Art audiobooks

Poodle Springs

By: Raymond Chandler & Robert B Parker

Narrated by: Full Cast & Toby Stephens

Length: 56 minutes

Abridged: No

Fast-talking, trouble-seeking private eye Philip Marlowe is a different kind of detective: a moral man in an amoral world. California in the ’40s and ’50s is as beautiful as a ripe fruit and rotten to the core, and Marlowe must struggle to retain his integrity amidst the corruption he encounters daily. In Poodle Springs, Marlowe is fresh from... Read more

Cabin Pressure: The Complete Series 2

By: John Finnemore

Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch, Full Cast, John Finnemore...

Length: 2 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: No

Cabin Pressure is set in the wing and a prayer world of a tiny, one-plane charter airline; staffed by two pilots, one on his way down, and one who was never up to start with. Whether flying a nervous bassoonist to Gdansk or a horrible sister to Helsinki, no job is too small, but many, many jobs are too difficult.

Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, MJN... Read more

Alistair Cooke's America

By: Alistair Cooke

Narrated by: Peter Marinker

Length: 14 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

For years legendary broadcaster Alistair Cooke brought America to the rest of the world with incomparable wit and wisdom. This is his classic "personal history" of America, guiding us through centuries of changing life in the USA. Beginning with his own arrival in America as a graduate in the 1930s, Alistair Cooke discusses the explorers who... Read more

The People's Princess

By: Shelagh Stephenson

Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Chris McHallem, Jill Cardo, Juli...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 play about the marriage of George, Prince of Wales, originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 11 December 2008 (and repeated on 9 December 2010). Facing financial ruin, George was obliged by his father, George III, to marry his first cousin, Princess Caroline of Brunswick. But if he had been expecting a docile partner with... Read more

Charles Paris: A Reconstructed Corpse

By: Simon Brett & Jeremy Front

Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Full Cast & Suzanne Burden

Length: 1 hour 52 minutes

Abridged: No

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. ... Read more

Patricia Hodge Is Mattie, A Liberated Woman

By: Juliet Ace

Narrated by: Patricia Hodge

Length: 2 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

Patricia Hodge stars as Mattie in Juliet Ace’s four linked dramas, written especially for Patricia’s voice, in which Mattie reflects on her life as a naval wife, an actress and as a mother and daughter. In these funny and beautifully observed performances we come to meet Mattie as she shares her hard-earned understanding of her life, in all its... Read more

The History Of Titus Groan

By: Mervyn Peake

Narrated by: Carl Prekopp, Full Cast, James Fleet, Miranda R...

Length: 5 hours 41 minutes

Abridged: No

Paul Rhys, Miranda Richardson and Carl Prekopp star in this major six-part BBC Radio Classic Serial based on the writings of Mervyn Peake and Maeve Gilmore.

The life and times of Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Gormenghast - a vast stronghold of crumbling masonry steeped in immemorial ritual and inhabited by an extraordinary cavalcade of characters... Read more

Picture Man, The (BBC Radio 3 Drama On 3)

By: David Eldridge

Narrated by: Full Cast & Martin Freeman

Length: 1 hour 3 minutes

Abridged: No

Neil decides he has been pushed too far by the uncaring and often callous behaviour he sees around him. But when he begins to intervene in incidents by taking pictures on his mobile phone, it has disastrous consequences. Starring Martin Freeman as Neil, Heather Craney as Janine, Emil Marwa as Hussein and Peter Marinker as George. Also included... Read more

Peter Lorre vs. Peter Lorre

By: Michael Butt

Narrated by: Helen Longworth, John Chancer, John Rowe, Kenne...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Towards the end of his unique career, movie star Peter Lorre found himself at the centre of an unusual legal case. Incorporating verbatim extracts from the court transcripts, Michael Butt's play wonders what was going through Lorre's troubled mind as he fought to protect his name and identity. Features a cast including Stephen Greif as Peter... Read more

Can You Tell Me The Name Of The Prime Minister?

By: Martin Jameson

Narrated by: Amita Dhiri, Christine Kavanagh, David Seddon, ...

Length: 44 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 science-fiction mystery by Martin Jameson, originally broadcast as the ‘Afternoon Play’ on 14 May 2010. A week after the election, Liz de Souza, a psychiatrist, examines a patient at a secure government research facility who's convinced that Tony Blair is still Prime Minister. Starring Amita Dhiri as Liz de Souza and Suzanna... Read more

Cinders

By: Ali Taylor

Narrated by: Claudie Blakley, David Seddon, Imran Khan, Lizz...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A pacy BBC Radio 4 comedy drama by Ali Taylor, lifting the lid on the ethics of publishing war-torn misery memoirs. Emma discovers a brilliant new talent in the unsolicited pile... Originally broadcast as the ‘Afternoon Play’ on 20 May 2010. When a heartbreaking memoir about life in war-torn Kabul lands on her desk, Emma thinks she's discovered... Read more

Three Stories By Mark Twain The McWilliamses And The Burglar

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Stuart Milligan

Length: 40 minutes

Abridged: No

Three of Mark Twain’s classic short stories, originally broadcast in the ‘Afternoon Reading’ slot on BBC Radio 4 from 9 - 11 November 2010, to accompany the 'Autobiography of Mark Twain' (aired on ‘Book of the Week'). Read by Stuart Milligan. Twain’s classic short stories, with their familiar trademarks of high farce and droll insight, bring us... Read more

Mark Twain's The McWilliamses And The Burglar Alarm (BBC Radio)

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Stuart Milligan

Length: 13 minutes

Abridged: No

In ‘The McWilliamses and The Burglar Alarm’ it becomes apparent that their home would be better off with a state of the art security device - if it works, that is... Read by Stuart Milligan and produced by Duncan Minshull. Originally broadcast in the ‘Afternoon Reading’ slot on BBC Radio 4 on 9 November 2010, to accompany the 'Autobiography of... Read more

Mark Twain's The Experience Of The McWilliamses With Membranous Croup

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Stuart Milligan

Length: 13 minutes

Abridged: No

In ‘The Experience of the McWilliamses with Membranous Croup’, a strange fever is afflicting the neighbourhood just as little Penelope begins to cough. Though the reason is hardly clear cut... Read by Stuart Milligan and produced by Duncan Minshull. Originally broadcast in the ‘Afternoon Reading’ slot on BBC Radio 4 on 10 November 2010, to... Read more

Mark Twain's Niagara (BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading)

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Stuart Milligan

Length: 13 minutes

Abridged: No

In ‘Niagara’, the McWilliamses plan a day trip to those intrepid Falls to tramp exciting trails and meet some friendly Red Indians. But the best laid plans... Read by Stuart Milligan and produced by Duncan Minshull. Originally broadcast in the ‘Afternoon Reading’ slot on BBC Radio 4 on 9 November 2010, to accompany the 'Autobiography of Mark... Read more

Caesar Price Our Lord

By: Fin Kennedy

Narrated by: Aidan Parsons, Emma Cunniffe & Lee Ingleby

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 drama by Fin Kennedy, set in London in the near future, about Caesar Price, an illusionist who has reproduced nearly all of the miracles of Jesus and built a massive cult following. Is he prepared for what will happen when he decides to stage the Crucifixion? Originally transmitted on 26 September 2008, and re-broadcast as the... Read more

We Happened to Be Passing

By: David Nobbs

Narrated by: Hugo Chandor, James Nickerson, Kerry Shale, Mag...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A wonderfully perceptive BBC Radio 4 comedy of manners and international relations written by David Nobbs (writer of 'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin' and 'A Bit of a Do'). Originally broadcast as the ‘Afternoon Play’ on 24 September 2010. It is a quiet Saturday morning in the Hinchcliffe home. Tony and Sal, tired after a week of work,... Read more

The Greengrocer's Apostrophe

By: Anneliese Mackintosh, Diana Hendry & Ronald Frame

Narrated by: James Anthony Pearson

Length: 40 minutes

Abridged: No

A collection of three comic tales from BBC Radio 4, ‘The Greengrocer’s Apostrophe’, inspired by those hand-written signs offering ‘Apple's and Banana's’ which can be found in every town in Britain. Originally broadcast in the ‘Afternoon Reading’ slots from 28-30 September 2010. ‘Penny's from Heaven’ by Anneliese Mackintosh: James Anthony... Read more

Philip and Sydney

By: Alan Pollock

Narrated by: Gunnar Cauthrey, John Rowe, Melody Grove, Pip C...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

In 'This be the Verse', the poet Philip Larkin famously bemoans the impact parents have on their children. In ‘Philip and Sydney’, playwright, translator and screenwriter Alan Pollock uncovers some of the reasons why Larkin may have had such a profound sense of anguish. In 1937, Philip Larkin's father, Sydney, took him on holiday to Germany.... Read more

Theremin

By: Melissa Murray

Narrated by: Tom Hollander, Kate Ashfield & Full Cast

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 fictional dramatisation of Léon Theremin’s espionage work in the lead up to the Cold War, written by Melissa Murray. ‘Theremin’ was originally broadcast as the ‘Saturday Play’ on 3 January 2009 and repeated on 9 October 2010. Léon Theremin, gifted inventor and reluctant spy, is forced to find a way to bug the US Embassy in London.... Read more

Walter Now (BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play)

By: David Cook

Narrated by: Ian McKellen

Length: 56 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring Sir Ian McKellen, written by David Cook as follow-up to his 1982 Channel 4 social commentary drama, ‘Walter’, about a man with learning difficulties. ‘Walter Now’ was originally broadcast as the ‘Saturday Play’ on 10 January 2009 and repeated on 25 September 2010. In November 1982, Channel 4... Read more

The Country Wife

By: William Wycherley

Narrated by: Full Cast, Jonathan Pryce & Maggie Smith

Length: 1 hour 59 minutes

Abridged: No

Considered too obscene to be staged in its original form for nearly 200 years, William Wycherley’s bawdy comedy tells the tale of Mr Horner - a notorious rake who spreads the false rumour that he is impotent in order to gain free access to other men’s wives. When he meets the young, innocent Margery Pinchwife, the ‘country wife’ of the title,... Read more

Armstrong And Miller Children's Hour

By: Alexander Armstrong & Ben Miller

Narrated by: Alexander Armstrong, Ben Miller & Guests

Length: 1 hour 52 minutes

Abridged: No

Pompous critics and culture journalists Martin Bain-Jones (Armstrong) and Craig Children (Miller), present a frightfully clever culture show, a wry look at the fringes of popular music. They’re hip, they’re happening – so they say – and in these four episodes they discuss Boy Bands (Peter Andre would be in a band if he had any mates), Middle... Read more

Remembering Kenny Everett

By: Kenny Everett

Narrated by: Kenny Everett & Barry Cryer

Length: 1 hour 59 minutes

Abridged: No

A special compilation of highlights from cuddly Ken’s television and radio shows. Kenny Everett was one of radio’s great innovators, the funniest DJ of our time and a one-off whose madcap comedy burst the boundaries of broadcasting. Introduced and presented by Barry Cryer, this recording features the definitive Kenny Everett: the jokes, the... Read more