Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Charles Dickens: A BBC Biography

By: Armando Iannucci, Melvyn Bragg, Sam West, Tess Hadley, Romesh Gunesekera, A.L. Kennedy, Alexander McCall Smith, Claire Tomalin
Narrated by: Armando Iannucci, Melvyn Bragg, Sam West, Tess Hadley, Romesh Gunesekera, A.L. Kennedy, Alexander McCall Smith, Claire Tomalin
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

A BBC radio collection celebrating Charles Dickens' life, work and influence.

Charles Dickens was a literary giant, second only to Shakespeare in the ranks of England's greatest writers. This extensive biographical collection looks at the man, his novels and his legacy to provide an all-round portrait of the much-loved author.

Michael Eaton's five-play cycle, Dickens in London, starring Samuel Barnett, Alex Jennings and Antony Sher, explores Dickens' changing relationship with the city that fired his imagination. His numerous achievements are discussed in Great Lives: Charles Dickens (featuring Armando Iannucci and Humphrey Carpenter) and In Our Time: Dickens (featuring Melvyn Bragg and guests). Sam West reads from Dickens' letters in Words and Music: Dickens' World; Simon Watts tells how the author's 1842 visit to the US became a turning point in his career in Witness History: Dickens in America; Ian Gillan takes a tour of Dickens' old home in Pride of Place: 48 Doughty Street; and in Night Waves, Philip Dodd talks to Claire Tomalin about her definitive biography, Charles Dickens: A Life.

Literary Pursuits finds Sarah Dillon hunting for the story behind the story of Dickens' classic masterpiece, Great Expectations, and in The Mystery of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Frances Fyfield ponders what happened to the hero of Charles Dickens' final unfinished novel. In Free Thinking: Dickens, Matthew Sweet and guests examine his oeuvre and the way his work connects with the present day, while Landmarks: Charles Dickens is devoted to the great author's final completed novel, Our Mutual Friend.

Finally, Indian writer Ayeesha Menon finds out about her country's love affair with Charles Dickens in The Documentary: Dickens and India - Mutual Friends; and his enduring significance is explored in the five-part Radio 3 series The Writer's Dickens, in which contemporary novelists Tessa Hadley, Romesh Gunesekera, AL Kennedy, Alexander McCall Smith and Justin Cartwright consider the craft of Dickens' prose and reveal how he is both a role model and a shadow looming over their own writing.

©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Thomas Hardy BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
Oscar cover art
David Edgar: A BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
Rumpole: A BBC Radio Collection cover art
Murderesses in Victorian Britain cover art
The Katherine Mansfield BBC Radio Collection cover art
Judi Dench and Michael Williams: With Great Pleasure cover art
The Henry James BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
A Brief History of Timewasting: The Complete Series 1 and 2 cover art
The Artful Dickens cover art

What listeners say about Charles Dickens: A BBC Biography

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dickens Forever

Instead of being read to at bedtime, I was asked to read to a parent at bedtime and we choose Pickwick Papers. I have been in love with Dickens books ever since.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!