Nigella Lawson has written eleven bestselling cookery books including the classics How to Eat and How To Be A Domestic Goddess – the book that inspired a whole new generation of bakers. These books, and her TV series, have made her a household name around the world. 
 
www.nigella.com 
@Nigella_Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Guy Lawson is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning investigative journalist whose articles on war, crime, culture, and law have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Guardian, Rolling Stone, GQ and Harper's.

Guy Lawson

Nan Lawson

John Lawson

Neal Lawson

Mary Lawson's first novel, Crow Lake, was loved by critics and readers all over the world; it was translated into 25 languages and published in 28 countries. It was a New York Times bestseller, won the McKitterick Prize and spent 75 weeks on the bestseller lists in her native Canada. Her second novel, The Other Side of the Bridge, was longlisted for the Booker Prize and selected for the Richard &amp; Judy Book Club. Road Ends, published in 2014, was described by the New York Times as 'tender and surprising . . . a vivid and evocative tale'. A Town Called Solace, published to critical acclaim in February 2021, was an instant bestseller in her native Canada. Mary came to England in the 1960s, and lives in Kingston-upon-Thames. 
 
www.marylawson.ca

Mary Lawson

Mark Lawson

Jenny Lawson (aka “the Bloggess”) is a #1 New York Times–bestselling author, an activist, and an award-winning humor writer best known for her inspiring candor in sharing her struggle with depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. She is the owner and proprietress of Nowhere Bookshop, a beloved independent bookstore and bar in San Antonio, Texas. She’s been writing her popular, award-winning blog (thebloggess.com) for over fifteen years. She continues to write and speak openly about her struggles while celebrating her often hilarious victories. She currently lives in Texas with her husband, child, dog, and cats.

Jenny Lawson

Graeme Lawson is an archaeologist, musician and historian with a lifelong fascination for music’s fossil record. He has held senior research fellowships at Cambridge and the Freie Universität Berlin, pioneering the application of science to music’s prehistory and tracing musical continuities through time and across continents. 
 
An acknowledged authority in his field, his ability to communicate with the wider public has made him much sought after, both as performer and speaker, and has done much to raise the profile of music archaeology. His writing brings into sharp focus humankind’s profound and enduring relationship with sound and music.

Graeme Lawson

Julie Lawson Timmer grew up in Stratford, Ontario, and now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband Dan, their four teenage children and two badly behaved dogs. By day, she works as an in-house legal counsel. By night, she is a writer, mum and stepmum, dreadful cook and fledgling CrossFitter.

Julie Lawson Timmer

Andy Day is one of the best-known stars of preschool television. Andy is the star of multiple children's programmes, most notably his Andy's Adventures, which span from dinosaurs, safari, aquatic, and global, and he is excited to be currently filming brand new adventures, which are going to be dinoriffic! Alongside this he is also the star of 'Andy and the Band' which features Andy's real-life pop band Andy and the Odd Socks, who have played hundreds of live shows, and released over three albums. Andy won a BAFTA for his performance in ‘As You Like It at Shakespeare's Globe’. Andy is also the author of the bestselling Dino Dad young fiction series, illustrated by Steven Lenton, and his first picture book, Dylan the Dino Boy Saves Christmas, illustrated by Alex Patrick, will be published in October 2025. Instagram: @andyday81 | X: @AndyDayTV

Andy Day

Andre Hue

Andy Webb worked as a reporter for BBC Television for more than 15 years, appearing daily as a front-of-camera reporter, first on BBC News then as a reporter and presenter on primetime shows including the BBC’sWatchdog, before embarking on a career as an award-winning director of documentary films. It was his journalism over a 15-year period which first revealed the truth behind the infamous BBC Panorama interview with Princess Diana and so exposed the greatest scandal in the history of the BBC. Since breaking the story in 2020, Andy Webb has been invited to write on the story for a range of leading publications, including the Times, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Sunday Telegraph, and has also been interviewed many times on television, radio and podcasts both in the UK and overseas. Andy is married, with four children, and lives in West London.

Andy Webb

Andy Weir built a two-decade career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian, allowed him to live out his dream of writing full-time. He is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of such subjects as relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. He also mixes a mean cocktail. He lives in California.

Andy Weir

Andy Watt, a graduate of Warwickshire School of Art has spent the last two decades illustrating columns, articles, and editorial pieces for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent. His work has featured in many other magazines in the U.K and USA. He has illustrated several books, worked on advertising campaigns, and created character designs animated on television. 
 
Andy has an irrational fear of restaurants, but has twice eaten in Jamie Oliver's restaurant ‘Fifteen' in Cornwall which he describes as 'very nice’. Thank you Jamie, please don't take offence at my silly drawing.

Andy Watt

Andy Bull

Andy Cave

Andy King is a Lecturer in History at the University of Southampton. Among his many historical interests are the studies of castles, military culture and Anglo-Scottish relations in the late medieval period.

Andy King

ANDY HALL grew up in the shadow of Denali. He is the former editor and publisher of Alaska magazine. He lives in Chugiak, Alaska.

Andy Hall

Andy Lane

Ivo Andric was born in 1892 in Travnik, Bosnia of Croat parents and grew up alongside Orthodox Christians, Moslems and Roman Catholics in Višegrad, the town on the banks of the Drina where his book is set. Until 1941 he served as a Yugoslav diplomat, then, placed under house arrest in Belgrade by the occupying Germans, Andric turned to writing. In 1961 he was awarded the Noble prize for literature. He died in 1975.

Ivo Andric

LJ Andrews is a USA Today bestselling author of fantasy romance. She mystically brings to life worlds of dark Nordic and Viking myths bound by conflicts that bring together impassioned heroes and heroines. In her non-author moments, she is courageously corralling her four children to the myriad of life activities that involves, along with spending time with her favorite hero, her husband. Add two high maintenance dogs and a sassy conure to the mix and that sums it up. She thrives spending time in the Rocky Mountains where she lives in Utah.

LJ Andrews

From the day he was found in a carrier bag on the steps of Guy's Hospital in London, Andy McNab has led an extraordinary life. 
 
As a teenage delinquent, Andy McNab kicked against society. As a young soldier he waged war against the IRA in the streets and fields of South Armagh. As a member of 22 SAS he was at the centre of covert operations for nine years – on five continents. During the Gulf War he commanded Bravo Two Zero, a patrol that, in the words of his commanding officer, 'will remain in regimental history for ever'. Awarded both the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and Military Medal (MM) during his military career, McNab was the British Army's most highly decorated serving soldier when he finally left the SAS. 
 
Since then Andy McNab has become one of the world’s best-selling writers, drawing on his insider knowledge and experience. As well as several non-fiction bestsellers including Bravo Two Zero, the biggest selling British work of military history, he is the author of the best-selling Nick Stone and Tom Buckingham thrillers. He has also written a number of books for children. 
 
Besides his writing work, he lectures to security and intelligence agencies in both the USA and UK, works in the film industry advising Hollywood on everything from covert procedure to training civilian actors to act like soldiers. He continues to be a spokesperson and fundraiser for both military and literacy charities.

Andy McNab

Andre Sólo is a researcher, and co-founder and editor-in-chief for Highly Sensitive Refuge. He has co-authored a number of scientific papers and his writing has appeared in Psychology Today, The Huffington Post and Quiet Revolution. He has been interviewed by The Telegraph, Vogue and the BBC. Andre is based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Andre Sólo

Andrew Fox

Andre Gide

Andy Neill

Andy Clark is a Professor of Cognitive Philosophy at the University of Sussex, and at Macquarie University, Australia. He is the author of six books including Supersizing the Mind, Natural-Born Cyborgs and Surfing Uncertainty. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the British Academy, and is an occasional Academic Consultant for Google, UK.

Andy Clark

André Gide

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Michael Hastings

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the heart-breaking story of TS Eliot's marriage to Viv Haigh-Wood. 
 
Michael Hastings' best known play charts the turbulent, doomed marriage of the young TS Eliot and the charismatic Vivienne Haigh-Wood. This moving, highly-charged study has been described as 'one of the most important plays of the 20th century'. 
 
Stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Tom, Lia Williams as Viv, David Haig as Maurice and Judy Parfitt as Rose. 
 
Adapted and directed by Peter Kavanagh.

Tom and Viv

The heart-breaking story of TS Eliot's marriage to Vivienne Haigh-Wood

Alan Bennett

Until the time of her death in 2003, much-loved actress Thora Hird worked regularly with the playwright Alan Bennett. Now, in a specially written introduction and postscript, Bennett recalls his work and friendship with Thora, and introduces three examples of their collaboration. In The Last of the Sun, Dolly's remaining days in an old people's home are enlivened by a seemingly respectable man. Recorded in 2002, Thora Hird's last ever performance, in a part written especially for her, is moving and memorable. In A Cream Cracker Under the Settee, Doris has taken a fall at home, and until someone comes to rescue her she's left immobile and in reflective mood. This monologue features one of Thora's best-remembered performances. Waiting for the Telegram sees Violet remembering how she lost her first young man - but she does not see how close she is to losing her second. This heartbreaking piece won Thora Hird huge critical acclaim, and showcases her acting genius.

Alan And Thora

Robert Browning

Robert Browning's poetic masterpiece of sex, lies and murder, adapted by Martyn Wade. Episode 1: Rome is rife with speculation in the aftermath of a triple stabbing. Starring  Anton Lesser as Browning, with full cast. Directed by Abigail le Fleming.Episode 2: Accused of murder, Guido fights desperately for his life. Starring  Anton Lesser as Browning, with full cast. Directed by Abigail le Fleming.

The Ring And The Book

William Shakespeare

In this BBC full-cast production of Romeo And Juliet, the two star-crossed lovers fight for each other until their dying breath. Can their two feuding families reconcile? 
 
With the intimacy of radio, the full beauty and meaning of some of the most lyrical lines ever written can be truly heard: tenderness and passion, betrayal and bigotry are brilliantly evoked as the tale comes to its tragic conclusion. 
 
Douglas Henshall stars as Romeo, with Sophie Dahl as Juliet and Susannah York as Lady Capulet in Shakespeare's passionate story of doomed love. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Romeo And Juliet

A BBC Radio Shakespeare production

A full-cast BBC Radio 3 production of Shakespeare’s quick-witted summer tragedy. 
 
In a town full of hatred, where the streets ring with the Capulet/Montague feud, and swords are too easily drawn, Romeo and Juliet find each other - and love - and never let go. 
 
In Shakespeare’s famous play, first performed in 1595, the warring Capulets and Montagues have been sworn to keep the peace on pain of death. When Capulet’s daughter Juliet meets Montague’s son Romeo at a masked ball, they immediately fall in love. 
 
With the help of Friar Lawrence and Juliet’s Nurse, the pair decide to marry in secret. Disaster strikes when Romeo is banished for murder, and flees after just one night with his new wife. Juliet, meanwhile, is betrothed against her wishes to Count Paris. Friar Lawrence intervenes to help, but tragedy is at hand… 
 
Rising young stars Trystan Gravelle and Vanessa Kirby play the star-crossed lovers, with David Tennant as Prince Escalus, Rosie Cavaliero as the Nurse and Ron Cook as Friar Lawrence.

Romeo and Juliet

A BBC Radio 3 full-cast dramatisation

Liz Lochhead

Five full-cast dramas by the celebrated Scottish writer Liz Lochhead, plus a short story 
 
Liz Lochhead is a widely recognised poet, playwright and performer. She was the Makar, Scotland’s national poet, between 2011 and 2016, and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2015. The six pieces in this anthology are characterised by their evocative language and focus on different facets of female identity: from schoolgirls, wives and mothers to convention-defying creators and ‘cunning women’. 
 
Blood and Ice – Summer, 1816. Following their scandalous elopement, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and her lover Percy Shelley decamp to Lake Geneva. There, they are joined by Lord Byron and his mistress Claire Clairmont, and one night, in a villa by the shore, they challenge each other to write a ghost story. Mary’s tale will become the most famous Gothic novel of all time – and the creature at its centre will haunt her for the rest of her life. Starring Gerda Stevenson, Stephen Boxer, Jack Klaff and Stella Gonet. 
 
Quelques Fleurs – Liz Lochhead plays lonely, ‘born to shop’ housewife Verena, with Stuart Hepburn as her oil-rig worker husband in these tragicomic intercut monologues, which paint a portrait of a childless couple trapped in an unhappy marriage. 
 
Maleficium – Taking its title from a Latin word meaning ‘malevolent sorcery’, this chilling play draws on real accounts of witch trials to create voices for three women: Alice, Margery and Jinnet – a farm labourer, a farmer's wife and an elderly wisewoman. When two of them are accused of witchcraft by the other, they are brought to the point of tragedy… Starring Clare Corbett, Siobhan Redmond and Freda Dowie. 
 
Fancy You Minding That – Separated by three generations and by the 400 miles from London to Glasgow, a grandmother, mother and daughter recall their very different, very painful memories of the men in their lives. With Phyllis Logan as Valerie, Jennifer Piercey as Ina and Catherine Clarke as Kate. 
 
Cuba – Scotland, 1962. With the Cuban Missile Crisis at its height, best friends Barbara and Bernadette believe the world is about to end. They decide to spend their last days making a stand for women and peace – only to find themselves facing a very personal betrayal. Julie Wilson Nimmo, Pauline Lockhart and Liz Lochhead star. 
 
‘The Cure’ – Hoping to impress her handsome house captain, a schoolgirl takes to the athletics track – but the course of true love does not run smoothly. Read by Grace Glover. 
 
Text copyright © Liz Lochhead 1982 (Blood and Ice), 1986 (Fancy You Minding That), 1991 (Quelque Fleurs), 1994 (‘The Cure’), 1998 (Cuba), 2001 (Maleficium) 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Blood and Ice & other plays

Five Full-Cast BBC Radio Productions

Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston star in Shakespeare's tragedy of love and power. 
 
As part of BBC Radio 3's celebration of the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston star in this brand new production. 
 
Lovers, politicians, superstars. Antony &amp; Cleopatra is Shakespeare’s late and epic tragedy of mature love, and the catastrophic fall from grace and power that it brings about. Irresistibly drawn together, the couple are surrounded by friends, enemies, admirers and critics, none of who remain unscathed by the folly and heartbreak of this magnificent pair. As empires clash around them, their destiny seems inevitable: to love each other ‘til death and even beyond. 
 
Produced by BBC Cymru Wales for BBC Radio 3, this radio production also features Geoffrey Streatfeild, Nigel Anthony, Don Gilet and Peter Polycarpou amongst its cast.

Antony and Cleopatra

Drama

Christopher Douglas

Andrew Nickolds

Curmudgeonly author Ed Reardon is back - author, pipe smoker, consummate fare-dodger and master of the abusive email, attempts to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and lying charlatans. 
 
'The funniest sitcom to ever grace Radio 4' - Radio Times 
 
In these six episodes, Ed and Elgar return to London (from their failed jaunt living in a shepherd's hut in the country) destitute and on the lookout for a new roof over their respective heads, where he bumps into Geoff Daytona - a rich successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker Ed was at school with. Surely big bucks are in Ed’s future when Geoff commissions Ed with writing his self-help book – The Geoff Daytona Method. Ed then collides with the worlds of reality television and, most surprisingly of all modern parenting. 
 
Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds, this sublimely funny sitcom stars Christopher Douglas as Ed Reardon, with Barunka O'Shaughnessy, Philip Jackson, Monica Dolan, Geoffrey Whitehead, Brigit Forsyth and Stephanie Cole with guest star Meera Syal. 
 
Credits 
Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds 
Produced by Simon Nicholls 
A BBC Studios Production

Ed Reardon's Week: Series 13

The BBC Radio sitcom

Ed Reardon returns to lead us through the ups and downs of his life in this 15th series 
 
'His dejection is ... our delight' Radio Times 
 
Berkhamsted's most famous son is back, still ensconced in his 'stylish capsule urban living unit' (aka small office conversion) and continuing to pursue his part-time relationship with Maggie. However, he's once more on the brink of the breadline as his agent, Ping, has failed to come up with any major offers of work, and his best mate and deadly rival, Jaz Milvain, remains a perpetual thorn in his side. 
 
Ed also finds himself supporting his daughter Eli in her new career as a 'Storyteller', tutoring a new student in his creative writing class (Pearl having left to join the silver workforce as a store detective), and struggling to divert himself after the loss of Elgar. Seeking distraction, he tries his hand at woodworking, starts a weekly 'Soapbox Corner', contemplates relaunching his online Quiz Nights and takes advantage of a 'blind recruiting initiative' to apply for a new role. Could the tantalising prospect of a real job - with a regular income - give him the impetus he needs to re-engage with the world? 
 
This fifteenth series is dedicated to its co-creator, Andrew Nickolds, who died in 2022. Christopher Douglas plays Ed, with Barunka O'Shaughnessy as Ping, Pippa Haywood as Maggie, Philip Jackson as Jaz and Lisa Coleman as Eli. Also starring are Geoffrey Whitehead as Stan, Sally Grace as Olive and Ellen Thomas as Winnie. 
 
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas 
Produced by Dawn Ellis 
Production co-ordinator: Katie Baum 
Sound: Jon Calver 
Dedicated to Andrew Nickolds, who sadly passed away mid-way through writing the series 
 
Cast 
Ed Reardon - Christopher Douglas 
Ping - Barunka O'Shaughnessy 
Jaz Milvain - Philip Jackson 
Eli - Lisa Coleman 
Stan - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Olive/Kebab Woman - Sally Grace 
Winnie - Ellen Thomas 
Maggie - Pippa Haywood 
Jake/Lifeguard - Sam Pamphilon 
Derek - Robert Powell 
Shop assistant/WPC/Claude/Firefighter - Rachel Atkins 
Pool tannoy/Radio presenter/HRH/Sheila - Nicola Sanderson 
Quizzy/Shop assistant - Helen Monks 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13 July-17 August 2023 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ed Reardon’s Week: Series 15

A BBC Radio 4 sitcom

Series 9-12 of the hit comedy featuring curmudgeonly author Ed Reardon 
 
Author, pipe-smoker, fare-dodger and master of the complaining letter and abusive email, Ed Reardon returns for another four series. Despite many thwarted attempts at literary succes, he's still living a precarious existence with his trusty companion Elgar, reliant on any small morsels of work Ping can offer him to keep body, mind and cat together. He also continues to have regular run-ins with his nemesis, Jaz Milvane - who somehow manages to make money out of mad schemes, while Ed makes nothing - and his love life remains more than a little erratic. 
 
Among his endeavours in these 24 episodes, Ed attends his first ever interview for a real job; finds himself facing homelessness as Stan throws him out on the street; enters the groves of academe as he becomes a student at 'Uni'; and gains a new agent, Maggie, who gets him a regular writing gig on Your Motorhome magazine. Can she help him to turn his fortunes around? 
 
Also included is a special festive edition, which sees Ed spending the holiday season without Elgar. All he has for Christmas is a computer and a commission... 
 
Christopher Douglas stars as Ed, alongside Stephanie Cole, Philip Jackson, Geoffrey Whitehead, Alison Steadman, Brigit Forsyth and Barunka O'Shaughnessy, in this acclaimed comedy by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds. 
 
'Pure joy' The Telegraph 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas 
Produced by Dawn Ellis 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11 November-16 December 2013 (Series 9), 13 May-17 June 2015 (Series 10), 1 January 2016 (Ed Reardon at Christmas), 4 October-8 November 2016 (Series 11), 24 October-28 November 2017 (Series 12) 
 
Cast 
Ed Reardon - Christopher Douglas 
Olive - Stephanie Cole 
Cliff - Geoffrey McGivern 
Ping - Barunka O'Shaughnessy 
Jaz Milvane - Philip Jackson 
Pearl - Alison Steadman/Brigit Forsyth 
Stan - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Ray - Simon Greenall 
Jake - Sam Pamphilon 
Eli - Lisa Coleman 
Fiona - Jenny Agutter 
Suzan - Raquel Cassidy 
Maggie - Monica Dolan 
 
With Melanie Hudson, Nicola Sanderson, Jonathan Bailey, Carys Eleri, Claudie Blakley, Jonathan Coy, Corrie Corfield, Felicity Montagu, Carolyn Pickles, Dan Mersh, Vicki Pepperdine, Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Phaldut Sharma, Joanna Brookes, Pam Ferris, Jack Farthing, Jeremy Paxman, John Humphrys, Divian Ladwa, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Maya Sondhi, Ruth Madeley, Don Gilet, Karl Theobald, Tyger Drew-Honey, Petroc Trelawney, 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ed Reardon's Week: Series 9-12

The hit BBC Radio 4 sitcom

The complete Series 14 of the popular BBC Radio 4 comedy - plus Christmas special 
 
'Magnificent' Gillian Reynolds, The Telegraph 
 
Author, curmudgeon and master of the complaining letter and the abusive email, Ed Reardon is back for a fourteenth fantastic series. 
 
In these globally unprecedented times, Ed is also experiencing new and unusual circumstances. For the first time in 20 years, he's financially independent thanks to the timely arrival of his state pension, and living in a stylish, newly affordable 'capsule urban living unit' (a former office space converted into a flat). He has the luxury of three (organic) meals a day, all the premier catfood Edgar can eat, and even a new car - as well as free time to devote himself to his own long-cherished projects. 
 
But old habits die hard, and Ed's soon distracted by an unexpected meeting with his ex, Maggie; a fight to save an ancient oak tree; a request to write Ping's granny's memoirs and an eye-wateringly expensive trip to the vet. On his uppers once more, Ed is unexpectedly offered two potentially lucrative projects: scripting a movie for Jaz Milvain and writing a series of biographies for Maggie. But he can only choose one job - which is it to be? 
 
And in the festive special episode 'Ed Reardon's Christmas Week', Ed needs a room at the inn - the Lock Keeper's Arms, that is. But first he's got to square up to Scrooge... 
 
Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds, this superlative sitcom stars Christopher Douglas as Ed, with Barunka O'Shaughnessy as Ping, Philip Jackson as Jaz and Pippa Hayward as Maggie. Geoffrey Whitehead is Stan, Brigit Forsyth, Pearl and Stephanie Cole plays Olive. 
 
Credits 
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas 
Produced by Victoria Lloyd and Dawn Ellis 
Production co-ordinator: Cherlynn Andrew-Wilfred 
A BBC Studios production 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 22 December 2020 ('Ed Reardon's Christmas Week'), 8 June-13 July 2021 (Series 14) 
 
Cast 
Ed Reardon - Christopher Douglas 
Ping - Barunka O'Shaughnessy 
Jaz Milvain - Philip Jackson 
Jake - Sam Pamphilon 
Eli - Lisa Coleman 
Audiobook/Instructor/Bernice/Newsreader/TV host/Vet - Nicola Sanderson 
Landlord - Colin MacFarlane 
Stan - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Pearl - Brigit Forsyth 
Olive - Stephanie Cole 
Jenna - Mina Anwar 
Assistant - Tom Price 
Maggie - Pippa Hayward 
Bus driver/Frank/Piers - Simon Greenall 
Spike - Kathryn Drysdale 
Geoff/Cliff - Dan Tetsell 
Granny - Maggie Steed 
Salesman - Phaldut Sharma 
With Petroc Trelawny as himself 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ed Reardon’s Week: Series 14

The BBC Radio 4 sitcom

The first four series of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 comedy 
 
Welcome to the world of Ed Reardon, writer and liver of life at the cutting edge - well, above The Cutting Edge, in a one-bedroom flat over a hairdresser's in Berkhamsted that he shares with his his trusty feline companion, Elgar. Divorced, impoverished and embittered, he spends his time penny-pinching, freeloading and ranting at the modern world and the 'moronic 12-year-olds' who run the media. 
 
Once a promising novelist (his first and last book, Who Would Fardels Bear? was turned into a Hollywood movie), he now lives off the royalties of his 1982 episode of Tenko (£17 per annum) and whatever scraps of freelance work he can coax out of his agents, Felix and Ping. Though consistently mocked by his friend and one-time collaborator Jaz Milvane - who's now become irritatingly rich and successful - Ed battles on with his attempts to finally gain the literary fame and fortune he feels he deserves. 
 
In these four series, we follow him as he tries to conquer the Christmas book market; falls in love; finds himself in hospital; attempts to secure his inheritance and comes up with a once-in-a-lifetime idea - only to forget where he put it... 
 
Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds, this splendidly splenetic sitcom stars Christopher Douglas as Ed, with Stephanie Cole as Olive, John Fortune as Felix, Sally Hawkins and Barunka O'Shaughnessy as Ping and Philip Jackson as Jaz. 
 
'A masterpiece of comedic melancholy' The Stage 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas 
Produced by Simon Nicholls and Dawn Ellis 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7 January-11 February 2005 (Series 1), 21 December 2005-25 January 2006 (Series 2), 15 December 2006-19 January 2007 (Series 3), 16 November-21 December 2007 (Series 4) 
 
Cast 
Ed Reardon - Christopher Douglas 
Olive - Stephanie Cole 
Felix - John Fortune 
Cliff - Ronnie Golden/Simon Greenall 
Ping - Sally Hawkins/Barunka O'Shaughnessy 
Jaz Milvane - Philip Jackson 
Pearl - Rita May 
Stan/Ray - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Jake - George Dalton/James Rawlings 
Eli - Alice Lowe 
 
With Sally Grace, Martin Hyder, Geoffrey McGivern, Dan Tetsell, Melanie Hudson, Emma Kennedy, Vicki Pepperdine, Adam Shipway, Matt Holness, Tom Colebrook, Andy Hamilton, Matthew Holmes, Chris Addison, Joanna Scanlan, Nina Wadia, Angela Wynter, Sean Lock, Paul Richard Biggin, David Cann, Eve Dallas, Alan Ford, Laura Solon, David Warner, Miranda Keeling, Morwenna Banks, Rachel Atkins, Tom Price, Nicola Sanderson, Matt Green, Phil Nice, Peter Marinker, Jon Glover, John-Luke Roberts, Kim Wall, Katy Wix 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ed Reardon's Week: Series 1-4

Katie Sayer

Imogen is a classic left-wing student. War is bad, minorities are good, and I don’t care if I’m ruining Christmas, Mum, it’s important! 
 
But when she accidentally falls foul of campus orthodoxy, she finds herself alone, dejected, and friendless. Until a firebrand right-wing news station, Channel Albion, arrives to pick up the pieces... 
 
Suddenly, Imogen’s a “unicorn” –an attractive young woman who is happy to spout right-wing viewpoints on TV. She’s got her own Breakfast Show, she’s winning awards, and she’s the new face of the culture wars in Britain. But she doesn’t really mean any of it… does she? 
 
A satirical comedy about cancel culture, nominated for the 2025 Speakies. 
 
 “Biting satire” – The Times 
 
“Katie Sayer’s pacy forthright satire exposes the absurdities of our age” – The Radio Times 
 
“Bravo to Sayer and to Radio 4” – The Telegraph 
 
 
Starring Alyth Ross as Imogen (nominated for Best Performance at the 2025 Speakies), with Daniel Mays (Line of Duty, Thursday Murder Club) as Mick and Rufus Jones (Rivals) as Theo. 
 
Also starring: 
 
Alex - Harry Trevaldwyn 
Pete - Steve Edge 
Michelle - Robin Weaver 
Cally - Karise Yansen 
Jake - Iain Ferrier 
Sam - Joe Barnes 
Lucy - Ada Player 
Tom - Freddie Walker 
Imam Ali - Naveed Khan 
Will - James Taylor-Thomas 
Zoe - Jade Groves 
Cara - Sapphire Joy 
 
Written by Katie Sayer (The Skewer, The Naked Week, Dead Ringers, The News Quiz, The Now Show, One Person Found This Helpful) 
 
Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King (Uncanny) 
 
Produced and directed by David Tyler (Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation, Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive, Cabin Pressure, Spitting Image) 
 
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13th May 2025. 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Four Gammons and a Unicorn

A Full-Cast BBC Radio 4 Comedy Drama

Niccoli Machiavelli

The renowned masterpiece from one of the most influential writers in history, Machiavelli The Prince, written during the Italian Renaissance by author Niccolò Machiavelli, is an internationally renowned masterpiece about power, greed and strategy in government. Regarded by some as a manual for would-be tyrants on how they should seize and maintain power and by others as a simple reflection of political reality, listen now to this full-cast dramatisation and make up your own mind. In addition to this stunning, modern dramatisation of the classic novel, this download includes The Mandrake, Machiavelli’s comedy packed with intrigue, infidelity and fools and the documentary Machiavelli – Devil or Democrat from Jonathan Freedland, which re-assesses Machiavelli and explores whether his maligned reputation has overshadowed his other achievements…The Prince is the classic 16th-century treatise on the nature of power and statecraft. In this modern rendition, the author Machiavelli (Ciaran Hinds), often identified as Satan, uses his brilliance and cunning to explain how power can be created and sustained. This brilliant adaptation is performed for the first time as a monologue with dramatised illustrations from a full-cast, including Philip Voss, Stephen Critchlow and Christopher Godwin.The Mandrake is Machiavelli’s best-known comedy, taking place in a square in Florence in 1504.Callimaco, desires to sleep with Lucrezia, the young and beautiful wife of an elderly fool, Nicia. Nicia above all else desires a son and heir. Conspiring with a rascally marriage broker, and a corrupt priest, Callimaco masquerades as a doctor and tricks Nicia into letting his wife become his lover using the power of the mandrake plant. 
This double edition download comes with the added exclusive content, Machiavelli – Devil or Democrat. A fascinating documentary that explores the life and work of one of the most maligned authors in history. The impact of this writer has been felt across the centuries from the execution of King Charles I to the ‘Founding Fathers’ of the United States and journalist and writer Jonathan Freedland re-assesses the legacy of this incredible thinker and writer. This is a download not to missed, perfect for any fans of classical literature with a twist, packed with compelling intrigue, wit and fascinating revelations.Cast and creditsWritten by Niccolò MachiavelliThe PrinceNiccolo - Ciaran HindsThe Prince - Christopher GodwinLouis - Philip VossSeverus - Stephen CritchlowOliverotti - Scott HandyGiovanni - John RoweOther parts played by Chris Kelham, Tom George and Gavin MuirDramatised by Peter WolfDirected by Cherry CooksonFirst Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 21st January 2000The MandrakeCallimaco - John RyeSiro - Anthony JacksonMesser Nicia - Douglas WilmerLigurio - David MarchSostrata - Beity HardyFra Timoteo - Willoughby GoddardA young widow - Hilda SchroderLucrezia - Hilary HardimanSingers Robert Tear, Douglas Wilmer, Willoughby Goddard, John Rye and David MarchTranslated from the Italian by J. R. HaleProduced by Charles LefeauxSongs by Elizabeth PostonFirst Broadcast BBC Radio 3, 27th October 1967Machiavelli – Devil or Democrat Presented by Jonathan FreedlandProduced by Rob ShepherdFirst Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 18th November 2013©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Prince and The Mandrake

Two Full Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations

Jenny Eclair

Julie Balloo

A collection of comedies and dramas about modern women’s lives and loves, starring Jenny Eclair 
 
Jenny Eclair is one of Britain’s most-loved stand-up comedians, and the first woman to win the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. She has written several acclaimed books, including the Sunday Times bestseller Older and Wider: A Survivor's Guide to the Menopause, and appeared on numerous TV and radio shows including Grumpy Old Women and Just a Minute. Collected here are some of her finest radio comedies and dramas, centred around women who are at a turning point in their lives. 
 
On Baby Street introduces us to three neighbours discovering the delights of parenthood. Series 1 sees them preparing for their new arrivals; in Series 2, the babies are born and the fun begins; and in Series 3, the children are toddlers, and their parents’ lives are changing. TwilightBaby.com takes a similar comic look at motherhood, as Cass, a 46-year-old with grown-up kids, finds to her shock that she is pregnant again. Over two series, we follow her as she blogs about being an ‘older’ mum, whilst endeavouring to keep the rest of her family in work and out of trouble. Just Juliette sees talk show host Juliette Johnson trying to balance marriage, motherhood and the media. As the two series unfold, she is on the verge of losing her job, her husband and her mind… And in the four-part comedy Dear Jenny, Dear Julie, two long-time pen pals – a Blackpudlian and an Australian – meet for the first time in London, and paint the town red. 
 
The pitfalls of fame are explored in two standalone dramas: Jason’s Mum, about a single mother with a chart-topping son, and The Andy Warhol Syndrome, in which housewife Carol becomes a reality TV celebrity, but has to deal with the aftermath when the cameras stop rolling. And in two dramatic monologues, In Convenience and He’s Leaving His Wife, Jenny Eclair takes us into the worlds of an unhappy wife preparing to host a dinner party on the worst of all possible days, and a mistress waiting on tenterhooks for her lover to tell his wife that their marriage is over. 
 
Written by Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo, these witty, intimate comedy dramas boast stellar casts, including All Murray, Frances Barber, Kathy Burke, Kevin Eldon, Claire Skinner, Linda Robson, Emerald O’Hanrahan, Peter Sallis, Helen Lederer, Paul Merton, Nicholas Parsons and Ronni Ancona. 
 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Jenny Eclair and Julie Balloo 
 
On Baby Street 
With Jenny Eclair, Tilly Vosburgh, Keith Allen,Lee Cornes, Caroline Hook, Claire Skinner, Matilda Ziegler, Graham Fellows, Hugh Ross, Frances Barber, Kathy Burke/Linda Robson, Kevin Eldon, Sue Elliot-Nicholls, Eva Stuart, James Sutton, Julie Balloo, Ronni Ancona and Al Murray 
Produced by Jane Berthoud and Helen Williams 
 
TwilightBaby.com 
With Jenny Eclair, Kevin Eldon, Joseph Cohen-Cole, Emerald O'Hanrahan, Felicity Montagu, Philip Fox, Stephen Hogan, Kate Layden, Sean Baker, Christine Kavanagh, Sally Orrock 
Directed by Sally Avens 
 
Just Juliette 
With Jenny Eclair, Jeff Rawle, James Fleet, Annabel Giles, Jan Goodman, Peter Sallis, Sylvia Syms, Robert Duncan, Jane Whittenshaw, Simon Upson, Jon Culshaw, Julie Balloo, Anthony Best, Martin Hyder and Deborah Stevenson 
Produced by Helen Williams and Claire Jones 
 
Dear Jenny, Dear Julie 
With Jenny Eclair, Julie Balloo, Helen Lederer, Nicholas Parsons and Paul Merton 
Produced by Sioned Wiliam 
 
Jason’s Mum 
Starring Linda Robson and Jenny Eclair 
Produced by Jane Berthoud 
 
In Convenience 
Performed by Jenny Eclair 
Directed by Sally Avens 
 
The Andy Warhol Syndrome 
With Jenny Eclair, Ewan Bailey, Jan Goodman, Gerard McDermott, Harry Myers and Ronni Ancona 
Produced by Liz Webb 
 
He’s Leaving His Wife 
Performed by Jenny Eclair 
Directed by Mary Peate 
 
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Jenny and Julie’s BBC Radio Dramas

On Baby Street, TwilightBaby.com and more

Molière

A collection of Molière's finest comedies, farces and tragicomedies 
 
Jean-Baptiste Pocquelin, better known by his pen-name Molière, was France's greatest satirical dramatist. Such was his influence on the French language that it is often referred to as 'the language of Molière', and he has been dubbed 'the French Shakespeare'. A leading 17th Century comic actor and director, his genius encompassed all aspects of stage comedy, and his plays continue to appeal to audiences today. Included here are six of his masterpieces, as heard on BBC Radio. 
 
The Miser - The tale of selfish miser Harpagon, his scheming children and their desperate pursuit of love, marriage and money. Toby Jones, Holli Dempsey and Mathew Baynton star in this rumbustious adaptation of Molière's classic comedy of secrets, lies and obsessive greed. 
 
Don Juan - Discarding his new bride, legendary womaniser Don Juan sets out in search of more romantic conquests. But eternal damnation awaits him if he does not repent his sins... Kenneth Haigh stars in this famous tragicomedy. 
 
The Misanthrope - Disgusted with the hypocrisy of French society, poet Alceste embarks on a crusade against fakery, frippery and forked tongues. But could the woman he adores be the worst culprit of them all? Colin Tierney stars in Molière's comedy of manners and morals. 
 
The School for Wives - Middle-aged Arnolphe plans to wed his innocent young ward, Agnes - but handsome Horace is also smitten with her, and proceeds to teach her the art of love... Starring Geoffrey Bayldon, Rosalind Shanks and Nicholas Pennell. 
 
The Sisterhood - Henriette's engagement is threatened as her bluestocking mother Philaminte tries to marry her off to the foppish poet Trissotin. Can true love triumph over pretentiousness? Benjamin Whitrow, Brenda Blethyn and Simon Russell Beale star in this sparkling assault on pseudo-intellectualism. 
 
The Imaginary Invalid - Elderly hypochondriac Argan plans to marry his daughter to a doctor to save on medical bills. There's just one problem - she is in love with someone else... Starring Maurice Denham and Jane Lapotaire. 
 
First published 1662 (The School for Wives), 1665 (Don Juan), 1666 (The Misanthrope), 1668 (The Miser, Amphitryon), 1672 (The Sisterhood), 1673 (The Imaginary Invalid) 
 
NB: Due to the age of the source material, the sound quality of The School for Wives may vary 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Molière 
 
The Miser 
Cast: Toby Jones, Holli Dempsey, François Pandolfo, Mathew Baynton, Keiron Self, Cecilia Noble, Grace Cooper Milton, Don Gilet, Jasmine Hyde, Michael Begley, Neil McCaul 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 16th Jan 2022 
 
Don Juan 
Cast: Kenneth Haigh, Bill Fraser, Sheila Grant, Patrick Tull, David Bailie, John Rye, Rolf Lefebvre, Kate Binchy, Penelope Lee, Brian Hewlett, Geoffrey Wincott, David Timson, James Thomason, Patrick Tull, Leslie Heritage, Penelope Lee 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 2nd Jan 1972 
 
The Misanthrope 
Cast: Neil Caple, Simon Coates, Leander Deeny, Daniel Goode, Alison Pargeter, George Potts 
Zara Tempest-Walters, Colin Tierney, Harvey Virdi 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 10th Mar 2013 
 
The School for Wives 
Cast: Geoffrey Bayldon, Haydn Jones, Terry Scully, Jane Knowles, Rosalind Shanks, Nicholas Pennell, Peter France, Alba, Rolf Lefebvre 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 21st Jan 1973 
 
The Sisterhood 
Cast: Benjamin Whitrow, Jean Both, Haydn Gwynne, Judy Parfitt, Brenda Blethyn, Simon Russell Beale, Christopher Scott, James Greene, Jane Whittenshaw, Nicholas Boulton 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 26th May 1996 
 
The Imaginary Invalid 
Cast: Maurice Denham, Jane Lapotaire, Tina Marian, Charlotte Attenborough, Norman Rodway 
Stratford Johns, John Moffatt, Philip Sully, Peter Craze, Cara Kelly, John Warner, Michael Graham Cox 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 29th Dec 1988 
 
 
&copy; 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Molière: Don Juan, The Miser and more

Six BBC Radio Full-Cast Productions

Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Hamlet. Claudius. The Beginning. The Truth. 
 
How did Claudius become the man he is in Shakespeare's Hamlet? What were the real reasons behind the murder of his brother? How does he really feel about his nephew? These questions will be answered in this drama spiced with ghosts, pirates, magic and political skulduggery. 
 
Set in an alternative Europe in the 1930-50s, Elsinore is a prequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet. This compelling drama imagines the turbulence of the Danish court in a world where Denmark is a powerful, militarised country with a small empire around the Baltic that it is fighting hard to maintain. There is more than a hint of totalitarianism in the air. 
 
In this uneasy setting, Elsinore delves into the troubled, not to say murderous relationship between King Hamlet and his brother, Claudius: one of the most interesting characters in the Shakespearean canon. Realism meets with moments of otherworldliness as the story unravels, taking in pirates and magic, rebellion and betrayal. 
 
A dark, exciting drama that touches on the events and people in Shakespeare's play and brings us to the moment where Hamlet begins. 
 
From the extraordinary imagination of Sebastian Baczkiewicz, writer of the successful Pilgrim series. 
Directed by Marc Beeby and Sasha Yevtushenko. 
 
 
Cast: 
Claudius - John Light 
 Hamlet - John Heffernan 
 Dauphin - Ed Gaughan 
 Captain True - Chetna Pandya 
 Polonius - Clive Hayward 
 Gertrude - Lyndsey Marshal 
 Anders/Dr Swiss/Schroeder - Neil McCaul 
 Olsson - Rupert Holliday-Evans 
 Yorick/Guard/Defence/Captain - Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong 
 Katya - Isabella Inchbald 
 Beatrix - Abbie Andrews 
 Archimedes/Prosecutor - David Reakes 
 Horatio/ Schroeder/Judge - Philip Bretherton 
 Laszlo/Voice/Ulrik Krabbe - Adam Fitzgerald 
 Uncle - Ben Crowe 
 Helena - Clare Corbett 
 Helgeland - Sudha Bhuchar 
Catalina - Laura Christy 
Kabanova - Jessica Turner 
Lindstrom - Pip Torrens 
Fortinbras/Marcellus - Will Kirk 
Martin - Ikky Elyas 
Lieutenant/Horatio - Greg Jones 
 
 
 
© 2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Elsinore: The Complete Series 1 and 2

Hamlet. Claudius. The Beginning. The Truth.

Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg and guests analyse 25 key poets and literary works, tracing the evolution of poetry over 550 years 
 
'The best programme coming out of the entire corporation these days' Sunday Telegraph 
 
Since its debut in 1998, In Our Time has amassed a dedicated following of more than 2 million listeners. Hosted by Melvyn Bragg, with a panel of guest experts, each show features a plethora of fascinating facts and inspirational discourse on topics ranging from democracy to dark matter. 
 
This specially curated collection celebrates the rich diversity of poetry in English, focussing on 25 major works and writers from the mediaeval era to the 20th Century. Opening with a programme on Geoffrey Chaucer, often called the father of English literature, it encompasses some of the greatest poets of all time, including John Donne, Pope, Milton, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, W B Yeats and Wilfred Owen. 
 
Among the influential poems discussed are Shakespeare's sonnets, Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Coleridge's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', Wordsworth's 'The Prelude' and the epic that made Byron famous, 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'. Also featured is a bonus episode, 'The Sonnet', exploring the most enduring form in the poet's armoury and how its fourteen lines have exercised poetic minds. 
 
Packed with stimulating ideas and spellbinding rhetoric, this absorbing anthology is guaranteed to bring unfettered enjoyment to all lovers of the written word. 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Melvyn Bragg 
Produced by Simon Tillotson, Thomas Morris and Natalia Fernandez 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
Chaucer 9 February 2006 
Piers Plowman 29 October 2020 
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 13 December 2018 
Shakespeare's Sonnets 24 June 2021 
John Donne 12 January 2023 
Milton 7 March 2002 
Pope 9 November 2006 
Songs of Innocence and of Experience 23 June 2016 
Lyrical Ballads 8 March 2012 
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 4 March 2021 
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage 6 January 2011 
The Prelude 22 November 2007 
John Clare 9 February 2017 
Emily Dickinson 11 May 2017 
Christina Rossetti 1 December 2011 
The Charge of the Light Brigade 10 January 2008 
Tennyson's In Memoriam 30 June 2011 
Aurora Leigh 24 March 2016 
William Morris 5 July 2018 
Gerard Manley Hopkins 21 March 2019 
Walt Whitman 27 April 2023 
Thomas Hardy's Poetry 13 January 2022 
Yeats and Mysticism 31 January 2002 
Yeats and Irish Politics 17 April 2008 
Wilfred Owen 27 October 2022 
The Sonnet 21 June 2001 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

In Our Time: 25 Iconic Poets and Poems in English

A BBC Radio 4 Collection

Louise Ramsden

A BBC Radio 4 drama by Louise Ramsden, based on Seaneen Molloy's blog 'The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive', her account of learning to live and love with bipolar disorder. Originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 8 May 2009.  Facing life as a newly-diagnosed manic depressive, Seaneen fears that Rob has become more nurse than boyfriend, and begins to wonder if the only way to save a brilliant relationship is to leave it. The play charts her determination to cope with her illness and to live life independently.  Starring Séainín Brennan as Seaneen and Joseph Kloska as Rob. Also featured in the cast are Janice Acquah, Toni Midlane and Philip Fox. Comments from the blog are read by members of the Radio Drama Company. Except for Seaneen and Rob, all the characters are fictional. 'The Do's and Don'ts for the Mentally Interesting' was directed by Fiona Kelcher.

The Dos And Don'ts For The Mentally Interesting

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Timberlake Wertenbaker

George Farquar

A BBC Radio double bill of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s award-winning drama about a group of 18th-century Australian convicts and their attempts to stage a play, plus the Restoration comedy that the prisoners put on 
 
Australia, 1789: A young lieutenant attempts to direct a cast of convicts in the first play ever to be staged in the country. 
 
But one of his actors is about to be hanged... 
 
Adapted from Thomas Keneally’s novel The Playmaker, Our Country’s Good tells the true story of the convicts and Marines sent to Australia as part of the first penal colony. An eloquent argument for the redemptive power of theatre, Wertenbaker’s classic drama celebrates the beauty of language – in the slang of the criminal classes and the poetry of the play – and at the same time examines how it is used as an instrument of power. 
 
In The Recruiting Officer, we hear the play that the prisoners staged. George Farquhar’s popular Restoration comedy is set in Shrewsbury during the War of the Spanish Succession, where wives are recruited while soldiers are wooed. During a lull in the fighting, the womanising Captain Plume comes to town to seduce soldiers into the army, and – if possible – recruit Silvia into marriage. 
 
These two captivating radio dramas star many of the same cast, including Paul Higgins, Ralph Ineson, Kate Fleetwood, Jonathan Forbes and Adjoa Andoh. 
 
Our Country’s Good 
Captain Arthur Philip – Nicholas Le Prevost 
Major Robbie Ross – Stuart McQuarrie 
Captain David Collins – Paul Moriarty 
Captain Watkin Tench – Adam Billington 
Captain Campbell – James Lailey 
2nd Lieutenant Ralph Clark – Paul Higgins 
Reverend Johnson – Simon Bubb 
Midshipman Harry Brewer – Rikki Lawton 
Mary Brenham – Francine Chamberlain 
Robert Sideway – Adam James 
John Wisehammer – Elliot Levey 
Liz Morden – Kate Fleetwood 
Dabby Bryant – Alex Tregear 
John Arscott – Ralph Ineson 
Ketch Freeman – Jonathan Forbes 
Duckling Smith – Adjoa Andoh 
 
Produced and directed by Sally Avens 
Our Country’s Good © Timberlake Wertenbaker, 1988, 1989, 1999, 2015 
Based on the novel The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally © 1978 The Serpentine Publishing Company Pty, published by Hodder &amp; Stoughton and Sceptre 
Timberlake Wertenbaker has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work 
All rights reserved 
 
The Recruiting Officer 
Captain Plume – Paul Higgins 
Silvia – Lisa Dillon 
Sergeant Kite – Ralph Ineson 
Mr Worthy – Adam James 
Melinda – Kate Fleetwood 
Captain Brazen – Elliot Levey 
Rose – Alex Tregear 
Bullock – Simon Bubb 
Justice Balance – Jonathan Forbes 
Lucy – Adjoa Andoh 
Appletree – James Lailey 
Pearman – Adam Billington 
Bridewell– Rikki Lawton 
Justice Scale – Paul Moriaty 
Justice Scruple – Gerard McDermott 
 
Produced and directed by Jessica Dromgoole 
The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar originally published in 1706

Our Country's Good and The Recruiting Officer

Two BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations

R.D Wingfield

A collection of vintage thrillers from popular crime writer RD Wingfield 
 
Well known as the creator of Inspector Jack Frost, RD Wingfield scripted numerous twisty, suspenseful dramas for BBC Radio between 1968 and 1995. Many of the thirteen tales in this collection were originally thought to be lost, but thanks to the diligent efforts of Keith Wickham and the Radio Circle, who tracked down the missing audio, they are once again available to enjoy. 
 
In Cat and Mouse Game, a wealthy woman goes missing, and her husband is suspected of murder. Ambitious security officer Hastler has a lot to lose when a surveillance operation goes wrong in Saturday Roster, and in Nightmare, a killer has escaped from a psychiatric ward and may be returning to the scene of his crime. Blood Money finds a branch manager forced to deal with a ransom demand, while Better Never than Late features a policeman on the brink of retirement determined to crack an unsolved kidnapping case. 
 
Warring colleagues Davenport and Desmond discover the advantages of working together in Compensating Error, and in Slow Fuze, an unexploded bomb proves to be a golden opportunity for Major Derry. The Tenth Anniversary concerns the strange disappearance of a detective inspector exactly a decade after the famous Monkstead murders, Death of the Insured sees a terminally ill private eye hired to find an errant husband, and Balance Brought Forward and The Night They Deliver The Money both focus on bank directors faced with potential disaster. Smiling and Beautiful Death, meanwhile, centres around a concussed motorist, a mysterious midnight funeral and a village full of sinister locals… 
 
Capping off our collection is the six-part serial The Killing Season, written under the pseudonym Arthur Jefferson and set in a sleepy town experiencing an unprecedented Christmas crime wave. Among the casts of these intriguing dramas are Nigel Havers, Frances Jeater, Leslie Sands, Garard Green, Deryck Guyler and Andrew Sachs. 
 
With warm thanks to Keith Wickham and the Radio Circle 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by RD Wingfield 
 
Contents 
 
Cat and Mouse Game 
Saturday Roster 
Nightmare 
Blood Money 
Better Never Than Late 
Compensating Error 
Slow Fuze 
The Tenth Anniversary 
Death of the Insured 
Balance Brought Forward 
The Night They Deliver the Money 
Smiling and Beautiful Death 
The Killing Season 
Written by Arthur Jefferson (pseudonym of R.D Wingfield) 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

R.D Wingfield: Nightmare and Other Thrillers

13 Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramas

A collection of RD Wingfield’s finest thrillers from the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties 
 
Best known for his ‘Inspector Jack Frost’ series of novels, RD Wingfield also penned a string of gripping thrillers for BBC Radio. Initially thought lost, many of the 14 dramas in this collection were recovered and restored by Keith Wickham and the Radio Circle, and thanks to their careful preservation, are now available to enjoy once more. 
 
Credit Risk is a robbery comedy caper about a man with a cunning plan to defraud a credit card company of a quarter of a million pounds. Cleft Stick sees the police investigating an attack on a woman, and the dramatic way she chose to defend herself. In The Last Escape, a mugging ends in murder, and Superintendent Dawson must find the perpetrator – a patient who has escaped from a private nursing home after 35 years. And in The Alternative Plan, a frightened ex-Army captain and a dying ex-Nazi hold the key to preventing a political assassination. 
 
In A Second Class Risk, when a man dies in a car crash the same week he insures his life for £50,000, the widow’s claim must be investigated. A Test for Destruction finds a Security Supervisor at the Department of Scientific Warfare facing an agonising crisis when his son’s safety is at stake. Our West Ladyton Branch centres around a bank manager recovering from a nervous breakdown, whose new assignment in a sleepy Devon town is not at all what he expected. In Letter of the Law, Detective Inspector Nash wants nothing to do with his newly arrved (and newly demoted) Sergeant, but with seven unsolved robberies on his plate, Nash needs all the help he can get…Cover Up features another demoted ex-Inspector, kicked out of the Division but brought back to investigate a bank raid. 
 
Post Mortem Shock concerns a man who appears to have been shot dead by an intruder – but the post mortem reveals he died of a heart attack. Who, or what, really killed him? In Sins of Commission, made redundant after 19 years’ faithful service with a firm?of?diamond merchants, Mr Fletcher is willing to take on almost any job – as long as it’s legal. It’s double or quits when £15,000 goes missing from a safe in Double Entry, and in Adequate Reasons, when a child is abducted, there’s a complex interplay between police, parents and kidnapper. Finally, in Moveable Assets, a crafty crook comes up with an ingenious scheme to rob a supposedly burglar-proof bank – but will it work, and will he get away with it? 
 
With ensemble casts including John Rowe, Diana Olsson, Roger Delgado, Robert Lang, Frederick Treves, Jill Bennett and Patricia Gallimore, these clever, artfully plotted dramas are full of twists, turns and surprises. 
 
With warm thanks to Keith Wickham and the Radio Circle 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by RD Wingfield 
 
Contents 
 
Credit Risk 
Cleft Stick 
The Last Escape 
The Alternative Plan 
A Second-Class Risk 
A Test to Destruction 
Our West Ladyton Branch 
Letter of the Law 
Cover Up 
Post Mortem Shock 
Sins of Commission 
Double Entry 
Adequate Reasons 
Moveable Assets 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

R.D Wingfield: Post-Mortem Shock and other thrillers

14 Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramas

William Wycherley

Aphra Behn

John Dryden

George Etherege

Thomas Otway

Edward Ravenscroft

A sparkling collection of nine witty full-cast comedies from the early Restoration era 
 
Raunchy, risqué and rebellious, early Restoration comedies were a breath of fresh air for 17th century theatregoers. With Charles II restored to the throne in 1660, Oliver Cromwell's ban on stage performances was rescinded, and for the first time, women were invited to tread the boards as actresses. Playwrights developed a new style of social comedy, packed with amorous escapades, bawdy humour, wicked wit and sexual innuendo. 
 
This scintillating anthology showcases six leading lights of early Restoration drama, beginning with George Etherege, the creator of the 'comedy of manners': The Man of Mode, an irreverent portrait of the fops and libertines that populated London's beau monde; and She Wou'd If She Cou'd, a racy, fast-paced romp mocking society's double standards for men and women. Among the casts are Derek Jacobi, Anna Massey, Ian Richardson, Prunella Scales and Hattie Jacques. 
 
Also poking fun at hypocrisy and immorality was William Wycherley. However, his comedies were considered far more daring - especially The Country Wife, which was judged too obscene to be staged in its original form for over 200 years. Centred around a notorious rake who resorts to deception to pursue a naïve married woman, this effervescent BBC radio dramatisation stars Jonathan Pryce and Maggie Smith. 
 
Male playwrights were not the only ones penning scandalous dramas during this period. Aphra Behn, Britain's first professional female writer, was a poet, spy and the most prolific playwright of the 1670s and '80s. Her sex comedy The Rover, featured here, revolves around love, lust, intrigue and mistaken identity, and stars Julia Ford, Suzan Sylvester and Juliet Aubrey. 
 
England's first Poet Laureate, John Dryden, dominated Restoration literature to such an extent that it came to be known as the Age of Dryden. His 1677 play All For Love, a powerful reworking of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, is regarded as his finest work. John Turner and Barbara Jefford star in this heroic tragedy. 
 
A rival of Dryden, Edward Ravenscroft was the first British playwright to introduce characters from the 'commedia dell' arte' into his farces. His seminal comedy The London Cuckolds, featuring three ridiculous husbands, three beautiful wives, and one dissolute young cad, was hugely popular, and this BBC adaptation retains all the original's ribald wit. It stars Carleton Hobbs, Norman Shelley and Madi Hedd. 
 
Thomas Otway achieved his greatest success in the last five years of his life. Three of his acclaimed works appear here: his 1683 comedy The Soldier's Fortune and its sequel The Atheist, focussing on disbanded army officers looking for sex and money, and his masterpiece Venice Preserved, a dark political thriller about power, revolution, love and betrayal. The ensemble casts feature Dennis Quilley, John Rowe, Michael Turner and Donald Wolfit. 
 
Content list 
 
The Man of Mode 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 27 Jun 1986 
 
She Wou'd If She Cou'd 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 6 Sep 1968 
 
The Country Wife 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 22 Dec 1985 
 
The Rover 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 22 Jan 1995 
 
All For Love 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 7 Jul 1983 
 
The London Cuckolds 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 30 Dec 1974 
 
The Soldier's Fortune 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 24 May 1981 
 
The Atheist 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 31 May 1981 
 
Venice Preserved 
First broadcast BBC Third Programme, 10 Aug 1960 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Humour and Madness: Early Restoration Comedies

Nine BBC Radio Full Cast Productions including The Rover, The Country Wife and more

Susanna Centivre

William Congreve

Delarivier Manley

John Vanburgh

George Farquhar

A dazzling collection of comedies from the later Restoration period 
 
England's 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 and the reign of new monarchs William and Mary signified a turning point for Restoration comedy with laws being passed to restrict playwrights' freedoms. The latter years are marked by a shift towards more moral storylines, mixing humour with social and political issues, alongside the lighthearted 'comedy of manners'. 
 
The works in this collection bring together these complementary styles, full of humour while also focusing on hard hitting themes. We open with a 1688 piece by Aphra Behn, England's first professional female writer. Oroonoko is a powerful critique of the slave trade centring around a betrayed African prince. Adapted for BBC Radio, it stars Leo Wringer. 
 
A pre-eminent Restoration dramatist, William Congreve was renowned for his witty dialogue and brilliant characterisation, exemplified in the plays The Old Bachelor, The Double-Dealer and Love for Love. As heard on BBC Radio, these sparkling satirical portraits of romance, deception and the battle of the sexes star James Dale, Nicholas Parsons, Michael Spice and Maxine Audley. 
 
In her 1696 tragedy The Royal Mischief playwright and pamphleteer Delarivier Manley tackled gender politics rather than party politics. This BBC Radio adaptation stars Sian Thomas as the transgressive princess Homais, whose unrestrained sexual desire represents a threat to both the monarchy and the patriarchy. 
 
A loveless marriage is under the spotlight in The Provok'd Wife, John Vanburgh's outspoken 1697 comedy of sex, debauchery and revenge that is Restoration comedy at its finest. Saskia Reeves stars as Lady Brute, with Julian Rhind-Tutt as confirmed bachelor Heartfree. 
 
Irish playwright George Farquhar stormed the London stage with his 1699 comedy The Constant Couple, featuring a wealthy heiress seeking revenge, and the three rivals vying for her hand. Its popularity was mainly due to its rakish hero, Sir Harry Wildair, played in this BBC dramatisation by Alec Clunes. It is followed by William Congreve's The Way of the World, a comic masterpiece that exposes the grasping falsity of fashionable London society. Sheila Hancock stars, with Alex Jennings, Robert Glenister, Frances Barber and Indira Varma. 
 
Susanna Centilivre's 1705 comedy The Basset Table explores several hot topics of the time: the rise of science, gambling and female education. Featuring two strong, independent heroines determined to dodge unwanted marriages, this delightfully exuberant comedy stars Eleanor Bron and Danielle Allan. 
 
Concluding this collection are George Farquhar's two most popular plays. The Recruiting Officer, starring Paul Higgins and Lisa Dillon, is set in Shrewsbury during the War of the Spanish Succession, where wives are recruited while soldiers are wooed. Meanwhile, in The Beaux' Stratagem, starring Simon Treves and Dale Rapley, two rakes arrive in Lichfield from London in search of fortune... 
 
 
Content list 
 
Oroonoko 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 24 August 1990 
 
The Old Bachelor 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 3 Jun 1966 
 
The Double-Dealer 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 17 Jan 1969 
 
Love for Love 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 18 Feb 1965 
 
The Royal Mischief 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 28 Oct 1990 
 
The Provok'd Wife 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 12 Dec 2004 
 
The Constant Couple 
First broadcast BBC Network Three, 9 Jun 1967 
 
The Way of the World 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 27 Apr 2003 
 
The Basset Table 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 10 Aug 1990 
 
The Recruiting Officer 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 18 Dec 2011 
 
The Beaux' Stratagem 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 19 Feb 1990 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Intrigue and Satire: Later Restoration Comedies

11 BBC Radio Full Cast Productions including  The Recruiting Officer and The Way of the World and more

BBC Radio dramatisations and readings of Browning’s most famous poems, performed by stars including Anton Lesser, Roger Allam and David Tennant, plus two bonus plays 
 
Victorian poet Robert Browning was renowned for his evocative dramatic monologues peopled with vivid, morally ambiguous characters. In 1846, he eloped with fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett, and they rapidly became Britain’s most famous literary power couple. This collection brings together four of Browning’s poetic masterpieces, juxtaposed with a play inspired by his work and a drama about Robert and Elizabeth’s romance. 
 
The Ring and the Book – In the aftermath of a triple stabbing, Rome is rife with speculation. Accused of murdering his young wife and her parents, Count Guido Franceschini is put on trial, and finds himself desperately fighting for his life. Anton Lesser, Roger Allam and Andrew Sachs star in this thrilling tale of of sex, lies, murder and justice. 
 
The Pied Piper of Hamlin – When a town fails to pay the rat-catcher who has lured all the rats away with his magic pipe, the piper takes a terrible revenge. Playing his music once more, he leads all the children from the town. Only one boy remains behind… David Tennant stars as the Narrator, with Bertie Gilbert as the boy. 
 
My Last Duchess – Based on Browning’s chilling poem about an aristocrat whose wife died young in suspicious circumstances, this intriguing dramatisation attempts to solve the mystery of what happened to the duchess, and who did the deed. Starring Roger Allam, Emily Mortimer and Tim McInnerny. 
 
Andrea del Sarto – Richard Pasco reads Robert Browning's monologue about the 16th-century Florentine artist known as ‘the faultless painter’, whose marriage was the source of deep unhappiness. 
 
The Contemplative Life – Brother James's loathing of oafish Brother Lawrence has led him to petty acts of destruction. As a punishment, he is forced to share a cell with him… Alan Rickman and Michael Aldridge star in this comedy inspired by Browning’s poem ‘Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister’. 
 
The Barretts of Wimpole Street – Starring Dorothy Tutin and Jeremy Brett, this radio version of Rudolf Besier’s celebrated stage play explores the secret courtship of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, which took place at No 50 Wimpole Street, her father’s forbidding household. 
 
First published 1842 (‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’, ‘My Last Duchess’), 1855 (‘Andrea del Sarto’), 1868 (‘The Ring and the Book’) 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Robert Browning 
 
The Ring and the Book 
Cast: Anton Lesser, Roger Allam, Lou Brealey, Dominic Rowan, Andrew Sachs, Frances Jeater, Dan Starkey, Stephen Critchlow, Ben Crowe, Chris Pavlo, Joan Walker, John Rowe, Michael Maloney, Stephen Moore 
 
The Pied Piper of Hamelin 
Cast: David Tennant, Bertie Gilbert 
With music and songs written and performed by John Harle, lyrics by Joyce Harle, sung by Thomas Platts, head chorister at Canterbury Cathedral with the choir of Wingham School, Kent 
 
My Last Duchess 
Cast: Roger Allam, Emily Mortimer, Tim McInnerny, Robert Hands, John Hartley, Jacob Heringman 
 
Andrea del Sarto 
Read by Richard Pasco 
 
The Contemplative Life 
Cast: Alan Rickman, Michael Aldridge, David Garth, Brian Smith, Colin Starkey, David Sinclair, 
Trevor Nichols, John Webb 
 
The Barretts of Wimpole Street 
Cast: Dorothy Tutin, Jeremy Brett, Paul Rogers, William Eedle, John Rowe, John Samson, 
Robin Browne, David Valla, Christopher Good, Kate Binchy, Jane Knowles, Kenneth Fortescue, 
Helen Worth, Michael Kilgarriff, Rolf Lefebvre, John Ruddock, Sheila Grant 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Robert Browning: The Ring and the Book, The Pied Piper of Hamelin & more

BBC Radio dramatic reimaginings of five iconic poems

Patrick Hamilton

A collection of thrilling radio dramas from the celebrated novelist and playwright 
 
 
Patrick Hamilton is renowned for his gritty, slice-of-life tales chronicling the hopes, dreams and obsessions of London's working class in the inter-war years. This collection brings together his key pieces, together with some lesser-known classics and a bonus 2004 documentary exploring his achievements and legacy. 
 
Hangover Square - Earl's Court, 1939. With war looming, everyone is frantically pursuing a good time. But when composer George Bone becomes obsessed with beautiful, fast-living actress Netta, murder and madness ensue... This brooding adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's masterpiece stars Nicholas Farrell and Amanda Redman. 
 
Rope - Believing they have committed the perfect murder, two students throw a macabre dinner party, where the guests include the victim's father. Will anyone see through their terrible vanity? Alan Rickman and Adam Baring star in this electrifying drama, famously adapted as an Alfred Hitchcock film. 
 
Gaslight - A husband commits to driving his wealthy young wife insane in order to steal from her in this psychological drama which originated the term 'gaslighting'. Starring Barbara Jefford and Michael Kilgarriff. 
 
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky - Patrick Hamilton's semi-autobiographical trilogy tells a story of unrequited love amid the hardship of 1920s London, and comprises The Midnight Bell, The Siege of Pleasure and The Plains of Cement. Steven Pacey, Annette Badland, John Moffatt and Emily Morgan star. 
 
The Governess - Ethel Fry takes a position as a governess in the Drew household, but when the family discovers their baby son has been abducted, the entire house is thrown under suspicion. Starring Margaret Wolfit and Helen Worth 
 
To The Public Danger - A young couple fall into the company of two reckless motorists, whose drunk-driving has fatal consequences. Ivan Samson and Arthur Young star. 
 
The Duke in Darkness - Set in the Chateau Lamorre during the 16th-century French Civil Wars, this stirring tale of imprisonment and escape stars Alec Clunes and John Moffatt. 
 
A Portrait in Black - Biographer Nigel Jones celebrates the centenary of Hamilton's birth and his skill at conjuring up a lost world of seedy boarding-houses, third-class railway compartments, dance halls and fleapit cinemas. 
 
Text copyright © Patrick Hamilton 1929 (Rope), 1935 (Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky), 1938 (Gas Light), 1939 (To the Public Danger), 1941 (Hangover Square), 1943 (The Duke in Darkness), 1946 (The Governess) 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Patrick Hamilton 
 
Hangover Square 
Rope 
Gaslight 
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky 
The Governess 
To The Public Danger 
The Duke in Darkness 
 
Extra Content: 
A Portrait in Black 
 
 
'If you were looking to fly from Dickens to Martin Amis with just one overnight stop, then Hamilton is your man' Nick Hornby 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Patrick Hamilton: Rope, Gaslight, Hangover Square and more

Seven BBC Radio Full-Cast Productions

Various

42 letters written by Titanic passengers and crew, plus two documentaries relating survivors' stories and bringing the tragedy to life through the voices of the wireless operators 
 
The largest, most luxurious liner in the world, the RMS Titanic captured the public's imagination. But four days into her maiden voyage, on 14 April 1912, she hit an iceberg and sank, taking the lives of over 1500 people. 
 
This commemorative anthology opens with the emotional letters from the individuals who were there that fateful night - those who lived, and those who died. They talk of life on board the ship, describing its size, opulence and vaunted 'unsinkabiity'; write about the friends they've made; make disparaging remarks about fellow travellers; and send fond messages of love, signed with a dozen kisses. 
 
Here, too, are heartrending eyewitness accounts of the shipwreck and its aftermath, written from the safety of the rescue ship Carpathia. Among them are letters from a woman who lost her mind on the Titanic, a newlywed who left the ship a widow, a message in a bottle from a despairing 19-year-old - and a missive accusing an unknown man of having dressed as a woman to get on a lifeboat. Introduced by Ciaran Hinds, who also reveals the writers' fate, each letter is read by a different celebrity, including Amanda Burton, Patrick Kielty, Eamonn Holmes, Christine Bleakley and Gloria Hunniford. 
 
Also included are two fascinating documentaries. Omnibus: Titanic - The Unsinkable Legend, asks why the story of the doomed ship still fascinates us today. Including an interview with Titanic survivor Eva Hart, who was just seven years old when the ship went down, it looks at the influence the iconic ship has had on media and culture in the 100 years since its sinking. 
 
And in Discovery: Titanic - In Her Own Words, Sean Coughlan narrates the Marconi wireless operators' version of the Titanic disaster. Converting their Morse code into speech synthesis, this enthralling programme gives us a remarkable 'black box recording' of the event, as the young operators in the vicinity frantically communicated with one another across the freezing expanses of the North Atlantic in an effort to mount a rescue mission. 
 
Poignant, absorbing and deeply affecting, this unique radio collection reveals the human stories behind the terrible maritime tragedy. 
 
Production credits 
 
Titanic Letters 
Presented by Ciaran Hinds 
Read by Amanda Burton, Patrick Kielty, Eamonn Holmes, Brian Kennedy, Dame Mary Peters, James Ellis, Christine Bleakley, John Linehan, Colin Murphy, Martin Lynch, Donna Traynor, Eddie Irvine, Gloria Hunniford, Dr Stephen Myers, Ian McElhenny, Phil Coulter, Bronagh Gallagher, Barry Douglas, Ciaran McMenamin, Frances Tomelty, Paul Rankin, Dana, Noel Thompson, Tim Wheeler, Maggie Cronin, Dan Gordon, Janet Gray, Susan Lynch, Colin Bateman, Wendy Austin, Marie Jones, Baroness May Blood, Conleth Hill, Charles Lawson, Stella McCusker, William Crawley, Olivia Nash, Brian Keenan, Sarah Travers, Glenn Patterson, Leila Webster, Ciaran Hinds 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio Foyle &amp; BBC Radio Ulster, 9-22 April 2012 
 
Omnibus: Titanic - The Unsinkable Legend 
With Eva Hart, Ronnie Brock, Bob Pryor, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Bill McQuitty 
First broadcast BBC World Service, 13 January 1998 
 
Discovery: Titanic - In Her Own Words 
Presented by Sean Coughlan 
Conceived and created by Susanne Weber 
Produced by Alex Mansfield 
First broadcast BBC World Service, 9 April 2012 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Titanic Letters

A BBC Radio 4 drama collection

Caryl Churchill

A collection of dramatisations and original radio plays by the award-winning playwright - plus bonus documentary 
 
Caryl Churchill is one of Britain's most innovative and influential dramatists. Versatile and prolific, she has written over 50 plays for stage and screen and is renowned for her revolutionary theatrical techniques and themes of feminism, social politics and the abuse of power. 
 
This box set brings together some of her best-known theatre plays, adapted for BBC radio with full casts. It opens with her landmark 1982 drama Top Girls, exploring the price women pay for success in a man's world. Serious Money satirises the corporate venality that followed the 1986 Big Bang; while The Skriker blends naturalism, horror and magical realism to tell a story of love, loss and revenge. Also included are A Number, a powerful look at human cloning and identity; Escaped Alone, a tale of four septuagenarian friends, afternoon tea and catastrophe; and Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, focussing on the millennial movements that erupted during the English Civil War in the 1640s. 
 
Churchill also wrote a number of original plays specially for BBC radio in the 1960s and '70s, seven of which are included here: her first professional audio drama The Ants; Identical Twins; Abortive; Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen; Schreber's Nervous Illness; Perfect Happiness and Henry's Past. 
 
Among the stellar cast in these superb dramas are Daniel Craig, Maxine Peake, Lesley Manville, Hattie Morahan, Michael Gambon, Tobias Menzies, Bertie Carvel, Deborah Findlay, Kenneth Haigh, Prunella Scales, Monica Dolan, Dinsdale Landen and Clive Merrison. Concluding our collection is a bonus edition of Meridian, taking an in-depth look at Churchill's extraordinary oeuvre. 
 
NB: Contains strong language 
 
Production credits 
Written by Caryl Churchill 
Text copyright © Caryl Churchill 1962 (The Ants), 1968 (Identical Twins), 1971 (Abortive, Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen), 1972 (Schreber's Nervous Illness, Henry's Past), 1973 (Perfect Happiness), 1976 (Light Shining in Buckinghamshire), 1982 (Top Girls), 1987 (Serious Money), 1994 (The Skriker), 2002 (A Number), 2016 (Escaped Alone) 
All rights reserved 
 
Content List 
 
Top Girls 
Serious Money 
The Skriker 
A Number 
Escaped Alone 
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire 
The Ants 
Identical Twins 
Abortive 
Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen 
Schreber's Nervous Illness 
Perfect Happiness 
Henry's Past 
Meridian: Caryl Churchill 
 
©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Caryl Churchill: Top Girls, The Skriker, Serious Money, A Number and more

13 BBC Radio Full-Cast Productions

John Hegley

The hilarious poet laureate of alternative comedy delights audiences around the UK Listen and laugh as John Hegley, the hilarious and haphazard poet laureate of alternative comedy, entertains audiences with his unique book of verse. This collection has the complete three series of this not-to-be-missed listening treat. Recorded in front of live audiences across the UK, including locations such as the Cheltenham Literary Festival and Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, Hegley presents tales of the Tate, a jumble sale and an armadillo, poems dedicated to Bonfire Night and not waving, songs about glasses, plus a surreal adventure in a Tardis-like kennel. The joyous possibilities of flannel, fennel and funnel are also investigated.Settle down and listen as the nation's second favourite comic poet asks, "How long is your dog?", and discovers that sometimes a poem doesn't necessarily want to be a poem. Joined by a host of guests including radio DJs Mark Radcliffe and Mark Riley, comedian Tony Curtis and with musical accompaniment from Nigel Piper and the Popticians this is a listening gem.John Hegley is a hugely popular voice on BBC Radio. An established author, Hegley is most famous for his children’s book Stanley's Stick, as well as numerous comic poetry collections, such as Peace, Love and Potatoes. He has produced ten books of verse and prose pieces, two CDs and one mug, and he performs live in venues all over the UK. Cast and creditsWritten by John HegleyProduced by Phil Clarke and Nigel PiperMusic by Nigel Piper and the PopticiansSeries 1With Nigel Piper, Keith Moore, Susan Norton, Andrew Bailey, Roy O’Shea and Tony CurtisFirst Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30th Oct - 11th Dec 1996Series 2With Nigel Piper, Keith Moore, Susan Norton and Andrew Bailey First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26th Aug - 14th Oct 1998Series 3With Nigel Piper, Simon Munnery, Andrew Bailey, Arnold Brown, Keith Moore, Christopher Logue, Mark Radcliffe and Mark Riley First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 2nd Feb - 22nd Mar 2000©2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Hearing with Hegley: The Complete Series 1-3

A BBC Radio Comedy Series

In this BBC full-cast production of Much Ado About Nothing, some handsome soldiers return from battle. Yet one soldier finds himself locked in a merry war of his own... 
 
In Shakespeare's comedy of wit, love and miscommunication, Beatrice and Benedick and Hero and Claudio are pushed into and pulled out of love, their friends playing cupid with life-changing consequences. 
 
David Tennant and Samantha Spiro star as the famous sparring partners Benedick and Beatrice, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Emilia Fox as Claudio and Hero. The supporting cast includes Maxine Peake and Julian Rhind-Tutt. 
 
BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly-formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard. 
 
 In this acclaimed BBC Radio Shakespeare series, each play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre. Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the modern day.

Much Ado About Nothing

Meg and Mog

Ebb and Flo

Lucy and Tom

Ink and Iron

Topsy and Tim

Tuck and Tina

And Other Lies

Pizza and Taco

Emma and James

Sarah and Duck

Chaos and Flame

The Lost and Found

Jack and Millie

Anders Knutas

Charlie and Lola

From the bestselling novel I'm Travelling Alone, two dynamic characters are born. 
Police investigators Holger Munch and Mia Krüger work together to solve the most complex crimes in Oslo, catching serial killers before they strike again but their personal lives are not simple either. As people, they could not be more different but as they battle their own demons their unlikely pairing make Munch and Krüger the best kind of classic detective duo.

Munch and Krüger

Lizzie and Lucky

George and Flora

Gods and Warriors

Faith, Hope and Glory

Wizards and Robots

Noughts and Crosses

Malorie Blackman's ground-breaking, award winning series charts the lives and loves of generations as it takes on race and equality with breathtaking drama and heart wrenching sadness. Set in an alternate reality, where the inferior Noughts live as second class citizens in a world run by Crosses, the four books explore the violent politics of a unstable world, and the ordinary lives caught up in in its terror. Beginning with Noughts and Crosses - and the romance of Seph and Callum - and ending with Double Cross, it is a gripping sequence, and an important, relevant story for our time.

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