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

Adam Hamdy

Adam Hart-Davis

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

Adam Haslett

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

Adam Henson

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

Adam Higginbotham has written for magazines including The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Wired and Smithsonian. He is also the author of Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, which was awarded the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. He lives in New York City.

Adam Higginbotham

Adam Hills is an internationally recognised comedian and host of award-winning Channel 4 show The Last Leg. His collection of stories from a life in comedy, Best Foot Forward, was a Times bestseller.

Adam Hills

Adam Howling

Adam J. Kurtz

Adam Jacot de Boinod

ADAM JOHNSON won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2013 for his second novel, the New York Times bestseller The Orphan Master’s Son (‘Excavates the very meaning of life’ New York Times). His short story 'Nirvana' won the prestigious Sunday Times/EFG Short Story Award. He is the author of acclaimed story collections, Fortune Smiles and Emporium and the novel Parasites Like Us. He teaches creative writing at Stanford University and lives with his family in San Francisco.

Adam Johnson

Adam Kay is a former doctor who has written five million books and sold seven copies. No, hang on – he’s written seven books and sold five million copies. His debut book, This is Going to Hurt, is a literary sensation: a Sunday Times number one bestseller for over a year, winning a record-breaking four National Book Awards and selling over 3 million copies. Kay adapted This is Going to Hurt as a BAFTA-winning comedy-drama series for the BBC. Adam Kay’s children’s books have been translated into 32 languages and sold over 1 million copies, making him one of the UK’s bestselling children’s authors. Kay’s Anatomy became the fastest-selling children’s general non-fiction hardback of the decade. His first picture book, Amy Gets Eaten, was published in 2023, and his first children’s novel, Dexter Procter the Ten-Year-Old Doctor, was published in September 2024.

Adam Kay

Adam studied illustration and animation, and received a BA followed by an MA from the Edinburgh College of Art. As a student he won a competition to create a short film for MOMI and Channel 4, and once his career producing animated commercials was under way, he became an illustrator as well. He has regular columns in the UK and the US.

Adam Larkum

Adam Lashinsky

Adam Macqueen

Adam Mars-Jones

Adam O'Riordan was born in Manchester in 1982, where he currently lives. In 2008 he became the youngest Poet-in-Residence at The Wordsworth Trust, the Centre for British Romanticism. His first collection In the Flesh (2010) win a Somerset Maugham Award. He is the Academic Director of the Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Adam O'Riordan

Adam Phillips, formerly Principal Child Psychotherapist at Charing Cross Hospital, London, is a practising psychoanalyst and a visiting professor in the English department at the University of York. He is the author of numerous works of psychoanalysis and literary criticism, including most recently On Giving Up, On Wanting to Change, Attention Seeking, In Writing, Unforbidden Pleasures and Missing Out. He is General Editor of the Penguin Modern Classics Freud translations, and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature.

Adam Phillips

Adam Rackley

Adam Richardson is the UK's top trending health and fitness coach with a rapidly growing audience across both TikTok and Instagram. Adam is passionate about removing barriers to exercise and movement, a philosophy that is key to his work as a Personal Trainer in which he strives to help his clients feel more confident, as well as more fit and healthy.

Adam Richardson

Adam Roberts is the author of The Amateur Gourmet and Secrets of the Best Chefs, and coauthor of Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway. He started his food blog, The Amateur Gourmet, in 2004 and currently writes The Amateur Gourmet Newsletter on Substack. Roberts has also written for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, and for film and television. He lives in Brooklyn with his husband and their dog, Winston. Food Person is his first novel.

Adam Roberts

Adam Roberts is acknowledged as the senior scholar of international relations in the UK. He was Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at Oxford University 1986-2007, and President of the British Academy 2009-13 - the head of humanities in Britain. He was on the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London (2002-08), a member of the UK Defence Academy Advisory Board (2003-15) and is now on the Board of Advisers of the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare at the United States Military Academy, West Point.

Adam Robinson is based in the Middle East and is a regular contributor to newspapers in the Arab world and also to the British media. He is the author of numerous books on the region, including Bin Laden: Behind the Mask of the Terrorist.

Adam Robinson

Adam Ross

Adam Rutherford

Adam Rutherford is an award-winning writer, broadcaster, and geneticist at University College London. His books include A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, The Book of Humans, and the Sunday Times bestseller How to Argue with a Racist. He has written and presented numerous documentaries for BBC radio and television, including Inside Science and The Cell. Adam has also worked as a science advisor on many films, including the Oscar-winning Ex Machina (2015) and Annihilation (2018).

Adam Smith

Adam Smyth runs the 39 Step Press, an experiment in printing, from a cold barn in Oxfordshire. He is also Professor of English Literature and the History of the Book at Balliol College, University of Oxford.

Adam Smyth

Adam Sweeting

Adam Tandy

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Vasily Grossman

Vasily Grossman, author of Life and Fate, was transformed by his experiences as a war correspondent. Following the shock invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Grossman volunteered for front line duty. Declared unfit for active service he was assigned to Red Star newspaper as a special correspondent. In these BBC Radio programmes, Elliot Levey reads three of Vasily Grossman's front line despatches. The first is a heroic and intimate portrait of a sniper, the second deals with the battle for Stalingrad and the final one details the murder of millions of Jews on Soviet soil: an account that was rejected by the military censor and only rediscovered in the late 1990s. Translators: Jim Riordan &amp; Polly Zavadivker. Producer: Mark Burman.

Vasily Grossman From The Front Line

Robert M. Pirsig

Peter Flannery

An odyssey into life’s challenging questions during an unforgettable summer motorcycle trip 
 
Acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters, Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance became an instant bestseller upon its publication in 1974. A powerful examination of how we live, as well as a breath-taking meditation on how to live better, it tells the epic story of a father and son’s motorcycle trip across America’s Northwest in the 1960s. 
 
Pirsig’s modern classic transformed a generation and continues to inspire millions of readers today. Dramatised for radio for the first time by Peter Flannery (Our Friends in the North, George Gently, The Devil’s Whore), this fantastic full-cast production stars James Purefoy (Rome, Injustice, Ironclad) and adds a new and original dimension to an iconic work. Following a father and his young son on their cross-country summer adventure from Minnesota to California, it is a story of love, fear, growth, discovery and acceptance. Both personal and philosophical, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is also a compelling study of relationships, values, enlightenment and meaning. 
 
The maintenance of the motorcycle throughout the journey illustrates how to unify the cold, rational realm of technology with the warm, imaginative realm of artistry. Resonating with the confusions and the wonders of existence, the narrator wrestles with some of the most important philosophical questions of the 20th century. His need to also reconcile his past and present selves drives him and his son forward, to a point where all is either lost or won on the Chautauqua spiritual journey. 
 
This audio edition includes a bonus 10 minutes of material that was not broadcast on the radio. 
 
NB: the recording contains strong language. 
 
Production credits 
Author: Robert M. Pirsig 
Dramatist: Peter Flannery 
Original music: Jon Nicholls 
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore 
Producer: Melanie Harris 
 
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4. 
 
© 2012 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2012 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance®

Dirk Bogarde

This fascinating selection of extracts provides a vivid audio portrait of Dirk Bogarde, the award-winning actor and accomplished writer and artist who died in 1999. 
 
 Interviews include: Picture Parade, broadcast on BBC TV, 10 January 1961 (with Robert Robinson); The Movies, broadcast on BBC TV, 17 April 1967 (with Roger Hudson); Film Time, broadcast on BBC Radio, 12 June 1971 (with Anthony Bilbow); Parkinson, broadcast on BBC TV, 10 October 1971 (with Michael Parkinson); The Sounds of a Lifetime, broadcast on BBC Radio, 3 June 1972 (with Sheridan Morley); Profile, broadcast on BBC Radio, 18 March 1980 (with Kathleen Cheesmond); Parkinson, broadcast on BBC TV, 19 March 1980 (with Michael Parkinson); Woman's Hour, broadcast on BBC Radio, 19 March 1980 (with Jenni Mills) and 15 September 1986 (with Sarah Dunant); Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio, 31 December 1989 (with Sue Lawley); Bookshelf, BBC Radio, 13 March 1992 (with Nigel Forde). 
 
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

Dirk Bogarde In His Own Words

Saki

Beasts on the Lawn is a collection of Edwardian short stories by Saki (H. H. Munro) recycled and restaged in a modern day gated community for the far too wealthy for their own good. The tales are woven together by the character of Clovis, a security guard. She recalls the events of strange days and long nights. The five stories are: Tobermory, The Interlopers, Sredni Vashtar, Gabriel Ernest and Mrs Packletide's Tiger. Starring Pippa Haywood as Clovis, with Nick Mohammed, Alan Coveney, Dolly Wells, Ed Weeks, Jennifer Lee, David Collins, Paul Dodgson, Barbara Flynn, John Sessions, Malcolm Hamilton, Amy Clifton, Carl Prekopp, Ed Weeks, Dolly Wells, Marcia Warren and Jennifer Lee Jellicorse. Adapted by Sean Grundy. Director: Alison Crawford.

Beasts On The Lawn

Sarah Daniels

Chloe has cerebral palsy and is certain she will lose her adored carer Rose, when Rose falls for an apparently perfect man. First broadcast in BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Drama slot. Starring Lesley Manville as Rose, Amy Golden as Chloe, Alex Tregear as Chloe's voice and Jelena Budimir as Alex. Written by Sarah Daniels. Director: Sally Avens.

But If You Try Sometimes

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Sarah Naomi Lee

Philippa is a librarian from a long line of librarians. When her father dies and her mother loses her wits, Philippa tries the only language Vera understands, that of the Dewey cataloguing system, to guide her back to sanity. Starring Olivia Colman as Philippa, Sheila Reid as Vera, Caroline Guthrie as Sheila and Paul Rider as Alistair. Written by Sarah Naomi Lee. Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.

Dewey Eyed

Doug Lucie

Doug Lucie's satirical sequel to 'Hitched' revisits the bride and groom, Emma and Richard, two years after their big day. The honeymoon is well and truly over and wedded bliss hasn't turned out to be, well, blissful. With their relationship at crisis point, Emma returns from America with her young daughter to discover her life isn't the only one that has changed. But just what has happened between Emma and Richard, and why has she returned home without him? When Richard in turn flies back to the UK, the stage is set for another unforgettable family encounter. With sparks sure to fly at a family reunion no one wants to attend, Emma and Richard must finally decide what the future holds for their marriage. Will it be Hitched or Ditched? Starring Harry Lloyd and Lydia Leonard as Richard and Emma, with Stephen Moore, Frances Barber, David Schofield, Cheryl Campbell, Adrian Lukis, Brendan Patricks, Alison Pettit and Lynn Farleigh.

Ditched

John McCarthy

This series, broadcast on Radio 4, is an assessment of the Bible's cultural, political, moral, social and personal impact, and a personal odyssey for John McCarthy as he questions the chapters he read during his time in captivity and discusses the meaning of truth and what it means to be human.

John McCarthy's Bible Journey

Ken Dodd

Ken Dodd and a supporting cast give us Ken's unique look behind the scenes and the show at his fictional theatre, the Palace Of Laughter. Enjoy more hilarity from the Squire of Notty Ash in these four classic radio shows, recorded in 1986 and 1987 at the Wigan Little Theatre, the Southport Little Theatre, Crewe's Lyceum Theatre and the Garrick Theatre, Stockport, respectively.

Ken Dodd's Palace Of Laughter

Cath Staincliffe

In this drama by Cath Staincliffe, probate researchers Dan and Rachel search backwards through the family line to find the true heir and get a slice of the fortune. But their quest leads them to uncover a broken family with a terrible secret. Henry Gaunt has died leaving a sizeable estate but no will. His step-sister can't inherit and there are no known kin. The step-sister doesn't know much about Henry's father: she thinks he died in the Second World War when Henry was a small child. Dan and Rachel's investigation leads to a surprising discovery. Producer: Nadia Molinari.

Legacy Blood On The Mountains (Woman's Hour Drama)

Carla Lane

Myra Taylor

These adaptations of four 1974 episodes of the BBC1 comedy series The Liver Birds feature two incompatible Liverpudlian girls, Beryl and Sandra. What they have in common are a tiny flat, boyfriend problems, and a passion for the latest fashion. In the title episode, it's Beryl's birthday, and Sandra is planning a surprise party for her. Among her presents she gets a hamster in the post from Robert - but then Thingy goes missing, and the hunt is on to find the rogue rodent. Starring Polly James and Nerys Hughes.

Liver Birds - Anybody Here Seen Thingy

William Wordsworth

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

A selection of poems from Wordsworth and Coleridge's 1798 collaboration, which marked the beginning of the English Romantic poetry movement. In Episode One, we hear Coleridge's 'Lewti' and Wordsworth's 'The Thorn', while in Episode Two the verses showcased are Coleridge's 'The Nightingale' and Wordsworth's 'Lucy' poems. In the final episode, we hear Wordsworth's 'Lines Written A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey' and Coleridge's pseudo-medieval ballad, 'Love'. The readers are Julius D'Silva, Mark Meadows and Peter Gruffyd. Adapted and produced by Emma Harding.

Lyrical Ballads

Mark Watson

Following on from his hugely successful show Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better, Mark Watson's new series reignites his quest to improve the world, nimbly assisted by Tim Key and Tom Basden and with the additional help of the listening audience. Mark asks the big questions that are crucial to our understanding of ourselves and society, and in a dynamic and thought-provoking new format he opens the floor to the live audience and asks them to jump into the conversation via tweets and messages to work out how we can all make the world a better place. In these six episodes, he looks at Strength, Faith, Intelligence, Passion, Tolerance and Goodwill. Produced by Lianne Coop.

Mark Watson's Live Address To The Nation (Complete)

Budd Schulberg

David Croft

The classic, universal tale of the corrupting influence of power, the healing force of love, and how the truth must always be told - heedless of the consequences. In the New York docks of the 1950s, at least ten per cent of everything is paid to the mob. Longshoremen looking for work either pay kickbacks or face starvation. One-time fight contender Terry Malloy has been led into crime by his older brother Charley, and he's being used in a plot to get young Joey Doyle murdered for not 'dummying up'. Terry finds the courage to blow the whole scam wide open, once and for all, and leads his fellow workers to a confrontation with the crime bosses. As a film, On the Waterfront made a star of Marlon Brando. This powerful radio drama was recorded in Hollywood, in the presence of its Oscar-winning author Budd Schulberg, and first broadcast to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the film's release. It features a bonus interview with the author.

On The Waterfront

Anita Sullivan

Three elderly tailors - a trouser-maker, a coat-maker and a waistcoat-maker - have been commissioned to make a bespoke suit for an up-and-coming politician. They have worked together for decades but have only met very rarely, although increasingly, these days, at their colleagues' funerals. The suit has been designed by Mrs White, a mysterious woman whom they've never met. Mrs White has imposed very strict rules about secrecy, and all off-cuts have to be returned to her. The suiting fabric supplied is also unusual. It seems to change colour and quality with the mood of the tailors, and to move against the needle in a sentient manner. As the garment takes shape, it begins to have a powerful effect on anyone who comes into contact with it. Starring Allan Corduner, Malcolm Storry, Stephen Marzella, Catrin Stewart, Liza Sadovy, Claire Cage and Richard Nichols. A BBC/Cymru Wales production, written and directed by Anita Sullivan.

Rock Of Eye

J. M. Barrie

A BBC Radio adaptation of J. M. Barrie's classic satire about the changing fortunes of Crichton, the perfect butler. Liberal aristocrat Lord Loam favours a return to nature, with masters and servants living together as equals, but Crichton is the perfect butler and the perfect snob who adores the intricacies of the class system. He cannot help but be horrified by his master's opinions, and it will take a sea change to alter them. Starring Russell Tovey as Crichton, David Bannerman as J. M. Barrie, Beth Chalmers as Lady Mary, David Timson as Lord Loam, Martha Howe-Douglas as Lady Agatha, Gunnar Cauthery as Ernest Woolley, Lizzy Watts as Tweeny, Adrian Grove as Rev. John Treherne, Stephen Hogan as Lord Brocklehurst and Tina Gray as Lady Brocklehurst. Directed by Fiona Kelcher.

The Admirable Crichton

Steve Richards

Steve Richards tells the inside story of Gordon Brown's time as prime minister, based on revealing interviews with his close colleagues. Interviewees include former ministers Peter Mandelson, Ed Balls, Harriet Harman, Jack Straw, Douglas Alexander, Alan Johnson, Hazel Blears, Peter Hain and Shriti Vadera; and several former Downing St insiders including those responsible for policy, political strategy and polling. Producer: Martin Rosenbaum.

The Brown Years

Lavinia Greenlaw

The emergence of the Polgar sisters in the 1970s and 80s rocked the chess world. In a heavily male dominated game, the three Hungarian girls broke record after record. The youngest, Judit, was talked of as a potential world champion. The Chess Girls is the story of their parents, Laszlo and Klara Polgar, and how they defied the Communist authorities to conduct a remarkable educational experiment. Laszlo Polgar, convinced that any healthy child can be trained to become a genius, set out to prove his theory with his own children. This is a drama-documentary with excerpts from an interview with Laszlo and Klara Polgar recorded for the play. The writer, Lavinia Greenlaw, takes their account and re-creates the lives of the young Polgar family in their tiny Budapest flat. The fictional Laszlo is played by Kerry Shale, and Klara by Sally Orrock. Director: Chris Ledgard.

The Chess Girls

Russell Davis

Clive Coleman

A celebration of one hundred years of outstanding comic performers from music hall, radio and television. Researched, compiled and presented by Russell Davies, the collection includes a wide range of personalities, from the Crazy Gang to John Cleese and from Tallulah Bankhead to Victoria Wood.

The Comedy Greats

Frank Muir

Eight 'Take It From Here' radio episodes from the 1950s, featuring Ron and Eth Glum. Jimmy Edwards stars as the beer-swilling head of the Glum household, with Dick Bentley as Ron and June Whitfield as Eth.

The Glums

Various

Enjoy the best of Lakeland poets Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey in this specially selected anthology, including The Two-Part Prelude, Wordsworth's own shortened version of his great autobiographical work The Prelude, and Coleridge's celebrated Kubla Khan. John Rowe, Alex Jennings and Stephen Critchlow read these perfect evocations of majestic Cumbrian scenery.

The Nation's Favourite Lakeland Poems

Joseph Lidster

Ross Chapman is one of life's losers. So when he survives a point-blank shooting, dons a superhero costume and becomes a crime-busting vigilante, something strange is clearly going on. And Ross's transformation isn't the only odd thing happening in Cardiff. Time is distorting - around the city, some people are aging, dying and decomposing in a matter of minutes, while others are reverting to childhood. Sgt Andy Davidson knows he's out of his depth - so when Jack Harkness sweeps into the police station, he's glad of the help that only Torchwood can provide. But for Jack, the stakes are higher than ever. He's seen a vision of Gwen, dead, murdered by an unknown gunman. And if he can't solve the mystery of Mr Invincible, he can't save her... Written specially for AudioGO by Mark Morris, Mr Invincible is read by Tom Price, who played Sgt Andy Davidson in the hit BBC television series.

Torchwood Mr Invincible

Molly Naylor

How does it feel to have your world blown apart? Molly moves to London full of naive dreams, high hopes and on a quest to make her life just like the movies. Then on 7/7/2005 she finds herself on a tube train blown up by terrorists and her life is forced to take a different direction. Funny, frank and poetic; this is the true story of what happened next and how things are put back together after they've been blown apart. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, to mark the 6th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings. Starring Morven Christie as Molly, Bryan Dick as Dan, Sam Dale as Dad, Susie Riddell as Mum, Jonathan Forbes as Pavel and James Lailey as Matt. Read by Molly Naylor. Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.

Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think of You

Cecil Beaton

Cecil Beaton was a portrait and fashion photographer, as well as a diarist and Oscar-winning designer. Here he discusses his life and achievements in a series of interviews from the BBC radio and TV archive: 
 
At Home: Cecil Beaton, broadcast on BBC Radio, 7th May 1957 (featuring Hywel Davies) 
Face To Face, broadcast on BBC Television, 18th February 1962 (featuring John Freeman) 
Late Night Line-Up, broadcast on BBC Television, 9th May 1968 (featuring Sheridan Morley) 
Desert Island Discs, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 26th January 1980 (featuring Roy Plomley) 
 
Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
&copy;2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Cecil Beaton In His Own Words

Jean-Dominique Bauby

Whilst suffering from a condition whereby he was unable to speak and his only movement was the blinking of an eyelid, Jean-Dominique Bauby devised a code for each letter of the alphabet and dictated this book about his experiences and feelings. He died just after it was published. This moving, extraordinary book is read by Richard Derrington.

The Diving-Bell And The Butterfly

Laura Marney

Ruth Thomas

Alan Spence

A collection of three stories to mark the Leap Year by Laura Marney, Ruth Thomas and Alan Spence. 
 
The Leap Year Tales are: 
 
'Aw Wrong' by Laura Marney 
Facing the imminent birth of their first child, a couple take steps to try to influence the course of nature. 
Read by Gabriel Quigley. 
 
'February Alone' by Ruth Thomas 
An intended romantic lunch goes strangely awry. Will a gift of lingerie help save the hour? 
Read by Melody Grove. 
 
'Excepting February' by Alan Spence 
February's extra day threatens to cause technical meltdown in Scotland's granite city, but meanwhile may give love another chance for one man. 
Read by John Buick. 
 
Produced by Patricia Hitchcock.

Leap Year Tales

A BBC Radio Collection

Nigel Smith

The History Plays is a series of five two-hander plays by Vent author Nigel Smith, which are imagined conversations at key moments in recent history, moments that have permanently changed the British psyche. 
 
Starting with Mick Jagger's conviction for drug possession; through the fragmented morality of John Stonehouse; the Indian summer of patriotism over the Falklands; the death of Diana; and the end of the Blair years. The History Plays are a satirical and thoughtful exploration of huge social forces played out in small human dramas. This is a series about the promises and pitfalls of history but what's really significant is what these moments say about our attitudes and assumptions now. 
 
Jagger in Jail 
1967, the summer of love and Mick Jagger begins his 3 month sentence for drug possession. Jagger in Jail imagines the conversations that may have taken place between Mick and his cellmate, Jim, during what turned out to be his only night behind bars. 
 
Stonehouse in Alice 
Ed Jennings, a cub reporter for a local paper, stumbles upon the scoop of a lifetime while holidaying in Australia. Leonard has found missing maverick MP, John Stonehouse, who recently faked his death to escape his mountains of debt, the fraud squad, his wife and a series of misadventures back at home. Stonehouse presents Ed with an offer that will change both of their lives. 
 
Maggie Heart Galtieri 
Maggie Watkins finds a wounded Argentinian soldier, Christian Galtieri, in her kitchen and in need of shelter. As she slowly learns why he is in hiding the pair begin to fall in love, but as their relationship grows the Task Force lands and it becomes harder and harder to ignore the larger forces at play. 
 
O Salutaris Hostia, Diana 
Martha and Graham look back over their lives together, but their very different views on Diana mask a far more personal conflict, and Graham's dislike of the princess has its roots in his pain over the circumstances of their son Alan's death. 
 
A History of Blair in 9 1/2 Voices 
Tony Blair, lost in the winding corridors of the BBC the day after his resignation, finds himself sharing a room with Sue, a struggling impressionist who assumes he is a Tony Blair lookalike. Blair enjoys the opportunity to speak in the third person and to show off a few impressions of his own. A darkly comic but thoughtful exploration of what makes Blair tick, alongside a compelling explanation for what may have lain behind Blair's early political successes and what prompted his unwavering commitment to the war in Iraq. 
 
Produced by Gareth Edwards.

The History Plays

Five BBC Radio 4 dramas

Jack Harness is in need of a holiday. He wants to get away from Torchwood, away from the human race - and where better to get completely away from it all than Cotter Paluni's World, a planet surrounded by deadly scarlet lightning and cut off from the entire universe?   But there are some shocks in store for Jack: the 'Devil's World' might be completely isolated and inaccessible, but its inhabitants worship Torchwood. And before he can find out why, or how this is even possible, he finds himself arrested for murder.   It looks as if someone on the planet knows who Jack is - and they're out to get him... .

Torchwood Red Skies

O. Henry

A collection of three Christmas classics by a cherished American writer, to warm the soul and intrigue the listener with satisfyingly unexpected plot twists. 
 
Episode 1: The Gift Of The Magi 
A young couple struggle to find the money for a really special Christmas present for each other. 
 
Episode 2: Mammon And The Archer 
A young man is encouraged to pursue the love of his life by his father. But is it cupid or cold hard cash that decides his fate? 
 
Episode 3: The Retrieved Reformation 
Safebreaker Jimmy Valentine is unexpectedly released from prison and vows to go straight. 
 
Abridged by Annie Caulfield 
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery

O. Henry Stories

Aesop

40 of Aesop's tales, specially adapted for young children. Read by Richard Briers, Jane Horrocks, Jonathan Pryce, Alison Steadman, Richard E. Grant, Lindsay Duncan and Brenda Blethyn. Stories include: The Hare &amp; the Tortoise/The Frogs &amp; the Ox/The Fox &amp; the Crow/The Monkey as King/The Bundle of Sticks/The Gnat &amp; the Lion/The North Wind &amp; the Sun/The Fox &amp; the Grapes/The Dog, the Cockerel &amp; the Fox/The Miller, His Son &amp; the Donkey/The Wolf &amp; the Heron/The Donkey in the Lion's Skin/The Ant &amp; the Grasshopper/The Vain Jackdaw/The Frogs who Wanted a King/The Cat &amp; the Mice/The Lion &amp; the Mouse/The Caged Bird &amp; the Bat/The Fox &amp; the Goat/The Lion &amp; the Elephant/The Crow &amp; the Pitcher/The Fox &amp; the Stork/Two Travellers &amp; a Bear/The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs/The Kid &amp; the Wolf/The Old Lion &amp; the Fox/The Eagle &amp; the Jackdaw/The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing/The Goatherd &amp; the Wild Goats/The Dog in the Manger/Androcles &amp; The Lion, plus 9 more.

Aesop's Fables

The Complete Collection

Black Heart Blue

Black Lace Book Of Women Sexual Fantasies

Black Star Series

Blacklist

Set inside Blandings Castle, this comedy series follows Lord Emsworth and his pig Empress as they meet with his dysfunctional family and friends, and the havoc that follows.

Blandings

Blandings Castle

Blood City Rollers

Bloodlines

Blossom Street

Blue Ant

Bluey

Bodyguard

Bodyguard Series

Bollocks to Alton Towers

Book of Dust Series

Borderlands

Born Wicked

Boudica: the last defender of the Celtic culture; the only woman openly to have led her warriors into battle; the only British warrior to have stood against the might of Imperial Rome - and triumphed. 
 
This is her story.

Boudica

Boy Soldier

Brain Chemicals

Brave Bunnies

Bridge

Bridget Jones's Diary

Brief Encounters

Bright Young Things

Brotherband

Arthur Bryant and John May are Golden Age detectives living in the modern world. Together they head up the Peculiar Crimes Unit, ready to solve any of the weird and wonderful crimes that fall across their desks.

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