Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Art & Literature

Sir Terry Pratchett was a much-loved writer who gained international fame for his Discworld fantasy series. In this recording we hear - in his own words - about science-fantasy and comedy writing. He discusses his fans and followers, how he enjoys writing and the importance of the Discworld...

Alan Bennett is one of the country's most celebrated and best-loved authors. This unmissable collection of diaries and memoirs brings together for the first time Telling Tales, Diaries: 1980-1990, the autobiographical section of Untold Stories, which covers the period 1997-2004, and Keeping On Keeping On: The Diaries 2005-2014. With wit, wisdom, sharp social commentary and perceptive impressions, Alan Bennett's memoirs and diaries are a joy to discover, and a delight to hear again.

Over the course of his distinguished entertainment career, Alan Bennett has received multiple awards and honours, including two BAFTAs, four Laurence Olivier Awards, two Tony Awards, an Academy Award nomination for his film The Madness of King George, and a British Book Award for Author of the Year in 2006. In this four-part collection of his remarkable Untold Stories, the acclaimed writer considers his childhood, career, and the current state of the world with his customary blend of wit and poignancy.

Two new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of Roald Dahl's gripping autobiographical stories. These two compelling adaptations, based on Roald Dahl’s real-life tales of his of his boyhood and youthful overseas adventures, celebrate his remarkable life and commemorate his genius. Boy Dahl’s...

Tracey Emin is an internationally renowned artist. Here she discusses her life and achievements in a series of interviews from the BBC radio and TV archives.

'For myself/ I knew as soon as I could read and write/ That I must be a poet. Even today,/ When all the way from Cambridge comes a wind/ To blow the lamps out every time they're lit/ I know that I must light mine up again.' From his earliest boyhood memories of Highgate and Archibald, his old...

Douglas Adams was a passionate technology enthusiast. His best-selling The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is full of futuristic tech, and in 1990 he predicted something very like the World Wide Web in the BBC2 film Hyperland. So in 1999, he was the natural choice to present Radio 4’s The Internet: The Last 20th Century Battleground. In it, he looked at the explosion in online communication, the evolution of cyberspace, and the risks and opportunities of the new virtual world.

Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, presents a look back at the life and work of a writer who has captivated the imagination of millions. When Douglas Adams created ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ for BBC Radio 4, it was the genesis...

Laurie Lee was a poet, novelist and screenwriter renowned for his bestselling autobiographical trilogy Cider With Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment of War. Among the best loved memoirs in the English language, the books chart Lee’s life from his boyhood summers in a remote Cotswold village to joining the Republican International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Included here are dramatisations of the first two volumes, alongside a specially written radio play and four fascinating interview programmes.

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.

Famous fans choose their favourite writers for BBC Radio 4's Great Lives. For 20 years, Great Lives has been a cornerstone of the Radio 4 schedules, presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and Matthew Parris. Each week, a well-known personality is invited to select someone who has inspired them. They then discuss the 'Great Life' with the presenter and a guest expert to decide whether their hero really merits the accolade.

David Hockney has been described as Britain's 'greatest living artist'. In this fascinating collection of archive interviews we hear - in his own words - about his paintings, his schooldays and the attitudes he had while growing up. Hockney discusses the influence that his family had on him, as...

George Orwell's classic account of his experiences during the Spanish Civil War, dramatised for radio by Mike Walker. Produced by Kate McAll. In 1936 Eric and Eileen Blair were making ends meet by running a small village shop in Wallington and growing vegetables. Eric had recently sent 'The Road...

John le Carré was a best-selling author whose books include and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. On this recording we hear - in his own words - about being brought up by his grandparents and feeling deserted by his mother and father. He talks about being creative as a means of escapism, by telling stories about his absent parents, as well as hating public school where he suffered severe beatings.

World War I saw an unprecedented loss of life in Western Europe, and destruction on a scale no one alive had ever seen. All those who experienced it were irrevocably changed, including many writers and artists upon whose oeuvre it left an indelible mark. This captivating series examines the impact of the war on artists and thinkers through the prism of their great works. In each episode, a leading figure from the worlds of science, culture and the arts reflects on a single iconic piece, and discusses how the events of 1914-18 shaped its creation.

In interviews ranging from 1972 to 1989, Roald Dahl talks about writing for children, his medical inventions to aid his ailing son and wife (the actress Patricia Neal) when they were seriously ill and writing his short stories. He also covers his school days, military service, writing for films (including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and the link between cruelty and laughter.

In this fascinating collection of interviews from the BBC radio and TV archive, John Betjeman (Poet Laureate 1972) talks about his life and career as one of the foremost poets of the 20th century.

Dramatisation by Robin Brooks of James Boswell's biography of Samuel Johnson, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Johnson's birth. Episode 1: Young Boswell comes to London to seek out his hero. He wants to write a biography of the great man 'in scenes', with Johnson's conversation cast as...

Cecil Beaton was a portrait and fashion photographer, as well as a diarist and Oscar-winning designer. Here he discusses his life and achievements in a series of interviews from the BBC radio and TV archive: At Home: Cecil Beaton, broadcast on BBC Radio, 7th May 1957 (featuring Hywel Davies); Face to Face, broadcast on BBC Television, 18th February 1962 (featuring John Freeman); Late Night Line-Up, broadcast on BBC Television, 9th May 1968 (featuring Sheridan Morley); Desert Island Discs, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 26th January 1980 (featuring Roy Plomley).

This selection contains eight of Alistair Cooke's Christmas and New Year Letters from America, broadcast in December and January over the five decades of his career and covering a range of festive topics from the light-hearted to the sombre. Starting with his December 2001 letter - broadcast in the wake of 9/11 - he remembers introducing Leonard Bernstein to Handel's 'Messiah', muses on the creation of A Christmas Carol and shares his memories of two friends who died in 1977, Groucho Marx and Bing Crosby.