Showing results by narrator "Alex Tregear" in All Categories

Renowned novelist and poet Thomas Hardy is best known for his fatalistic, often tragic novels set in the 'realistic dream-country' of Wessex, in south and south-west England. Drawing on his own life, he created some of the most memorable characters and stories in Victorian literature—many of which are included here. In five dramas taken from Radio 4's 'Hardy's Women' season, we meet a few of Thomas Hardy's most compelling female protagonists.

June 1933. Independent, young Kitty Underhay has been left in charge of her family’s hotel, The Dolphin, on the tranquil English coast. But when several rooms are broken into and searched, including Kitty’s own, she quickly realizes that something out of the ordinary is afoot at the hotel. Soon, rumors are flying in the cozy town that someone is on the hunt for a stolen ruby. A ruby that Kitty’s mother may well have possessed when she herself went missing during the Great War.

Winter, 1933. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a restorative break from sleuthing on a visit to her family at Enderley Hall. The only thing marring her peace - aside from the uncomfortable sensation she has of being watched - is the obvious history between her beau, ex-army captain Matthew Bryant and another guest, the beautiful Juliet Vanderstafen. So, when the parish clerk is found dead on her front doorstep, Kitty leaps at the chance of distraction.

For the district nurses of Victory Walk, there's been little time to bask in the triumph of D-day as London is facing a new threat - the buzz bombs. Everyone is terrified, never knowing where the next one will strike. Into this tense atmosphere, new nurse Iris must make her mark. She’s had more experience of nursing than many, but since arriving in East London from the countryside, she has struggled to fit in with the other staff. Meanwhile, Alice is facing an agonising wait to hear if her boyfriend, Joe, has survived D-day.

You know that feeling? When you want something so badly, you almost feel you'd kill for it? Be careful what you wish for.... Kat and her husband Nick have tried everything to become parents, and are on the point of giving up. Then a chance encounter with Kat's childhood friend Lisa gives Kat and Nick one last chance to achieve their dream. But Kat and Lisa's history hides dark secrets. And there is more to Lisa than meets the eye.

Alice Lake has arrived in London from Liverpool to start her training as a District Nurse, but her journey has been far from easy. Her parents think that she should settle down and get married, but she has already had her heart broken once and isn’t about to make the same mistake again. Alice and her best friend, Edith, are based in the East End, but before they’ve even got their smart new uniforms on, war breaks out, and Hitler’s bombs are raining down on London.

Milly always dreamed of being a mother. Adopted herself, she has always imagined a powerful, intimate connection with a child of her own. So when she and her husband Matt are told they can’t have children, her dreams are shattered. But then their loved ones offer the ultimate gift - Milly’s best friend Anna and Matt’s brother Jack will be donors, so that Milly can finally have a chance to be a mother. Except none of the four people involved are prepared for the feelings that will threaten their most important relationships as their daughter receives a heartbreaking diagnosis.

The East End of London has been devastated by the Blitz and the people are struggling to come to terms with their ravaged city. Rationing bites ever deeper, and and everything that makes life better is in short supply. For the district nurses, the challenges are tougher than ever. Gladys loves her work in the Civil Nursing Reserve, but just when she needs to rely on her sister at home to help out with the chores, she turns into a handful of trouble. Edith is learning to cope with her boyfriend's injuries after Dunkirk but will she have to choose between her love for him and her career?

Sci-fi comedy about the bizarre city of Undone - a weird parallel version of London. Edna Turner has moved to London to start a new job at entertainment magazine Get Out! When she arrives, she meets the strange Tankerton Slopes, who claims to come from a parallel version of London known as 'Undone'. Undone is 'where the weirdness comes from': where you can find pet tricks shows, medication designed to make you paranoid and the Undone delicacy ‘troubled eggs’. Weird things flow into London, and mundane things flow into Undone, making them the peculiar places they are.

The compelling new best seller from the author of The Mersey Daughter and Winter on the Mersey. Alice Lake and her friend Edith have had everything thrown at them in their first year as district nurses in London’s East End. From babies born out of wedlock to battered wives, they’ve had plenty to keep them occupied. As rationing takes hold and Hitler’s bombers train their sights on London, there is no escaping the reality of being at war.

Summer 1933. Fresh from the discovery that she has family living nearby, Kitty Underhay has packed her carpet bag, commandeered a chambermaid and set off on a visit to stately Enderley Hall. She’s looking forward to getting to know her relatives, as well as the assembled group of house guests. But when elderly Nanny Thoms is found dead at the bottom of the stairs after papers of national importance are stolen, Kitty quickly learns that Muffy the dog’s muddy paws on her hemline are the least of her problems.

When Jamie Blair, 24, unemployed and back from the trenches, took lodgings at Larcom Street in Walworth, he had no idea he was walking into a trap. The house was owned by Henry Mullins, big, burly and a hard drinker. Henry made life hell for his four stepchildren who looked half-starved and frequently got bashed.

1934. Accidental amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay is being escorted by ex-army captain Matthew Bryant on an errand of mercy, as she takes a basket of grapes to her nemesis Mrs. Craven, who is recuperating from a recent operation. But their arrival at Elm House Nursing Home coincides with the mysterious death of Lady Wellings, a long-term resident.

It’s autumn 1940 and the Blitz has cast its shadow over London. Everyone is doing their bit to help, including the three Harrison sisters of the East End’s Victory Walk. Nurse Rose is snowed under in the hospital tending to victims of the bombings. Her sister Clover is on active duty on the south coast, while the baby of the family, Daisy, is growing up quickly working on the London Underground, now that thousands of people are taking shelter down below. Even in wartime, the sisters find time for a wedding, but the bride is keeping a secret, which threatens to come to light.

Late summer 1933. After a quarrel with too-plucky-for-her-own-good amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay, dashing ex-army captain Matthew Bryant is nursing his wounds, and a tumbler of brandy, when there’s a heavy knock at the door and he finds himself arrested for murder. The body of aspiring actress Pearl Bright has been found, strangled with one of Matt’s own bootlaces, and the evidence seems to be stacked against him. The local constabulary might have locked Matt up, but before they can throw away the key, Kitty hears the news and hies to his aid, determined to prove his innocence.

Kenneth Branagh stars in BBC Radio 4's ambitious eight-hour dramatisation of Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman's epic masterpiece set during the Battle of Stalingrad. This powerful work, completed in 1960, charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war. Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the KGB placed the manuscript under arrest and Grossman was informed his book would not be published for at least 200 years.

November 1933. Amateur sleuth-cum-dutiful granddaughter Kitty Underhay stifles a sigh of boredom as she attends the annual Hoteliers' Association Dinner and Dance on behalf of her grandmother, the proprietress of the Dolphin Hotel. She hopes the company of ex-army captain Matthew Bryant will enliven the otherwise dull evening. That is, until bullish and overbearing local councilor Harold Everton drops dead into his bowl of consommé.

Can you ever outrun the past? It's Zoe's wedding day. She's about to marry Jamie, the love of her life. Then a phone call comes out of the blue, with the news that her mum, Gina, has been arrested. Zoe must make an impossible decision: should she leave her own wedding to help? Zoe hasn't seen Gina for years, blaming her for the secret that she's been running from ever since she was 16. Now Gina is back in her life, but she's very different to the mum Zoe remembers.

Ever since Ruby was tiny, she has been unique. Her smiles are magically rare, and she likes things done in a very particular way - her blocks are always color-coded, and her toy animals stand in regimented lines. She’s also the daughter of Sara’s dreams - even on days when being a mother to a three-year-old is exhausting. Not everyone understands Ruby like Sara does though. Not Sara’s husband Mike, and certainly not her disapproving mother-in-law, Barbara. So when circumstances force their family to move in with Barbara, Sara knows it’s going to make motherhood even harder.

It’s 1943, and the district nurses have two new recruits. As the country ramps up for D-Day, the new nurses are getting to know their patients on their patch in London’s East End. Lily is quite sure of herself and doesn’t believe she has anything new to learn. She’ll find out the hard way that anyone can be made a fool of when she meets a man who promises her everything.