Alan Duff

Alan Durant is the author of books for a wide age-range, from picture books such as Burger Boy, Angus Rides the Goods Train and Always and Forever to top-end teenage thrillers (Blood, Flesh and Bones). Having worked as a copywriter at Walker Books, he is now a full-time author. 
 
He's married, with three children and lives in Brighton. He does a lot of school visits throughout the UK and abroad and also runs writing workshops.

Alan Durant

Alan Edge

Alan Ereira

Alan Garner

Alan Gilbey

Alan Gordon is the founder and director of the Pain Psychology Center in California, a leading treatment facility for chronic pain sufferers that sees over 1,500 patients from around the world every year. Debilitated by chronic pain throughout his body for several years and frustrated by the lack of effective treatment, Gordon developed the ground-breaking Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) – a highly effective system of psychological techniques that rewire the brain’s neural circuits to turn off “stuck” pain signals. He is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Southern California.

Alan Gordon

Alan Grant

Born in 1926 in New York City, Alan Greenspan worked as a Juilliard-trained professional musician before studying Economics at New York University, where he earned his PhD. From 1974 to 1977, he served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Gerald Ford. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed him Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, a position he held until his retirement in 2006. He is the author of the bestselling The Age of Turbulence and The Map and the Territory 2.0.

Alan Greenspan

Alan H Guth

Alan Hansen was one of Britain's most respected football players and is now one of the most outspoken and popular football pundits.

Alan Hansen

Alan Harris is a Welsh playwright who has written several plays for BBC radio including The Lighthouse and The Gold Farmer. His play A Good Night Out in the Valleys launched the new National Theatre Wales in 2010 and he has also been awarded a prestigious Creative Wales Award.

Alan Harris

Alan Hill

Alan Hollinghurst was born in 1954. He is the author of one of the most highly praised first novels to appear in the 1980s, The Swimming-Pool Library, and was selected as one of the Best of Young British Novelists 1993. His second novel, The Folding Star, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize. His novel The Line of Beauty won the Booker Prize in 2004. His most recent novel, The Sparsholt Affair, was published in 2017.

Alan Hollinghurst

Alan Hooper is a founder and Honorary Fellow of the Centre for Leadership Studies, 
University of Exeter, and is also a visiting Professor at Bristol Business 
School. He has been a CEO in the public sector and now consults widely on 
senior management development and the management of change.

Alan Hooper

Alan Isler was born in England in 1934, emigrating to the US at the age of 18. After serving in the US army he went on to study literature at Columbia University, and taught for much of his adult life. Isler was the author of several novels including Kraven Images, The Bacon Fancier, Clerical Errors, The Living Proof and The Prince of West End Avenue, which won the National Jewish Book Award in 1994. Isler died in 2010. 
 .

Alan Isler

Alan J Wilson

Alan Jenkins

Alan Johnson was born in May 1950. He is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. Johnson was the Member of Parliament for Hull West and Hessle until his retirement from politics in 2017. 
 His first book, This Boy, won the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Orwell Prize in 2013. His second, Please Mister Postman, won the National Book Award for Autobiography of the Year in 2014. His third, The Long and Winding Road, was published in 2016 and won the Parliamentary Book Award for Best Memoir.

Alan Johnson

Alan Jones

Belfast-born twins Alan and Gary Keery love cereal. As creators of The Cereal Killer Café, the trendiest new eatery on Brick Lane, they have turned that love of the nation’s favourite comfort food into a thriving business. The opening of their first café saw extraordinary interest with press and broadcast coverage from all over the world. The café was voted best new restaurant by Hot Dinners in 2014. A second café is opening in summer 2015.

Alan Keery

Alan Langford

Alan Lerner

Alan MacDonald

Alan Macdonald

Alan Macfarlane

Alan McDonald

Alan Melville

Alan Moore

Alan Moorehead was born in Melbourne, Australia. He travelled to England in 1937 and became a renowned foreign correspondent for the London Daily Express. Writer, world traveller, biographer, essayist, journalist, Moorehead was one of the most successful writers in English of his day. During World War II he won an international reputation for his coverage of campaigns in the Middle East and Asia, the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe. He died in 1983.

Alan Moorehead

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Various

Ten short BBC Radio 4 plays from an eclectic mix of writers, including Josie Long, Nick Warburton and Tim Key, exploring one of the most important human emotions. 'Ten Lessons in Love' was originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 25 April 2011.This accumulation of mini-plays encompasses romance, heartbreak and some adult themes; each play offering a very different perspective on love. David uses 'the machine' to revisit his old memories - he wants to pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love. But when it malfunctions, it catapults us into the stories of a variety of people, all of whom are attempting to make sense of love...The 'Ten Lessons in Love' of which this collection is comprised are: 'You Never Know When You're Going to Fall in Love', 'More Often than Not, Your Dream Date Will be a Nightmare', 'Beware of Skeletons in the Closet', 'Remain Interested; Don't Yawn at Least', 'When Your Heart Freezes it's Time to Leave the Building', 'Love is Fickle', 'Being Alone Doesn't Have to Mean Being Lonely', 'Love's Worth Fighting For', 'Love Can't be Pinned Down' and 'Ignore All Previous Lessons'.Starring Sean Baker as David, the cast also includes Nyasha Hatendi and Alex Tregear.

Ten Lessons In Love

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Amelia Bullmore

A BBC Radio 4 'Afternoon Play' starring Bill Nighy as widower Christopher, originally broadcast on 20 April 2011.When his wife died three years ago, Christopher fled London for a simpler existence in Cornwall, where he has settled on bat protection as his mission. Colette and her noisy daughters rent the holiday cottage next door and disturb the peace - both his and that of his beloved bats.'The Bat Man' stars Bill Nighy, Katherine Parkinson, Jenny Agutter, Sean Baker, Lauren Mote and Georgia Groome.

The Bat Man

Ed Jones

A morality tale from BBC Radio 4's 'Afternoon Play' slot, about a struggling chef in Salford. 'The Janitor' was originally broadcast on 6 May 2011.   Kevin is struggling to keep his new restaurant afloat in posh Salford Quays. But then Jonno turns up. The boy he was a dad to for a couple of years when he was shacked up with his mother. He couldn't save the mother, can he now save the kid? All fifteen stone of him?  Starring Jason Done from 'Waterloo Rd' as Kevin and Tachia Newall as Jonno. Also featured amongst the cast are Naomi Radcliffe, Chris Jack, Catherine Kinsella and Gerard Fletcher.

The Janitor

Raymond Chandler

Fast-talking, trouble-seeking private eye Philip Marlowe is a different kind of detective: a moral man in an amoral world. California in the ’40s and ’50s is as beautiful as a ripe fruit and rotten to the core, and Marlowe must struggle to retain his integrity amidst the corruption he encounters daily. In The Long Goodbye, Marlowe forms an uneasy friendship with a drunk named Terry Lennox. So when Lennox shows up late one night, looking guilty and asking for a ride to Tijuana airport, Marlowe agrees - though he suspects he’s going to regret it. He’s right. First Lennox’s rich, adulterous wife is found murdered, then Marlowe is arrested, then Lennox himself turns up dead in Mexico: an apparent suicide with a signed confession by his side. And if that wasn’t enough, Marlowe also finds himself babysitting an author to make sure he delivers his next book. Trying to juggle two increasingly tricky cases, Marlowe knows that if he takes his eye off the ball, he could end up dead... Starring Toby Stephens, this powerful dramatisation by Stephen Wyatt cannot fail to draw you into Raymond Chandler’s darkly attractive world of deceit, decadence and death.

The Long Goodbye

Caroline Stafford

David Stafford

A BBC Radio 4 drama focusing on three very different women who find their lives transformed by taking part in the 1960 trials of the contraceptive pill. Originally broadcast as the 'Woman's Hour Drama' from 17 – 21 January 2011.  It's 1960 in Birmingham and Lella Florence is looking for women to help with trials of the contraceptive pill. Married women in a certain age and weight bracket are required.  Three very different women decide to take part. Ditsy June's fed up with being under the influence of her overbearing in-laws and would rather save up for a new bathroom than for another baby. Glamorous Jeanette wants to avoid another agonising labour and to keep her wealthy husband happy. And Isobel has her own secret reasons for signing up. All three women couldn't guess the ways their lives will be changed by taking part in the trial and meeting each other.  Written with sharp observation and a great sense of the period, this warm witty drama by Caroline and David Stafford shines a light on how iconic and life changing an invention the Contraceptive Pill was.  Starring Clare Corbett as Jeanette, Naomi Frederick as Isobel, Sarah Smart as June and Joanna Monro as Lella Florence. Also featured amongst the cast are Sean Baker, Lloyd Thomas, Henry Devas and Iain Batchelor.

The Year They Invented Sex

(BBC Radio 4  Woman's Hour Drama)

Sarah Pinborough

Cardiff Bay. The government has ordered the excavation of the wreckage of a secret underground base. DCI Tom Cutler is watching from a distance, fascinated by the process. There are people in his dreams. People he feels he should know. The disbanded Torchwood Institute spent a century accumulating non-terrestrial artefacts and catching aliens. Who knows what - or who - might still be intact down there? But by the time they find the first body, Suzie Costello is long gone. Based on the hit series created by Russell T. Davies and written by Sarah Pinborough, Long Time Dead is a prequel to Torchwood: Miracle Day, starring John Barrowman and Eve Myles as Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper. It features Suzie Costello, as played by Indira Varma. NB: Contains strong language, sexual references and graphic scenes of violence.

Torchwood: Long Time Dead

Bette Davis

In a selection of interviews ranging from 1958 to 1987, Bette Davis talks about visiting England; her career as a star; the film studio's attempts to change her name and image, and the Hollywood film system. 
 
 Interviews include: Profile, BBC TV (first broadcast 12 September 1958); Bette Davis at the NFT, BBC TV (first broadcast 17 December 1972); Kaleidoscope, BBC Radio (first broadcast 11 September 1974); Parkinson, BBC TV (18 October 1975); Nine Five, BBC TV (first broadcast 31 October 1975); Woman's Hour, BBC Radio (first broadcast 12 September 1979); Arena, BBC TV (first broadcast 2 November 1983). 
 
 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

Bette Davis In Her Own Words

Brian Clough

In interviews ranging from 1972 to 2000, Brian Clough talks about 'the real Brian Clough' - how he is perceived by other people; his bluntness and forceful opinions, and what makes him a good football manager. He also discusses the prospect of becoming an MP; his dream job; football hysteria and hooliganism; his childhood and mother's death; and being imitated by Mike Yarwood. In addition, he considers what people may say about him after his death; buying football players and having managerial ability, as well as sport on TV; leaving Nottingham Forest, and his very public falling out with Peter Taylor. 
 
 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

Brian Clough In His Own Words

Margaret Thatcher

In interviews ranging from 1975 to 1990, Margaret Thatcher talks about being a woman in politics; managing men and women; her response to the media attacks she received in the early days of her career, and the importance of wearing the right clothes. She also recalls her memories of home, including working in her father's grocery shop; the radio and TV programmes she enjoyed (including The Two Ronnies) and following sports like cricket and tennis. 
 
 Also mentioned are her first meeting with her future husband Denis; her worries about her son Mark when he went missing in the Sahara desert; her interest in science, and her love of porcelain and sculpture. Lastly, she discusses her stamina and her worst moment as Prime Minister (during the Falklands War). 
 
 Interviews include: Jimmy Young, BBC Radio 2 (first broadcast 19 February 1975); Pete Murray's Late Show, BBC Radio 2 (first broadcast 7 March 1982); Radio interview for Central Office of Information, BBC Radio (first broadcast 13 December 1985); Favourite Things, BBC One (26 July 1987); Wogan, BBC One (first broadcast 12 January 1990); Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 17 May 1990). 
 
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

Margaret Thatcher In Her Own Words

Noel Coward

In interviews ranging from 1960 to 1972, Noël Coward talks about being a legend; whether he is a cynical writer; his early days in acting and about his early reputation for upsetting fellow actors on stage. He also discusses acting with Laurence Olivier; his affection for the Navy; his film-making; his knighthood, and writing 'Private Lives' for his friend Gertrude Lawrence. 
 
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

Noel Coward In His Own Words

Paul McCartney

In interviews ranging from 1968 to 2009, Paul McCartney talks about touring the UK with Wings (which was then a new band); a mid-70s offer to re-form the Beatles; the early days of the Beatles, and their final break-up. He also discusses his solo albums; receiving the freedom of the City of Liverpool; Christmas with his family; his love of music, and his career since the break-up of the Beatles up to 2009. 
 
 Interviews include: The World at One, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 24 March 1968); Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 24 February 1972); archive interview, BBC Radio (first broadcast 1 June 1972); Insight, BBC Radio 1 (11 April 1976); Rock On, BBC Radio 1 (first broadcast 23 December 1978); archive interview, BBC Radio (first broadcast 18 April1982); The World at One, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 28 November 1984); archive interview, BBC Radio (first broadcast 15 December 1985); archive interview, BBC Radio (first broadcast 12 May 1989); archive interview, BBC Radio (first broadcast 15 December 1982); Parkinson Meets Paul McCartney, BBC 1 (first broadcast 3 December 1999); Sold on Song, BBC Radio 2 (first broadcast 17 September 2005); Johnnie Walker's Sounds of the Seventies, BBC Radio 2 (first broadcast 30 August 2009). 
 
 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

Paul McCartney In His Own Words

In interviews ranging from 1963 to 2009, Shirley Bassey talks about her childhood in Tiger Bay; being a tomboy, and how she began her singing career. As well as clothes, concerts and controversially performing in Sun City (South Africa) she also talks in detail about her long career in show business. 
 
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

Shirley Bassey In Her Own Words

Bernard Shaw

When phonetics tutor and linguist Henry Higgins meets Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle, he makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can teach her to speak so well that she will be able to pass herself off as a Duchess at a society ball. Eliza agrees, seduced by promises of chocolates and taxi rides - but her transformation from caterpillar to butterfly will not be easy, and the process will take its toll on both Eliza and Higgins... Written in 1912, Pygmalion enjoyed instant success and was adapted as the hit musical My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. Among the star cast in this 1986 adaptation are Simon Cadell, Imelda Staunton, Rachel Gurney and Edward Hardwicke.

Pygmalion (Classic Radio Theatre)

Paul Magrs

In a distant galaxy, the Tsar and Tsarina rule over the Robotov Empire from the safety of their palace, whilst human workers tend the power plants on satellite moons. When the Doctor arrives with Mrs Wibbsey, his identity is immediately mistaken, and the Tsarina believes that her old ally, Father Gregory, has returned. But when the Palace comes under attack, the Tsar suspects him of treachery. Meanwhile, Mrs Wibbsey discovers that dark secrets are lurking in the shadows of one satellite moon. Far more than mere human rebellion is being planned, and Father Gregory is not operating alone. His actions will set off a chain of events with long-lasting consequences for the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey... With Tom Baker as the Doctor, Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey, Michael Jayston as the Tsar, Suzy Aitchison as the Tsarina, Simon Shepherd as Boolin, Sam Hoare as Lucius, and Paul Chequer, Grant Gillespie and Gabriel Vick as the Servo Robots and the rebels, Tsar Wars is the first of five linked stories written by Paul Magrs.

Doctor Who Serpent Crest 1: Tsar Wars

Agatha Christie

Two recently-rediscovered Hercule Poirot short stories byAgatha Christie, read by David Suchet.In 2004, a remarkable archive was unearthed at Agatha Christie’s family home, Greenway – 73 of her private notebooks, filled with pencilled jottings and ideas. Hidden within this literary treasure trove were two rare, never-before-published short stories, discovered by archivist John Curran and published in his book ‘Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making’.‘The Capture of Cerberus’ was intended to be the twelfth in her collection of Poirot stories, ‘The Labours of Hercules’, but she eventually rewrote it, keeping only the title. In this first, original version, Poirot is holidaying in Geneva, trying to take his mind off the impending war. But a chance meeting with an old acquaintance leads to an investigation involving a Nazi dictator and an enormous hound...‘The Incident of the Dog’s Ball’, probably written in 1933, was reworked as the novel ‘Dumb Witness’ (1937) with a different murderer and motive. In it, Poirot receives a letter from an elderly lady, written two months before and asking for help. Now she is dead, and Poirot is convinced that her beloved terrier Bob holds the key to her death... 
 
©2011 AudioGO Ltd (P)2011 BBC WW

The Capture Of Cerberus

Mike Walker

A BBC Radio 4 drama about three City traders who launch an aggressive new hedge fund, which they then struggle to prevent from complete failure.   Tim, Meredith and Harry are three sassy, thirty something traders who, tired of making money for someone else, combine to launch a new hedge fund. But it doesn't take long before they get seriously above themselves, losing a small fortune and making some pretty heavy enemies in the City markets.   Facing financial meltdown, Harry is deputed to exploit a family connection with Bob Glass of Glassworks. Glass is the doyen of Wall Street - friend to charities and movie stars and the biggest, boldest, safest investor on the block. In New York, Harry makes a good impression. Glass takes to him like a son. This is the coup the young hedge fund has needed. With Glass' name, confidence will flourish and further, major investments will follow.   But Harry has no sooner touched down at Heathrow, than news breaks of Glass' arrest by the FBI. His convoluted investment structure has collapsed. Billions have been lost by individuals, by charities and by burgeoning hedge funds, just like Harry's. Harry, Tim and Meredith have lost 1.2billion and rising. Glass, the most feared, loathed and admired man on Wall Street was just a simple confidence trickster, though on a mammoth scale. Now it's time to face the investors, and the fact that their credibility is virtually nil. This is a £1.2billion hole they aren't going to crawl out of.   'A City Killing' stars Nicholas Boulton as Harry Towers, Nathan Osgood as Bob Glass, David Tse as Tim and Janice Acquah as Meredith. Also featured in the cast are Pam Miles, Jonathan Tafler and Sam Dale.

A City Killing

Sean Grundy

A strange but funny BBC Radio 4 'Afternoon Play' about sex, betrayal, the housing market and a love triangle that follows its own surreal logic.   Kirsty is having an affair with a married man, Adrian. When his wife, Lucy, returns unexpectedly from a business conference, Kirsty hides in the attic. In a panic, she falls down the back of the attic into the cavity wall. A story then unfolds which combines the domestically mundane with the utterly bizarre.   'Cavity' stars Ingrid Oliver as Kirsty, Julian Rhind-Tutt as Adrian and Kerry Godliman as Lucy. Also featuring amongst the cast are Hayley Doherty, Jim Howick, Paul Mundell and Deirdre Mullins.   'Cavity' was originally broadcast 29 January 2009, and repeated 24 March 2011.

Cavity

George Mann

'The Squall feed on psychic energy. They spread like a plague and if they are not stopped they will strip the Earth clean...' London 1910: an unsuspecting thief finds himself confronted by grey-skinned creatures that are waiting to devour his mind. London 2789: the remains of an ancient android are dredged from the Thames. When reactivated it has a warning that can only be delivered to a man named 'the Doctor'. The Doctor and his friends must solve a mystery that has spanned over a thousand years. If they fail, the deadly alien Squall will devour the world... Read by Nicholas Briggs, the 'voice of the Daleks' in Doctor Who, this is a thrilling adventure featuring the Doctor, Amy and Rory, as played by Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill in the spectacular hit series from BBC Television.

Doctor Who: Paradox Lost

Stephen Cole

The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Rose to a destination in deep space - Justicia, a prison camp stretched over seven planets, where Earth colonies deal with their criminals. While Rose finds herself locked up in a teenage borstal, the Doctor is trapped in a scientific labour camp. Each is determined to find the other, and soon both Rose and the Doctor are risking life and limb to escape in their distinctive styles. But their dangerous plans are complicated by some old enemies. Are these creatures fellow prisoners as they claim, or staging a takeover for their own sinister purposes? Read by Camille Coduri, who played Jackie Tyler in Doctor Who, this is a gripping adventure featuring the Doctor and Rose as played by Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper in the hit series from BBC Television.

Doctor Who: The Monsters Inside

Hugh Costello

A tense, white-knuckle ride of a play from BBC Radio 4 in which a rather self-satisfied hero embarks, reluctantly, on a voyage of self-discovery. Originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 7 January 2009, and repeated on 31 March 2011.  As an expert on memory loss, Greg Cooke is asked to invalidate the testimony of an eyewitness in a high-profile murder trial. He undermines the Prosecution's key witness by convincing the jury that we forget as much within 24 hours as we do over a whole year. As a result, a vicious murderer walks free, but Greg is soon to discover there's a price to pay...  'The Forgetting Curve' was written by Emmy-nominated TV and Film writer Hugh Costello, and stars Michael Glenn Murphy as Greg Cooke. Also featured amongst the cast are Lia Williams, Chris McHallem, Andrea Irvine, Karen Ardiff, Annie McCartney, Richard Howard, writer Hugh Costello and Inam Mirza.

Forgetting Curve, The

Judy Upton

Resourceful mum Shanice is persuaded by her next-door neighbour, Evie, to take up the bizarre sport of jelly wrestling to make ends meet in this BBC Radio 4 'Afternon Play'. Becky, AKA 'Azaria The Amazon', shows Shanice the ropes, and she is soon wowing the rowdy stag night audiences with her slams and smackdowns. By night she's bikini clad 'Alice Malice', by day she's mum to gymnastics-mad Alex and a devoted daughter to her disabled, ex-army dad.   When these two worlds threaten to collide, it reawakens a painful episode from Shanice's childhood which threatens to tear apart her cherished family life and leads to a show-down with the father she adores.   'Jelly Babes' was written by Judy Upton, and stars Sally Orrock as Shanice, Nadine Marshall as Becky and Jane Whittenshaw as Evie. Also featuring amongst the cast are David Seddon¸ Sam Dale and Ryan Watson. 'Jelly Babes' was originally broadcast on 13 April 2011.

Jelly Babes

Simon Passmore

A fast-paced psychological thriller from BBC Radio 4's 'Saturday Play' slot, originally broadcast 26 March 2011.  A city banker is found dead in an opulent apartment. At the funeral, his former girlfriend Helen is unexpectedly questioned about when she last saw him. Did he mention computer files, or give her anything as a keepsake? Helen's suspicions mount as she retraces his last movements. Her discoveries put her in the firing line...  A taut, character-driven conspiracy thriller, writhing with twists and heavy on menace, by one of radio's leading writers of thrillers, Simon Passmore. 'Leverage' stars Claire Foy, Blake Ritson, Charlie Cox, Sally Orrock, Joanna Monro, Nyasha Hatendi and Sean Baker.

Leverage (BBC Radio 4 The Saturday Play)

Christopher Green

Summer 2006: Christopher Green meets Frida. He is the after-dinner entertainment. She is a dinner party guest. What starts as a 'I'm your biggest fan' conversation turns into a long chat about the nature of loving someone you've never met.   'Like an Angel Passing Through My Room' is about being a fan. About a real and an imagined intimacy. A project several years in the making, what started as an upbeat reflection on fame and the notion of being a fan, has developed into a meditation on the communication between two people and coping with the blows life deals. Green's partner died shortly after recording the interview with Frida, in which they talked about her long recovery from the death of her husband in 1999. This play is deeply personal and reflective but with a firmly comic sensibility. The journey takes in life and death, and some of the territory in between, with a heavy emphasis on pop music.  Directed by Claire Grove. Originally broadcast 16 February 2011.

Like An Angel Passing Through My Room

Bettina Gracias

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast drama about a young Pakistani boy forced into bonded labour in a carpet factory at the age of four, and who became a figurehead for the Bonded Liberation Movement aged eleven. Originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 25 February 2009, and repeated on 18 January 2011.  Despite the valiant efforts of many, there are still thousands of child labourers in factories across Asia - often working long hours in terrible conditions to provide cheap clothing and other goods for our high street stores. This play, the extraordinary and moving story of Iqbal Masih, brings to the foreground one of the less savoury elements of an increasingly global economy, and contributes to the continuing debate about our wider responsibilities as consumers. It also celebrates the tragically short life of a remarkable individual.  'My Name is Iqbal Masih' won the 2009 Clarion Radio Drama Award, and stars Sagar Radia in the title role, with Bhasker Patel as Khan, Kaleem Janjua as the carpet master and Manjeet Mann as Inayat. Also featured amongst the cast are Inam Mirza, Gagan Sharma, Janice Acquah, Chris Pavlo and Saikat Ahamed.

My Name Is Iqbal Masih

Charlotte Thompson

A frank and uncompromising BBC Radio 3 drama about a young woman in prison. Originally broadcast on 5 February 2011 as part of 'The Wire', a showcase for works that push the boundaries of drama and narrative.  Tomorrow 23-year-old Ronia will have the most important conversation of her life - her parole hearing. Ronia has been serving an 'Imprisonment for Public Protection' sentence ever since she was eighteen. With an IPP sentence there is no automatic release date: once a prisoner has served their full tariff, they still have to convince a parole board that they've changed. And that's what Ronia must do.  After five years, Ronia has long served her tariff, and is ready to persuade the parole board that she's no longer a danger to the public. As the night passes, Ronia takes us back to her younger self, having fun with her friend Tyson, hanging out on London streets, and trying to steer clear of violent girl gang, the Sykes Crew.  Starring Sophie Cosson and Holli Dempsey as the older and younger Ronia, Zaraah Abrahams as Tyson and Marian Kemmer as the Parole Judge. Also featured in the cast are Ben Crowe and Lloyd Thomas.

Story Of A Rude Gal

Mervyn Peake

Paul Rhys, Miranda Richardson and Carl Prekopp star in this major six-part BBC Radio Classic Serial based on the writings of Mervyn Peake and Maeve Gilmore. 
 
The life and times of Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Gormenghast - a vast stronghold of crumbling masonry steeped in immemorial ritual and inhabited by an extraordinary cavalcade of characters including the kitchen boy, Steerpike, who ruthlessly rises to the upper echelons of dynastic power through mischief and murder. Based on the novels written by Mervyn Peake and on the recently discovered concluding volume, Titus Alone, written by his widow, the six one-hour episodes chronicle Titus' life from birth, through childhood and adolescence to his decision to renounce his title and embark on an exploration of the alien world beyond the confines of his home. It is a journey in search of identity that eventually takes him to a distant island where he encounters the man who is none other than his creator. 
 
The 'Gormenghast' trilogy is both a powerful and unique fantasy and a satirical allegory on the fancies, foibles and phobias of the world around us, and this BBC Radio production brings Peake's extraordinary imagination to vivid life. Featuring a star cast including James Fleet, Tamsin Greig and Olivia Hallinan, it was dramatised for radio by Brian Sibley. The series was produced by Jeremy Mortimer.

The History Of Titus Groan

Donna Franceschild

A BBC Radio 4 black comedy about the unlikely friendship between an asylum seeker and a migrant worker, who find a stray lottery ticket and think it may be the answer to all their problems.  Originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 18 February 2009, and repeated on 1 April 2011, 'The Lottery Ticket' was written by BAFTA winner Donna Franceschild, and stars Nitzan Sharron, John Kazek and Meg Fraser.

The Lottery Ticket

Nigel Planer

At the heart of this explosive BBC Radio 4 comedy-drama are two morally opposed characters, both in love with the same woman, who has just - tragically - died. Originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 22 March 2011, The Magnificent Andrea is the first original radio play by Nigel Planer ('The Young Ones', 'Hairspray'), in which two wonderful characters, Barry (Roger Allam) and Nigel (Nigel Planer), collide and wrestle over the memory of their shared inspirational warrior woman - and of course, her home. Andrea's former husband, boozy columnist Barry, is at the tail end of a career marked by low achievement in pugnacious, snide journalism. By contrast, Nigel - recent partner until her sudden death - is an alternative but ultra-orthodox, politically-correct naturopath. We join Barry after a typically hearty breakfast on his way from Chelsea to attend the funeral in South London, where he confronts his squeaky-clean nemesis Nigel. The lugubrious Barry is appalled at the ceremony, and it is while milling outside that the basically decent Nigel makes the mistake of inviting Barry back to the house - Barry's house - for the reception. There the fireworks really start... 'The Magnificent Andrea' also stars Sally Orrock, Brian Bowles, Jane Whittenshaw, Sam Dale, Joanna Monro and Stuart McLoughlin.

The Magnificent Andrea

James Goss

Rupert Laight

Ryan Scott

Three radio plays featuring Captain Jack, Ianto, Gwen and Rhys. The Devil and Miss Carew sees Gwen and Rhys involved in a nursing home mystery. Why is Miss Carew, an octogenarian with terminal heart disease, suddenly looking so fit and healthy? And what is her connection with the mysterious power cuts that are sweeping the nation? Written by Rupert Laight. Submission finds the Torchwood team heading for the bottom of the sea - the Mariana Trench - after they intercept a distress call. But when the submarine they are on crashes, they find themselves at the mercy of a hungry alien... Written by Ryan Scott. The House of the Dead sees a special séance being held at the most haunted pub in Wales. The House of the Dead is about to close, and many regulars have turned up on the last night in the hope of seeing their deceased loved ones. But then the ghosts start arriving - and all hell breaks loose... Written by James Goss.

Torchwood: The Lost Files Complete Series

Harriett Gilbert

To tie-in with Radio 4's new versions of the Raymond Chandler classic thrillers aired in February 2011, Harriett Gilbert presents a reappraisal of the life and legacy of the man from Upper Norwood who invented the PI as we know him.  'I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun.'  Philip Marlowe has become, in many people's minds, the archetypal American detective anti-hero, yet his creator was educated at English public school, took the Civil Service exam and started a career in the Admiralty. This re-examination of the greatest crime writer of all time assesses him as an uneasy Englishman abroad and analyses his love-hate relationship with Hollywood, as well as his writing.  Interviewees include the best-selling writer Sarah Dunant, who was inspired to write crime after reading Chandler as a teenager; Professor John Sutherland; David Thomson (the leading film critic who also went to school at Dulwich); and David Fine, author of a book about mythic LA.  Originally broadcast on 3 February 2011, 'A Coat, a Hat and a Gun' is presented by Harriett Gilbert, presenter of 'The World Book Club' on the World Service. She is also a writer, huge Chandler fan and daughter of Chandler's solicitor.

A Coat, A Hat And A Gun

P G Wodehouse is widely recognized as the greatest English comic writer of the twentieth century. 
 
His characters and settings have entered our language and our mythology. The first ever collected edition (Wodehouse had many publishers in his lifetime), the Everyman Wodehouse, will contain all the novels and stories, newly edited and reset from the first British edition. 
 
Printed on cream-wove, acid-free paper, sewn and bound in cloth, each Everyman volume is already recognized as the finest edition of the master ever published.

Everyman's Library P G WODEHOUSE

Everyman's Pocket Classics complements highly successful Pocket Poets series, offering the best prose writing in a handy pocket-sized format. Like all Everyman Library books, each title is printed on a cream-wove, acid-free paper with full cloth sewn binding, headbands and silk ribbon marker. Eminently collectable and great gifts.

Everyman's Library POCKET CLASSICS

Pocket clothbound volumes from the world's greatest poets, and with a stunning range of anthologies. Each volume has an elegant jacket, full cloth sewn binding, silk ribbon marker and headbands, with gold stamping on front and spine and decorative endpapers. In size, price and presentation they make ideal gifts and are a joy to read and collect. More than eighty titles in print.

Everyman's Library POCKET POETS

Everyman’s Library Contemporary Classics

Ex-Heroes

Explore with Peter Rabbit

Extraordinary Lives

Factory Girls

Fairwick Chronicles

Fairytale in Progress

Faith, Hope and Glory

Laid-back Roman detective Marcus Didius Falco investigates crimes in the dangerous world of first century Rome, a place of political intrigue, corruption and murder.

Falco

Fall of the Dragon

Luce doesn’t like the sound of the Sword and Cross reform school, and it lives up to all her expectations. Until she meets Daniel. He’s perfect, but what she doesn’t realise is that they have met before. Many times. He is a fallen angel, and each time they meet they are torn apart, Luce dying and Daniel forced to live on without her. They think that they have found a way to break the curse, but they will have to make great sacrifices along the way. Love never dies in this darkly romantic series which spans centuries in its storytelling.

Fallen

Falling Kingdoms

Far Out Five

Far-Flung Adventures

Sam and Remi Fargo are a husband and wife team on a quest. Treasure hunters, they travel the world looking for ancient artefacts and exotic bounty. They're in it for the history and the mystery, but others are not so honourable, and the Fargo's often find themselves caught up in ancient riddles, desperate to solve the puzzle before the bad guys get there first.

Fargo Adventures

Fate & Flame

Father Brown

Father, I Don’t Want This Marriage

Faust

Feral Love

More than 100 million copies sold worlwide, this is a series that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

Fifty Shades

Find Spot

Finn Fitzpatrick Series

First Favourite Tales

The First Festivals series invites children to explore the world's culture from the comfort of their home, encourages the development of hand-eye coordination and is recommended for children aged 2 and over.

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