God Rest You Merry The Story Of Christmas In Words (Vintage Beeb)

The story of Christmas in words and music, with Andrew Cruickshank and The Saint Martin Singers.

God Rest You Merry, a daily programme of readings and music for Christmas week, was first broadcast on the BBC Home Service in 1961 and has been repeated in various forms over the years since then. Now, with this recording, listeners can hear again the series of programmes as a whole, including some of their favourite poems and carols. The Saint Martin Singers date back to 1942, and owe their origin to a small band of fire-watchers at the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Among the things which the Singers enjoy most, and have pioneered, are their programmes of music interwoven with poetry and prose to illustrate a theme, of which those you can hear on this record are examples in miniature. Christmas is always the most popular theme of all because the story of the Nativity has inspired the best in writers and musicians ever since St. Luke wrote the first narrative poem. Vintage Beeb: classic albums first available as BBC LPs, now available to download. This recording was previously released on LP in 1976.

Douglas Adams At The BBC Part 1

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.

Douglas Noel Adams was born on 11 March 1952 in Cambridge. His parents divorced when he was five, and Douglas and his younger sister Susan were brought up by their mother in Essex. From 1959 to 1970 Douglas attended Brentwood School, and he first thought seriously about writing when a teacher named Frank Halford gave him ten out of ten for a composition. He was the only boy ever to have been awarded full marks. 
Leaving school in December 1970, Douglas won a scholarship to study English at Cambridge. His main reason for going there was to join Footlights, although his first attempt to do so was a failure. He succeeded in joining in his second term, but found the group which ran the society a bit stand-offish. He also felt constrained by the limits of pantomimes and mid-term revues, so instead he set up his own revue group, Adams-Smith-Adams, with two friends. It was very successful. 
 
Douglas left Cambridge in the summer of 1974 and took occasional office jobs before joining forces with Monty Python team member Graham Chapman. They collaborated on a number of projects; unfortunately, very few of them were ever broadcast. A while later he was invited to Cambridge to direct the 1976 Footlights revue, but even this turned out to be a disappointment. At the end of the year, broke and feeling like a failure, Douglas moved back home with his mother. 
In 1977 his luck changed. Through his former flatmate John Lloyd, Douglas met BBC Radio 4 producer Simon Brett. He felt that Douglas' style of humour should have its own show, rather than being crammed into existing formats. Having been inspired by a copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Europe, Douglas came up with a draft for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. After several delays the first six-episode series was broadcast, with a second rapidly following. The worldwide phenomenon they spawned includes five novels, a book of scripts, two LPs, a television series, a computer game and two stage plays. 
In addition to Hitchhiker, Douglas' work included two Dirk Gently detective novels and two humorous place-name 'dictionaries', The Meaning of Liff and The Deeper Meaning of Liff (both co-written with John Lloyd) as well as Last Chance to See, an account of a global search for rare and endangered species which he co-wrote with Mark Carwardine. 
 
In 1999 Douglas moved to Santa Barbara with his wife and daughter to work on a proposed Hitchhiker film. Always a keen advocate of new technology, his last series for Radio 4 was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future, a look at the advances mankind was likely to make in future years.He died suddenly of a heart attack, aged 49, in May 2001. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy feature film was produced in 2005, whilst both Stephen Mangan and Samuel Barnett have portrayed Dirk Gently on television in recent years.

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 of a science fiction comedy legend. Yet his career at the BBC had begun in Light Entertainment, with contributions to ‘The Burkiss Way’, ‘Week Ending’ and other sketch shows of the time. He went on to script edit a series of ‘Doctor Who’, and to write a series of ‘Hitchhiker’ and ‘Dirk Gently’ books.   In this triple-CD programme, Simon Jones takes an A-Z look at Douglas Adams’s career, taking in extracts from the many radio and TV programmes he contributed to. These include personal appearances on ‘Wogan’, ‘Tomorrow’s World’ and ‘Desert Island Discs’, his own radio programmes such as ‘Last Chance to See’ (about the search for endangered species) and ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Future’ (a look at impending technology), and even a ‘lost’ segment of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ which Adams wrote specially for Radio 4’s ‘Steafel Plus’ in 1982. Also included are some of the many tributes paid to Adams following his untimely death in May 2001.   This is a fascinating and in-depth audio biography of a man whose brilliant work has inspired, enraptured and entertained millions of people worldwide.   ' A good overview of Adams's comedy output outside of Hitchhicker's' – SFX.

Chris Emmett

Terry Wogan

Maureen Lipman

Anita Harris

June Whitfield

Kenneth Connor

Frank Thornton

Full Cast

Five live full-cast panto productions

Five delightful pantomimes featuring musical numbers, silly jokes and fun for all the family! 
 
In Puss In Boots, young Tom dreams of winning the heart of Princess Rose Petal. Can Puss in Boots help Tom defeat Baron Skinflint and his greedy ogre, and win the princess’ heart? 
 
Aladdin is a happy peasant boy. But the wicked Abanazar needs his help, as only Aladdin can enter the secret cave to find a very special lamp… 
 
In Mother Goose, Jack and Jill are in love and want to get married. Will their wish come true, thanks to a magical goose which lays golden eggs? 
 
Dick Whittington has come to London to seek his fortune. It seems his luck is changing – until the evil King Rat threatens everything… 
 
In Sleeping Beauty, the christening of Princess Rosebud is interrupted by the Wicked Fairy Carabosse, who gives the baby a terrible gift. If Rosebud pricks her finger and spills a drop of blood she will fall into a deep sleep… 
 
With stellar casts including Terry Wogan, Maureen Lipman, Anita Harris, June Whitfield, Kenneth Connor and Frank Thornton. 
 
Everyone loves a traditional Christmas pantomime, and with this classic BBC Radio collection you can enjoy the festive fun whenever you wish. With rousing songs, corny jokes and the obligatory Widow Twankey, it’s perfect entertainment for all the family. Oh, yes it is!

Chris Emmett

Books by Chris Emmett

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