Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in All Categories

Leslie Charteris’ square-jawed, blue-eyed hero loved, fought and stole his way through Europe from the 1930s to the 1970s, endlessly pursuing blondes, baddies and boodle. Adored by women and feared by his foes, he was renowned for both his heroic exploits and his nefarious reputation - and he always left his trademark calling card at the scenes of his crimes: a sketch of a stick figure with a halo.

Based in Devon in the 1940s, these two dramas follow the lives and loves of a group of young women, all from different backgrounds, but all determined to do their bit for king and country in the Land Army. Billeted in a hastily converted farmhouse, they face cramped conditions and gruelling work - but there's always dances at the village hop and the chance of romance with a GI....

Jules Verne's two novels featuring Captain Nemo (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island), condensed down to two thrilling hours. In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, marine scientist Professor Aronnax and his stowaway daughter, Connie, join whaler Ned Land aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln to hunt an aggressive sea monster, believed to be a giant narwhale. When they engage the monster, they find to their astonish­ment it's an electrically powered submarine, the Nautilus, techno­logically far superior to any vessel known.

After being mugged by a pair of pensioners outside the Darby & Joan Club, the Reverend Timothy Carswell has had enough of his rough, tough inner-city parish. Convinced that someone so meek would be better suited somewhere quieter, the Bishop packs him off to a nice, sedate residential neighbourhood where nothing ever seems to happen. However, unbeknownst to the vicar, his apparently respectable new parish is a hotbed of passion, paranormal experimentation and geriatric prostitution.

David Edgar is among the UK’s leading contemporary dramatists, well known for his powerful plays chronicling Britain's changing political landscape over the past 50 years. More than 60 of his original plays, adaptations and translations have been performed around the world, and in 2023 he was honoured with a Writers’ Guild Outstanding Contribution award for his service to British playwriting. This radio anthology contains some of his most notable work.

A long-time favourite of Friday night comedy fans, The Now Show presents the headlines through sketches, songs and stand-up, providing a wry, satirical perspective on UK and world events. In these 19 episodes from 2015 and 2016, hosts Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by some of the brightest and best comedy writers and performers—including Mitch Benn, Pippa Evans, John Finnemore, Mae Martin, Adam Kay and Nish Kumar—for an entertaining romp through the worlds of politics, popular culture and current affairs.

For more than half a century, Alistair Cooke entertained millions of listeners across the globe with his weekly BBC radio programme Letter from America. An outstanding observer of the American scene, he became one of the world's best-loved broadcasters and had the distinction of presenting the longest running one-man show in radio history. Following the sad death of Alistair Cooke after 58 years in broadcasting, this impressive collection features all three volumes of Letters from America.

The hilarious comic lovechild of A Question of Sport and QI, Jest a Minute is a light-hearted, lively show that quizzes leading comedians on their knowledge of comedy. Host Rhod Gilbert accepts no backchat and gives short shrift to cheek as he recklessly awards points based on how quick, agile and witty he considers the panellists to be. In a series of fast-paced, chaotic rounds, they are tasked with answering quickfire questions on comedy history, sitcom titles, catchphrases and classic comedy films.

The complete BBC Radio 4 satirical comedy series about a seasoned presenter of travel documentaries, Brian Gulliver, who finds himself in a hospital's secure unit after claiming to have experienced a succession of bizarre adventures. In series one we hear about Brian's travels in Gelbetia, a country run by doctors; Juradia, where every other person is a lawyer; Osminia, a land where marriage is outlawed; Sham, a country where alternative therapies abound; Erosia, which has a very different view of sexual politics; and Jampoa, where fame definitely equals fortune.

First broadcast in 1953, A Life of Bliss ran for six series and 118 episodes on radio, concluding in 1969 when a TV series was made. Sadly, most are missing from the BBC archive (including the first seven, starring David Tomlinson) - but 19 were rescued and rebroadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra, and are included here. They chronicle the misadventures of shy, absent-minded bachelor David Bliss, who goes through life with his head in the clouds and his mind in a fog. 

Julia McKenzie, Simon Carter and Terry Molloy star in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation. On a hot, Edwardian summer's day, five children are granted a series of wishes by a strange creature they find.

1920s Stirling, and Chief Pathologist Dr Wallace is the town's acknowledged expert on all matters forensic. But he's not the only detective in the family - his daughter Barbara, a medical student, also has quite a talent for investigating. In these six one-off dramas, the two amateur sleuths join forces to tackle a string of tricky cases, each involving a suspicious death.

Tom Hiddleston ( The Night Manager) stars as Jonathan Harker, with David Suchet ( Poirot) as Dracula in Liz Lochhead's powerful BBC radio adaptation of the classic novel by Bram Stoker. When solicitor Jonathan Harker sets off for Transylvania to sell the mysterious Count Dracula a Gothic mansion, his bride-to-be, Mina, begs him to stay - to no avail. But on arrival at Dracula's castle, deep in a black forest surrounded by wolves, Harker wishes he had listened to his fiancée.

Poet and playwright Federico García Lorca is one of the most famous figures in 20th-century Spanish literature. A member of the 'Generation of '27' avant-garde movement that included Dalí and Buñuel, he became well known for his lyrical, symbolic works mixing modernism and the folkloric traditions of his native Andalusia. He was executed by Nationalist forces at the start of the Spanish Civil War, aged only 38. More than 80 years later, his poetry is revered worldwide and the plays in his 'Rural Trilogy' are widely regarded as masterpieces.

Somewhere outside space and time there waits the Celestial Toymaker, an enigmatic being who ensnares unwary travellers into his domain to play out his dark and deadly games. Separated from the security of the TARDIS, the Doctor is forced to play the complex trilogic game with the evil magician. Meanwhile, Dodo and Steven must enter into a series of tests with, among others, the schoolboy Cyril and the King and Queen of Hearts.

Maddox is an old-school journalist struggling to keep up with new technology. He fears the art of finding stories is being forgotten and is not about to let that happen. His online editor Freddy, however, will happily regurgitate a press release and call it a story. But they have a grudging respect for each other, as Freddy helps Maddox stay afloat in the world of Twitter, Facebook and podcasting and Maddox shows Freddy how to land a real scoop.

Step into the charming and bewildered world of Siadwel: poet, philosopher, as endearing as he is perplexed. With his signature anorak and National Health Service specs, Siadwel has become a cultural icon, offering his unique and often befuddled perspective on the conundrums of everyday life. The beloved Welsh geek has been tickling audiences’ funny bones for decades, having first appeared on television screens as part of the sketch series Naked Video, which ran from 1986 to 1991. 

In this radio reboot, Pete Baikie, Morwenna Banks, Moray Hunter, Gordon Kennedy, John Sparkes and Gus Beattie revisit some of their much-loved comic creations, and introduce some hilarious newcomers. We listen in on the meetings of the highly confused Stoneybridge Town Council; hear pearls of nonsense from Calum Gilhooley, Edinburgh's most boring man; and the Little Girl gives us her take on topics including Tonsils, Teenagers, The Truth and Time's Up.

Challenged to retrieve a fallen star, Tristran Thorn leaves the sleepy English village of Wall and crosses into the land of Faerie and the realm of Stormhold. Locating the star, he discovers it is no meteorite but a young woman, Yvaine. When Yvaine evades him and escapes, Tristran discovers he is not the only one in pursuit of the star: there are dark forces in this magical land, and he must find Yvaine before she falls into their clutches.

Celebrating the wonders of the universe since 2009, The Infinite Monkey Cage combines wit and wisdom to explore scientific concepts in an entertaining, accessible way. In these four series, physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince are back to 'put a smile on the face of science' (The Independent). They're joined by a wealth of boffins, brainiacs and celebrity science enthusiasts, all keen to share their hard facts, soft theories and bold comic deviations.