Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Genre Fiction

Thirteen plays about human connection, from some of BBC Radio's best writers exploring love, family, romances and life's ups and downs. This diverse collection of stories centres around family dynamics, relationships both romantic and platonic, and the diverse ways ordinary people navigate the vicissitudes of everyday life. Ranging from modern fairy tales to coming-of-age dramas, they feature a wide variety of styles, and are scripted by an array of writers from award-winning dramatists to first-time authors.

Afghanistan, 2009. Eighteen-year-old squaddie Briggsy is just three weeks into his first posting in Helmand Province and he's thrilled to be part of the action. But when his Rifle Section loses a man in battle, Briggsy is forced to confront the realities of war. Also included is the fascinating interview with Andy McNab, in which he speaks to Jo Fidgen about his childhood, military career and writing.

Rex Obano has written for the stage, television, radio and film. His plays have twice been shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award and he received the Roland Rees Bursary in 2018. He is part of the writing team for the BBC Radio series Faith, Hope and Glory and his TV credits include Shakespeare & Hathaway. Included here are five of his acclaimed dramas, as well as a fascinating discussion programme, Black Tudors.

Master builder Halvard Solness is a self-made man. With no professional qualifications, he has built himself up through ruthless ambition and achieved a position of power and domination in his home town. But his success has come at a cost. His marriage is empty, destroyed by a personal tragedy that has left him wracked with guilt and pain, and he is increasingly frightened of failure and being displaced by the next generation. Then a mysterious young woman, Hilde Wangel, appears from the mountains, claiming to have met Solness 10 years earlier, when she was only 13. 

In between dating, shopping, drinking, dancing and having fun, the girls of Riyadh live by Saudi Arabia’s strict cultural traditions. Well, not quite... They’re still trying to be good Muslims and please their families. But can you be a 21st century woman and a Saudi woman? A full-cast dramatisation of Rajaa Alsanea's best-selling novel, revealing the social, romantic, and sexual tribulations of four young women from the elite classes of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Perfect for Janeites everywhere, this enticing collection brings together for the first time six special recordings that offer a glimpse behind the scenes at the life of the celebrated author. Taking us on a journey from her earliest teenage writings, to her love affair aged 20, to the scandalous arrest of her aunt which shook her family, these fascinating programmes offer a closer look at Jane Austen and those around her, as seen through her letters, writings and final home.

When the Reverend Elaine Metcalfe is inducted as the vicar of Pontvale, she hopes the job will have more to it than lending out spare sets of keys. She soon discovers there's plenty of challenges in her new home - not least the daily needs of her parishioners, which range from community theatre productions, arranging a wedding and a funeral for the same day, and local scandal over the vicar's culottes.

On the crystalline planet of Yewa, the Gardens of Kubuntu are a true Eden, said to be the most peaceful destination in the universe. At least, until the Doctor and Ruby arrive. Ancient rivalries between Yewa and its more prosperous sister world of Bia are being stirred by forces unknown, threatening to plunge its people into anarchy. With Ruby swept up in the fire of the Yewan rebellion, the Doctor finds dark secrets buried deep in the planet’s ancient history – and his hopes for a lasting peace hanging by a thread.

Anton and Liam are the Eric and Ernie of the fish world. Liam is a slippers-and-cardigan, Friday-night-in-with-a-Dick Francis-and-a-box-of-Terry’s-All-Gold kind of goldfish; whereas Anton is erudite, philosophical, sophisticated and fluent in several languages. Thrown together by fate, their only company in their bowl is some gravel and a little plastic castle as they closely observe the tumultuous relationship between their owners, Martin and Susan. In these two series, Liam and Anton contemplate the meaning of their existence, ponder the concept of time, and learn about sex.

1985. Uprooted from her home in Bangladesh, 18-year-old Nazneen is sent to London for an arranged marriage with a much older man. Her new life is strange and bewildering - the busy streets and crowded tower blocks of the East End are a world away from the rural village she grew up in, and she struggles to adapt to living with her self-important husband, Chanu. Back in Bangladesh, Nazneen's sister Hasina has eloped with the man she loves, and been disowned by her family.

When a beautiful piece of music stirs mega-tycoon Maximilian West, he remembers the women who have loved him and shaped his life. So begins a dazzling tale, taking us from the streets of London to the suites of New York, from the rise of Nazi Germany to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Strong, powerful, enigmatic, aloof, and adoring - many women made Maximilian the man with everything, but there is only one woman who can make him feel truly alive.

All 10 episodes of the BBC Radio 4 comedy about an eccentric 'olderpreneur' and her adventures in business. At the age of 51, Bindi Banerjee unexpectedly finds herself out of a job. But she has her redundancy pay-off and a can-do attitude, and as series 1 opens, Bindi decides to start up her own business. Bindi’s Beauty Box soon gets off to a promising start, but Bindi must get her reluctant children on board if she is going to succeed. When she runs into some bumps in the road, Bindi wonders if she’s taken on more than she can manage. 

Disgraced in the US, maverick ad man Eliott Thurber is forced to transfer to the newly opened London offices of Parabola Media. The clash of cultures has hilarious consequences as he tries to cope with promoting a range of peculiar products, challenging clients and not to mention his disgruntled new colleagues. His first assignment is a gourmet cat food for an intensely conservative company but Eliott has his eyes on a bigger prize, American investment in the NHS. After all, "where there's pain, there's gain..."

David Schofield reads this exciting original adventure featuring the 12th Doctor and Clara, as played by Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman in the BBC TV series. The Doctor and Clara are called to a mysterious, isolated house on a moonlet in the Asurmian Reach. There they meet the inscrutable Justin Winter and his two assistants, Joey and Carenza. Winter has called for the Doctor's help: he and his friends are trapped in the house, all exits having long ago been sealed.

Dublin-based Dessie (David Kelly) and Violet Doyle (Pauline McLynn) are trying to keep their theatrical costumier business afloat amidst drama, scandal and farce so brilliant it should be on stage itself. Attempting to embrace modern working practices, the pair find themselves in uproarious situations with a cast of colourful characters and multiple narrative threads… Listen and laugh as the beleaguered couple embrace an offer from a local nun’s drama group which might help, if only they don’t get things mixed up with the Gaiety Theatre’s opera production.

Broadcast live from the Club Akimbo, Bletchley, this is Britain's first public access cable radio show, presented by a group of Buckinghamshire district councillors who really should know better. Chairman of the Ways and Means committee Mr Dutton is our host as he introduces us to the items on the agenda, which include sparkling sketches, surreal escapades and musical interludes from Chilean charmer Enrico Valdez and his Orchestra with Mickey Binelli.

Some would say the Market is the last authentic part of the city centre. This northern city has reinvented itself as a business and financial centre, bristling with designer shops and bars. A cosmopolitan, twenty-four hour city. Yet slap bang in the centre the Victorian City Market remains what it has always been; a place where you can get anything and see anything - a place teeming with life. The market is the real face of the city - mucky, multicultural and magnificent.

Meet Tula, Vinny, Jabeen, Sonal and Samina - best friends and members of the 'Girlie’ club. Listen to this joyous exploration of friendship, family, work and womanhood in the British Asian community in the 90s. In their regular gatherings for ‘Girlie’ evenings the friends drink, laugh, blow off steam and commiserate. Nothing is sacred and friendships are tested, marriages analysed, and secrets exposed.

Best known for her posthumously published novel Suite française, Irène Némirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903. Her family fled the Russian Revolution for Paris, where she found fame as a novelist. But when the Nazis occupied France, she was arrested as a Jew and sent to Auschwitz, where she died aged just 39. This collection includes four of her best works, dramatised for radio with a full cast.

It's 1933 and we are back at Crown House where the Minster family are gathering to enjoy the Easter holiday. However, Crown House isn't the idyll it first appears, and a brutal murder disrupts the genial gathering. There's a secret that's been buried for years and the Honourable Mrs Jenny Gaunt is determined to uncover the truth but is she prepared to lose everything she holds dear in the process?