Alan Melville

Alan Moore

Alan Moorehead was born in Melbourne, Australia. He travelled to England in 1937 and became a renowned foreign correspondent for the London Daily Express. Writer, world traveller, biographer, essayist, journalist, Moorehead was one of the most successful writers in English of his day. During World War II he won an international reputation for his coverage of campaigns in the Middle East and Asia, the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe. He died in 1983.

Alan Moorehead

Alan Paton

Alan Pattullo

Alan Pauls

Alan Pollock is a playwright, translator and screenwriter. His numerous plays include One Night in November, Pigs and All Tomorrow's Parties.

Alan Pollock

Alan Root was born in London in 1937 but moved to Kenya as a young boy. He dropped out of school at sixteen but soon found himself behind the camera. He married Joan Thorpe in 1961 and together they produced an array of award-winning wildlife films including Baobab: Portrait of a Tree, commissioned by David Attenborough, Safari by Balloon, The Year of the Wildebeest and Castles of Clay, which was nominated for an Oscar. Alan won over sixty awards during his career, including an Emmy, three Lifetime Achievement Awards an OBE. Alan Root died in August 2017.

Alan Root

Alan Rosenthal

Alan Ruddock

Alan Rugman

Alan Rusbridger

Alan Ryan

Alan S. Blinder

Alan Shearer CBE  grew up in Newcastle, leaving home as a  teenager to pursue a career in professional football with his first  team, Southampton. He went on to  reach football stardom, winning the Premier League with Blackburn in  1995, breaking the world transfer record by signing to Newcastle United  in 1996 and achieving international success as the Captain of England.  Alan also holds the record for most goals scored in Premier League history.

Alan Shearer

Alan Siegel

Alan Simpson

Alan Spence

Alan Stewart

Alan Taylor

Alan Tennant

Alan Thompson

Alan Titchmarsh MBE is known to millions through his career as a television presenter of shows including Love Your Weekend, Love Your Garden, Ground Force, Gardeners' World, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Spring Into Summer. He has written more than forty gardening books, as well as twelve novels and three volumes of memoirs. He was made MBE in the millennium New Year Honours list and holds the Victoria Medal of Honour, the Royal Horticultural Society's highest award.

Alan Titchmarsh

Alan Unterman

Alan Watts was a British philosopher, writer and speaker who was best known for his expertise in Eastern philosophies including Zen Buddhism and Taoism. He wrote over 25 books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, higher consciousness, the meaning of life, concepts and images of God and the non-material pursuit of happiness.

Alan W Watts

Alan Warner is the author of eight novels: Morvern Callar, These Demented Lands, The Sopranos, The Man Who Walks, The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven, The Stars in the Bright Sky, which was longlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize, The Deadman's Pedal and Their Lips Talk of Mischief. He is Writer in Residence at Edinburgh University.

Alan Warner

Alan Watts

Alan Weisman is an award-winning journalist and the author of several books, including the global bestseller The World Without Us, which has been translated into 34 international languages and was nominated for numerous awards. His writing has appeared in Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, Vanity Fair, The Los Angeles Times Magazine and many other places. Alan has worked on all seven continent and reported from 58 countries, and lives in western Massachusetts.

Alan Weisman

Alanna Mitchell

Alasdair Fotheringham is a freelance journalist and writer based in Spain. He writes regularly on cycling for the ‘I’, The Independent.co.uk, The Express, ProCycling and Cyclingnews. He has been reporting on the Tour de France and other top road cycling events since 1992. His first book was The Eagle of Toledo, a biography of cycling’s greatest ever climber, Federico Martín Bahamontes. He has also written Reckless, a biography of the ill-fated Luis Ocaña, the 1973 Tour winner and considered Eddy Merck’s top Grand Tour rival, and The End of the Road, an account of the 1998 Tour de France.

Alasdair Fotheringham

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Alan Lerner

Frederick Loewe

Sparkling with wit, wisdom and wonderful songs including, &lsquo;I Could Have Danced All Night&rsquo;, &lsquo;Wouldn&rsquo;t It Be Loverly&rsquo; and &lsquo;Get Me To The Church On Time&rsquo;, the musical play based on Bernard Shaw&rsquo;s &lsquo;Pygmalion&rsquo; has been delighting audiences since it was first performed in the 1950s. 
 
When overbearing Professor Higgins stumbles on flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, in Covent Garden he recognizes that her hideous vowels and forgotten consonants are all that separate her from the upper classes. Higgins wagers that he can pass her off as a Duchess in a matter of weeks. But what will become of Eliza when the bet is over? 
 
This edition of &lsquo;My Fair Lady&rsquo; includes the complete script and a selection of black and white stills from the Oscar-winning film starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.

My Fair Lady

August Strindberg

The three plays in this volume focus on the tumultuous relationships between men and women, whether they are father and daughter, brother and sister or lovers. Miss Julie is a ruthlessly realistic depiction of an upper class woman's seduction of a servant, emphasizing the differences and the antagonism between them. In The Father a man is brought to madness and driven out of his home by the suspicion that his daughter is not his own child, while Easter centres on a family in need of redemption for its sins and suffering, finding forgiveness at a season of rebirth. Strindberg's acute psychological analysis and his dramatization of naked emotion within a naturalistic domestic setting make him one of the great innovators of the modern theatre.

Three Plays

Patrick White

Two dramatisations of novels by the Nobel prize winner Patrick White. 
 
Patrick White was an Australian novelist and playwright. He sharply divided Australian critics due to his satirical take on Australian society. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the only Australian to be awarded this prize and his first published novel, Happy Valley (1939), was awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society. 
 
This collection consists of two of his award winning novels dramatised with a full cast. 
 
Voss - Set in nineteenth-century Australia, Voss is the story of the secret passion between an explorer and a naïve young woman. Although they have met only a few times, Voss and Laura are joined by overwhelming, obsessive feelings for each other. Voss sets out to cross the continent, and as hardships, mutiny and betrayal whittle away his power to endure and to lead, his attachment to Laura gradually increases. Laura, waiting in Sydney, moves through the months of separation as if they were a dream and Voss the only reality. 
 
Voss: Robert Menzies 
Laura Trevelyan: Pamela Rabe 
 
Other Cast: with Bob Homery, Julia Blake, Tammy McCarthy, Paul English, Celia De Burgh. Michael Carman, Brian Lipson, John Dicks. Jerome Pride and Stanley McGeagh. 
 
 
 
The Twyborn Affair - As the London Blitz begins, a tangled tale of sexual identity unfolds. Eddie Twyborn is bisexual and beautiful, the son of a Judge and a drunken mother. With his androgynous hero - Eudoxia/Eddie/Eadith Twyborn - and through his search for identity, for self-affirmation and love in its many forms, Patrick White takes us into the ambiguous landscapes, sexual, psychological and spiritual, of the human condition. 
 
 
Dramatised by DJ Britton 
Producer/Director Alison Hindell 
 
Eddie: Julian Rhind-Tutt 
Eadie: Penny Downie 
Joan: Hattie Morahan 
Don: Philip Quast 
Marcia: Leigh Funnelle 
Angelos: John Rowe 
Rod: John Rowe 
Curly: David Henry 
Greg: David Henry 
Peggy: Manon Edwards 
Ada: Manon Edwards 
Driver: Piers Wehner 
Bridie: Emerald O'Hanrahan 
Philip: Joseph Cohen-Cole

Voss & The Twyborn Affair

Two Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations

William Shakespeare

‘There is a tide in the affairs of men.’ 
 
Rediscover Shakespeare’s tale of power and betrayal. 
 
It’s lonely at the top. 
 
As the triumphant General Julius Caesar’s power continues to grow, so too does a plot to undo him. Contrived by enemies, joined by friends, it is the ultimate betrayal, and it will cost Caesar his life. 
 
Who will rise to fill the power vacuum – Caesar’s enemies, or his few true friends? 
 
Offering the complete and unabridged text, set in a dyslexic-friendly font and introduced by renowned YA authors, this beautifully designed collection is the perfect way to introduce YA readers to Shakespeare's most iconic stories.

Julius Caesar

Staged: the origins of YA’s greatest tropes

‘They told me I was everything: 'tis a lie’ 
 
Rediscover Shakespeare’s tale of power and treachery. 
 
The price for power is paid in blood. 
 
The ageing King Lear must divide his kingdom between his daughters; but who to choose? Goneril and Regan, who love him loudly and flatter his ego, or the self-contained Cordelia, who waits for fate to bring what it will. 
 
It is a decision that will unleash a storm upon the kingdom. A decision twisted by love, by smiles, by quiet treachery. A decision that could undo them all. 
 
Offering the complete and unabridged text, set in a dyslexic-friendly font and introduced by renowned YA authors, this beautifully designed collection is the perfect way to introduce YA readers to Shakespeare's most iconic stories.

King Lear

Jan Etherington

Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return in the seventh series of Conversations from a Long Marriage. 
 
Playing a long-married couple who met in the Summer of Love and have stayed together ever since, their conversations are practical, passionate, hilarious - and familiar to every couple. 
 
Written by award-winning comedy writer and journalist Jan Etherington, this gentle comedy will ring a bell with couples of all ages.

Conversations from a Long Marriage: Series 7

A BBC Radio 4 Comedy Drama

Ben Travers

Six classic farces from the renowned comedy writer, with casts including Judi Dench, Michael Williams, Joan Hickson, Alex Jennings and Penelope Wilton 
 
In the 1920s and ’30s, Ben Travers proved himself a master of comic confusion with his hugely successful Aldwych farces. Featuring battle-axe mothers-in-law, beleaguered wives, henpecked husbands and a host of humorous misunderstandings, they wowed West End audiences and were frequently adapted for film and TV. Four of the funniest are included here – A Cuckoo in the Nest, Rookery Nook, Plunder and Turkey Time – along with the award-winning radio productions of The Dippers and Mischief. 
 
The Dippers – How does a meek, middle-aged solicitor end up demonstrating a new dance at a prestigious ball? And what will his wife do when she catches him in the bedroom of a lovely young dancer? Michael Williams and Judi Dench star in this sparkling drama, winner of the 1989 Sony Award for Best Dramatisation. 
 
A Cuckoo in the Nest – Mrs Stokes, landlady of the Stag and Hunt, will brook no hanky-panky with unmarrieds – but with only one room available, she unknowingly forces an innocent couple into a bed of shameful sin. Starring Joan Hickson, Ian Lavender and Phoebe Nicholls. 
 
Rookery Nook – Newlywed Gerald Popkiss motors to Chumpton for his honeymoon – but with his wife called away to nurse her mother, he finds himself alone in Rookery Nook. That is, until a pretty, pyjama-clad girl suddenly turns up in the middle of the night… Ian Lavender, Brett Usher and Anne Jameson star in Travers’ most famous farce. 
 
Mischief – When stodgy middle-aged banker Reggy marries Elly, a bright young thing half his age, the scene is set for mischief, misadventures, mistaken identities and marital mayhem. Starring Freddie Jones, Melinda Walker and Penelope Wilton, this effervescent comedy won the 1987 Sony Award for Best Drama. 
 
Plunder – Gentleman burglar Freddy Malone boasts that he lives by plunder. But blunder is more to the point, as his old schoolfriend D’Arcy Tuck discovers after he collaborates in a jewel theft that goes horribly wrong. Starring Gillian Lewis, Henry McGee, Alan Curtis and Richard Scott. 
 
Turkey Time – It’s Christmas Eve, and the Stoatts have invited family and friends to stay at Cobblers for the holidays. But the festivities turn farcical with the arrival of a stranded showgirl and her furious landlady… Alex Jennings, Elizabeth Spriggs and Teresa Gallagher star in this cheery, Christmassy romp. 
 
NB: Please note that Plunder is a vintage production from 1965, which is reflected in the sound quality. 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ben Travers: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

Six Full-Cast Comedy Productions including A Cuckoo in the Nest, Rookery Nook & other farces

Michael Payne

Debbie Cook

Dennis Ashton

Stephen Mulrine

Sarah Maxwell

Five fantastical tales, each with a magical twist 
 
Discover a lady with a taste for immortality, a man who becomes a dragon, a man-eating witch and a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Perfect for fans of fantasy, these epic tales are packed with magical elements, fantastical creatures, and heroic conflicts between good and evil.In Lady Faustus by Michael Payne, the town gossips have only one subject of conversation - the mysterious Lady Faustus. The conjectures about her and her origins are boundless. But a certain handsome young lieutenant finds that the truth about her is far stranger than any fiction. Starring Rula Lenska as Lady Faustus and James Aubrey as Franz.Debbie Cook’s The Beast of Long Mindham stars Jon Glover as John Tillner. John doesn’t believe in dragons – who does, these days? But then he meets a witch who offered to turn him into one. Will John be tempted…?There is a legend that King Arthur will return to save England from great danger. The Peril by Dennis Ashton tells the story of what happens when George, son of George, is made King. The year is 1940, and the Battle of Britain is at its height...Ivan the Fool and Vasilisa the Wise by Stephen Mulrine features a man-eating witch, a talking doll, a dead princess and a live skeleton. Ivan is determined to marry the beautiful Vasilisa, no matter what the obstacles. But, as the saying goes, the course of true love never did run smooth…The Good, the Bad and the Slightly Unprepossessing by Sarah Maxwell is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in America, with multi-millionaire 'Heartless' Harrison Hope. With his six-inch nails and hair and beard to the ground, he is very much the Beast and - well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

High Fantastical

Five Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramas

Samuel Beckett

Broadcaster Matthew Sweet presents a sequence of radio plays by Samuel Beckett, with star casts including Stephen Rea and Ian McKellenSamuel Beckett captured the pathos and irony of modern life like no other dramatist. In the decade following the success of Waiting for Godot (1952), he wrote some of his most absorbing work for radio, among them this sequence of short pieces. Suffused with the same musicality as his stage plays, they are increasingly different in tone and conception, giving us insight into the development of Beckett’s style and his approach to sound. With the exception of From an Abandoned Work, they can be heard in binaural surround sound through headphones or earbuds, creating an intimate, immersive audio experience. Matthew Sweet introduces the plays, providing context to the productions.From an Abandoned Work – Developed from the fragments of an unfinished novel, this radio monologue stars Stephen Rea as the unnamed elderly protagonist, who looks back on three days of his youth spent wandering the rural roads in all weather. As he recalls his mother waving him goodbye, the sight of a white horse and a murderous tribe of stoats, he ponders questions of life and death…Rough for Radio 1 – Monica Dolan and Ron Cook star in this debut BBC production of Beckett’s two-hander centred on a taciturn man, his curious female visitor who has ‘come to listen’ and his subsequent frantic phone calls… Abstract and experimental, Rough for Radio 1 utilises music and voices, silence and pauses, to explore themes of isolation, the impossibility of communication and the disconcerting nature of audio technology.Rough for Radio 2 – In this companion piece to Rough for Radio 1, starring Stephen Dillane, Louise Brealey, Brian Protheroe and Nick Underwood, we find ourselves in an interrogation room, where an animator is trying to force his victim, Fox to speak. With them are the stenographer, whose transcription shows that something is fundamentally amiss, and Dick, who has nothing to say…Words and Music – Commanded by the irascible Croak, unwilling collaborators Words and Music (aka Joe and Bob).are forced to improvise on the themes of ‘Love’, ‘Age’ and ‘The Face’ in an attempt to create art. Ian McKellen and Carl Prekopp star in Beckett’s absurdist meditation on the limitations of language. featuring a specially-written score by Roger Goula.Cascando – Story and sound work together once more in Cascando, controlled and conducted by the Opener who turns them on and off like a radio. In tandem, they try to tell the tale of Woburn, struggling to perfect it so they can finish and sleep… Starring Stanley Townsend and David Seddon, with music by Roger Goula, Beckett’s 1961 drama delineates the challenges of composition and the writer’s desperate search for inspiration.Production creditsWritten by Samuel BeckettFrom an Abandoned WorkPerformed by Stephen ReaRough for Radio 1He – Ron CookShe – Monica DolanRough for Radio 2Animator – Stephen DillaneStenographer – Louise BrealeyFox – Brian ProtheroeDick – Nick UnderwoodWords and MusicCroak – Ian McKellenWords – Carl PrekoppCascandoVoice – Stanley TownsendOpener – David SeddonDirected by Gaynor MacfarlaneMusic composed and directed by Roger GoulaComposer's assistant: Jessica JonesMusic performed by Kit Downes (piano), Georgia Hannant (violin), Oli Langford (viola), Nicola Baigent (bass clarinet), Michael Liu (flute), Raphael Lang (cello), Jessica Jones (synth)First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 2 October 2016© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Radio Beckett

Five Full Cast BBC Audio Plays by Nobel Prize winning writer Samuel Beckett

Find Spot

Finn Fitzpatrick Series

First Favourite Tales

The First Festivals series invites children to explore the world's culture from the comfort of their home, encourages the development of hand-eye coordination and is recommended for children aged 2 and over.

First Festivals

First Impressions

First Steps with Spot

Five Minute Mum

Flaptastic

Fluffy

Folk Art

Foolproof

Football Academy

Football Skills

Forbidden Spaces Trilogy

Fortuna Sworn

Foul Play

DICK FRANCIS was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys and author of forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), the biography of Lester Piggott and his own autobiography (The Sport of Queens). He was rightly acclaimed as one of the greatest thriller writers in the world. 
 
 Since his death, his son FELIX FRANCIS has taken over the literary reigns from his father and Dick's legacy lives on through the Dick Francis novels. The Francis flair is clear for all to see in these national treasure thrillers, and readers will appreciate the sporadic reappearance of beloved series characters Sid Halley and Jeff Hinkley.

Francis Thriller

Frank Behr

Once a Detective Inspector in the Nottinghamshire Force, Frank Elder has retired to an isolated cottage in Cornwall, and is trying to live the quiet life. The past, however, is never far behind him.

Frank Elder

Fred

Free Collars Kingdom

Jean Plaidy combines imagination with facts to bring the French Revolution alive in this dynamic historical fiction series. From Louis XV’s debauchery to Marie Antionette’s demise, it is clear there was only one way this was going to end.

French Revolution

French Vintage Classics

Frieda Klein

Fright Club

From Scratch

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Frostheart

Fun With Ladybird

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