Please note this drama contains some explicit content.

This multicast dramatisation of Arabian Nights: Volume 1 is an Audible Original reenvisioning of three iconic tales - with a twist.

Adapted by the great Marty Ross, whose previous audio dramas include Romeo and Jude, Dark Shadows, Doctor Who and Treasure Island, listeners can expect to hear Scheherazade, Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves and Julnar of the Sea as they've never done before.

Step out of your comfort zone and indulge in the dark and fantastical world we've created. Travel with Mermen across the White City, go in search of treasures in hidden caves with Ali and Kasim and let yourself be guided by Scheherazade’s vision as she gives in to a deadly romance with Sultan Shahriya.

About the stories

In Scheherezade, a woman finds herself the object of desire of a powerful Sultan with murderous desires. Her only chance at saving her life is by using the one power she herself possesses: her gift for telling enchanting stories, the very stories that follow in this drama....

Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves tells the tale of an impoverished husband and wife whose lives change drastically when husband Ali discovers the cave where a local gang of bandits are hiding their treasure. A happy ending? Not quite, as the money brings dangerous complications in the form of the greed of Ali's brother and sister-in-law and the determination of the bandits not to be stolen from. Can Ali save himself - or will his wife, Marjana, have to do all the work - in this taut romantic thriller?

In Julnar of the Sea, a merwoman finds the love of a mortal King and they produce a son, Prince Badr Basim. Julnar will have to look out for her son, Badr, as, true to his undersea birthright, he seeks out the love of Princess Jawhera of the Merfolk. She is haughty and her father King Es Semendel positively hostile, casting Badr into a dramatic odyssey which will take him to the island of a beautiful sorceress who makes literal pets of her lovers. Can Julnar and her brother, Salim, find and save Badr in time?

The cast:

This drama features Omid Djalili (The Mummy, Gladiator, The Omid Djalili Show), Abraham Popoola, Adam Sina, Alyssa Kyria, Anoushka Rava, Atilla Akinci, Bamshad Abedi-Amin, Betsabeh Emran, Daniel Naddafy, David Ahmad, Gisele Payvandi, Ian Abeysekera, Jonathan Morrison, Mandana Jones, Michael Franklin, Mitra Djalili, Nezar Alderazi, Philip Arditti, Raghad Chaar, Richard Reed, Pezh Maan, Tara Jaffar, Walles Hamonde, Zahra Ahmadi and Hemi Yeroham.