Showing results by narrator "Nicky Henson" in All Categories

Great Continental Railway Journeys is now a firmly established series on BBC2, following in the illustrious tracks of its predecessor - Great British Railway Journeys. Both series are fronted by ex-politician Michael Portillo, and in this European odyssey he travels around continental Europe using George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.

Brought from India to chilly, fog-bound London, Sara Crewe is enrolled as a pupil at Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies. Her doting father, Captain Crewe, has provided her with fine clothes and luxuries fit for a princess and she attracts envious attention. But Sara soon wins friends with her kindness, taking the school's misfits under her wing, and telling them wonderful stories to cheer them up. Yet despite her best efforts, her spiteful classmate, Lavinia, and mean headmistress, Miss Minchin, remain determined to dislike her.

Here are six extraordinary adventures, never revealed before, starring Simon Callow as Sherlock Holmes and Nicky Henson as Dr Watson, written by John Taylor...

Roy Hitchcock is a provincial hack journalist and inveterate daydreamer. When he meets his former English teacher at his old school’s prize-giving ceremony, his private fantasies run wild and he sets out to capture her heart. Unfortunately, his attempts to get in Miss Callaghan’s good books constantly backfire – and the more he apologises, the less impressed she is. There’s also another major obstacle in his path, in the macho form of Jane’s current lover, media hero Chad Mann.

The irrepressible Russell "Buffy" Buffery has upped sticks from London and moved to Knockton, Powys, to a B&B inherited from an old flame. With his future spread before him, and a string of failed marriages behind him, Buffy decides it's time for a new challenge. Meanwhile: Harold's wife has run off with a younger woman leaving him alone with his as-yet-unwritten novel narrated by Mary Pickford's cat; Amy's weedy boyfriend has turned out to be not so needy after all; and Andy's partner's corset-and-suspender-clad attempts at seduction are having anything but the desired effect.

There are only two things in life that interest Stanley: solving crossword puzzles, and getting his hands on his mother-in-law’s money. For 20 years, the puzzles have been his only pleasure, the money his only dream. It has never occurred to Stanley that his mother-in-law would try to outsmart him and the money would never be his. Until now. It is only now that Stanley, so clever at misleading double meanings and devious clues, decides to construct a puzzle of his own - and so give death a helping hand.

Germany, 1589: the townspeople of Cologne pronounce a sentence of death on a mass murderer who has stalked the countryside in the guise of a ferocious wolf. Russia, 1812: retreating from Napoleon's invading forces, a merchant's daughter is rescued from bandits by a handsome partisan with a ravenous appetite. Brazil, 2080: the Doctor and Turlough arrive for the Rio de Janeiro carnival. Is wealthy heiress Ileana de Santos all that she seems? What sinister ailment afflicts her invalid son, tended by the mysterious Dr Hayashi?

The Royal British Legion was founded in 1921. It is now the country’s leading charity providing financial, social and emotional support to those who have served or who are currently serving in the British Armed Forces and their dependants. The RBL is behind the annual Poppy Appeal, the highest...

Science fiction at its literate best with every story a little gem. Authors include Jack London, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) and Nathaniel Hawthorne.