Alfie Small is a keen explorer, just like his older cousin, Charlie. And just like Charlie, Alfie is fearless! He loves adventures, speedboats, dragons and sword-fighting. He does NOT like wrinkly old pirates and interfering puffins. Unlike Charlie, Alfie always makes sure he gets back home in time for tea!

Alfie Small

Alfie Teale

Alfred Assollant was born in 1827. He was a teacher, journalist, writer and outspoken opponent of Napoleon III. He wrote more than thirty books over thirty years, including historical fiction, collected essays and a treatise on the rights of women, but only The Marvellous (But Authentic) Adventures of Captain Corcoran, published in 1867, was a success. In the 1870s, his wife, son and daughter died in quick succession and Assollant found himself poverty-stricken. In 1886 he also died, all but forgotten despite the continuing success of Corcoran, in a paupers’ hospital in Paris. 
 
Sam Miller was born and brought up in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and Politics at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, before joining the BBC in 1986, for which he has worked, on and off, ever since. In the early 1990s he was the BBC World Service TV and radio correspondent in Delhi, and on his return to the UK in 1993 was the presenter of the BBC’s current affairs programme, South Asia Report. Later he became the head of the Urdu service and subsequently Managing Editor, South Asia. He was posted back to Delhi in 2002 and has remained there ever since. He is the author of Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity (2009), Blue Guide: India (2012) and most recently A Strange Kind of Paradise: India Through Foreign Eyes, which was published by Jonathan Cape in 2014.

Alfred Assollant

Alfred Döblin

Alfred Hayes

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Tennyson

Alfred Tong

Alfred de Musset

Alfred de Vigny

Algernon Blackwood (1869 – 1951) was one of the most influential horror writers of the twentieth century. Transcending the boundaries of conventional writing in the genre, his tales are celebrated for their atmospheric descriptions, psychological depth, and their deep interest in phenomena outside of conventional human experience. A lover of nature, his writing is imbued with a mysticism and awe for his surroundings, and much of his work is concerned with the beauty and terror to be found in moutainscapes and dark forests. Blackwood's influence extends beyond horror literature, inspiring authors across various genres and with his evocative storytelling and philosophical insight.

Algernon Blackwood

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Ali Abdaal is a doctor, entrepreneur, amateur magician, and the world's most-followed productivity expert. 
 
Ali became intrigued by the science of productivity while juggling the demands of medical training at Cambridge University with building his business. While working as a doctor in the UK's National Health Service, Ali started to document his journey towards living a healthier, happier, more productive life online. In the years since, Ali's evidence-based videos, podcasts and articles about the human mind have reached hundreds of millions of people all around the world. 
 
In 2021, Ali took a break from his medical practice to focus full-time on his work popularising the science of human flourishing and high performance. Here, he reveals everything he has learnt from a decade studying the secrets of feeling better and achieving more.

Ali Abdaal

His Excellency Ali Ibrahim Al-Naimi is the former Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of the most powerful economic and political jobs in the world, he held this post from August 1995 to May 2016. 
 
Prior to that he held a wide range of leadership positions in the Kingdom's national oil company, Saudi Aramco. He was the first Saudi national to be named President of the company in 1984 and became the first Saudi CEO in 1988. Al-Naimi joined the company, then called Aramco, as an office boy in 1947. A Bedouin, he was born in the deserts of eastern Arabia in 1935.

Ali Al-Naimi

Ali Campbell

Ali Cronin

After graduating from university with a degree in mental health, Ali Land spent a decade working as a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Nurse in hospitals and schools in the UK and Australia. Ali is now a full-time writer and lives in Scotland. Her first novel, Good Me Bad Me, was a Sunday Times bestseller and has been translated into over twenty languages. 
 
Follow Ali on Twitter and Instagram @byAliLand

Ali Land

Ali is a leading expert in spiralizing and launched the world-renowned blog Inspiralized.com.

Ali Maffucci

Ali McDowall is a designer, life coach, and creative mentor with a passion for helping others connect, reflect, and grow. After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2008 with a degree in Design for Performance, she worked in the arts until becoming a mother in 2013. Her own journey then led her into coaching, where she now supports fellow creatives through mentoring, vision board workshops, and networking events that centre on open, honest conversation and inspiring panel talks. Ali lives in Bath with her husband and two children.

Ali McDowall

Ali Millar was born and raised in the Scottish Borders, and now lives in England with her husband and four children. She has an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing from Edinburgh Napier University, and has worked as a cultural producer for Summerhall in Edinburgh, for whom she has interviewed dozens of writers including Marina Warner, Rachel Cusk, Emma Jane Unsworth, and Etgar Keret. She has also chaired events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Ali Millar

Ali Pantony is a freelance writer and editor. Her writing has appeared in Glamour, Grazia, BBC Three, Refinery29, Vice, Red and Evening Standard. Almost Adults is her debut novel. 
 
Ali was born in Maidstone, Kent, and lives in North London. You can follow Ali on Twitter and Instagram @alipantony

Ali Pantony

Ali Pye has illustrated more than 30 books, which have been published around the world. She is the author of several picture books, and the 'Harry Stevenson' young fiction series. Ali studied fashion at Central St Martins before taking an MA in illustration at Kingston University. She lives in London with her family, two guinea pigs and the world's greediest spaniel.

Ali Pye

Ali Recanati, the farmer's wife, joined Farmer J with a branding obsession, strong views on pickles and an eye for everything beautiful and bold. Now CMO and co-pilot of the brand, she brings the creative spark and mischief to Farmer J — from breakfast raves to the perfect field tray.

Ali Recanati

Ali Sethi

Ali Smith was born in Inverness in 1962. She is the author of several novels and short story collections including, The Accidental, Hotel World, How to Be Both and the Seasonal Quartet. She has been four times shortlisted for the Booker Prize, has won the Goldsmiths Prize, Orwell Prize, Costa Best Novel Award and the Women’s Prize. Ali Smith lives in Cambridge.

Ali Smith

Ali Soufan, a former FBI special agent, served on the front lines against Al Qaeda and gained an international reputation as a top counter-terrorism operative and interrogator. He has been profiled in The New Yorker and featured in books, newspaper articles, and documentaries around the globe.

Ali Soufan

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Jaroslav Hašek

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation by Christopher Reason of the satirical Czech novel by Jaroslav Hasek.  This tale charts the exploits during the First World War of 'European Forrest Gump', Svejk, in his progress through the ranks of the Austro-Hungarian army.   Good-natured and garrulous, Svejk becomes the Austrian army's most loyal Czech soldier when he is called up on the outbreak of the First World War - although his bumbling attempts to get to the front serve only to prevent him from reaching it. This story of a 'little man' caught in a vast bureaucratic machine combines dazzling wordplay and piercing satire to create a hilariously subversive depiction of the futility of war.  Starring Sam Kelly as Svejk and Adrian Lukis as Lukas. Directed by Gary Brown.

The Good Soldier Svejk

Thomas Hardy

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation by Jon Sen of Thomas Hardy's tragic tale of star-crossed lovers in the West Country. 
 
'Two on a Tower' is Hardy's ninth novel and contains perhaps his most complete treatment of the theme of love across the class and age divide, and also the fullest expression of his fascination with astronomy and science. This story of passion and sacrifice begins when Lady Viviette Constantine discovers the handsome young astronomer Swithin St Cleeve on the lonely tower on her estate. 
 
Starring Maggie O'Neill as Lady Constantine, Blake Ritson as Swithin St Cleeve, Conrad Nelson as Parson Torkingham and with Amy Humphreys, Stephen Tomlin, Pauline Jefferson, Richard Heap and Carter Dowland. 
 
Directed by Stefan Escreet.

Two On A Tower (Bbc Radio 4 Classic Serial)

Valentine Dyall

Various

Four gripping episodes from the famous 1940s BBC Radio horror series.   Includes: 'The Pit and the Pendulum' by Edgar Allen Poe (18 September 1943); 'The Speaking Clock' by John Dickson Carr (13 April 1944);  'The Clock Strikes Eight' by John Dickson Carr (18 May 1944);  'And the Deep Shuddered' by Monckton Hoffe (20 November 1945).   'Appointment With Fear' ran for a total of ten series between 1943 and 1955, with Valentine Dyall – ‘The Man in Black’ – introducing nine of them. The four episodes here are the sole surviving ones from the BBC archive.   'The Pit and the Pendulum' is a terrifying tale of torture told by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, while 'The Speaking Clock' tells of a man who commits murder and gets away with it. In 'The Clock Strikes Eight', we learn from Dr Gideon Fell the awful truth about the Barton case, while 'And The Deep Shuddered' is a haunting tale of a survivor of a maritime disaster who subsequently goes insane.   Dramatised with a full cast, these four sinister stories will chill your blood and strike terror into your heart.

Appointment With Fear

David Attenborough

David Attenborough reads his own bestselling memoir 
 
'An enthralling autobiography from one of the linchpins of television' Good Book Guide 
 
David Attenborough is the acknowledged voice of nature, loved and revered worldwide for his groundbreaking wildlife documentaries. Over the course of his long BBC career, David has risen from trainee producer to award-winning film-maker, and in Life on Air, he tells the extraordinary stories of the people and animals he has met along the way. 
 
We hear of his earliest days in television; his stint as Controller of BBC2, during which he introduced colour TV to Britain; and his encounters with luminaries such as Montgomery, Anthony Eden, Benjamin Britten and the Queen. Here, too, are tales of his travels to some of the most far-flung corners of the globe, including New Guinea, Borneo, Paraguay and the Australian outback, and the rare creatures he captures on film: from the exotic birds of paradise and the elusive Indri lemurs to the endangered Komodo dragon. 
 
Featuring behind-the-scenes accounts of the making of his landmark natural history series, beginning with the pioneering Zoo Quest and concluding with Life in Cold Blood, this wonderful memoir - read by David Attenborough himself - recounts the highlights of a remarkable life in broadcasting. 
 
Production credits 
Read by David Attenborough 
 
© 2010 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2010 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

David Attenborough Life On Air: Memoirs Of A Broadcaster

Brian Johnston

Brian Johnston, aka ‘Johnners’, the BBC’s long-time cricket commentator, is the umpire in this test of wit and general knowledge, as two teams try to score the highest number of runs under his watchful eye.   In these four episodes, team captains Tim Rice and Willie Rushton are joined by Stephen Fry, Paul Merton, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer, Bill Tidy, Caroline Quentin, Bernard Cribbins and Robin Bailey.   But which questions will they go for? The easier ‘single’ worth just one run? Or will they try the harder question and attempt a ‘boundary’ (four runs)?   Can the batting team reach six questions (an ‘over’) before the other team gets a go? And there’s every chance that calls of ‘Howzat!’ or ‘Bouncer!’ can interrupt play...   With questions that include trivia and unusual facts, hear the stumps fly and the wickets fall in these four wonderful episodes.

Johnners' Trivia Test Match

Agatha Christie

Elspeth McGillicuddy is down from Scotland for a holiday and boards the 4:50 train from Paddington station to visit her friend, Miss Marple. During the journey, another train pulls alongside, and through the window Mrs McGillicuddy witnesses a tall, dark man strangling a blonde woman.   She reports what she has seen, yet no one takes any notice. There is no report of any murder, no dead woman found on any train, and the police have no record of any persons reported missing that match the description.   Only Miss Marple believes her account, and realising that the body must have been thrown off the train, with the help of maps and train timetables she pinpoints the exact spot where the body must be.   With the help of her young friend Lucy Eyelesbarrow, she goes about the tricky task of uncovering a murder - and a cunning murderer...   Agatha Christie's intricate mystery is dramatised with a full cast including Ian Lavender as Inspector Craddock, Joan Sims as Mrs McGillicuddy and Susannah Harker as Lucy Eyelesbarrow.

4.50 From Paddington

'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30pm. Friends please accept this, the only intimation.' Nestled among the usual notices about dogs for sale and appeals for domestic help, the startling entry in the personal column of the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette has the entire village agog with curiosity. Is it a game? And who is meant to attend? The mistress of Little Paddocks, Letitia Blacklock, is also taken completely by surprise. Suspecting her nephew of a practical joke, she's sure of one thing: half the village will be converging on the house expecting a glass of sherry. Sure enough, the evening sees a crowd of residents standing expectantly in the drawing-room. Then the clock strikes the half-hour, the lights go out, and three gunshots ring in the dark. When the lights go back on, the promised murder has been committed. Can Miss Marple work out what has happened and why? One of Agatha Christie's most intriguing mysteries is dramatised with a full cast including Ian Lavender and Jamie Glover.

A Murder Is Announced

Wealthy businessman Rex Fortescue is found dead with rye grain in his pocket. His death is followed in quick succession by a woman dying while eating bread and honey, and a maid in her garden.   Inspector Neele, in charge of investigating the spate of murders, consults with Miss Marple, who has an interesting and surprising theory to offer. She senses the murderer is dispatching his victims on the basis of the children's nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence'.   The similarities are numerous - not least the fact that Rex means 'king', and as a financier, he could be said to have been in his counting house when he died. Soon the blackbirds of the rhyme put in an appearance, not to mention a whole shoal of red herrings. What secrets are lurking at the heart of the Fortescue family?   Miss Marple finds herself enmeshed in one of the strangest cases of her life... An intriguing mystery from the Queen of Crime, dramatised with a full cast including Nicky Henson and Derek Waring.

A Pocket Full Of Rye

'You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed? It's the only solution.'   Even when on holiday in Jerusalem - the so-called City of Peace - Hercule Poirot can't seem to escape the strains of death and murder. His first evening at the King Solomon Hotel finds the above phrase floating into his room from outside. What does it mean? Who is the speaker, and just how seriously should it be considered? Whilst Poirot struggles to resist the lure of a fresh mystery, he cannot suppress the foreboding in his heart.   Also in residence at the hotel are the Boyntons, a nervous American family held tightly in the grip of their matriarch. Then there is the young medic Sarah King, plus Dr Theodore Gerard, an expert in the subject of schizophrenia. These and other guests are thrown together on an organised trip to the ancient city of Petra.   Whilst love apparently blossoms for Miss King, death visits another member of the party. It is clearly murder, and there are a number of likely suspects. Only one man has the skill to distinguish between them: Hercule Poirot.   Agatha Christie's exotic mystery is dramatised with a full cast including Jill Balcon and Miriam Karlin.

Appointment With Death

Jane Marple is being treated to a few days' holiday by her niece, staying at Bertram's Hotel - a dignified, establishment tucked away in a back street of busy Mayfair. It is a place where sedate upper-class ladies, retired military gentlemen and the higher echelons of the clergy can indulge in the comforts of a bygone age.   But Miss Marple begins to feel uneasy. Something sinister lurks beneath the polished veneer. Why are so many major crimes associated in some way with the hotel and those eminently respectable people staying there?   Instead of rest and relaxation, Miss Marple finds herself hard at work as she attempts to discover what goes on behind closed doors.   Siân Phillips and Maurice Denham are among the cast of this absorbing mystery, starring June Whitfield as Miss Marple.

At Bertram's Hotel

Hercule Poirot, along with three other luminaries from the world of crime detection, is invited to dinner by the renowned London socialite Dr Shaitana. Also on the guest list are four members of what Shaitana calls his Black Museum - a collection of murderers who have each succeeded in 'getting away with it'.   An elegant dinner is followed by a game of bridge, in which Shaitana himself does not participated. But just after midnight, when the guests prepare to leave, they make a terrible discovery. Their host is dead in his armchair, stabbed in the chest.   The four sleuths are thus faced with one murder and a quartet of likely suspects. Working both together and independently, they investigate the pasts of the Black Museum's finest in order to determine the most likely killer.   Poirot finds that many hindrances and distractions are thrown in his way, as he attempts to read the meaning of the cards which each suspect has placed on the table.   Agatha Christie's intriguing mystery is dramatised with a full cast including Stephanie Cole and Donald Sinden.

Cards On The Table

To distract himself from his fear of flying, Hercule Poirot observes his fellow passengers on the noon flight from Le Bourget to Croydon. On his right sits a pretty young woman, clearly very aware of the handsome man opposite her; ahead of him is a nervous aristocrat and her maid; and across the aisle is a writer of detective novels, troubled by an aggressive wasp. Lulled into drowsiness by a sedative he has taken, Poirot abruptly awakens when the woman behind him is found dead. A reaction to a wasp-sting is suggested, but Poirot discovers that a poisoned dart is the real cause - and a blow pipe is discovered stuffed down the back of his own seat.   The murderer can only be one of the eleven passengers in the rear of the plane, or one of the stewards. The dead woman was a moneylender to the upper classes, so the Countess, addicted to cocaine and gambling, is an obvious suspect. Or could it be the detective writer, trying out a plot for his new book? No-one is above suspicion: not even Poirot himself. He must unravel this baffling mystery - if only to clear his own name...   John Moffatt stars as the great Belgian detective, with Philip Jackson as Inspector Japp.

Death In The Clouds

Linnet Ridgeway has led a charmed life. Blessed with beauty, enormous wealth and a devoted husband, she has everything anyone could wish for. But as the happy couple set out on an idyllic honeymoon cruise on the Nile, storm clouds are gathering...   Linnet's former friend, Jacqueline de Bellefort, follows her and Simon wherever they go and Linnet senses she is in danger. At first her fears seem groundless. But an attempt is made first on her life and then on her husband's. Eventually the killer is successful, and Linnet is found horribly murdered.   With an obvious suspect who cannot possibly have committed the crime, it is up to Hercule Poirot to probe the depths of a remarkable criminal mind and discover the dark secret behind what is only the first in a series of inexplicable deaths.

Death On The Nile

Famous crime novelist Ariadne Oliver, visiting her friend Judith Butler in the little town of Woodleigh Common, is invited to a Hallowe'en Party put on by society hostess Mrs Rowena Drake for the local teenagers.   During her preparations for the party, the conversation turns to Ariadne's grisly novels. One of the teenagers, Joyce Reynolds, boasts that she once witnessed a murder, although she didn't realise at the time what she'd seen.   Convinced that she is just trying to attract attention, no-one believes her - but later she is found tragically drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. Distraught, Ariadne decides to call upon the services of her old friend Hercule Poirot to solve the case.   Assuming that Joyce was killed because of what she said, Poirot knows he must find out if the teenager was telling the truth. If so, there is not just one death for him to investigate, but two...  Starring John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot, with Stephanie Cole as Ariadne Oliver.

Hallowe'en Party

'Monsieur Poirot, somehow or other I've just got to get rid of my husband!'   No sooner had she uttered the words than Lady Edgware's husband was dead, brutally stabbed in the neck. The evidence against her is overwhelming, the case cut and dried.   But what is the truth behind it all? What enemies lurked in the background of the victim's life? Hercule Poirot is on the case, intrigued once more, ready to investigate murder in the library...   John Moffatt stars as the great Belgian detective in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation.

Lord Edgware Dies

Theo is determined to seek happiness with her husband's business rival, Vincent. Having fled London for Paris, however, she soon learns of Richard's financial collapse - and discovers that rather more than just his job is at stake. Starring Emilia Fox as Theo, Alex Jennings as Richard and Julian Rhind-Tutt as Vincent. Dramatised by Mike Walker.

Magnolia Blossom

The gruesome death of Mrs McGinty provokes Superintendent Spence to seek the help of his old ally Hercule Poirot. The victim's young lodger has been found guilty and is due to hang. But Spence is not convinced by the circumstantial evidence which influenced the verdict.   So, at considerable personal discomfort, Poirot goes down to the sleepy village where the old lady lived and where, by chance, his good friend Ariadne Oliver is also staying. There he alights upon his first and most crucial clue - a newspaper article on the present whereabouts of women implicated in notorious murder cases.   Did Mrs McGinty have to die because she had identified one of her neighbours as a brutal killer? Is that killer still at large, and can Poirot and Ariadne act swiftly enough to save an innocent man from the gallows?   Agatha Christie's intriguing mystery is dramatised with a full cast including Julia McKenzie and George Baker. John Moffatt stars as Hercule Poirot.

Mrs McGinty's Dead

In the sleepy little English country village of St Mary Mead, all is not as it seems. Under a seemingly peaceful exterior lurks intrigue, guilt, deception - and murder.   Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing landowner, is the most detested man in the village. Everyone, even the vicar, wishes he were dead. And very soon he is - shot in the head in the vicar's own study.   A visiting artist confesses to the murder, but residents saw him elsewhere at the time the Colonel was shot. If he didn't do it, who did? Is he protecting the wife whom he loves?   Faced with a surfeit of suspects, only the inscrutable Miss Marple can unravel the tangled web of clues. A trap is set, and Miss Marple's theory is put to the test when the true killer is finally unmasked.   This full-cast dramatisation of Agatha Christie's very first Miss Marple mystery stars June Whitfield as the indomitable amateur detective, with Imelda Staunton and Nigel Davenport.

Murder At The Vicarage

Just as Amy Leatheran is about to return to England, she is hired by celebrated archaeologist Dr Leidner to work as a nurse/companion for his wife, who is subject to fits of nervous terrors. As they travel to an ancient site in the Iraqi desert, Amy finds herself in a situation stranger than she could ever have imagined, whilst Mrs Leidner proves to be a demanding yet fascinating woman. Gradually Mrs Leidner warms to Amy and, taking her into her confidence, she reveals the source of her terror. But as the oppressive tension in the air thickens, events come to a terrible climax and result in murder. With just one spot of blood as his only clue, Hercule Poirot must embark on a journey not just across the desert but into the darkest crevices of the human soul. There he hopes to unravel a mystery which taxes even his remarkable powers. 
 
2 CDs. 2 hrs 20 mins.

Murder In Mesopotamia

When Poirot arrives in France, following an urgent appeal for help, he finds he is too late. His client, a South American millionaire, has been stabbed to death and his body flung into a freshly dug open grave on the golf course adjoining the property.   Meanwhile the millionaire's wife is found bound and gagged in her room. Her wrists are badly cut and she seems to be in shock, but she agrees to speak to Poirot. She tells him that they were attacked by thugs who tied her up and forced her husband to leave the house, dressed only in his underwear, before brutally killing him.   Poirot is not sure whether to believe her story. Did she, as the sole beneficiary of her millionaire husband's estate, set the whole thing up? And if not, who did kill M. Renauld?   The suspects include the mysterious Dulcie Duveen and Renauld's son Jack, who had quarrelled violenty with his father. As Poirot investigates, the mystery begins to unfold - but not before another murder occurs...   John Moffatt stars as Poirot, with Jeremy Clyde as Captain Hastings, Madeline Smith as Dulcie Duveen and Stephen Tompkinson as Jack.

Murder On The Links

Miss Marple, living a quiet life in St Mary Mead, is saddened to hear of the death of Jason Rafiel. Not that they were friends - the old financier was much too irascible and self-centred for friendship - but they had once been allies in solving a series of murders that took place on the tiny Caribbean island of St Honoré.   She is therefore greatly surprised by a summons to the dead man's solicitor, where she receives a bizarre challenge in the form of a posthumous letter. According to Mr Rafiel, a crime has been committed, and her task is to investigate and solve it. If she succeeds, she stands to inherit twenty thousand pounds. But what is the crime, and who was involved?   Left literally without a clue, can even the ever-observant Miss Marple succeed in solving the most impossible case of her life?   June Whitfield stars as Miss Marple, with David Swift and Jill Balcon, in this full-cast dramatisation of one of Agatha Christie's most baffling mysteries.

Nemesis

Poirot has always hated visiting the dentist, but this time his check-up is painless and soon over. As he leaves Mr Morley's surgery, he observes a woman wearing patent leather shoes with large buckles. She catches one of the buckles on the taxi door and wrenches it off, and as Poirot hands it back, he is reminded of the children's rhyme 'One, two, buckle my shoe'.   Back home, Poirot is astonished to receive a call from Chief Inspector Japp, informing him that Mr Morley has shot himself. There was no reason for him to commit suicide, and Poirot believes he was murdered, but who would want to kill an inoffensive dentist? To find out, Poirot must pick up sticks and lay them straight...   As Poirot starts to dig and delve, the solution seems apparent. But with so many suspects, and a wealth of motives to digest, he has a long way to go before his plate's empty...

One, Two Buckle My Shoe

Hercule Poirot and his good friend Captain Hastings are enjoying a well-deserved break on the Cornish Riviera. Wandering along the terrace of the Hotel Majestic on the first morning of their stay, Poirot literally falls at the feet of a pretty, dark-haired girl and, much to Hastings' delight, insists that she join them for a cocktail. The girl is Nick Buckley, last in a long line of Buckleys to live at End House, an isolated old place perched on the end of a rocky outcrop. As she chats to them, Poirot's ears prick up - Nick mentions that she has had several near-fatal accidents in the past few days. First the brakes on her car failed, then as she was going down to the beach to bathe, a boulder came crashing downhill, just missing her. To Poirot, that is more than coincidence. And when Nick jerks away from a passing bee that turns out to be a bullet, he knows there is work ahead for his little grey cells. The perpetrator of these 'accidents' may well be endlessly inventive and diabolically clever, but is he or she a match for the meticulous M. Poirot? This full-cast dramatisation of Agatha Christie's absorbing mystery stars John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot, with Simon Williams, Gemma Saunders and Suzanna Hamilton.

Peril At End House

When Alex and Terry set up their own e-commerce company in Philomel Cottage, everything looks rosy until money goes missing from Alex's account. Soon she is questioning her partner - and, indeed, the cottage itself.

Philomel Cottage

In 1940s London, Hercule Poirot is cornered by the club bore and learns of a mysterious death - one which sets him off on one of his most intriguing cases.   When Gordon Cloade is killed in a London air raid his vast fortune passes to his young wife Rosaleen. Cloade's relatives are desperate to get their hands on his money, and Rosaleen begins to fear for her life.   The prospects for the Cloade relatives improve when they discover that Rosaleen had a previous husband who had perished mysteriously in Africa. Then a mysterious stranger appears in the village, saying that he has something to communicate to her, but the following morning he is found dead.   Was the murdered man in fact Rosalind's first husband? Who murdered him - and why?

Taken At The Flood

Alice Ascher, a poor, elderly shopkeeper, is murdered in Andover. Betty Barnard, a young waitress, is strangled with her own belt at Bexhill-on-Sea. Next comes Carmichael Clarke, collector of Chinese art, clubbed to death in Churston. Only in Doncaster does the pattern vary: the man found stabbed in the Regal Cinema is called George Earsfield.   But each time, an ABC railway guide is found by the dead bodies, and each time, Poirot is warned in advance by a taunting letter from someone signed 'ABC'. Who is ABC? And can Poirot find out in time to prevent the death of a whole alphabet of victims?   The police doubt him and the public are in a state of panic, but Poirot is convinced that the murderer's luck will turn, and sooner or later he will make a crucial mistake. And Poirot will be there when he does...   This full-cast dramatisation of one of Agatha Christie's most imaginative mysteries stars John Moffatt as the great Belgian detective, Simon Williams as his faithful sidekick Captain Hastings and Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp.

The ABC Murders

In this delightful tale, an Eastern Prince arrives in England with some family jewels which he's having reset as a gift for his fianceé. However, the Prince also has a mistress. She asks to wear one particularly enchanting piece that features a huge ruby, and then promptly disappears with it.   Poirot discovers a connection with a house party at the home of Colonel and Mrs Lacey and, in order to pursue his investigation, an invitation is procured for him to the Laceys', ostensibly to enjoy an old-fashioned Christmas.   With deft skill and the workings of his little grey cells, Poirot brings this case to a satisfying and festive conclusion.   Starring John Moffat as Hercule Poirot, with Donald Sinden and Sian Phillips as Colonel and Mrs Lacey.

The Adventure Of Christmas Pudding

Dolly Bantry, mistress of Gossington Hall, is enjoying a pleasant doze when suddenly her dreams take a strange turn. The housemaid Mary is telling her that there is a body in the library...   When she wakes up, she finds that it is true. But who is the strange young blonde dressed in an evening gown who is lying strangled on the library hearth rug?   Enter St Mary Mead's resident sleuth, Miss Marple. With her keen eye for the complexities of human nature and her observational skills, she studies the body closely and makes mental notes. But even she cannot provide an immediate explanation.   The police hunt through reports of missing persons, and before long the identity of the victim becomes obvious. What is not apparent, however, is how she ended up on the Bantrys' library floor.   Sifting every word from the suspects and exploring every possible motive, Miss Marple slowly comes to a shocking conclusion.   Agatha Christie's puzzling mystery is dramatised with a full cast including Richard Todd, Pauline Jameson and Jack Watling.

The Body In Library

A group of adventurers set out from Damascus to visit the legendary Gate of Baghdad, also known as the Gate of Death. When one of the party is found dead, the others look to the seemingly unimpeachable Mr Parker Pyne.

The Gates Of Baghdad

War-wounded sailor Dickie Carpenter is haunted by strange visitations from a ghostly woman. When his friend Robert tries to solve the mystery, though, he ultimately has to fight his own terrifying battle between love and death.

The Gypsy

Little Pop-Ups

Little Princesses

Little Puffin Clothbound Classics

Little Red Train

Little Swan Ballet

Little Town of Marrowville

Little World

Lives of the Artists

Living Autobiography

Living World

Stella Rimington brings all her experience as the first woman Director General of MI5 to bear in a heart-stopping thriller series that takes us deep into a wilderness of mirrors where nothing is what it seems and no one can be trusted.

Liz Carlyle

Lizzie and Lucky

Lockwood & Co.

Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter join forces in this seminal sci-fi series. 
Long Earth is series of parallel worlds that are similar to Earth, which can be reached by using an inexpensive device called a "Stepper". The closer worlds are almost identical to our Earth but the further you get the more they differ. They all share one similarity: humans have never existed there, at least not as we know them . . .

Long Earth

Set in the turbulent eighteenth century, Lord John is the lonely, tormented and courageous English officer first seen in the Outlander novels. He is a man who fights for the crown, his honour and his own secrets.

Lord John Grey

Lore Olympus

Lorien Legacies Reborn

Lost Boys

Lost Soul Series

Lottie

Lottie Brooks

Love & Hockey

Love in the Fast Lane

Love’s Academic

Meet Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI and member of 15th century Rome's most notorious family. Scandal and tragedy follow her everywhere as she struggles to choose between love and loyalty.

Lucrezia Borgia

Lucy and Tom

MOOMIN

Mabel Jones

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know Trilogy

Maeve Kerrigan Series

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