5ive Guys FC

82ASK

A A Gill

Andrew Swanston read law at Cambridge, but was inspired to write by his lifelong interest in early modern history. His Thomas Hill novels – The King’s Spy, The King’s Exile and The King’s Return – are set against the backdrops of the English Civil War, Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the early Restoration respectively. He is also the author of Waterloo: The Bravest Man and Beautiful Star and Other Stories. His first historical thriller set during the reign of Elizabeth I – Incendium (published in paperback as The Incendium Plot) – introduced readers to the academic, lawyer and intelligencer Dr Christopher Radcliff, whose adventures continue in Chaos. Andrew Swanston lives in Surrey.

A D Swanston

A E Langsford

A G Hopkins

A. J. BAIME is the New York Times best-selling author of The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War and Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Both books are in development for major motion pictures. Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, and Men’s Journal. He lives in Granite Bay, California. Visit him at facebook.com/ajbaime and trumanbook.com.

A J Baime

A J Jacobs

A J P Taylor

Anthony James Pollard is a British medieval historian, specialising in the fifteenth century and in particular the Wars of the Roses. A leading authority in the field, he is profesor emeritus of Teesside University. His books include North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Richard III and the Princes in theTower, Imagining Robin Hood: the Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context and Warwick the kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame.

A J Pollard

A J Rochester

A K Benjamin is a clinical neuropsychologist and the author of Let Me Not Be Mad: A Story of Unravelling Minds.

A K Benjamin

A. L. Berridge read English at Oxford, and taught for ten years before moving into television, where her production credits range from period drama and thrillers to long-running soaps. She has written two previous novels, Top Ten besteller Honour and the Sword and In the Name of the King. Into the Valley of Death is her third novel.

A L Berridge

Alison Gaylin's first job was as a reporter for a celebrity tabloid, which sparked a lifelong interest in writing about people committing despicable acts. More than a decade later, she wrote and published her Edgar-nominated first novel, HIDE YOUR EYES. 
 
She's since published nine more books, including the USA Today and international bestselling Brenna Spector suspense series, which has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Thriller awards and won the Shamus award. 
 
She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, cat and dog.

A L Gaylin

A Maxwell-Hyslop

A McArthur

A P Wavell

A.S. Webb is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Chaos, the first instalment of The Dark Pantheon Trilogy. She is inspired by stories rooted in history and mythology, that push the boundaries of imagination and urge us to reflect on what it means to be human.

A S Webb

A. A. Dhand is the author of six previous novels, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award. His DI Harry Virdee novels are currently being adapted for TV by the BBC. He was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired all his novels. For more information about A. A. Dhand and his books, follow him on X @aadhand, and on Instagram @aa_dhand.

A. A. Dhand

A. A. Gill

A. A. Milne

A. Anatoli

A. B. Poranek grew up sharing her time between Ontario, Canada and rural Poland, and eventually completed a veterinary degree at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. A lover of mythology and history, she enjoys exploring both in her writing. Her debut novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, an instant New York Times bestseller, is an ode to Poland's folktales, while A Treachery of Swans transports readers to a world inspired by 17th century France.

A. B. Poranek

A. Bradley

Professor A. C. Grayling is Principal of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy, history, science and current affairs. For several years he wrote columns for the Guardian newspaper and The Times and was the chairman of the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

A. C. Grayling

A.D. Miller is the author of Snowdrops, The Earl of Petticoat Lane and The Faithful Couple. Snowdrops was a bestseller and was shortlisted for many prizes including the Man Booker and the CWA Gold Dagger. It was translated into 25 languages. As Moscow Correspondent of The Economist A.D. Miller has travelled across the former Soviet Union and covered the Orange Revolution in Ukraine; he is now the magazine’s Culture Editor based in London. 
 
admillerbooks.com

A. D. Miller

A. E. Ellis

A. Humphreys

A. Igoni Barrett was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 1979 and lives in Lagos. He is a winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. His short story collection, Love is Power, or Something Like That, was published in 2013. In 2014 he was named on the Africa39 list of sub-Saharan African writers under 40. Blackass is his first novel.

A. Igoni Barrett

The short life of A.J.A. Symons (1900-41) was described by his biographer as an intricate and largely harmless confidence trick. His many interests included the collection of musical boxes and rare books as well as the study and practice of forgery; they left him time to edit an anthology of Edwardian verse and compose studies of H.M. Stanley and other notable figures. He is remembered for The Quest for Corvo, one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, and for co-founding the Wine and Food Society.

A. J. A. Symons

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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

Alan Bennett

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

Alan Bennett: Diaries

Read by Alan Bennett

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

For over half a century, Alistair Cooke entertained millions of listeners across the globe with his weekly BBC radio programme 'Letter from America'. An outstanding observer of the American scene, he became one of the world's best-loved broadcasters and had the distinction of presenting the longest running one-man show in radio history. 
 
Following the sad death of Alistair Cooke after 58 years in broadcasting, this impressive collection features all three volumes of Letters from America - The Early Years: 1946-1968, The Middle Years: The 1970s and The Final Years: 1982-2003. The political and social landmarks of the last 50 years are reported on and examined in Cooke's uniquely wise style. Also included is Alistair Cooke at the BBC, a selection of archive recordings, including radio and television interviews, in a fascinating in-depth look at the career of the veteran journalist. 
 
Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Letter From America Collection

Winston Churchill

'The most persuasive and patriotic exhortations to arms since the Agincourt address from Henry V.' - The Guardian. 
 
 
Sir Winston Churchill steered Britain through its darkest hours during World War II. He was one of the 20th century's greatest orators and the speeches that he painstakingly composed, rehearsed and delivered inspired courage in an entire nation. Churchill's output was prolific - his complete speeches alone contain more than 5 million words. On this special recording, the best and most important of those have been brought together in this historic volume. 
 
 
Winston Churchill oversaw some of the most significant events the world has ever seen and he was the most eloquent and expressive statesman of his age. These speeches help reveal the man behind the defiant orator and demonstrate why, in a national poll, Churchill was voted 'Greatest Briton of All Time'. Many of his speeches were recorded after their original delivery because the Houses of Parliament did not have the facility to record live speeches at the time; fortunately, most were committed to tape later and we can today still hear the power of Churchill's oratory. 
 
 
 
Bringing together digitally remastered archive recordings of Winston Churchill with readings by his grandson in the few cases where we can't hear from the great man himself, this collection of speeches includes: 
 
 'Blood, toil, tears and sweat' 
 'Give us the tools' 
 'We can take it!' 
 'A total and unmitigated defeat' 
 'The Few' 
 'This was their finest hour' 
 'An Iron Curtain has descended' 
 'Never give in!' 
 'Sinking of the Graf Spee' 
 'Fall of Singapore' 
 'Review of the war' 
 'Battle of the Atlantic' 
 'Victory in North Africa' 
 'Tribute to George VI' 
 
 
Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Winston Churchill's Greatest Speeches

A BBC Collection

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

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

Alistair Cooke was a radio legend, entertaining millions of listeners for over fifty years in his weekly Letter from America. It was the longest-running one-man series in radio history, and every show was a virtuoso performance. Wise and witty, informed yet informal, Cooke was the doyen of foreign correspondents. 
 
To correspond with the 2008 election, and the centenary of Alistair Cooke's birth, here are five Letters about previous presidents and their elections over the past sixty years, in which Cooke - one of the world's most famous letter writers and radio's greatest observer - reflects on American life and politics. 
 
Starting with Truman's surprise victory in 1948 and concluding with another surprise win, that of George W. Bush in 2000 - he comments on opinion polls, democracy, the difference between Democrats and Republicans, Bill Clinton's fashion sense and what Clinton's symbolic rejection of 'the blue blazer' meant to the American political system. In each Letter, his unique style of expression and analysis shines through. 
 
The Letters are introduced by the BBC's North America editor, Justin Webb, who sets them in their historical context and reflects on what has changed since Cooke's original broadcasts and what has not. 
 
'Cooke's debonaire, transatlantic tones are unmistakable...' - FT Magazine.

Letters From America: The Elections

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

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

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Various

Forty-five episodes from Series 1-8 of the Sony Award-winning BBC Radio comedy show, hosted by Rufus Hound. 
 
In this hilarious and revealing show, host Rufus Hound invites his guests to revisit their formative years by dusting off their intimate teenage diaries and reading them out in public for the very first time. From terrible poetry, musings on pop music and cringeworthy crushes, to fond recollections of schooldays and exotic holidays, to poignant and searingly honest confessions, these extracts reveal the secret thoughts, feelings and experiences of a host of well-known celebrities – before they became famous. 
 
Among the contributors are Richard Herring, Shappi Khorsandi, Sheila Hancock, Meera Syal, Arabella Weir, Robert Webb, Caitlin Moran, Ken Livingstone, Terry Wogan, Alex Horne, Lionel Shriver, Michael Rosen, Ian Rankin, Debbie McGee and John Finnemore. 
 
As they delve into the past and reflect on their youth, will they be filled with nostalgia, or embarrassment? What would they say to their younger selves? And what song will they choose to sum up their teenage years? Find out all this – and a lot more besides – in these surprising, insightful and hugely entertaining shows. 
 
Produced by Harriet Jaine 
Executive Producer: Aled Evans 
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4 
 
Episodes: 
 
Series 1 
Richard Herring 
Russell Kane 
Shappi Khorsandi 
Steve Hall 
Josie Long 
Jenny Eclair 
 
Series 2 
Sheila Hancock 
Victoria Coren 
Meera Syal 
Rob Deering 
Phil Nichol 
 
Series 3 
Michael Winner 
Janet Street-Porter 
Jo Caulfield 
Arabella Weir 
 
Series 4 
Robert Webb 
Caitlin Moran 
Jackie Kay 
Toby Young 
Rhona Cameron 
Julia Donaldson 
 
Series 5 
Ken Livingstone 
Vanessa Feltz 
Sarfraz Mansoor 
Rachel Johnson 
Janet Ellis 
Kate Mosse 
 
Series 6 
Terry Wogan 
Chris Difford 
Oona King 
Robert Newman 
Lucy Worsley 
Alex Horne 
 
Series 7 
Robert Peston 
Lionel Shriver 
Michael Rosen 
Samira Ahmed 
Chris Packham 
 
2017 Special 
Ian Rankin 
 
Series 8 
Debbie McGee 
John Finnemore 
Anneka Rice 
Pippa Evans 
Gyles Brandreth 
Helen Lederer

My Teenage Diary

Adolescent musings from Series 1-8 of the hit BBC Radio 4 comedy series

Chris Barker

Bessie Moore

Benedict Cumberbatch and Louise Brealey read a love story in letters, played out against the backdrop of the Second World War. 
 
‘Can you feel, as you read these words, that I am thinking of you now; aglow, alive, alert at the thought that you are in the same world, and by some strange chance loving me.’ 
 
A small blue box opened in 2008 revealed a wartime world of love, longing and frustration. Inside were bundles and bundles of letters written neatly in pen, in pencil, on thin blue airmail paper or headed army notepaper. Envelopes covered in postmarks, redirections, censor’s stamps. A love affair in letters, between two people who barely knew each other, thousands of miles apart, in the middle of a war, with no idea when or whether they will ever see each other again. 
 
On September 5th 1943, Chris Barker, a signalman stationed near Tobruk in North Africa, decided to write to a former work colleague, Bessie Moore, a Morse code interpreter at the Foreign Office back in London. The unexpected warmth of Bessie's reply changed their lives forever. 
 
Chris and Bessie's love letters first appeared in Simon Garfield's book To The Letter. They toured literary festivals as part of Letters Live before being published in a book, My Dear Bessie. 
 
 
Written by Chris Barker and Bessie Moore 
Letters compiled by Simon Garfield 
Adapted by Sara Davies 
Produced and directed by Gemma Jenkins 
 
Cast: 
Chris - Benedict Cumberbatch 
Bessie - Louise Brealey 
Irena - Jane Slavin

My Dear Bessie: A Love Story in Letters

A BBC Radio 4 adaptation

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

All six volumes of 'The Essential Letters from America', brought together for the first time in this definitive chronological collection of Alistair Cooke's finest broadcasts 
 
Alistair Cooke was the doyen of foreign correspondents and a radio legend, entertaining millions of listeners for over fifty years in his weekly 'Letter from America'. It was the longest-running show in radio history, and every show was a virtuoso performance. 
 
In this selection of his best and most memorable Letters, Cooke reports on landmark political events from Presidential elections to Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral and the assassination of JFK. He reflects on the war in Vietnam, the Watergate scandal, the Monica Lewinsky affair, the Watts and Rodney King race riots in LA in 1965 and 1992, the Gulf War and the terrible events of 9/11. 
 
Here are Cooke's observations on the Challenger space shuttle explosion, Black Monday, the catastrophic San Francisco earthquake of 1989 and - in his final Letter - President Bush's difficulties with the situation in Iraq. But there are also Letters in a more personal vein, as Cooke reflects on topics close to his heart such as sport (the Ali v. Liston fight, baseball star Joe DiMaggio and golfer Bobby Jones) and music (pianist William Kapell, jazz singer Louis Armstrong and composer Irving Berlin). 
 
The Letters are set in their historical context with a specially commissioned script narrated by award-winning broadcast journalist Matt Frei. This collection also includes a bonus programme, 'Remembering Alistair Cooke'.

Letter from America: The Essential Letters 1936 - 2004

With additional narration by BBC American correspondent Matt Frei

Ian Kelly

Benedict Cumberbatch reads Ian Kelly’s biography of one of the most beguiling and controversial individuals of any age. 
 
In this fascinating biography of the notorious libertine, Ian Kelly draws on documents by Casanova, his friends and his lovers (male and female) in order to bring fresh insights to the man’s life and world. The sights and smells of Eighteenth Century Europe are brought keenly to life, as are the colourful incidents of Casanova’s life. As the young cleric he embarked upon a scandalous affair with a married woman, fleeing eventually to Constantinople. He created a stir at the French court of King Louis XV, began intrigues in London that led him to a soaking in the Thames, and sought to meet Catherine the Great at a ball in St Petersburg. His own memoirs ensured his lasting fame, and changed the way we think and write about ourselves and about sex. 
 
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock; The Imitation Game; Star Trek Into Darkness) is the reader of this abridged edition, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Benedict Cumberbatch reads Ian Kelly's Casanova

A BBC Radio 4 reading

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

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

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

At The BBC

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

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. Discover the 1Q84 Trilogy by Haruki Murakami.

1Q84

365 Days of Art

A BBC Christmas

A Black Book Thriller

A Box Full of Murders

A Cal Leandros Novel

A Christmas Mystery

The intelligent and capable police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice.

A Commissario Brunetti Mystery

A DC Smith / Kings Lake Investigation Series

A Daisy Story

Chronicling the lives of over three hundred characters, unrivalled for its scope and humour, this is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England.

A Dance to the Music of Time

A Fairy Tale Revolution

A Frank Grasby Mystery

A Guide For the Curious

A Horatio Hornblower Tale of the Sea

A Jo Birmingham Thriller

A Jon Roscoe Thriller

A Ladybird Book

A Ladybird Magic Windows Book

A Look Back at

A Luke Carlton Thriller

A Max Mingus Thriller

A Michael Bennett Thriller

A Midge McGowan Mystery

A Mitchum Thriller

A Moneybunny Book

A Murder Most Unladylike Collection

A Murder Most Unladylike Mini Mystery

A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery

A Nigel Strangeways Mystery

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