Romeo and Juliet: Arkangel Shakespeare

An Inspector Calls (Classic Radio Theatre)

• ORIGINAL (1 hr and 27 mins)
• By J. B. Priestley
• Narrated By Toby Jones, David Calder, Morven Christie

The Birling family are spending a happy evening celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft - a marriage that will result in the merging of two successful local businesses. Yet, just when everything seems to be going so well, they receive a surprise visit from an Inspector Goole who is investigating the suicide of a young girl.

Hamlet: The Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (3 hrs and 25 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Simon Russell Beale, Imogen Stubbs, Jane Lapotaire, and others

Distressed by his father's death and his mother's over-hasty remarriage, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is faced by a specter from beyond the grave bearing a grim message of murder and revenge. The young prince is driven to the edge of madness by his struggle to understand the situation he finds himself in and to do his duty. Many others, including Hamlet's beloved, the innocent Ophelia, are swept up in his tragedy.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

• UNABRIDGED (2 hrs and 57 mins)
• By Robert Louis Stevenson
• Narrated By Martin Jarvis
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

This is the disturbing tale of the dual personality of Dr. Jekyll, a physician. A generous and philanthropic man, he is preoccupied with the problems of good and evil and with the possibility of separating them into distinct personalities. He develops a drug that transforms him into the demonic Mr. Hyde, in whose person he exhausts all the latent evil in his nature.

The Merchant of Venice: Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 16 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Trevor Peacock, Bill Nighy, Haydn Gwynne, and others

In Shakespeare's most controversial play, the opposing values of justice and mercy must be resolved. Antonio promises money to help his friend Bassanio woo Portia. He borrows the sum needed from the cruel Shylock, but there will be a dreadful penalty if the loan is not repaid. The golden world of Portia's Belmont calls forth some of Shakespeare's most lyrical love poetry. But the dark shadow of Shylock is never far from the heart of this brilliant comedy as it moves toward its courtroom climax.

Othello: Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (3 hrs and 1 min)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Don Warrington, David Threlfall, Anne-Marie Duff, and others

Othello, a Moorish general in the service of Venice, has married Desdemona, beautiful daughter of a Venetian senator. But Iago, Othello's malignant ensign, is determined to destroy their happiness. Cunningly bending Othello to his own purposes, Iago persuades the Moor that Desdemona is unfaithful to him. Tormented in a hell of jealousy, Othello moves inexorably toward the destruction of his innocent wife and himself.

AQA Power and Conflict GCSE Poetry Anthology Audio Tutorials

• UNABRIDGED (2 hrs and 48 mins)
• By Rebecca Kleanthous
• Narrated By Penny Andrews, Andrew Cresswell

In this study guide we narrate and analyse all 15 poems in the the AQA Power and Conflict poetry anthology to prepare those who are studying for their English Literature GCSE. Written by Rebecca Kleanthous, an English teacher and an examiner who specialises in poetry, this series will enable you to understand the themes and ideas across the poems, analyses the techniques used by the poets, including language and structure and provides suitable comparisons with other poems within the cluster.

Twelfth Night

• UNABRIDGED (2 hrs and 8 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Paul Scofield, Siobhan McKenna, John Neville
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Paul Scofield, Siobhan McKenna and John Neville perform Twelfth Night. This is Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores - only to be pursued by the woman he loves.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Dramatised)

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 19 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Warren Mitchell, Michael Maloney, Sarah Woodward

This classic Shakespearean comedy is presented here in a colorful full-cast dramatization, drawn from the complete text and starring Warren Mitchell, Michael Maloney, and Sarah Woodward.

As You Like It: Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 27 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Niamh Cusack, Stephen Mangan, Victoria Hamilton, and others

Rosalind, daughter of the deposed Duke Senior, is exiled from the court by her wicked uncle. Disguising herself as a young man and accompanied by her cousin Celia, she takes refuge in the Forest of Arden. In the forest Rosalind meets Orlando with whom she is in love, but her male disguise complicates matters, especially when Rosalind finds she has unwittingly attracted the shepherdess Phebe. But out of the confusion comes reconciliation and forgiveness, and all ends happily.

A Christmas Carol [BBC Version]

• UNABRIDGED (3 hrs and 17 mins)
• By Charles Dickens
• Narrated By Miriam Margolyes

Here's Dicken's Christmas classic of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounter with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Originally published in 1843, A Christmas Carol has continued to be one of the most popular and enduring Christmas stories of all time.

Ulysses

• UNABRIDGED (27 hrs and 16 mins)
• By James Joyce
• Narrated By Jim Norton
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Ulysses is regarded by many as the single most important novel of the 20th century. It tells the story of one day in Dublin, June 16th 1904, largely through the eyes of Stephen Dedalus (Joyce's alter ego from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man) and Leopold Bloom, an advertising salesman. Both begin a normal day, and both set off on a journey around the streets of Dublin, which eventually brings them into contact with one another.

A Christmas Carol

• UNABRIDGED (3 hrs and 9 mins)
• By Charles Dickens
• Narrated By Simon Prebble
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

"Every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding," says Ebenezer Scrooge. Mean old Scrooge despises Christmas until Christmas Eve, when a haunted voice from the past changes his life: overnight! Many know this story but few have experienced the true marvel of the tale.

Richard III: Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (3 hrs and 33 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By David Troughton, Saskia Wickham, Margaret Robertson, and others

Brilliantly manipulative and entirely amoral, the hero-villain Richard is one of Shakespeare's greatest roles. The Yorkists have emerged victorious from the civil wars and Edward IV wears the English crown. But Edward's misshapen brother Richard harbors kingly ambitions and will stop at nothing to achieve the throne. In a fatal battle on Bosworth Field, Richard meets the ghosts of all whom he has murdered and the Earl of Richmond, the future King Henry VII.

The Taming of the Shrew: Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 17 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Frances Barber, Roger Allam, Alan Cox

Padua holds many suitors for the hand of fair Bianca, but Bianca may not be married until her spinster sister, Kate, is wed. Could any man be rash enough to take on Kate? The witty adventurer Petruchio undertakes the task. While he sets about transforming Kate from foul-tempered termagant to loving wife, young Lucentio and his clever servant, Tranio, plot to win Bianca.

Heroes

• UNABRIDGED (3 hrs and 1 min)
• By Robert Cormier
• Narrated By Zach Herries

Francis Joseph Cassavant is eighteen. He has just returned home from the Second World War, and he has no face. He does have a gun and a mission: to murder his childhood hero. Francis lost most of his face when he fell on a grenade in France. He received the Silver Star for bravery, but was it really an act of heroism? Now, having survived, he is looking for a man he once admired and respected, a man adored by many people, a man who also received a Silver Star for bravery. A man who destroyed Francis's life.

Lord of the Flies

• UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 59 mins)
• By William Golding
• Narrated By Martin Jarvis
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys' delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive, and their behaviour starts to take on a murderous, savage significance.

King Lear: Arkangel Shakespeare

• UNABRIDGED (3 hrs and 8 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Trevor Peacock, Clive Merrison, full cast

This shattering drama of isolation and loss is one of the greatest tragedies in world literature. King Lear of Britain has three daughters: the hard-hearted Goneril and Regan, and the good and gentle Cordelia. He determines to divide his kingdom between them, giving the largest share to she who can say she loves him the best. Lear's tragic lack of judgment and self-knowledge is paralleled by the blindness of the loyal Gloucester who is persuaded to reject his virtuous son, Edgar, in favor of the villainous Edmund.

Of Mice and Men

• UNABRIDGED (3 hrs and 40 mins)
• By John Steinbeck
• Narrated By Clarke Peters
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Streetwise George and his big, childlike friend Lennie are drifters, searching for work in the fields and valleys of California. They have nothing except the clothes on their back, and a hope that one day they'll find a place of their own and live the American dream. But dreams come at a price. Gentle giant Lennie doesn't know his own strength, and when they find work at a ranch he gets into trouble with the boss's daughter-in-law. Trouble so bad that even his protector George may not be able to save him....

Much Ado about Nothing: Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 8 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Saskia Reeves, Samuel West, Paul Jesson, and others

Young Claudio has fallen for the lovely heiress Hero, who also loves him. Their path to the altar looks smooth, until the evil Don John intervenes. All ends happily, thanks to his incompetent assassins and the lucky discoveries of the bungling constable Dogberry. Central to the play, one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies, are Beatrice and Benedick, masters of wit and sworn foes to marriage - until a plot is hatched to bring them together.

Julius Caesar: The Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 26 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Michael Feast, John Bowe, Adrian Lester

At the heart of this tragic history is one of Shakespeare's most noble characters, the statesman Brutus, who is caught in a devastating conflict between private affection and public duty.

Julius Caesar has become the most powerful man in the Rome. Does his power now threaten the very existence of the Republic itself? A conspiracy is hatched, one that will have fatal consequences not only for Caesar and the conspirators but for the future history of the ancient world.

Henry V: Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (3 hrs and 10 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Jamie Glover, Brian Cox, Elizabeth Spriggs

Henry V is a study of kingship, patriotism, and heroic determination tempered by tender comedy as Henry courts Katherine, princess of France. Henry, the noble and courageous young king of England, decides to invade France, believing he has a rightful claim to the throne. At Agincourt he leads his army into battle against the powerful French forces and, against all the odds, wins a famous victory.

Love's Labor's Lost: The Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 26 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Alex Jennings, Emma Fielding, Samantha Bond, and others

The young king of Navarre and three of his courtiers have vowed to lock themselves away for three years of study and fasting, and to forswear the company of women for this period. No sooner is their vow made than it is tested, however, as the princess of France and three of her ladies arrive in Navarre on a diplomatic mission. The young men fall instantly and hopelessly in love, and the tension between their vow and their passion forms the subject of this charming and sparkling early comedy.

SmartPass Plus Audio Education Study Guide to Romeo and Juliet (Unabridged, Dramatised, Commentary Options)

• UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 51 mins)
• By William Shakespeare, Simon Potter
• Narrated By Full-Cast featuring Joan Walker, Chris Kelham, Sara Bowes

The multi-award-winning SmartPass study guide with and without commentary options. Full-cast, unabridged performance with comprehensive commentary and analysis for any student to fully understand and appreciate the play. The poetry of Shakespeare's star crossed lovers is poignantly performed and expertly explained in this unique production: "Passion lends them power."

The Tempest: Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 11 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Jennifer Ehle, Adrian Lester, Bob Peck, and others

This haunting drama of vengeance and forgiveness crowns the group of tragicomic romances that Shakespeare composed at the end of his career. Sometimes read as his farewell to the stage, the play contains some of Shakespeare's most lyrical verse. Prospero, wise Duke of Milan, has been deposed by Antonio, his wicked brother, and exiled with his daughter Miranda to a mysterious island. But Prospero possesses supernatural powers. Aided by the spirit Ariel, Prospero uses his magical art to bring his enemies under his control.