Art audiobooks

Perpetual Light (BBC Radio 3 Drama On 3)

By: Melissa Murray

Narrated by: Claire Price & Sian Thomas

Length: 1 hour 28 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 3 Sci-Fi drama by Melissa Murray set in the very-near future. When William Hellier dies, his wife creates an avatar of him and has it uploaded onto a cyberspace memorial site. But is he software? Or is his soul trapped in the machine? ‘Perpetual Light’ was originally broadcast in the ‘Drama on 3’ slot on 5 December 2010. A new way... Read more

What The Minister Saw (BBC Radio 4)

By: Philip Mould

Narrated by: Philip Mould

Length: 13 minutes

Abridged: No

Art historian Philip Mould discusses the art chosen by Government ministers in this BBC Radio 4 broadcast from 26 January 2011. Becoming a Minister has many perks, but one they can see every day is the art hanging in their office, often borrowed from the Government Art Collection. Art historian Philip Mould speaks to new ministers about what... Read more

Market: Loco Parentis

By: Gary Brown

Narrated by: Bobby Knutt, Ellie Meigan-Rose, Gerard Fletcher...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

'Market' is an umbrella series of six plays, originally broadcast in BBC Radio 4's 'Afternoon Play' slot, about people who work in and around its stalls. Each story is a self-contained quirky tale. 'Loco Parentis' is a bitter-sweet comedy about Jim, who can't sleep because his daughter's left for uni, his business is going belly-up, and his... Read more

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

By: Chris Emmett

Narrated by: Andrew Cruickshank, The Saint Martin Singers & ...

Length: 51 minutes

Abridged: No

God Rest You Merry, a daily programme of readings and music for Christmas week, was first broadcast on the BBC Home Service in 1961 and has been repeated in various forms over the years since then. Now, with this recording, listeners can hear again the series of programmes as a whole, including some of their favourite poems and carols. The... Read more

Two Ronnies, The Volume 2 (Vintage Beeb)

By: Ronnie Barker & Ronnie Corbett

Narrated by: Ronnie Barker & Ronnie Corbett

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

The Two Ronnies was one of Britain's most successful comedy sketch shows, and dominated the TV schedules for sixteen years between 1971 and 1987. This second compilation of classics from the much-loved show includes such sketches as 'Mispronounciation'; 'Night, Night; Cheers'; 'Cricket Commentators'; 'Train of Events'; and not forgetting 'The... Read more

Pygmalion (Classic Radio Theatre)

By: Bernard Shaw

Narrated by: Full Cast, Imelda Staunton & Simon Cadell

Length: 1 hour 26 minutes

Abridged: No

When phonetics tutor and linguist Henry Higgins meets Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle, he makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can teach her to speak so well that she will be able to pass herself off as a Duchess at a society ball. Eliza agrees, seduced by promises of chocolates and taxi rides - but her transformation from... Read more

History Of The Brain, A (Complete)

By: Geoff Bunn

Narrated by: Jonathan Forbes & Paul Bhattacharjee

Length: 2 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

Dr. Geoff Bunn presents a journey through 5000 years of our understanding of the most complex thing in the known universe: the brain, in this major ten-part BBC Radio 4 series.Human beings have long been fascinated by the brain and how it fulfils its many functions. This groundbreaking cultural history explores the development of our ideas about... Read more

The Inspector McLevy Mysteries

By: David Ashton

Narrated by: Brian Cox, Siobhan Redmond & Full Cast

Length: 1 hour 25 minutes

Abridged: No

McLevy is hardly a natural Yuletide reveller. So as the good citizens prepare to make merry, it comes as a relief to the Inspector to find that a supernatural thief is haunting the city.

Brian Cox stars as McLevy with Siobhán Redmond as Jean Brash and Michael Perceval-Maxwell as Mulholland in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation.


©2012 BBC... Read more

Believe Me

By: Stephanie Dale

Narrated by: Alex Lanipekun & Naomi Frederick

Length: 44 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 drama by Stephanie Dale, originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 10 January 2011. When art teacher Rachel, walking home festooned with end-of-term gifts from her pupils, bumps into Tyrone on his first day in London it is the beginning of a passionate love affair. Soon it makes sense for Tyrone, now working as a chef in a... Read more

My Haunted Expression

By: Helen Clohessy

Narrated by: Daniel Cooper, Deeivya Meir, John Dougall, Jude...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

An offbeat 21st Century urban love story starring Rosie Cavaliero and John Dougall, originally broadcast as BBC Radio 4's 'Afternoon Play' on 12 January 2011. It's a difficult time for Sue, her mother has just died and the kids have moved out. She has a vision of leaving their tough housing estate behind and starting a new life by the sea but... Read more

Drama on 3

By: Carl Grose

Narrated by: Charles Barnecut & Amanda Lawrence

Length: 59 minutes

Abridged: No

A surreal, dark comedy from BBC Radio 3's 'The Wire', by Cornish writer Carl Grose that was inspired by seeing a Johannesburg local newspaper headline about a farmer who hanged 49 donkeys from tree branches on his land. Originally broadcast 1 November 2008 and repeated 18 Jul 2009. In Grose's play, Stanley Bray, a Cornish farmer, is compelled... Read more

Beware The Kids (BBC Radio 3 Drama On 3)

By: Karen Laws & Fiona Evans

Narrated by: Judi Earl, Jane Holman, Max Watson & Tony Neilson

Length: 50 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 3 drama that was developed with a community group in Byker, Newcastle which takes a journey into the reality of neglect as one child's life spirals out of control. Originally broadcast as part of the 'Drama on 3' collection on 25 October 2009. In a fractured society Lives a fractured family. In their fractured home Lies a fractured... Read more

Shirleymander (BBC Radio 4 Friday Play)

By: Gregory Evans

Narrated by: Tracy-Ann Oberman, Maggie Steed & Joseph Cohen-...

Length: 56 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 tragic-comedy drama depicting the principal events of Shirley Porter's time as leader of Westminster city council in the 1980s. Originally broadcast as the 'Friday Play' on 27 November 2009, and starring Tracy-Ann Oberman as Shirley Porter. Also featured amongst the cast are Maggie Steed, Joseph Cohen-Cole, Piers Wehner, Stephen... Read more

The Moment You Feel It

By: Ed Harris

Narrated by: Caroline Guthrie, Hugh Ross, Janice Acquah, Ric...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A tender and sad BBC Radio 4 comedy drama about losing your past, starring Richard Briers. 'The Moment You Feel It' was originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 18 May 2009. Alf's memories come in flashes with great blank holes, along with a running commentary from the voices of his past. So how does finding a strange coat in his kitchen... Read more

The London Nobody Knows

By: Dan Cruickshank

Narrated by: Dan Cruickshank

Length: 13 minutes

Abridged: No

Geoffrey Fletcher's London was not the big landmarks, but rather 'the tawdry, extravagant and eccentric'. He wrote about parts of the city no-one ever had before. This could be an art nouveau pub, a Victorian music hall, a Hawksmoor church or even a public toilet in Holborn in which the attendant kept goldfish in the cisterns. He was drawn to... Read more

Lighthouse

By: Alan Harris

Narrated by: Full Cast, Ifan Huw Dafydd & Paul Rhys

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Lighthouse keepers Howell and Griffith are posted to 6 weeks on the Smalls - a desolate rock 20 miles off the Pembrokeshire coast. But the two men share a past, and because of what happens next, lighthouses would never again have only a crew of two. Based on a true story. Written by Alan Harris, and starring Paul Rhys as Howell and Ifan Huw... Read more

Bertrand Russell The First Media Academic? (Archive On 4)

By: Robin Ince

Narrated by: Robin Ince

Length: 56 minutes

Abridged: No

Bertrand Russell was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century. His contributions to the fields of mathematics and philosophy are widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind. But he also brought his brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with.... Read more

The Mystery Of The Mystery Of Edwin Drood

By: Frances Fyfield

Narrated by: Full Cast

Length: 27 minutes

Abridged: No

'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' is a tantalising element of the Dickens manuscript archive held by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Along with fellow crime-writer Simon Brett and Dickens scholar Professor Jenny Hartley, Frances Fyfield uses the packed manuscript pages, detailed number plans and early cover designs to try and make sense of... Read more

Twelve Years

By: Alexandra Wood

Narrated by: Brian Hastert & Megan Ketch

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A love story told across the two New York blackouts of 1965 and 1977. Larry and Nancy meet during the first blackout, while the prosperous city enjoys a spontaneous holiday. Twelve years on, the city is very different: rioting and looting accompany the blackout in a time of economic depression, and the couple must fight for their survival in a... Read more

Zurich (The Wire)

By: Pearse Elliott

Narrated by: Conleth Hill

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Best friends Aidan and Paul make a yearly pilgrimage to catch their rock idols AC/DC on their European tour. This year Paul has chosen Zurich - and Aidan soon discovers why. The cast stars Conleth Hill as Paul and Patrick FitzSymons as Aidan, with music by Brendan Ratliff. First broadcast: BBC Radio 3, February 4, 2012. Read more

My Generation

By: Alice Nutter

Narrated by: Jo Hartley

Length: 1 hour 56 minutes

Abridged: No

A family saga covering four decades, My Generation offers a window into the drugs and pop-fuelled protest movement inspired by writer Alice Nutter's own experience of the protest movement (she was part of the band Chumbawamba). With original music by Harry Hamer, My Generation stars Jo Hartley (Waterloo Road; This Is England) as Cath, Jason Done... Read more

The Day That Lehman Died

By: Matthew Solon

Narrated by: John Shea, John Rothman, Rob Campbell & Mark La...

Length: 56 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC World Play written by Matthew Solon and directed by John Dryden. On 15 September 2008, Lehman Brothers, one of the oldest and largest investment banks in the world, with its headquarters in New York, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It was the largest bankruptcy filed in US history and sent the already unstable global financial... Read more

Cabin Pressure: Molokai

By: John Finnemore

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

Length: 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Stephanie Cole, Benedict Cumberbatch, Roger Allam and John Finnemore star in the hit sitcom about the tiny charter airline for whom no job is too small, but many, many jobs are too difficult.

In this festive special, it's Christmas morning on board MJN Air, so get dressed, you merry gentlemen! But when Carolyn decides to schedule an extra... Read more

A Tokyo Murder

By: Miriam Smith & John Dryden

Narrated by: Full Cast

Length: 2 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

Three dramas surrounding the murder of a young teacher in Japan. Part 1: 'The Parents': Jennifer and Peter Whitelock arrive in Japan to help find their daughte's murderer. Frustrated with the progress of the police investigation, Peter puts his trust in TV producer Norio Ito, who promises to champion their cause on his popular 'news and... Read more