edwards and Alessandro Schiesaro discuss Seneca, reflecting on his status as one of the first great writers born in the new Roman empire after the fall of the Republic. 
 
NB: Contains strong language 
 
Thyestes 
Thyestes – Denis Quilley 
Atreus – Richard Pasco 
The Messenger – Anton Lesser 
Fury – Hugh Dickson 
Ghost of Tantalus – David March 
Courtier – Anthony Newlands 
Tantalus, Thyestes’ son – Crawford Logan 
His brothers – Stuart Organ & Simon Hewitt 
Seneca – Peter Tuddenham 
Chorus – Hugh Dickson, David Gooderson, Simon Hewitt, Anton Lesser, Crawford Logan, Stuart Organ, Richard Pasco, Denis Quilley, Peter Tuddenham 
 
Oedipus 
Oedipus – Martin Jarvis 
Jocasta – Siân Phillips 
Creon – John Rowe 
Tiresias – Hugh Dickson 
Manto – Frances Jeater 
Corinthian Messenger – Nigel Graham 
Phorbas – Timothy Bateson 
Theban Slave – David Gooderson 
Chorus Leader – Stephen Thorne 
Chorus – James Bryce, Jill Lidstone, David Peart, Jean Trend, David Gooderson, Nigel Graham, Timothy Bateson 
 
Seneca’s Letters 
1: Avoid the Crowds; Befriend Your Slaves 
2: The Pleasures of Old Age 
3: Worldly Noise and the Tranquil Mind 
4: Thoughts in a Dark Tunnel 
5: Philosophy v Daily Trivialities 
 
Is Seneca Possible? 
Presented by James Fenton 
 
In Our Time: Seneca the Younger 
Presented by Melvyn Bragg 
With Mary Beard, Catharine Edwards and Alessandro Schiesaro 
Produced by Simon Tillotson 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Seneca’s Tragedies: Thyestes & Oedipus

Two Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations & Seneca’s Letters

Six BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of Maya Angelou's evocative, extraordinary memoirs, starring Adjoa Andoh and Pippa Bennett-Warner 
 
The books that make up the life and times of Maya Angelou are among the most beautiful and haunting pieces of autobiography ever written. Joyous, direct and searingly honest, they run the gamut from life-affirming to tragic, and back again. 
 
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings charts Maya’s childhood in the Deep South in the 1930s; while Gather Together In My Name recounts her descent into prostitution and narcotics. Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas sees her forging a career in showbusiness, and in The Heart of a Woman, she moves to New York and becomes involved in civil rights. All God’s Children Need Travelling Shoes explores her time in Ghana during the 1960s, and in A Song Flung up to Heaven, she returns to America to work with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. When tragedy strikes, her friend James Baldwin helps her out of her devastation – and new opportunities beckon for Maya. 
 
Angelou’s memoirs have become modern classics, beloved worldwide, and these stunning dramatisations illuminate her incredible resilience, creativity and power, painting an extraordinary portrait of 20th century black America.

The Maya Angelou Autobiographies

Six BBC Radio 4 dramatisations

Samuel Pepys

Hattie Naylor

Kris Marshall and Katherine Jakeways star as Mr &amp; Mrs Pepys in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the world famous diaries. 
 
Samuel Pepys was 26 when he decided to start keeping a diary, in January 1660. For the next ten years he faithfully recorded the day's events and confessed his innermost thoughts. That diary has since become one of our most important, and fascinating, historical documents. 
 
Pepys gave us eyewitness accounts of some of the great events of the 17th century, including the Great Fire of London and the Second Dutch War. He also told us what people ate and wore, what they did for fun, the tricks they played on each other, what they expected of marriage, and even how they conducted love affairs. He described London - the frozen river Thames, the rising crime rate and the poverty - and recorded the details of his own life: his wife, rivals, lovers and friends, his work for the Navy, his drinking and social life. 
 
Over 350 years may have passed since Pepys first put pen to paper, but the man and his preoccupations feel surprisingly familiar. In this major BBC Radio dramatisation of the journals, the sights and sounds of his world are vividly conjured. This collection comprises all ten radio series plus a special Saturday Drama centring on the Great Fire of London. 
 
 
Featuring Kris Marshall and Katherine Jakeways, as well as; ewan Baily, Rebecca Newman, Matthew Gravelle, Manon Edwards, Blake Ritson, Dick Bradnam, Lee Mingo, Andrew Wincott, John Biddle, Stephen Marzella and Bendan Charleson.

The Diary of Samuel Pepys

The BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Tony Benn

A collection of Tony Benn&rsquo;s private audio diaries, documentaries and archive interviews 
 
Tony Benn was the patriarch of the Labour left, a radical statesman, orator and anti-war campaigner who spent over 50 years as an MP, serving in the Cabinet under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. A prolific diarist, his political memoirs have been compared to Pepys in their detail, scope and accuracy. Three volumes are included here, read by Benn himself, together with four fascinating programmes focussing on the man behind the diaries. 
 
Part I: Tony Benn&rsquo;s Diaries 
 
The Benn Tapes 1 &ndash; For over 25 years, Tony Benn sat late into the night dictating his personal account of the daily happenings at the heart of government. In this unique series, he shares his remarkable recordings from history&rsquo;s front line, recalling events such as Harold Wilson&rsquo;s surprise 1976 resignation; the miners&rsquo; strike of 1984-1985 and the 1992 general election. 
 
The Benn Tapes 2 &ndash; This second series of behind-the-scenes revelations sees Benn recounting why he believes nuclear power is unsafe, disclosing what went on during Cabinet reshuffles and tracing the split in the party following its 1979 defeat, the emergence of the Social Democratic Party, and his challenge to deputy leader Denis Healy. 
 
Free at Last!: The Diaries 1991-2001 &ndash; Spanning Tony Benn&rsquo;s final decade as an MP, this third volume covers the Gulf War, the rise of New Labour, the death of Diana Princess of Wales and peace in Northern Ireland. Mixing political observations with a moving account of family life, it is full of humour, insight, joy and sadness. 
 
Part 2: Tony Benn&rsquo;s Life 
 
In the Psychiatrist&rsquo;s Chair: Tony Benn &ndash; Dr Anthony Clare talks to the legendary parliamentarian about his life, his career and how his guiding principles were influenced by his parents&rsquo; social and political convictions. 
 
Sentimental Journey: Tony Benn &ndash; Arthur Smith accompanies Tony Benn on a trip back to the place where he was born, grew up, and spent most of his political life &ndash; the City of Westminster. 
 
With Great Pleasure: Tony Benn &ndash; The veteran politician presents a selection of the prose and poetry that has shaped his personal philosophy, including the words of Mahatma Gandhi, Dwight D Eisenhower, Oscar Wilde and John Bunyan. 
 
Night Waves: Tony Benn &ndash; In an event from the 2008 Free Thinking festival, Tony Benn talks about the value of experience and discusses his own life experience with presenter Susan Hitch and the audience. 
 
 
Cast and credits 
 
The Benn Tapes 
Read by Tony Benn 
Produced by Keith Jones 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 21 Jul-8 Sep 1993 (Series 1), 17 Oct- 5 Dec 1994 (Series 2) 
 
Free at Last!: The Diaries 1991-2001 
Read by Tony Benn 
Produced by Jane Ray 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13-17 Oct 2003 
 
In the Psychiatrist&rsquo;s Chair: Tony Benn 
Presented by Dr Anthony Clare 
A Michael Ember production 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13 Aug 1995 
 
Sentimental Journey: Tony Benn 
With Arthur Smith and Tony Benn 
Produced by Dilly Barlow 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 Jul 2006 
 
With Great Pleasure: Tony Benn 
Presented by Tony Benn 
Readers: Saffron Burrows, Jim Findley and Carl Prekopp 
Produced by Christine Hall 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 Jul 2007 
 
Night Waves: Tony Benn 
Presented by Susan Hitch 
With Tony Benn 
Produced by Allegra McIlroy 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 11 Dec 2008 
 
&copy; 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Tony Benn at the BBC

The Benn Tapes, Free at Last! and more

William Holland

Eric Pringle

A BBC Radio dramatisation of the real-life diaries of a West Country village parson, writing at the turn of the 19th Century 
 
'A good diary can provide an unsurpassed entry into society, and the diary of William Holland is a very good diary indeed' The Spectator 
 
On October 25th, 1799 - his 18th wedding anniversary - cantankerous Somerset parson William Holland begins his diary, chronicling events at the vicarage and in the small farming community of Over Stowey. He would keep it for the next 19 years, candidly recording the small trials of day-to-day life - from chaotic church services and unruly locals to lazy servants and irksome in-laws. 
 
As the new century dawns, he finds himself dealing with parish problems and domestic dramas: including a madman in the poorhouse, a drunkard in the pulpit, and his wife's prattling cousin in the house. At harvest time, he has his work cut out collecting tithes from the local farmers, and his troubles are further compounded by an escaped cow, some curious medical complaints, and an audacious plum-plunderer... 
 
Paying a social visit to Bath with his family, the hectic pace has him longing for the relative peace and quiet of home. And back at the parsonage, his life is transformed when his manservant Robert resolves to give up drinking and womanizing. But will it last? 
 
Full of humorous observations and comic incident, this delightful journal paints a unique picture of a wonderful collection of characters, and the entertaining and often hilarious things that happen to them. Dramatised by Eric Pringle, it is brought to life by a full cast of well-known actors, and stars Ronald Pickup as William Holland, Rosemary Martin and Rowena Cooper as his wife, Mary, and Gavin Muir as Robert. 
 
Production credits 
Written by William Holland 
Dramatised by Eric Pringle 
Directed by Cherry Cookson 
 
Cast 
William Holland - Ronald Pickup 
Mary - Rosemary Martin/Rowena Cooper 
Robert - Gavin Muir 
Miss Dodwell - Tessa Worsley 
Mr Amen - Gordon Gostelow 
Farmer Morle - David Collings 
William Frost/Farmer Landsey - David Timson 
Rector Reekes/Ben Hunt - John Hartley 
Thomas Poole/Farmer Trant/Porter - Stephen Critchlow 
Mrs Southcomb - Margaret Courtenay 
Farmer CottleMr Lewis - Andrew Branch 
Margaret/Hannah/Betty/Little Will - Jane Whittenshaw 
Sally Hill/Grace - Caroline Strong 
With Tilly Gaunt, Giles Fagan and Ben Crowe 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 7-21 February 1996 (Series 1), 29 October-12 November 1999 (Series 2) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Paupers and Pig Killers from the diaries of William Holland

A BBC Radio 4 comedy drama

Kamal Ahmed

Rohan Silva

Kamal Ahmed and Rohan Silva meet leading entrepreneurs to hear their stories of risk, sacrifice and ambition - including those behind Dyson, Linkedin, Mumsnet, lastminute.com and Netflix. 
 
Business journalist Kamal Ahmed and start-up supremo Rohan Silva lift the lid on the realities of starting your own business in a series of candid, unfiltered interviews with innovators who have changed our world. We hear the unvarnished truth about their successes, failures, and the challenges they faced on the way to realising their vision. 
 
From fearless company founders to visionary CEOs, each has a fascinating story to tell. There's Julie Deane, who went from starting The Cambridge Satchel Company at the kitchen table with £600 to selling 10,000 bags a month; Tony Kitous, who arrived in London from Algeria with nothing and ended up with a chain of 25 Comptoir Libanais restaurants; and Temie Giwa-Tubosun, creator of LifeBank, which works to improve access to essential medical supplies in Africa and has saved over 7000 lives. 
 
They're joined by a wealth of other inspiring disrupters to share their hard-earned wisdom, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, lastminute.com founders Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Mumsnet's Justine Roberts and Sir James Dyson. Among the lessons they've learned are knowing when to cut your losses, how to change direction without giving up on an idea, the dangers of over-idealism and self-delusion and the importance of patience, persistence and passion. 
 
The advice they give - about managing relationships, maintaining self-belief and not being afraid to make mistakes - is invaluable for everyone, not just entrepreneurs, and will help you to succeed both in business and in life. 
 
Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
Presented by Kamal Ahmed and Rohan Silva 
Produced by Georgia Catt 
With: Demis Hassabis, Julie Deane, Martha Lane Fox and Brent Oberman, Reid Hoffman, Justine Roberts, Tony Kitous, Surinder Arora, Sir James Dyson, Temie Giwa-Tobosun,John and Irene Hays, Reed Hastings 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 5 November 2018-29 January 2021

The Disrupters

Business lessons from 11 world-leading entrepreneurs

BBC Radio Comedy

What would Jonathan Agnew do if he wasn't a cricket commentator? Who would play Romesh Ranganathan in a film of his life? What's the naughtiest thing Sara Pascoe did as a child? 
 
It's not what you know, but who you know that matters... and indeed, how well you know them. The show is a bit like ‘Mr and Mrs’, except that it's not played by husbands and wives. Instead, panellists can pick anyone they like: dad, cousin, best friend, mother-in-law. 
 
What is Bridget Christie's worst fear? Or Ainsley Harriott's worst habit? Or Seann Walsh's worst gig? 
 
All these burning questions, and more, will be answered in this BBC comedy panel show hosted by Miles Jupp, where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest. 
 
Get to know panellists such Rebecca Front, Roisin Conaty, Mark Steel, Tom Wrigglesworth, Ed Byrne, Tony Hawks, Rachel Riley, Richard Madeley, Dave Gorman, Lucy Porter, Richard Osman, Frankie Boyle, Susan Calman, Sara Cox, Katherine Ryan, Alan Johnson and Sarah Millican. 
 
Produced by Sam Michell.

It’s Not What You Know: Series 1-5

The BBC Radio 4 comedy panel show

Rib Davis

Eight dramatised documentaries of landmark trials that changed the law 
 
What do you do when a judge sentences your child to be beaten? 
 
If someone who has been stabbed dies after refusing a blood transfusion, is it a straight case of murder? 
 
How did a murder case end up changing the law for battered women who kill? 
 
In this gripping series, Helena Kennedy, celebrated human rights lawyer, broadcaster and civil liberties expert and playwright Rib Davis bring to life eight groundbreaking twentieth century trials. With the help of a full cast they reveal how the British legal system has been influenced by powerful, human stories that redefined the law to better reflect our modern society. 
 
A Case of Blasphemous Obscenity - Mary Whitehouse brings a libel case against the editor of Gay News, for publishing an allegedly obscene poem. 
 
A Bunch of Twigs - The parents of four 15-year-old boys, sentenced to be birched, launch an appeal against corporal punishment. 
 
The Case of The Ladies' Directory - What is moral? Publishing information on how to contact sex workers brings Fredrick Shaw to court on moral grounds. 
 
85 Burglaries and a Phone Tap - Who's listening? The trial of eight people in 1978 leads to a much more important investigation into State secrecy. 
 
I've Only Just Learnt To Cry - The tragic story of Emma Humphries, who in 1985 was tried for the murder of her boyfriend. 
 
Only a Phase - A group of young men in 1970s Belfast appeal to the British Government for gay rights. 
 
Breaking the Chain - A young Jehovah's Witness is stabbed and dies. The court must decide if it was murder or if she contributed to her own death by refusing a blood transfusion. 
 
On Self Deliverance - Murder or 'mercy'? An organisation finds itself in court after offering practical help to those wishing to commit suicide. 
 
Presented by Helena Kennedy 
Written by Rib Davis 
 
First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 10-31 July 1998 (Series 1) and 1-22 December 1999 (Series 2) 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Unwritten Law

A centenary collection of the best BBC Radio programmes about the legendary Spike Milligan – including brand new documentary Spike Milligan: Inside Out 
 
Named for Spike’s explanation of his sense of humour – ‘I’m Irish – we think sideways’ – this BBC radio anthology, published to celebrate the centenary of his birth, provides unique insight into his genius. 
 
Spike Milligan: Inside Out sees Milligan admirer Michael Palin and Spike’s daughter, Jane, chat through some of Spike’s many audio recordings. Also included in this compilation is a wealth of archive material, much of it from 2012’s The Spike Show: Milligan Remembered, presented by Spike’s agent and friend Norma Farnes. 
 
In Milligan Chota Sahib, Spike recalls the excitement of his early life in India. Denis Norden pays tribute to his friend in Vivat Milligna: A Twenty-One Goon Salute, while In the Psychiatrist’s Chair: Spike Milligan finds Spike telling Professor Anthony Clare about the profound impact of shellshock on his mental health. 
 
Plus, we hear Spike’s favourite Goon Show episode, Fear of Wages, some magical poemand Spike Milligan: The Serious Poet, an award-winning documentary in which Spike’s three daughters discuss how their father’s serious poetry reflected his life and personality.

Thinking Sideways

A BBC Celebration of Spike Milligan

Terry Wogan

Terry Wogan is one of Britain’s best-loved radio and television celebrities. Witty, charming and relaxed: he has undoubtedly captured the nation’s heart. Here, Terry tells his life story from his beginnings as a young Limerick boy to his incredible success as an enduring celebrity with shows such as ‘Wogan’ and ‘The Eurovision Song Contest’.   ‘Is It Me?’ is written in Terry’s own inimitable style, with self-deprecating humour and a wry take on everyday life. The story is a delightfully observed, light-hearted journey through Terry’s personal and professional lives.   After reluctantly starting his career in banking, Terry escaped to make a successful break into broadcasting with RTE. Fronting ‘Children in Need’, ‘Wogan’ and ‘The Eurovision Song Contest’ and collecting millions of listeners to his morning BBC 2 Radio show, ‘Wake Up to Wogan’, he is now the most prolific and popular presenter at the BBC.   'I am sure it's a challenging read' - Sir David Frost   'I don't remember him' - Jimmy Young

Is It Me?

Jonathan Bate

Sir Jonathan Bate examines eight iconic poems inspired by great historical events - and explores the Romantics, John Clare and William Wordsworth 
 
'Mingles history and poetry ... in an accessible, thought-provoking way' Irish Times 
 
In this BBC Radio 4 series, eminent biographer and broadcaster Sir Jonathan Bate looks at major historical events through the poems they inspired, exploring how history influences poetry, and how poetry shapes the way we regard history. 
 
Bate interviews historians, scholars and writers to investigate the genesis of eight classic works. Beginning in Dublin, he looks at the history behind WB Yeats' Easter 1916, showing the impact of the Irish uprising on the poet. In Manchester, he discovers how the 1819 Peterloo Massacre sparked the creation of Shelley's The Mask of Anarchy, and in Westminster, he finds out what influence the English Civil War had on Marvell's An Horatian Ode. Visiting the village of Shamley Green and the roof of St Paul's Cathedral, he uncovers the links between TS Eliot's Four Quartets and the devastation of the Blitz. 
 
On the Essex coast, Bate delves into one of the classics of the Old English canon, The Battle of Maldon, written in the aftermath of the Anglo-Saxon army's failed attempt to prevent a Viking landing in 991. Coming right up to date, Bate talks to Linton Kwesi Johnson about his poem Di Great Insohreckshan, an account of the civil unrest that spilt on to the streets of Brixton in April 1981. Plague and fire ravaged England in 1666, yet for John Dryden, it was a 'year of wonders', as Bate explains in his analysis of Annus Mirabilis. Finally, he considers John Betjeman's Death of King George V, showing how it captures not only the passing of a monarch, but also a subtle shift in the Britain where Betjeman had grown up. 
 
Also included are two episodes of In Our Time, in which Jonathan Bate and Melvyn Bragg talk about the Romantics and John Clare respectively, and a 90-minute special, In Wordsworth's Footsteps, revealing the true story of the making of a creative and political radical who was so much more than the famous author of Daffodils. 
 
The Poetry of History 
Presented by Sir Jonathan Bate 
Produced by Julian May, Tom Alban and Martin Smith 
Readers: Jim Norton, Robert Glenister, Jim Durham, Dr Richard Dance, Julian Glover, Tom Durham, David Timson 
 
With guests including: Theo Dorgan, Anne Enright, Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, Tom Paulin, Clive Emsley, Professor Kelvin Everest, Professor Joad Raymond, Professor Kevin Sharpe, Professor José Harris, Ian Smith, Dr Katie Lowe, Dr Gareth Williams, Linton Kwesi Johnson, John Clare, Professor Justin Champion, Professor Valentine Cunningham, Candida Lycett Green, Hugo Vickers, AN Wilson 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 2-23 April 2006 (Series 1), 25 November-16 December 2007 (Series 2) 
 
In Our Time: The Romantics 
Presented by Melvyn Bragg 
Produced by Charles Taylor 
With Sir Jonathan Bate, Professor Rosemary Ashton and Professor Nicholas Roe 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12 October 2000 
 
In Our Time: John Clare 
Presented by Melvyn Bragg 
Produced by Simon Tillotson 
With Sir Jonathan Bate, Dr Mina Gorji and Professor Simon Kövesi 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 February 2017 
 
In Wordsworth's Footsteps 
Presented by Sir Jonathan Bate 
Produced by Beaty Rubens 
Featuring Alice Oswald, James Rebanks, Melvyn Bragg, Professor Lynn Hunt, Emily Woof and Adam Nicolson 
With Simon Russell Beale as Wordsworth and Laura Christy as Dorothy Wordsworth 
Music specially composed by Emily Levy 
Viola playing by Aby Vulliamy 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 January-12 February 2020

The Poetry of History

Thomas De Quincey (Dramatised by Lavina Murray)

A full-cast dramatisation of Thomas De Quincey's 1821 autobiographical account of his consumption of the liquid opiate laudanum, a legal painkiller of the time, and his painful and surreal descent into addiction. Starring Oliver Cotton as the older Thomas and James Nickerson as the younger Thomas. Written by Lavinia Murray. Directed by Gary Brown.

Confessions Of An English Opium-Eater

Michael Portillo

Specially selected history series presented by Michael Portillo, exploring the most significant events before, during and after the First and Second World Wars 
 
Journalist and broadcaster Michael Portillo has always been fascinated by the past. A former politician and history graduate, he has presented several TV documentaries, including Portillo's Empire Journey and Great British Railway Journeys. Now, in these fascinating radio programmes, he turns the spotlight on World War One and Two, examining the cultural, political and economic upheaval surrounding these devastating global conflicts. 
 
1913: The Year Before sees him challenging the notion that the Great War was responsible for seismic shifts in British society. Over 10 episodes, he looks at themes including the suffrage movement, the Irish question, the decline of the liberal party and the arts, and argues that to a great extent, Britain was already in the process of transforming itself by 1913. 
 
The 2-part series The Great War of Words finds Portillo revealing how our understanding of World War One has been distorted by historians, politicians and cultural commentators. He analyses Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium in August 1914, showing how it transformed Britain's war into a moral cause; and considers how arguments over the origins of the war and the issue of war guilt evolved into a fierce, high-stakes battle for meaning. A follow-up episode, The Great War of Words: Peace before Annihilation?, centres around the factors that prevented peace breaking out between 1914 and 1918, and the attempts that were made to achieve it. 
 
In four episodes from Things We Forgot to Remember, he delves into the First World War and the interwar years, reflecting on the Somme and the victories of 1918, the failings and successes of the League of Nations, the 1936 Nazi Olympics in Berlin and Neville Chamberlain's notorious 1938 declaration of 'peace for our time'. 
 
The aerial bombardment of Britain is the subject of The Blitz, in which Portillo chairs a discussion with leading historians about the strategy and legacy of Nazi Germany's decision to bomb and destroy key British cities. And in a concluding programme, Things We Forgot to Remember: Morgenthau Plan and post-war Germany, he recalls the short-lived precursor to the Marshall Plan, which aimed to destroy German industry and turn the country into an agrarian 'pastoral' society. 
 
Production credits 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
1913: The Year Before 
The Long Summer 10 June 2013 
Women's Rebellion 11 June 2013 
The Irish Question 12 June 2013 
The Tides of War 13 June 2013 
Cultural Upheaval 14 June 2013 
Labour Relations & the Triple Alliance 17 June 2013 
Poverty 18 June 2013 
Politics and the Tory Gamble 19 June 2013 
The Empire 20 June 2013 
The Great Change 21 June 2013 
Produced by Tom Alban 
 
The Great War of Words 
Episode 1 4 February 2014 
Episode 2 11 February 2014 
The Great War of Words: Peace before Annihilation? 28 April 2015 
Produced by Mark Burman 
 
Things We Forgot to Remember 
First World War 4 December 2006 
The League of Nations 15 December 2008 
Jesse Owens and the Nazi Olympics 22 November 2010 
Chamberlain and 'Peace for our Time' 1938 14 December 2009 
Morgenthau Plan and post-war Germany 4 June 2012 
Produced by Tom Alban, Joanne Cayford and Neil McCarthy 
 
The Blitz 8 September 2010 
With Juliet Gardiner, Sir Ian Kershaw and Terry Charman 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Michael Portillo: On the World Wars

A BBC Radio History Collection

Mary Cooper

Meet Anne Lister, the 18th Century landowner, industrialist, explorer, lesbian and feminist icon. This is her story... 
 
Anne was different from society’s expectations of a woman at the time: she not only did not wish to marry, but she also did not want to conform. Anne was only interested in women and had ‘marriage’ ceremonies with Mariana Lawton and later Ann Walker. She spent a great deal of time studying, managed her own estates, sought business opportunities, travelled widely and climbed mountains 
 
In this full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisation written by Mary Cooper and starring Deborah McAndrew as Anne, we meet the serial diarist as she describes her life, her loves and the societal changes happening around her. 
 
Cast: 
 
Anne......Deborah McAndrew 
Isabella......Helen Schlesinger 
Mariana......Kaye Wragg 
Eliza......Rina Mahoney 
 
Produced and directed by Nadia Molinan.

Such Sweet Possession: The Life and Loves of “Gentleman Jack”, Anne Lister

Chloe Hadjimatheou

Helena Merriman

Carrie Grace

Three dramatic true stories, this is investigative journalism at its very best. 
 
'Slick, efficient and professional... hugely engaging' The Spectator (on Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel) 
'Thrilling... a really great listen'The Guardian (on Tunnel 29) 
'Brilliantly produced' The Observer (on Mayday) 
 
In these three gripping series, prominent journalists investigate fascinating human stories, shining a light on history and politics and deepening our understanding of the word we live in. 
 
Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel tells a shocking tale of sex, death and power, as Carrie Gracie delves into the mysterious murder that led to the toppling of charismatic Chinese politician, Bo Xilai, and the rise of his greatest rival, President Xi Jinping. The story of the killing of British businessman and fixer Neil Heywood in Chongqing in 2011 is one the authorities do not want told. Gracie was warned off making this programme, her phones were tapped and her emails hacked. But she would not be silenced. Here, she uncovers a tragedy 'with no heroes but only villains and victims', and takes us into the dark heart of Chinese politics. 
 
In Tunnel 29, Helena Merriman recounts the incredible story of Joachim Rudolph, who, in the early 1960s, joined a group digging a tunnel under the Berlin Wall, and helped smuggle out 29 people. It's a story of the young people who risked everything, the spy who betrayed them, and the terrible price paid by those who were caught - and of the love that developed between the refugees who found freedom. Based on interviews with the tunnellers, thousands of documents from Stasi archives, and recordings from the tunnel, it is an astonishing tale of one of the most daring escape attempts of the 20th Century. 
 
Mayday investigates the extraordinary case of James Le Mesurier, an ex-British army officer found dead in an Istanbul street in 2019. The co-founder of the White Helmets - a civil defence force who pull survivors from bombed-out buildings in Syria - he was a hero to many, awarded an OBE for his efforts. But he also attracted deep suspicion, and accusations of being a spy, faking rescue videos - and involvement in appalling atrocities... Talking to Le Mesurier's widow, friends and colleagues, Chloe Hadjimatheou attempts to discover who he really was and how he died, and unravel a tangle of truth and lies. Also featured is a special extended version of The Canister on the Bed, exploring the events of the Douma massacre. In addition, bonus programme Mayday: The Evidence Gatherers reveals how a Western-funded NGO, responsible for extracting over a million documents from Syria allegedly containing evidence of torture and genocide, is now fighting a disinformation war. 
 
NB: Contains strong language and scenes which some listeners might find upsetting 
 
Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel 
Presented by Carrie Gracie 
Produced by Maria Byrne and Neal Razzell 
Sound mix by James Beard 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 13-17 March 2017 
 
Tunnel 29 
Written, presented and produced by Helena Merriman 
Translation and additional research: Sabine Schereck 
Editor: Richard Knight 
Joachim Rudolph's original interviews voiced by Mark Edel Hunt 
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 21 October-1 November 2019 
 
Mayday 
Produced, written and presented by Chloe Hadjimatheou 
Editor: Emma Rippon 
Researcher: Tom Wright 
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman 
Sound design and mix: Neil Churchill 
Additional mixing Graham Pudifoot 
Editing assistance: Robbie Wojciechowski 
Arabic translation and additional research: Vanessa Bowles and Abdul Kader Habak 
Turkish researcher: Nevin Sungur 
Narrative Consultant: John Yorke 
Original music: Nick Mundy and Bu Kolthoum 
End track: Zamilou by Bu Kolthoum 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 9-20 November 2020 
 
Mayday: The Evidence Gatherers 
Produced, written and presented by Chloe Hadjimatheou 
Editor: Emma Rippon 
Researchers: Orla O'Brien and Lara Al Gibaly 
Executive producer Maggie Latham 
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman 
Sound design and mix: Neil Churchill 
Commissioner for Radio 4: Richard Knight 
Prof Paul McKeigue and Ivan played by Mark Fleischman 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 7 April 2021 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Intrigue: 3 explosive true stories

Tunnel 29, Mayday & Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel

James Naughtie

James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan Age its character 
 
As the longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II has presided over an era of tremendous social, political and cultural change. In 2012, to mark her Diamond Jubilee, Radio 4 looked back on the long span of her reign, and asked the public to choose high-profile public figures who have helped to define this New Elizabethan Age. Almost a thousand nominations poured in, and the final selection was decided by a panel of leading writers and historians, including Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne and Max Hastings. 
 
In this celebratory collection, distinguished broadcaster James Naughtie profiles 37 of these iconic individuals. They come from all walks of life - from artists and scientists like David Hockney and Francis Crick, to business legends such as Alan Sainsbury and Anita Roddick, politicians including Roy Jenkins, Tony Blair and Alex Salmond, and even a member of the Royal Family: Diana, Princess of Wales. Some are world-famous, others less well-known, and there are several surprising choices - and a few controversial ones. But all have made their mark on our nation, for good or ill. 
 
Here are fascinating portraits of mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary, whose conquest of Everest was announced on the day of the Queen's coronation; Elizabeth David, the food writer who brought European cuisine to British tables; leading thinker on British culture, race and identity Stuart Hall; renowned English composer Benjamin Britten; the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee - and many more, whose achievements and influence will stand the test of time. Together, they shine a light on postwar Britain, illuminating how our society has evolved over the seven decades since Queen Elizabeth II's accession. 
 
Production credits 
Presented by James Naughtie 
Produced by James Cook, Sukey Firth, Clare Walker, Sarah Taylor, Alison Hughes, Poppy Goodheart and Kate Howells 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
Edmund Hilary 11 June 2012 
Elizabeth David 12 June 2012 
Graham Greene 13 June 2012 
Michael Young 14 June 2012 
Vladimir Raitz 15 June 2012 
Francis Crick 18 June 2012 
Alan Sainsbury 20 June 2012 
Benjamin Britten 25 June 2012 
Dorothy Hodgkin 26 June 2012 
Alfred Denning 4 July 2012 
Paul Foot 5 July 2012 
Francis Bacon 6 July 2012 
Peter Hall 12 July 2012 
Terence Conran 13 July 2012 
Enoch Powell 16 July 2012 
Cicely Saunders 17 July 2012 
Basil D'Oliveira 19 July 2012 
Germaine Greer 23 July 2012 
Robert Edwards 24 July 2012 
Jack Jones 26 July 2012 
Talaiasi Labalaba 31 July 2012 
Jocelyn Bell Burnell 2 August 2012 
Roy Jenkins 3 August 2012 
Vivienne Westwood 6 August 2012 
Jayaben Desai 7 August 2012 
Stuart Hall 9 August 2012 
David Hockney 14 August 2012 
Ralph Robins 16 August 2012 
Anita Roddick 21 August 2012 
Norman Foster 22 August 2012 
Charles Saatchi 23 August 2012 
Goldie 24 August 2012 
John Hume/David Trimble 27 August 2012 
Tim Berners-Lee 29 August 2012 
Diana, Princess of Wales 30 August 2012 
Alex Salmond 31 August 2012 
Tony Blair 3 September 2012 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

The New Elizabethans

A BBC history of the Queen’s reign, told through its most notable characters

Various

Part of BBC Radio 3's 'The Essay' strand, The Book That Changed Me features writers, academics and other eminent professionals discussing the literary works that have had the greatest impact on their lives. 
 
This fascinating selection contains some of the best episodes from the series, including legendary songwriter Steve Earle on Truman Capote's masterpiece In Cold Blood; academic Monica Siddiqui on Austen's Pride and Prejudice; and Tony Blair's onetime strategist Alastair Campbell on Flaubert's seminal Madame Bovary. 
 
Renowned film director Richard Eyre reveals how Angus Calder's social history The People's War evokes memories of his childhood; neurobiologist Colin Blakemore explains why he loves Darwin's lesser-known work, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals; visual artist Tacita Dean describes how Marguerite Yourcenair's Fires helped her find her voice as a writer, feminist and filmmaker; and David Simon, creator of TV's The Wire, relates how James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men made him realise the importance of reportage. 
 
Absorbing and enlightening, this entertaining collection sheds new light on the intellectual lives of a host of famous names, and celebrates the transformative power of literature. 
 
Production credits 
Produced by Smita Patel 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on the following dates: 
 
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell 14 March 2011 
With Alan Johnston 
The Wrench by Primo Levi 15 March 2011 
With Edmund de Waal 
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin 17 March 2011 
With Colin Blakemore 
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 18 March 2011 
With Mona Siddiqui 
Othello by William Shakespeare 25 October 2011 
With Musa Okwonga 
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 20 January 2014 
With Alan Johnson 
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 19 January 2015 
With Steve Earle 
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 20 January 2015 
With Jude Kelly 
What a Carve-Up! by Jonathan Coe 21 January 2015 
With Jon Ronson 
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 22 January 2015 
With Lolita Chakrabarti 
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee 31 October 2016 
With David Simon 
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 1 November 2016 
With Pauline Black 
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X 2 November 2016 
With Ben Anderson 
Fires by Marguerite Yourcenair 3 November 2016 
With Tacita Dean 
The People's War by Sir Richard Eyre 4 November 2016 
With Angus Calder 
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys 2 April 2018 
With Afua Hirsch 
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 3 April 2018 
With Henry Marsh 
The Arabian Nights translated by Richard Francis Burton 4 April 2018 
With Zarah Hussain 
Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert 5 April 2018 
With Alastair Campbell 
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett 6 April 2018 
With Inua Ellams 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

The Book That Changed Me: 20 Essays on Influential Literature

A BBC Radio 3 Collection

Henry Cooper

A fascinating chance to hear legendary boxer Henry Cooper talk about his life and career, in a selection of interviews taken from the BBC radio and TV archive. 
 
 The interviews are: Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 16 May 1966, featuring Roy Plomley); Parkinson , BBC One (first broadcast 19 October 1974, featuring Michael Parkinson); Parkinson, BBC One (first broadcast 24 October 1979, featuring Michael Parkinson, Benny Green); Maestro, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 11 June 1984, featuring Frank Keating, Jim Wicks) and Myself When Young, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 3 April 1991, featuring Claire Rayner). 
 
Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Henry Cooper In His Own Words

Stephen K Amos

Jonathan Harvey

Stand-up meets sitcom in Stephen K Amos&rsquo;s semi-autobiographical show about growing up black, gay and funny in 1980s London 
 
&lsquo;One of the most likable figures in British comedy Radio Times 
 
Comedian Stephen K Amos is one of eight children, whose parents came to London from Nigeria in the 60s. In these three series, co-written with multi-award-winning British playwright Jonathan Harvey, he takes us back in time to the 1980s, as he reminisces about his dysfunctional childhood and formative experiences, and shares the dramas and traumas of his teenage years. 
 
We join his younger self as he wrestles with his identlty; falls in love; overcomes his stage fright and takes the lead role in the school play, Balham Side Story. And as he takes his first steps into working life, he gets caught up in the Brixton riots, worries about his parents splitting up, and finally plucks up the courage to reveal a secret&hellip; 
 
Shaquille Ali-Yebuah stars as Young Stephen, and each show is hosted by Stephen K Amos himself, adding stand-up narration and his own comic perspective. Among the cast are Ellen Thomas and Don Gilet as Stephen&rsquo;s mum and dad, Fatou Sohna as Stephanie Amos, Gemma Whelan as Miss Collins, Michelle Butterly as Miss Bliss and Frankie Wilson as Jayson Jackson. 
 
And the answer to the show&rsquo;s title? You&rsquo;ll have to listen and find out... 
 
Production credits 
 
Stephen K Amos &ndash; Himself 
Young Stephen &ndash; Shaquille Ali-Yebuah 
Stephanie Amos &ndash; Fatou Sohna 
Virginia Amos &ndash; Ellen Thomas 
Vincent Amos/Tanktop &ndash; Don Gilet 
Miss Collins &ndash; Gemma Whelan 
Jayson Jackson/John the Baptist &ndash; Frankie Wilson 
PE Teacher/Red Coat/Philip/Check-in guy/Random Bloke &ndash; Harry Jardine 
Fanni &ndash; Emerald O'Hanrahan 
Fola &ndash; Kathryn Drysdale 
Bo Bells/Taxi driver/Stephanie Turner &ndash; Rachel Atkins 
Samaritan/Policeman/Taxi driver &ndash; David Seddon 
Miss Bliss &ndash; Michelle Butterly 
Mary Magdalene/Bette Davis/Sophie &ndash; Nadia Kamil 
Boy Roy &ndash; Ryan Watson 
Miss Hunt/Moira Stuart/Fergie &ndash; Margaret Cabourn-Smith 
Princess &ndash; Jocelyn Jee Esien 
Dustin &ndash; Laurie Kynaston 
With Frances Barber, Bola Okun, Emerald Crankson, Karen Bartke and David Sterne 
 
Written by Jonathan Harvey with Stephen K Amos 
Produced by Colin Anderson and Paul Sheehan 
Violin played by Rachel Barnes 
Cover photography by Pal Hansen 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 November 2013-1 January 2014 (Series 1), 31 December 2014-4 February 2015 (Series 2), 25 January-15 February 2017 (Series 3) 
 
&copy; 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

What Does the K Stand For?

A BBC Radio 4 Sitcom About Growing up Black, Gay and Funny in 1980s London

Vicky Baker

Chloe Moss

The rise and fall of Anna Delvey: mixing drama with documentary to tell the incredible story of one of the most infamous impostors of our time 
 
Wealthy heiress Anna Delvey was one of the international jetset. Her Instagram account was a window on a glamorous world, filled with art launches, champagne brunches, VIP parties and stays in high-end hotels. Due to come into a $67m trust fund on her 26th birthday, she planned to establish the Anna Delvey Foundation, a multi-million dollar visual-arts centre in the heart of New York, and wined and dined the city’s wealthy elite to secure investment for her project. 
 
It all sounded amazing – but it was all a lie. Anna Delvey the heiress was actually Anna Sorokin the magazine intern. Through name-dropping, networking and sheer chutzpah, this ordinary twentysomething had reinvented herself as a multimillionaire socialite – conning businesses and friends out of thousands of dollars in the process. 
 
But how did she manage to live a life of luxury for so long? How did she make anyone believe her story? And how did she get people to trust her enough to give her their money? 
 
In this gripping docudrama, journalist Vicky Baker and playwright Chloe Moss dig deeper into the scandal that shook New York, exploring how she successfully scammed high society, and what ultimately brought about her downfall. Bella Dayne, who played Helen of Troy in the BBC series Troy: Fall of a City, stars as Anna. 
 
Cast and credits 
Reporting by Vicky Baker 
Drama by Chloe Moss 
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko 
 
Starring Bella Dayne as Anna 
Other parts played by Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Heather Craney, Will Kirk, Scarlett Courtney, Neil McCaul, Clive Hayward, Ian Conningham, Lucy Reynolds, Adam Courting, Greg Jones, Laura Christy, Jessica Turner, Ikky Elyas and Sinead MacInnes 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 16 December 2019

Fake Heiress: The Anna Delvey scandal

A BBC investigation into how she conned New York high society

Alistair Cooke

This selection contains eight of Alistair Cooke's Christmas and New Year Letters from America, broadcast in December and January over the five decades of his career and covering a range of festive topics from the light-hearted to the sombre. 
 
Starting with his December 2001 Letter - broadcast in the wake of 9/11 - he remembers introducing Leonard Bernstein to Handel's 'Messiah', muses on the creation of A Christmas Carol and shares his memories of two friends who died in 1977, Groucho Marx and Bing Crosby. 
 
Here, too, are Cooke's reflections on Christmas in Vermont, the early days of television in the USA, cigarette advertising and sport, the Millennium Bug and the Nixon family's first days in the White House. The Letters are introduced and linked by the BBC's Justin Webb, who sets them in their historical context and adds his own observations. 
 
'Cooke's debonaire, transatlantic tones are unmistakable...' - FT Magazine.

Letters From America: Seasonal Letters

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