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A A Gill

Andrew Swanston read law at Cambridge, but was inspired to write by his lifelong interest in early modern history. His Thomas Hill novels – The King’s Spy, The King’s Exile and The King’s Return – are set against the backdrops of the English Civil War, Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the early Restoration respectively. He is also the author of Waterloo: The Bravest Man and Beautiful Star and Other Stories. His first historical thriller set during the reign of Elizabeth I – Incendium (published in paperback as The Incendium Plot) – introduced readers to the academic, lawyer and intelligencer Dr Christopher Radcliff, whose adventures continue in Chaos. Andrew Swanston lives in Surrey.

A D Swanston

A E Langsford

A G Hopkins

A. J. BAIME is the New York Times best-selling author of The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War and Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Both books are in development for major motion pictures. Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, and Men’s Journal. He lives in Granite Bay, California. Visit him at facebook.com/ajbaime and trumanbook.com.

A J Baime

A J Jacobs

A J P Taylor

Anthony James Pollard is a British medieval historian, specialising in the fifteenth century and in particular the Wars of the Roses. A leading authority in the field, he is profesor emeritus of Teesside University. His books include North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Richard III and the Princes in theTower, Imagining Robin Hood: the Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context and Warwick the kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame.

A J Pollard

A J Rochester

A K Benjamin is a clinical neuropsychologist and the author of Let Me Not Be Mad: A Story of Unravelling Minds.

A K Benjamin

A. L. Berridge read English at Oxford, and taught for ten years before moving into television, where her production credits range from period drama and thrillers to long-running soaps. She has written two previous novels, Top Ten besteller Honour and the Sword and In the Name of the King. Into the Valley of Death is her third novel.

A L Berridge

Alison Gaylin's first job was as a reporter for a celebrity tabloid, which sparked a lifelong interest in writing about people committing despicable acts. More than a decade later, she wrote and published her Edgar-nominated first novel, HIDE YOUR EYES. 
 
She's since published nine more books, including the USA Today and international bestselling Brenna Spector suspense series, which has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Thriller awards and won the Shamus award. 
 
She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, cat and dog.

A L Gaylin

A Maxwell-Hyslop

A McArthur

A P Wavell

A.S. Webb is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Chaos, the first instalment of The Dark Pantheon Trilogy. She is inspired by stories rooted in history and mythology, that push the boundaries of imagination and urge us to reflect on what it means to be human.

A S Webb

A. A. Dhand is the author of six previous novels, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award. His DI Harry Virdee novels are currently being adapted for TV by the BBC. He was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired all his novels. For more information about A. A. Dhand and his books, follow him on X @aadhand, and on Instagram @aa_dhand.

A. A. Dhand

A. A. Gill

A. A. Milne

A. Anatoli

A. B. Poranek grew up sharing her time between Ontario, Canada and rural Poland, and eventually completed a veterinary degree at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. A lover of mythology and history, she enjoys exploring both in her writing. Her debut novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, an instant New York Times bestseller, is an ode to Poland's folktales, while A Treachery of Swans transports readers to a world inspired by 17th century France.

A. B. Poranek

A. Bradley

Professor A. C. Grayling is Principal of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy, history, science and current affairs. For several years he wrote columns for the Guardian newspaper and The Times and was the chairman of the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

A. C. Grayling

A.D. Miller is the author of Snowdrops, The Earl of Petticoat Lane and The Faithful Couple. Snowdrops was a bestseller and was shortlisted for many prizes including the Man Booker and the CWA Gold Dagger. It was translated into 25 languages. As Moscow Correspondent of The Economist A.D. Miller has travelled across the former Soviet Union and covered the Orange Revolution in Ukraine; he is now the magazine’s Culture Editor based in London. 
 
admillerbooks.com

A. D. Miller

A. E. Ellis

A. E. W. Mason

A. Humphreys

A. Igoni Barrett was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 1979 and lives in Lagos. He is a winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. His short story collection, Love is Power, or Something Like That, was published in 2013. In 2014 he was named on the Africa39 list of sub-Saharan African writers under 40. Blackass is his first novel.

A. Igoni Barrett

The short life of A.J.A. Symons (1900-41) was described by his biographer as an intricate and largely harmless confidence trick. His many interests included the collection of musical boxes and rare books as well as the study and practice of forgery; they left him time to edit an anthology of Edwardian verse and compose studies of H.M. Stanley and other notable figures. He is remembered for The Quest for Corvo, one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, and for co-founding the Wine and Food Society.

A. J. A. Symons

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Tom Jamieson

Nev Fountain

The impressions show that needs no introduction - with bonus End of Year specials 
 
Radio 4’s award-winning and hugely popular comedy show is back with yet another helping of political-vituperation, media-mauling and celebrity-savaging. Sit back and treat your ears to a bumper edition of superb satirical impressions from the team - Jon Culshaw, Lewis MacLeod, Jan Ravens, Jess Robinson, Duncan Wisbey and Jason Forbes. 
 
Series 26 delivers Greta Thunberg coming to Rachel Reeves’s rescue and Gary Lineker trying something new… Enjoy a mad mix of super injunctions, super heroes, the Epstein files and, er, Diane Abbott. In this series the team's vocal firepower has Iran playing host to a surprising WMD Inspector, Laura Kuenssberg being de-escalated, and Ross Kemp on Grooming Gangs. Trump drops the F-Bomb, Lammy drops another clanger, money saving expert Martin Lewis drops into NATO and in a moment of pure, meta-madness Netanyahu, Trump and Putin play Just A Minute. 
 
Since January 2000, Dead Ringers has served up razor-sharp caricatures and explosively satirical truth-bombs and this latest offering is no exception. Laugh-out-loud as these impressive impressionistas make listening magic out of current affairs. 
 
 
Cast and credits 
Starring Jan Ravens, Jon Culshaw, Lewis Macleod, Jess Robinson, Jason Forbes, Duncan Wisbey and Kieran Hodgson 
 
Written by Nev Fountain, Tom Jamieson, Laurence Howarth, Tom Coles, Sophie Dickson, Toussaint Douglass, Rob Darke, Cody Dahler, Edward Tew, Jon Holmes, Davina Bentley, Katie Sayer, Alice Bright, Chris Donovan, Peter Tellouche, Lizzy Mansfield, Rachel E. Thorn, Jennifer Walker, Cooper Mawhinny-Sweryt, Alex Buchanan, Chris Ballard, Joe Topping, Phoebe Butler, David Whitehead, Nicky Roberts, Pete Redfern, Vicky Richards, Ali Panting and Declan Kennedy 
 
Created by Bill Dare 
Produced by John Holmes 
Executive Producers: James Robinson, Peter Strauss and Richard Morris 
Production Co-ordinators: Caroline Barlow and Jodie Charman 
 
First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13th Jun - 18th Jul 2025 (series 26), Dec 2025 (Specials) 
 
©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Dead Ringers: Series 26 Plus Christmas Specials

The BBC Radio 4 Impressions Show

Jason Hazeley

Simon Evans

David Tyler

Frank Skinner hosts series 3 of the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day – shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad & the baffling 
 
Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own... and more... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you! 
 
In episode one, Frank & the team discuss looking too much at cats, looking too much like dogs and what to do when your crowbar is the wrong size. With Ian Smith, Jo Caulfield, Pierre Novellie and Rachel Parris. 
 
In episode two, Frank & the team discuss the most fashionable way to wear a pizza, the most unfashionable way to wear a Tam o’Shanter and the tallest swimming trunks in the world. With Dee Allum, Marcus Brigstocke, Hasan Al-Habib and Bella Hull. 
 
In the third episode, Frank & the team discuss the usual; potatoes, limes, feathers, drainage systems of Ancient Civilizations etc etc... With Simon Evans, Harriet Kemsley, Chloe Petts and Rajiv Karia. 
 
In episode four, Frank & the team find out the right way to get frightened by lions, the wrong way to clean a delicious crevice, and what to do if your arms don’t reach the kitchen. With Ahir Shah, Louise Young, Freya Parker and Pierre Novellie. 
 
Episode five, and Frank and the team check out a hospital in Prague, a cheesesteak in New Jersey and how real men cut their nosehairs. With Simon Evans, Jo Caulfield, Kerry Godliman and Ed Byrne. 
 
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for episode six as Frank and the team don green tights and angels’ wings and jiggle suspiciously to play a Xmas-flavoured episode of the panel game. With Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Sunil Patel, Simon Evans and Ania Magliano. 
 
And in the final episode, Frank & the team discuss giant frogs, redundant tingles and being unexpectedly Danish. With Lucy Porter, Anna Thomas, Finlay Christie and Daliso Chaponda. 
 
Production credits 
Hosted by Frank Skinner 
Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simons Evans with the producer David Tyler 
Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Gareth Gwynn, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche 
 
A Pozzitive production for the BBC. 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 18 Nov – 30 Dec 2025 
 
(C)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

One Person Found This Helpful: Series 3

A BBC Radio 4 Comedy Panel Game

Olga Koch

Charlie Dinkin

Olga Koch explores the world via computer science in this STEM stand-up show 
 
Comedian Olga Koch has a masters degree in the social science of the Internet and can turn almost any file into a PDF. In these three series, she looks at life through the eyes of a computer scientist, taking the universal truths you hold dear and tearing them to shreds using logic. 
 
With the help of her sassy digital assistant ALGO (played by Sindhu Vee, Tia Kofi and Rajiv Karia), she uses stand-up and storytelling to unpack concepts such as Nationality, Beauty, Health, Privacy, Fun, Intelligence, Friendship and Family. She talks us through what you need to know to become a British citizen (including what time the pubs open, and every single line-up of the Sugababes since 2007); uses recursion and Harry Styles to examine what being beautiful means; goes on a mission to get healthy, and wonders if encryption really works and why no one can set a good password. 
 
What are the fundamentals of fun? What can Colonel Sanders and the Creation Museum tell us about intelligence? Can you be best friends with a bot – or a politician? And can your family be more than just your random relations? These questions, and many more, are tackled by Olga, as she and ALGO take a hilarious journey through the inherent absurdities of our modern world. 
 
Production credits 
Written by Olga Koch and Charlie Dinkin 
Additional Material from Rajiv Karia, Cody Dahler and Kate Dehnert 
With Sindhu Vee, Tia Kofi and Rajiv Karia as ALGO 
Producer: Benjamin Sutton 
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Baum 
 
Series 1 
Nationality 
Beauty 
Health 
Privacy 
 
Series 2 
Fun 
Intelligence 
Friendship 
Family 
 
Series 3 
Love 
Religion 
Money 
Death 
 
First broadcast 8 Jul-29 Jul 2021 (series 1), 23 May-13Jun 2023 (series 2), 17 Oct-7 Nov 2024 (series 3). 
 
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

OK Computer: Series 1-3

A BBC Radio 4 Stand-Up Comedy Show

BBC Radio Comedy

Five fantastic series of the award-winning impressions show &ndash; plus 13 superb Specials 
 
Serving up razor-sharp caricatures and explosively satirical truth-bombs since January 2000, Dead Ringers is one of Radio 4&rsquo;s most popular and critically-acclaimed comedy shows. In these five series, first broadcast between 2015 and 2019, media mauling and celebrity savaging are once more the order of the day, as Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod, Debra Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey poke fun at the worlds of politics and entertainment. 
 
In the wake of the Brexit vote, the team give us their in-depth analysis of the highs, lows and madness of the EU referendum campaigns. Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are the targets of some post-election skewering; Donald Trump has a &lsquo;dino-mite&rsquo; idea; and there&rsquo;s terror in store as a haunted Boris Johnson meets the Mr Hyde to his Mr Hyde. 
 
Plus, Morrissey, Pam Ayres and Chas n&rsquo; Dave gives us their best James Bond theme tunes; David Sedaris and Alan Bennett have a biscuit-off; Joan Bakewell explains Love Island to Radio 4 listeners &ndash; and British superheroes the National Treasures welcome their newest member: Lorraine Kelly... 
 
Also featured are 13 sparkling Specials, including a wealth of tinsel-topped Christmas editions; 2016&rsquo;s speculative &lsquo;A Look Back at the Year 2020&rsquo;; the one-off drama &lsquo;An Alien Has Landed&rsquo;, imagining what would happen if an extra-terrestrial visited Earth; and the 2019 Election Special, examining every twist, turn and embarrassing face-saving platitude from the candidates. 
 
Cast and credits 
Starring John Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Duncan Wisbey, Lewis MacLeod and Debra Stephenson 
Produced and created by Bill Dare 
With Sanjeev Bhaskar (An Alien Has Landed) 
Guest cast: Josh Berry (Series 18, Episode 5) 
Production Coordinator: Beverly Tagg 
Music composed by John Whitehall 
 
Written by Nev Fountain, Tom Jamieson and Laurence Howarth with: Simon Alcock, Ed Amsden, Liam Beirne, Jack Bernhardt, Catherine Brinkworth, James Bugg, Sarah Campbell, Tom Coles, Lewis Cook, Max Davis, Sarah Doran, Sara Gibbs, Alex Hardy, Alex Harvey, Danielle Harvey, Laura Major, Jane McCutcheon, Charlotte Pearson, Vivienne Riddoch, Mike Shephard, Edward Tew, Duncan Wisbey 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 14 August-11 September 2015 (Series 15), 25 December 2015 (Christmas Special), 1 January 2016 (New Year Special), 18 June-22 July 2016 (Series 16), 23-30 December 2016 (Christmas Specials), 16 June-21 July 2017 (Series 17), 22-29 December 2017 (Christmas Specials), 17 February 2018 (An Alien Has Landed), 8 June-13 July 2018 (Series 18) 7-21 December 2018 (Christmas Specials), 7 June-12 July 2019 (Series 19), 13-27 December 2019 (Election Special &amp; Christmas Specials) 
 
&copy; 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Dead Ringers: Series 15-19 Plus Specials

Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the cosmos, from the origins of the universe to dark matter and dark energy 
 
'Consistently superb' John Banville 
 
In Our Time is a linchpin of the Radio 4 schedule, attracting over 2 million listeners a week since its launch in 1998. Erudite, edifying and enlightening, it tackles serious ideas succinctly, providing fascinating insight into subjects ranging from the Fibonacci Sequence to Frida Kahlo. 
 
In this special thematic anthology, we traverse the solar system, the galaxies and the multiverse, voyaging across space to explore 25 celestial objects and phenomena. Included are programmes on the universe, the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets - among them our near neighbours, Venus and Mars. Also featured are discussions on comets, asteroids and black holes, as well as eclipses, exoplanets and the mysterious, invisible substance known as 'dark matter'. Topping and tailing the collection are episodes dealing with the science of astronomy, examining Ptolemy's geocentric theory of the universe and the relationship between astronomy and the British Empire. 
 
Hosted by veteran broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, with contributions from expert scholars and academics including Sir Martin Rees, John Gribbin, Carolin Crawford and Sir Roger Penrose, these captivating colloquies will inspire anyone with a sense of wonder and a thirst for knowledge. 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Melvyn Bragg 
Produced by Natalia Fernandez, Thomas Morris, Simon Tillotson, Julia Johnson and Phil Tinline 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
Ptolemy and Ancient Astronomy 17 November 2011 
The Multiverse 21 February 2008 
The Universe's Origins 20 May 1999 
The Universe's Shape 7 February 2002 
The Age of the Universe 3 March 2011 
Galaxies 29 June 2006 
The Sun 10 July 2014 
The Moon 3 November 2011 
Eclipses 31 December 2020 
The Planets 27 May 2004 
Venus 27 December 2018 
Mars 11 January 2007 
Saturn 14 January 2016 
The Kuiper Belt 2 March 2017 
Exoplanets 3 October 2013 
The Life of Stars 27 March 2003 
The Death of Stars 9 June 2022 
Black Holes 12 April 2001 
Asteroids 3 November 2005 
Comets 17 January 2013 
The Cool Universe 6 May 2010 
Dark Matter 12 March 2015 
Dark Energy 17 March 2005 
The Vacuum of Space 30 April 2009 
Solar Wind 23 January 2020 
Astronomy and Empire 4 May 2006 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

In Our Time: 25 Explorations of Space

A BBC Radio 4 Collection

Andrew Martin

Andrew Martin reflects on Britain's customs, attitudes and social and supernatural phenomena in these six BBC Radio series 
 
Drawn from Radio 3's The Essay strand and presented by journalist and award-winning author Andrew Martin, this beguiling collection brings together his witty, Alan Bennett-esque observations on England's disappearing pastimes, rituals and beliefs. 
 
Yorkshire sees him musing on the county of his birth and upbringing, as he considers his 'Tyke' identity and the ancient rivalry between Yorkshire and Lancashire; chews over questions of class in 'God's Own County'; ponders its past and future; and recalls the coastal jaunts of his youth. In Hanging On, Martin celebrates five aspects of British life that are still with us - just, as he raises a toast to the boating pond; the ventriloquist's doll; the telephone; the milkman and sex shops. 
 
The Lost Hours memorialises the staging posts of the day that are gradually fading away, such as elevenses and the cocktail hour; while England Ejects explores the inclinations and habits that no longer seem so vital nowadays, including modesty, gentility and Sunday church-going. The Further Realm sees Martin contemplating whether he believes in ghosts; reflecting on mediaeval and modern sightings and telling tales of the undead from resonant times of the year. Finally, in The Sound and the Fury, he discusses the noises that annoy us, from piped music to public transport announcements, asking 'how do we cope with jarring sounds in our world today, and could we live without the daily cacophony?' 
 
Quirky and engaging, these delightfully entertaining essays will give you a whole new perspective on the modern world - and the world beyond. 
 
Production credits 
Produced by Duncan Minshull (Yorkshire, Hanging On, England Ejects, The Further Realm, The Sound and the Fury) and Karen Holden (The Lost Hours) 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on the following dates: 23-27 January 2012 (The Sound and the Fury), 27-31 January 2014 (England Ejects), 26-30 October 2015 (The Further Realm), 17-21 April 2017 (Hanging On), 21-25 January 2019 (Yorkshire), 25-29 October 2021 (The Lost Hours) 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

On the World Around Us

25 Explorations of Britain, Past and Present

Tom Heap

Climate change is real. It's happening. But it's not the end of the world. 
 
Beating climate change takes the best ideas from the smartest minds, and in this programme, Tom Heap reveals 39 ways to relieve the stress that climate change is exerting on the planet. 
 
Our brightest brains are developing potent carbon-cutting ideas - from the paddy fields of the Punjab to the Siberian permafrost. We hear about incredible new solar panel materials and robots repairing wind turbines, as well as thinking about biodiversity, trees and blue carbon - the marine and coastal ecosystems that are so important for storing carbon and preventing coastal erosion. 
 
There isn't going to be just one solution. We're not going to discover one new energy source that will solve the whole problem. But it all adds up. And one thing that all these solutions have in common is that the people working on them believe they can make a big difference. 
 
All of these different solutions, with all of their different pros and cons, will at some point get us to our net zero target. This is a golden opportunity to pause, and design a better future. 
 
We made this mess, but we can clean it up. 
 
Presented by Tom Heap, with Dr Tamsin Edwards 
Produced by Alasdair Cross and Anne-Marie Bullock 
Researcher: Sarah Goodman 
Produced in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

39 Ways to Save the Planet

Dustin Lance Black

Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and activist, explores attitudes towards surrogacy. He shares his own journey to have a child, with husband Tom Daley, through surrogacy. 
 
 
Dustin beautifully and thoroughly explores how the question of surrogacy links to wider societal questions; how much control do women legally have over their body? Do we have a right to know our genetic history? How can LGBTQ+ couples shield their children from homophobia? 
 
 
Dustin explores the personal, scientific, financial and legal aspects of surrogacy. He talks to women who are surrogates, hears the experiences of straight and gay intended parents who have built a family via surrogacy and raises concerns about the current surrogacy laws in the UK. Dustin hears from families in different countries who have had different and difficult processes, and also hears from children born through surrogacy on the right to know their genetic history, always bringing it back to 'why are some people uncomfortable with surrogacy?'.

Surrogacy: A Family Frontier

Tom Neenan

Modern technology is terrifying. The average smartphone carries out three-point-three-six billion instructions per second. The average person can only carry out one instruction in that time. Stop and think about that for a second. Sorry, that's two instructions; you won't be able to do that. 
 
But what if modern technology was... literally terrifying? What if there really was a ghost in the machine? Travel through the bad gateway in this modern ghost story as award-winning writer and performer Tom Neenan ("The Mash Report", "Spitting Image") discovers what horrors may lurk in our apps and gadgets... 
 
With a full cast including Nina Sosanya (W1A, His Dark Materials), Julian Rhind-Tutt (Green Wing), Andy Nyman (Fiddler On the Roof, Ghost Stories), Freya Parker (Lazy Susan) &amp; Georgie Glen (Call The Midwife, The Thick Of It) 
 
In the first episode of series 3 - hang on, let me just put you on hold... 
 
In Show 2, Tom &amp; Heidi are trapped in a terrifying situation - and have to make a horrifying decision... 
 
In the next episode, a brand-new exercise bike means Tom has to stay ahead of the pack - in every sense... 
 
... and in the final episode, we discover there is something even worse than a nightmare as sweet dreams turn very very sour... 
 
 
This show comes from Pozzitive, proud producers of Cabin Pressure, John Finnemore's Double Acts, Thanks A Lot, Milton Jones!, Agendum, Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive &amp; Kevin Eldon Will See You Now...

The Hauntening

The Complete Series 3 of the BBC Radio 4 Comedy

Douglas Adams

Technology affects almost everything we do, and its possibilities can be both exhilarating and daunting. This collection features two radio documentaries exploring Douglas Adams’ vision of the digital future, plus Did Douglas Get it Right?, presented by Mitch Benn. 
 
Douglas Adams was a passionate technology enthusiast. His bestselling The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is full of futuristic tech, and in 1990 he predicted something very like the World Wide Web in the BBC2 film Hyperland. So in 1999, he was the natural choice to present Radio 4’s The Internet: The Last 20th Century Battleground. In it, he looked at the explosion in online communication, the evolution of cyberspace, and the risks and opportunities of the new virtual world. 
 
A year later, he hosted The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Future, in which he and his guests discussed how music, publishing, broadcasting, and society in general would be transformed in the 21st century. Sadly, this was Adams’ last BBC project: his death in 2001 meant he would never see if his visions came true. 
 
However, in 2015, Mitch Benn dipped into the archives for a follow-up programme, Did Douglas Get it Right?, revisiting Adams’ predictions to discover how prescient (or otherwise) they turned out to be... 
 
Fascinating, funny and insightful, these three programmes are a wonderful tribute to Douglas Adams, and a treat for fans and futurists alike. 
 
 
Produced by Mark Rickards.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future

Douglas Adams and the digital world

Helen Keen

Miriam Underhill

Helen Keen, Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane star in this funny, off-beat but factual expedition through the universe, boldly going where no Radio 4 comedy show has gone before. 
 
 
“A pithy sweet programme … with a joke stuffed script” Miranda Sawyer, The Observer 
“Beautiful...A gem” The Sunday Express 
“Informed, enthusiastic and funny” Daily Mail 
“A sort of stand up version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” The Times 
 
This “shamelessly nerdy…deeply silly” (Radio Times) space extravaganza features fewer close-ups of Professor Brian Cox looking cool in front of a rocket than Wonders of the Universe, but more weird, wonderful and occasionally woeful stories about the geniuses, Nazis and Satanists who plotted to propel humankind to the stars. Find out the many and varied ways to leave the planet as It Is Rocket Science! takes you on a “gleefully irreverent” (The Scotsman) whistle-stop comic tour of the Great Brains who put monkeys, ladies, dogs and gentlemen into orbit. 
 
Discover the daring Mercury 13 women - the astronauts and moonwalkers that never were, hear the adventures of Felix the French Space Cat, raise your eyebrows at the career trajectory of Wernher von Braun, from Nazi to Disney to NASA, meet the man who (metaphorically) connects rocket fuel to Aleister Crowley, explore your options in case an asteroid is heading directly your way, and discover some of the more surprising suggestions scientists have advanced for how to get in touch with life on other planets, from giant burning parallelograms in the Sahara to sending nude pictures into space.... 
 
“Factually accurate yet funny” (The Telegraph), the show won several major awards including The Association of British Science Writers’ Royal Society Radio Prize. 
 
“Harnessing a sharp comedy sensibility to an arsenal of fascinating facts, she’s a treat for anyone who matches a sense of humour with an inquiring mind” The Guardian [on Helen Keen]

It Is Rocket Science: The Complete Series 1-3

A BBC Radio 4 comedy show

Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery, to the smartphones available today. There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended. For example, the engineers who designed the early texting facilities didn’t imagine that anyone might want to reply. (Just in case, they added a short list of possible pre-set answers: yes, no and maybe). They also thought taxifones and fax machines for your car would be winners. In the early nineties, Nokia, then famous for toilet paper and rubber boots, was on the brink of collapse; until the new CEO made a bold decision to focus solely on mobile phonesThanks to Margaret Thatcher opening up the airwaves, Britain became a world leader in mobile phone technology. And today, 85% of the silicon chips inside all mobiles are designed by just one Cambridge-based company.Series produced by Anna Buckley.

Stephen Fry On The Phone The Complete Radio 4 Series

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. Discover the 1Q84 Trilogy by Haruki Murakami.

1Q84

365 Days of Art

A BBC Christmas

A Black Book Thriller

A Box Full of Murders

A Cal Leandros Novel

A Christmas Mystery

The intelligent and capable police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice.

A Commissario Brunetti Mystery

A DC Smith / Kings Lake Investigation Series

A Daisy Story

Chronicling the lives of over three hundred characters, unrivalled for its scope and humour, this is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England.

A Dance to the Music of Time

A Fairy Tale Revolution

A Frank Grasby Mystery

A Guide For the Curious

A Horatio Hornblower Tale of the Sea

A Jo Birmingham Thriller

A Jon Roscoe Thriller

A Ladybird Book

A Ladybird Magic Windows Book

A Look Back at

A Luke Carlton Thriller

A Max Mingus Thriller

A Michael Bennett Thriller

A Midge McGowan Mystery

A Mitchum Thriller

A Moneybunny Book

A Murder Most Unladylike Collection

A Murder Most Unladylike Mini Mystery

A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery

A Nigel Strangeways Mystery

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Where to start reading James Patterson

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Read an extract of Sweetbitter Song by Rosie Hewlett

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