Alison Tyler

Alison Uttley

Alison Weir is one of Britain’s top-selling historians. She is the author of numerous works of history and historical fiction, specialising in the medieval and Tudor periods. Her bestselling history books include The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth of York and The Lost Tudor Princess. Her novels include Innocent Traitor, Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen and Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession. She is an Honorary Life Patron of Historic Royal Palaces and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She lives and works in Surrey.

Alison Weir

Alison Wolf

Alison Wood Brooks is the O’Brien Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Her oversubscribed course ‘TALK: How to Talk Gooder in Business and Life’ helps MBA students hone their conversational skills. Her research has featured in two of the twenty most popular TED Talks of all time as well as in Pixar’s film Inside Out 2. She was named an American Psychological Society Rising Star in 2017 and one of the ‘Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors’ by Poets &amp; Quants

Alison Wood Brooks

Alison Wright

Born in the north and now living in the south, Alison Young is globally recognised as one of the most experienced, qualified professionals in the world of beauty. Alison recently won an 'Amazing Woman' Award from Woman &amp; Home and CEW Awards, recognising her outstanding contribution to the industry. She is hugely respected and trusted by brand owners, CEOs, PRs, marketeers and, most importantly, her core fan base of real women at home. During her 35 years' industry experience, Alison trained as a beauty therapist, counting A-listers and royalty among her clientele, before becoming the UK's youngest ever Head of Training at Clarins. Since then, Alison has helped thousands of clients in person and trained countless other professionals. Today, Alison splits her time between advisory roles for labs, brands and retailers, and her media work across TV, radio and social media, including QVC where she is watched by millions and has helped turned brands such as Molton Brown, Liz Earle and Elemis into household names. www.alisonyoungbeauty.com / @aliyoungbeauty

Alison Young

Alison Zai is a Los Angeles-based illustrator. She creates drawings about the irrational chaos, beauty, and overall strangeness of life. These experiences and emotions that make us human are featured throughout her work, usually in the form of brightly coloured talking animals.

Alison Zai

Alissa Nutting

Alissa Quart

Alissa Timoshkina is a food writer, historian and campaigner, best known for the multi-award-winning #CookforUkraine initiative and her cookbooks Kapusta and Salt &amp; Time. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Vogue and The Economist, and she is a regular voice on BBC radio, podcasts and at major food and literary festivals.

Alissa Timoshkina

Alistair Beaton

Alistair Brownlee

Alistair Coleman joined the BBC as a computer operator in 1989, forgot to leave, and accidentally became a journalist several years later. He's often mistaken for an expert in North Korean and Asian affairs, and is probably on lists in several foreign capitals for what he said about their Presidents. 
 
His award-winning blog, Angry People in Local Newspapers, now has over 200,000 followers and was the first blog to be named Best British Blog by the Guardian. 
 
 
He has two grown-up children, and lives in Hampshire with his partner Jane. They, in turn, are servants to a pair of seemingly immortal Jack Russells.

Alistair Coleman

Alistair Cooke (1908-2004) enjoyed an extraordinary life in print, radio and television. Born in Salford in 1908 and educated at the universities of Cambridge, Yale and Harvard, throughout his long career he worked as a journalist and broadcaster for many different organisations and won numerous awards for his work. He was the Guardian's chief American correspondent for twenty-five years and the host of Masterpiece Theatre and other ground-breaking cultural television programmes. He achieved acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic for his thirteen-part BBC series America: A Personal History of the United States and the accompanying book sold two million copies. Alistair Cooke was, however, best known both at home and abroad for his weekly Letter from America, which was heard over five continents and totalled 2,869 broadcasts, becoming far and away the longest-running BBC radio series in broadcasting history. He died in March 2004, just a few weeks after his retirement.

Alistair Cooke

Alistair Horne

Alistair MacLean

Alistair MacLeod

Alistair McAlpine

Alistair McGowan

Alistair Owen is the author of five acclaimed books of interviews with British writers, including two Guardian and Observer books of the year. He has written screenplays, stage plays and arts journalism, and chaired writer Q&amp;As at events, festivals and online. His first novel, The Vetting Officer, is available on Kindle and in paperback.

Alistair Owen

Alistair Shearer

Alistair Sooke

Alistair Tait

As one of the only members of his family not to have been employed by the Secret Intelligence Service, Alistair Wood has enjoyed a reassuringly respectable (and successful) career in advertising, working in the UK, US, Korea, and South-East Asia. He lives in London.

Alistair Wood

Alister McGrath

Aliya Whiteley is one of the most exciting talents in the UK. The author of four books of speculative fiction, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlisted The Loosening Skin. Her novels have been shortlisted for many awards, including the Clarke Award, the Shirley Jackson Award and the James Tiptree Jr. Award. She lives in Sussex with her husband and teenage daughter.

Aliya Whiteley

Aliyah Umm Raiyaan reverted to Islam in 1999 as a young woman and has been involved in UK dawah for over twenty years. In 2010, she founded Solace UK, a charity that helps women who have reverted to Islam and find themselves in difficulty. In 2019, she launched a YouTube show called Honest Tea Talk, which brought unscripted conversations to the table about raw unspoken topics related to the Muslim community. She continues to devote her time to helping women achieve their full potential whilst emphasising the importance of developing a personal and close relationship with Allah. She lives in East London with her family. She is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Ramadan Reflections and The Power of Du'a.

Aliyah Umm Raiyaan

Allan Ahlberg, a former teacher, postman, plumber's mate and grave  digger, is in the super-league of children's writers. He has published  over 100 children's books and, with his late wife Janet, created such  award-winning picture books as Each Peach Pear Plum, Funnybones, Burglar  Bill and The Jolly Postman.

Allan Ahlberg

Allan Ahlberg, a former teacher, postman, plumber's mate and grave digger, is in the super-league of children's writers. He has published over 100 children's books and, with his late wife Janet, created such award winning picture books as EACH PEACH PEAR PLUM and THE JOLLY POSTMAN - both winners of the Kate Greenaway Medal. He has also written prize-winning poetry and fiction and lives in Sussex.

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Ronnie Taylor

The third collection of classic sketches from a star of the golden age of radio comedy. With his well-known catchphrases 'Right Monkey' and 'You'll be lucky, I say, you'll be lucky', the immortal Al Read drew on a rich vein of Northern humour to bring us the Johnny know-all, the nagging wife in the kitchen and the horrible little boy in the Doctor's waiting room. A weekly audience of 35 million tuned in to catch the one-time sausage manufacturer from Salford turned household name. Enjoy those moments once again or discover Al's droll observational humour for the first time in this collection of his funniest sketches.

The Al Read Show 3

Finlay Welsh

An atmospheric drama set on the east coast of Scotland in 1791. A watchmaker pours all of his skill and knowledge into making a machine that will alter time and create a different universe; one in which he hopes his desperately ill daughter will be returned to him, fully recovered. Starring Cal MacAninch, Liam Brennan, Pauline Knowles and Finn de Hertog. Written by Finlay Welsh. Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.

The Alterer

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Hugh Levinson

This fascinating BBC Radio 4 documentary tells the story of three key figures in the strange history of lobotomy, and for the first time explores the popularity of the operation in the UK. 
 
The story starts in 1935 with a Portuguese doctor called Egas Moniz, who pioneered a radical surgical procedure on the brain which he asserted would relieve the symptoms of mental disorder. His results were seized on the following year by Walter Freeman in the US, an enthusiastic neurosurgeon who eventually went on to perform around 3,000 lobotomies over the course of his career. The operation was also taken up by the most celebrated British neurosurgeon of the time, Sir Wylie McKissock, who also went on to perform thousands of operations on UK patients in the 1940s. Perhaps 40,000 patients in the US were lobotomised during the heyday of the operation - and an estimated 17,000 more in the UK. 
 
By the late 1950s the lobotomy craze was over, and only a very few continued to be performed in special cases. In the late 1960s, Freeman was banned from operating. 
 
The stories of Moniz, Freeman and McKissock - all commanding and dynamic figures - raise profound questions about our ideas both of mental health and science. Is a patient "cured" just because he becomes subdued? And how come the lobotomy became so popular despite the lack of evidence of its efficacy - and the rapid dissemination of evidence of its potential for harm? To what extent is science independent of powerful personalities, economic considerations and media pressure?

The Lobotomists

Amelia Bullmore

Clare is the golden middle sister in a family headed by a formidable matriarch, Luca. Clare meets and quickly marries Martin, who falls just as much in love with her fun, sparky family. But Martin makes a mistake and sets in train a series of events which brings the family to its knees. Starring Emma Cunniffe, Ben Miles, Anna Madeley, Eve Matheson, Paola Dionisotti, Nigel Pilkington, Baxter Willis, John Biggins, Piers Wehner and Melissa Advani. Written by Amelia Bullmore. Directed by Mary Peate.

The Middle

Sean Street

A door creaks, footsteps echo, someone's breathing - and we are terrified. But why? Sean Street investigates the psychology of fear, so potently sensitive to sound. Talking to musicians, writers, film-makers, neuro-scientists and sound researchers, he investigates how sounds trigger fear. He discovers the importance of context, asks whether sound and fear are culturally specific and hears how scary sounds are created. He also experiences what might be the most frightening sound of all - absolute silence. Through the whole programme are woven an array of scary sounds, noises and music, from foxes fighting in the north London night to cicadas in the jungle, from the voices of the Daleks to the music from the film 'Psycho', and from a tiger to a rain drop. Producer: Julian May.

The Sound Of Fear

Stirling Moss

Sir Stirling Moss, OBE, was a legendary British racing driver. In this collection we hear - in his own words - about his family and upbringing, on starting out and his early career choices, and why he became a racing driver. 
 
 He discusses being a businessman, his relationships and the bittersweet feelings that occur with racing. He also touches on the many dangers involved with the sport, including the loss of friends. Stirling talks about his crash in 1962 - including his injuries and recuperation - as well as his celebrity lifestyle, his continuing popularity and reaching 70. 
 
 The clips included are taken from: Face to Face, BBC TV (first broadcast 12 June 1960); Panorama, BBC TV (first broadcast 16 July 1962); Outlook, BBC Radio (first broadcast 21 May 1974); Profile, first broadcast BBC Radio 4 (21 October 1979) The Colin Berry Programme, BBC Radio 1 (first broadcast 24 March 1980); Stirling at 70, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 17 September 1999); A Stirling Effort, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 5 November 2004). 
 
 Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Stirling Moss In His Own Words

David Llewellyn

When Yasmin finds a jewelled egg in her grandfather's shed, her first thought is to sell it. Unfortunately, the object is no valuable Faberge antique, but a dangerous weapon from another planet. Worse still, the buyer she finds online is a Russian secret agent working for the Committee for Extraterrestrial Research, who promptly swipes it, kills her brother Sayed and lands her in hospital. When Sgt Andy Davidson realises that he's not dealing with an ordinary double shooting, he calls Gwen Cooper, who breaks the bad news about the egg and its deadly contents. With no Torchwood to help, and Gwen in America, it's up to Andy and Yasmin to follow the trail of the Shiva virus - all the way from Cardiff to the British Museum... Written specially for AudioGO by David Llewellyn, Fallout is read by Tom Price, who played Sgt Andy in the hit TV series.

Torchwood Fallout

Andrew Lawrence

The second four-part mini-series of short comedic monologues on BBC Radio 4. Written and performed by stand-up comedian Andrew Lawrence, it takes a light-hearted look at various aspects of conventional living and the pressure we feel to conform to social norms and ideals.   In these four episodes, all recorded in front of a live audience, Andrew Lawrence examines such topics as 'Special Occasions', 'Leisure Pursuits', 'Home Making' and 'Travel'.

What To Do If You're Not Like Everbody Else

Series 2

Charles Dickens

Sir David Jason reads Charles Dickens' magical, much-loved Christmas story. Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean, unpleasant man who dislikes people generally and Christmas especially. But one Christmas Eve, he has a terrifying experience: He sees the ghost of his one-time business partner, Jacob Marley, who is bound in chains and doomed to wander the Earth because of the sins of his past life. Marley warns Scrooge that he is headed for the same dreadful fate: but there is one possible means of escape. 
Soon, he will be visited by three more spirits: the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Can these phantoms persuade Scrooge to change his ways?

A Christmas Carol

A BBC Radio Reading

Peter Jukes

A series of four plays by about Jake Thorne, a Methodist minister and police chaplain who is battling with his own demons at the same time as trying to resolve the problems of his parishioners. 
 
In the first of the plays, 'Bad Faith', we are introduced to Jake Thorne, a police chaplain. His job is to offer counselling and comfort to officers in trouble, victims and young offenders. But Jake has lost his faith and has decided, as a test for God, to behave appallingly towards those he's supposed to help. 
 
In the second play, 'Vengeance is Mine', Jake gets involved in a restorative justice programme which tries to reconcile a bereaved mother and the woman responsible for killing her daughter. 
 
'The Fire This Time' sees Jake takes on his arch-rival and nemesis Bishop Elias Wright in a battle over the soul of a mentally unstable parishioner, fighting the good fight against homophobia and Islamophobia along the way. 
 
In the final play, 'Nothing Sacred', Jake counsels a policeman who has lost his memory of a fatal blaze. Meanwhile Jake's father, Isaac, is slipping into dementia and seems intent on wreaking revenge on the whole world, particularly his own son. 
 
Starring Lenny Henry, Danny Sapani and Jenny Jules. Written by Peter Jukes. Producers: Steven Canny and Mary Peate. Executive Producer: Simon Elmes.

Bad Faith: The Complete Series

A Series of Four Plays - Bad Faith, Vengeance Is Mine, The Fire this Time, Nothing Sacred

Honoré de Balzac

A captivating performance one of the best loved and most admired of Honoré de Balzac's novels. 
 
A tale of seductive women and philandering men, of passionate affairs and spiralling debts, Cousin Bette paints a vivid portrait of Paris in the 1830s and '40s. It's a city full of temptations, in which money is king, morals are loose and the appeals of the virtuous are usually in vain. 
 
In the midst of it all sits a poor relation, Cousin Bette, like a spider in her web. Fuelled by bitterness and jealousy, she is determined to weave destruction into the lives of her extended family, the socially superior Hulots. With her friend and accomplice, the beautiful Madame Marneffe, Bette sets out to manipulate events so that men are brought to their knees and their wives to despair, and she attains the power and prestige she seeks. 
 
Read by Alex Jennings. 
 
Translated by Marion Ayton Crawford 
Abridged by Sally Marmion 
Producer: Di Speirs 
 
©2012 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2012 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Cousin Bette

Stephen Wyatt

Much in need of a holiday, Mel and the Doctor head for Paradise Towers: a luxury man-made planet with sparkling fountains, sunny streets, exotic flowers and a shimmering blue swimming pool. But when the TARDIS materialises in a dark, rubbish-filled, rat-infested alley it seems that this particular Paradise has turned into Hell! Pursued by rogue cleaning machines, authoritarian caretakers and old ladies with strange eating habits, the Doctor and Mel track down the source of the chaos to one mysterious character - the designer of Paradise Towers, the Great Architect himself... Bonnie Langford, who played Mel in the original TV series, reads Stephen Wyatt's complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1988.

Doctor Who: Paradise Towers

Dennis Spooner

'The events will happen, just as they are written...'   Materialising in a forest, the Doctor and his three companions discover themselves to be 12 kilometres from Paris. This is the 18th century, and France is the scene of an ongoing bloody battle between royalists and revolutionaries. Following a blaze at a rural farmhouse, Ian, Barbara and Susan are separated from the Doctor and arrested as traitors, their destination the city's gaol.   Ian receives information about James Stirling, an English spy with information vital to the revolution. No-one seems to know where Stirling is, and locating him becomes Ian's priority. The Doctor, meanwhile, arrives in Paris in the guise of a Regional Officer, and before long he has an audience with the leader of the Revolution himself: Robespierre!   With Robespierre's downfall imminent, and the revolution about to reach its climax, the Doctor and friends must extricate themselves from Paris, before events overtake them and they too become victims of Madame Guillotine...   Carole Ann Ford, who played Susan in these six BBC TV episodes from 1964, provides linking narration for the story.

Doctor Who: The Reign Of Terror

Philip Martin

Varos is a cruel world where the descendants of a prison planet are fed a diet of endless video nasties... where execution is spectacle and torture high entertainment. The TARDIS is desperately short of Zeiton 7 ore to power its engines, and the Doctor and Peri know Varos is the only place they may find it. But soon they become involved in the deadly politics of the planet, and the machinations of the sinister Sil, a slug-like alien who wants the price of Zeiton 7 lowered, and the Doctor - along with the governor of Varos - out of the way for good. Fighting for the freedom of Varos and for the ore he needs to continue his journeys, the Doctor faces death many times - whilst being constantly fiilmed for the pleasures of the viewers at home... Colin Baker, who played the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who, reads Philip Martin's complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1988.

Doctor Who: Vengeance On Varos

Helen Macdonald

Helen Macdonald is a falconer and poet. She keeps a goshawk called Mabel. As a child she fell in love with a rare book of intense nature writing, J.A. Baker's The Peregrine, which records a winter watching wild peregrines on the Essex coast. Her new play brings her birds and his together. Baker tramps the bleak coastal marshes scanning the skies for fleeting moments of bloody drama as a peregrine stoops at immense speed after a plover or a pigeon. Helen woos her captive-bred goshawk in her spare bedroom - acclimatising it to human noise and human movement. Baker crouches over a half-dead pigeon and finishes it off for the wild falcon; Helen walks the city street with a goshawk on her fist. Their stories begin to fly closer to one another. Starring David Birrell as J. A. Baker, Gemma Lawrence as Young Helen and Helen Macdonald as herself. Part recorded on location at The Bird of Prey Centre in Newent, Gloucestershire. Producer: Tim Dee.

Falcon And The Hawk, The

Peter Souter

What if you couldn't remember a single minute of the ten years you'd spent with the love of your life? Joe can remember everything about Ally; Ally remembers nothing about Joe A romantic, sad drama starring Alex Jennings as Joe and Juliet Stevenson as Ally. Directed by Gordon House.

Goldfish Girl

When orphan Pip meets the escaped convict Magwitch in an overgrown churchyard on the Kent marshes, little does he know that the incident will change his life forever. Some years later, now apprenticed to his blacksmith brother-in-law, Pip falls in love with the beautiful Estella. Her half-crazed and bitter guardian Miss Havisham, however, exerts a malign influence over the girl and forces a wedge between the two. Pip abandons his roots and, with 'great expectations' of becoming a gentleman, heads for London society. There he begins to receive riches from a mysterious benefactor... Pip's quest to find his true identity, and his growth to maturity through misfortune and misery, form the basis of this atmospheric tale starring Douglas Hodge, Geraldine McEwan and Amanda Redman. Directed by Sally Avens.

Great Expectations

Francis Turnly

When Garda officer Detective Sergeant Roisin MacKenna is called to the scene of a murder not far from the border between the North and South of Ireland she soon finds that boundaries, both geographical and moral, become blurred. A body has been found buried in an Irish peat bog, identified as a farmer from Northern Ireland. Roisin is thrust into working with a PSNI counterpart, Darren Quinn, as her investigation takes her into the murky hinterland of the border area where nothing and no one is quite what they seem. Working together, Roisin and Darren must negotiate the limitations of their own jurisdictions and face up to the ambiguities of upholding the law in a landscape virtually impossible to police. Starring Catherine Cusack and Frank O'Sullivan. Written by Francis Turnly. Producer/Director Heather Larmour.

Hinterland

Kathryn Tempest

The Essay is a BBC Radio series exploring cultural topics. In these five episodes, I Confess: The Power of the Confession looks at the history of confessions, which links the legal world of Cicero to our own. In Episode one, Dr Kathryn Tempest of Roehampton University excavates the roots of one of the most powerful legal concepts of all time. Episode Two sees Professor John Arnold of Birkbeck College, University of London, taking us into the mental world of the inquisitions. In Episode Three, witchcraft scholar Dr Emma Wilby of Exeter University investigates the confessions of 17th-century peasant woman, Isobel Gowdie, who was accused of witchcraft - and meets Isobel herself, through her own words read by actress Gerda Stevenson. Episode Four finds Dr Iain Lauchlan of Edinburgh University exploring the Moscow show trials of 1938, and in the last episode, journalist and writer Andrew Brown considers the modern public role of confession.

I Confess

The Power Of Confession

Jimmy Perry

David Croft

Meet the gang in these four classic BBC TV episodes! Enjoy the exploits of the Royal Artillery Concert Party, a motley troupe of military thespians seconded to India during the Second World War. In 'My Lovely Boy', When RSM Williams realises the love of his life is Parky's mum, he sets about recruiting him for the concert party. In 'The Supremo Show', a VIP visit calls for a very special show - but when Gloria sprains his ankle, the Sergeant Major must take his place. In 'We are Not Amused', Gloria plays Queen Victoria in a jingoistic pageant - but the men don't realise they'll be playing to an Indian VIP. In 'Money Talks', when the men discover that Gunner Graham is due to receive an inheritance, they set about winning his favour. Starring Windsor Davies, Melvyn Hayes, Don Estelle and Michael Bates.

It Ain't Half Hot Mum

Roy Clarke

Compo, Foggy and Clegg wreak havoc in four vintage episodes from the world's longest-running comedy series.  Only a man with a ferret down his trousers could love Nora Batty. So lock up your ferrets (and Nora Batty!), here come Yorkshire's hilarious adventurers - three pensioners in four classic capers from the BBC television series which kept the nation laughing for more than twenty-five years. Nora goes on the rampage when one of Compo's ferrets escapes into her house, Sid decides to install a new bell in the cafe, Clegg communicates with plants, and Foggy s interest with a Welsh widow makes the lads too curious to stay put. They may be as wrinkled as Nora's stockings, but their humour is as fresh as the Yorkshire air! The episodes are 'Ferret Come Home', ' Getting on Sydney s Wire', ' Flower Power Cut' and ' Who Made a Bit of a Splash in Wales, Then?' Starring Bill Owen as Compo, Peter Sallis as Clegg and Brian Wilde as Foggy.

Last Of The Summer Wine Volume 1

Mick Jagger

In this fascinating collection of archive interviews with the famed lead singer of the Rolling Stones, we hear - in his owns words - about being the voice of his generation. 
 
Mick Jagger talks about touring with one of the biggest bands in the world and why he needs to perform. He discusses his favourite Stones songs and is extraordinarily open about some of his personal experiences, which have included drugs and alcohol, prison and being anti-establishment. He is particularly candid about earning money, being the businessman of the Stones and hating awards and ceremonies. In addition, Mick talks about his solo work, the longevity of the Rolling Stones, fatherhood and family, his love of cricket and, ultimately, making music to make you happy. 
 
Interviews include: archive radio newsreel, BBC Radio (first broadcast 25 July 1964); The Look of the Week, BBC TV (first broadcast 21 May 1967); 24 Hours, BBC TV (first broadcast 9 October 1970); My Top 12, BBC Radio 1 (first broadcast 8 August 1974); archive radio recording, BBC Radio (dated 1st January 1975); Rock On, BBC Radio 1 (first broadcast 21st October 1981); Whistle Test Special, BBC Two (first broadcast 9th April 1985); Janice Long, BBC Radio 1 (first broadcast 22 June 1986); Mick Jagger, BBC TV (28 August 1987); Steve Wright, BBC Radio 1 (first broadcast 8 September 1987); Nicky Campbell, BBC Radio 1 (first broadcast 5 September 1989); Simon Bates, BBC Radio 1 (first broadcast 21 November 1992). 
 
Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Mick Jagger In His Own Words

Richard Coles

Richard Coles examines same sex desire through the ages, in a journey reaching from the UK to India, Egypt, Greece and Native America. In episode one, his quest takes him to Saqqara, Egypt and the contested tomb of two men, Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum. Were the men lovers or brothers? He explores the ideas of the 'sexologists' and tells the story of Anne Lister, a 19th century Yorkshirewoman who had same sex relationships. In episode two, Richard explores the homosexuality of the ancients, tracing the transition from classical celebration to religious repression. Part three focuses on the complex relationship between sexuality and gender as Richard surveys the so-called 'third sex' in places such as India, Indonesia and Thailand. He concludes the series by looking at the globalisation of gay identity. Is the West attempting to promote ideas of gay liberation which are alien to the developing world? Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Out In The World A Global Gay History

John Dryden

A three-part thriller by John Dryden.   In Part 1, 'The Present', Dr Jan Roldano, microbiologist and WHO advisor on infectious diseases, arrives in Bangkok to give a keynote lecture at a medical conference. But when a virulent strain of bird flu emerges, he finds himself trapped in Thailand.   In Part 2, 'The Future', it is five years after a global pandemic that has wiped out half the world's population. British civil servant Diane Harper is sent to Oxfordshire to investigate the suicide of a government scientist, a job that leads to a desperate search for the truth about the origins of the outbreak.   In Part 3, 'The Past', eco-warrior Richard Frankel wants to give up direct action. But then he learns something that leads him into a dangerous world of environmental espionage and a conspiracy that will have a terrible, cruel and profound impact on the world.   Starring Ben Daniels, Emily Beecham and Michael Maloney.   ‘Radio drama at its galvanising best’  Daily Mail.   ‘An extraordinarily taut piece of writing by John Dryden and the pace is faster than the deadly Red Eye virus. It should be made into a movie’  Jane Anderson, Radio Times.   ‘An almost unbearably suspenseful affair…’ Gillian Reynolds, The Telegraph.

Pandemic

Peter Ustinov

Peter Ustinov was an actor, director, author and raconteur who won many awards in his lifetime, including Academy Awards, Emmys, Golden Globes and BAFTAs. In this collection we hear - in his own words - about his thoughts on being a writer and director, and those who influenced him. He discusses his childhood and upbringing as well as providing insights into his family. Peter, in his own unique style, also talks about his work, ageing and the future. 
 
 Interviews include: Frost Over America, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 1 July 1970); Parkinson, BBC television (first broadcast 16 December 1972); Just a Nimmo, BBC television (first broadcast 25 February 1976); Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 19 November 1977); Parkinson, BBC One (first broadcast 7 January 1978); Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 6 April 1983); Meet for Lunch, BBC Radio Wales (first broadcast 29 August 1984); Bookshelf; BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 8 November 1990); The Big Question, BBC television (first broadcast 11 February 1996). 
 
Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Peter Ustinov In His Own Words

Ruth Rendell

Love and death are the principal players in these two BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations of chilling Ruth Rendell stories.   In 'The Bridesmaid', when Philip embarks on an affair with Senta, his sister's bridesmaid, she reminds him of the stone statue he adored as a child. Yet Senta is married, and Philip's overwhelming aversion to violence leads indirectly to murder and horror as he is drawn into erotic but murderous complicity. Starring Jamie Glover and Rachel Lewis.   In 'Going Wrong', natural born villain Guy Curran has youth, good looks and charm, but not the one thing he longs for: Leonora, the sophisticated girl he has loved since childhood. When Guy learns that she's about to get married, his growing obsession convinces him that if Leonora can't be his, nor can she be anyone else's - ever. Starring Peter Wingfield and Oona Beeson.

The Bridesmaid / Going Wrong

Carl Grose

The Kneebones of United Downs have hard lives, weird vehicles and a love of Country and Western music. When scrap dealer Jed Kneebone dies, his three children are left in serious trouble. But they have inherited Jed's prized 1956 Cadillac Eldorado - could the legendary Boneshaker Stock Car Races be the answer? A wry Cornish comedy about family, death, love and hope by Carl Grose. Starring Alex Tregear as Maddy, Carl Grose as Slick, Ed Gaughan as Dwight, Charles Barnecut as Hooper Munroe, Amanda Lawrence as Phylis Vanloo and Joseph Kloska as Ennis. Directed by Claire Grove.

The Kneebone Cadillac

Drew Pautz

To the outside world Charlie Radcliffe was an esteemed businessman and philanthropist. But Charlie knew that he had swindled billions over decades from his wealthy clients and he knew that one day the game would be up. Now in prison, Charlie tells the story of his last hours of freedom to new inmate Sam. Drew Pautz's drama inspired by the crisis in the financial world examines the gaps between facts, finance, conscience and confidence. Starring Henry Goodman, Ashley Kumar, Conrad Nelson, Graeme Hawley, Kevin Harvey and Chris Jack. Produced by Nadia Molinari.

The Last Free Hours of Charlie Radcliffe

Oscar Wilde

A BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation of Wilde's gothic masterpiece. When Dorian Gray gazes upon his portrait, he is struck by his own youth and beauty and makes a wish that they will last forever. Gradually, his simple good nature is corrupted with the help of his hedonistic friend Lord Henry Wotton. Dorian sinks into a life of debauchery and depravity yet keeps his innocent good looks. Only his portrait reveals the true corruption of his soul Starring Jamie Glover as Dorian Gray and Ian McDiarmid as Lord Henry Wotton.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Simon Brett

Jeremy Front

Bill Nighy returns as Charles Paris: unsuccessful actor, bad husband and dipsomaniac. Desperately in need of work, having been kicked out of the marital home, Charles jumps at playing a missing property developer in a crime reconstruction programme. But the missing person case soon turns to murder when severed body parts begin to appear. 
 
Television ratings soar as the public tune in to discover every gory detail of the case. The raging egos and jealous manoeuvrings of the producers, presenters and the police provide a long list of suspects for Charles as he pieces together a macabre jigsaw puzzle of murder. 
 
Bill Nighy, Suzanne Burden and Jon Glover are among the star cast in this enjoyable mystery, dramatised by Jeremy Front. 
 
Written by Jeremy Front, based on the novel by Simon Brett.

Charles Paris: A Reconstructed Corpse

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Tough, resourceful, ruthless - as an SAS trooper Nick Stone was one of the best. Now he's back on the streets, working for British Intelligence as a deniable operator. It's the dirtiest job in a very, very dirty world. 
 
Andy McNab's blistering Nick Stone thrillers are bestsellers whose landscape is so compellingly close to the truth that they had to be vetted by the Ministry of Defence, and could only be published as fiction. . .

Nick Stone

Set in modern-day Moscow, an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers have maintained an uneasy truce for centuries. But an ancient prophecy decrees that one supreme "Other" will rise up and tip the balance, plunging the world into a catastrophic war…

Night Watch

A fascinating journey into the historical world of the Nurses of Nightingale Hospital. Follow their story as together they cope with the demands of war, love and loss, and traumas both in and out of the Hospital.

Nightingales

Nightweaver

Nordlys

Norfolk Series

Journey through the reign of William the Conqueror and his sons as they fight to keep civil war at bay and their line on the throne.

Norman Series

Malorie Blackman's ground-breaking, award winning series charts the lives and loves of generations as it takes on race and equality with breathtaking drama and heart wrenching sadness. Set in an alternate reality, where the inferior Noughts live as second class citizens in a world run by Crosses, the four books explore the violent politics of a unstable world, and the ordinary lives caught up in in its terror. Beginning with Noughts and Crosses - and the romance of Seph and Callum - and ending with Double Cross, it is a gripping sequence, and an important, relevant story for our time.

Noughts And Crosses

Noughts and Crosses

Novelisations

Now Age Series

Nowhere

Off the Beaten Track

Oland Quartet

Once/Now/Then/After

One Person Found This Helpful

One of Us Is Lying

Orlando Furioso

Orphans of the Tide

Orson Welles Biographies

Othello

Otto the Book Bear

Out of Sight series

World War II nurse Claire Randall finds herself transported back to 1743 where she meets young Scottish soldier Jamie Fraser, and the two travel from Scotland to America taking part in some of the most momentous events of the time.

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