Art audiobooks

The Picture Of Dorian Gray

By: Oscar Wilde

Narrated by: Jamie Glover, Ian McDiarmid & Full Cast

Length: 1 hour 58 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

The Bridesmaid / Going Wrong

By: Ruth Rendell

Narrated by: Full Cast, Jamie Glover, Oona Beeson, Peter Win...

Length: 2 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

The Kneebone Cadillac

By: Carl Grose

Narrated by: Alex Tregear, Amanda Lawrence, Carl Grose, Char...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

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,... Read more

The Falcon And The Hawk

By: Helen Macdonald

Narrated by: David Birrell, Gemma Lawrence & Helen Macdonald

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

Goldfish Girl

By: Peter Souter

Narrated by: Alex Jennings & Juliet Stevenson

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

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. Read more

The Last Free Hours of Charlie Radcliffe

By: Drew Pautz

Narrated by: Ashley Kumar, Chris Jack, Conrad Nelson, Graeme...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

Bad Faith: The Complete Series

By: Peter Jukes

Narrated by: Danny Sapani, Full Cast, Jenny Jules & Lenny Henry

Length: 2 hours 52 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

Hinterland

By: Francis Turnly

Narrated by: Catherine Cusack & Frank O'Sullivan

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

Prayer Mask

By: David Pownall

Narrated by: Akbar Kurtha, Inam Mirza, Jonathan Tafler, Jose...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Joseph Fiennes stars as the young Lieutenant Richard Burton who in 1853 disguised himself as an Afghani pilgrim and undertook an expedition to Mecca. His aim was to explore the Holy of Holies. He chronicles this journey fraught with dangers and misadventure. But can he hide his identity from his two young guides? With Akbar Kurtha, Rasmus... Read more

The Middle

By: Amelia Bullmore

Narrated by: Anna Madley, Ben Miles, Emma Cunniffe, Full Cas...

Length: 56 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

The Lobotomists

By: Hugh Levinson

Narrated by: Hugh Levinson

Length: 27 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

The Alterer

By: Finlay Welsh

Narrated by: Cal MacAninsh, Finn de Hertog, Liam Brennan & P...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

In The Family

By: Sean Grundy

Narrated by: Christine Hall, Colin Hoult, Diane Morgan, Jane...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

After ten years, Peter leaves Gillian for Laura. Distraught, Gillian goes round to Peter's parents to be consoled. They take her in - then things go a little weird. Starring Diane Morgan, Colin Hoult, Janine Duvitski, John Henshaw, Zoe Gardner, Zahra Barri, John Biddle, Tony Marshall, Christine Hall and Sean Grundy. Written by Sean Grundy.... Read more

Bob Servant Hero Of Dundee

By: Neil Forsyth

Narrated by: Cameron Stewart

Length: 4 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: No

Cyber hero Bob Servant became a cult classic in the best-selling Delete This At Your Peril. Now this much-anticipated sequel tells the life story of one of Scotland's unsung heroes. From his days in the Merchant Navy to his creation of a window-cleaning round and his time as a cheeseburger magnate, Bob Servant has lived life to its fullest. With... Read more

Silas Marner (Classic Serial)

By: George Eliot & Richard Cameron

Narrated by: George Costigan & Rebecca Callard

Length: 1 hour 52 minutes

Abridged: No

Outcast from the church, community, and close friends for a crime he did not commit, Silas Marner's trust and faith falls away. A broken, disillusioned man, he builds a new faith, that will never let him down: gold. He weaves his cloths, counts his money, baptises himself with the coins of his new religion. When tragedy strikes again and all his... Read more

All the Dark Corners: The Desk

By: Andrew Readman

Narrated by: Graeme Hawley, Karen West, Melissa Jane Sinden,...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Davis Finch is a hack TV writer with aspirations to write a novel. In order to be a real writer he feels he needs a proper desk. The one he buys changes his life. He becomes a success - but at what price? This spooky psychological thriller by Andrew Readman stars Graeme Hawley, Tim McInnerny, Karen West, Greg Wood, Melissa Jane Sinden and... Read more

Rapture Frequency

By: Abbie Spallen

Narrated by: Full Cast & Richard Dormer

Length: 58 minutes

Abridged: No

The Wire is BBC Radio 3's showcase for works that push the boundaries of drama and narrative. In Rapture Frequency, analyst Michael Shorthall is listening to the black box recording of an ill-fated transatlantic flight when he stumbles across an unexpected sound. Interference, white noise, or could it possibly be proof of something more... Read more

Rock Of Eye

By: Anita Sullivan

Narrated by: Allan Corduner, Catrin Stewart, Claire Cage, Li...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Three elderly tailors - a trouser-maker, a coat-maker and a waistcoat-maker - have been commissioned to make a bespoke suit for an up-and-coming politician. They have worked together for decades but have only met very rarely, although increasingly, these days, at their colleagues' funerals. The suit has been designed by Mrs White, a mysterious... Read more

Dewey Eyed

By: Sarah Naomi Lee

Narrated by: Caroline Guthrie, Olivia Colman, Paul Rider & S...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Philippa is a librarian from a long line of librarians. When her father dies and her mother loses her wits, Philippa tries the only language Vera understands, that of the Dewey cataloguing system, to guide her back to sanity. Starring Olivia Colman as Philippa, Sheila Reid as Vera, Caroline Guthrie as Sheila and Paul Rider as Alistair. Written... Read more

Dave Gorman's Pub Olympics

By: Dave Gorman & Dave Scott

Narrated by: Dave Gorman & Guests

Length: 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Dave Gorman hosts a one-off, very silly panel show that takes place in a world where the Pub Olympics is far more important than that other Olympics you might have heard about. Contestants Chris Addison, Roisin Conaty, Geoff Lloyd and Seymour Mace compete for gold medals in a series of ridiculous rounds, very loosely based on sports. Usain Bolt... Read more

A Brief History Of Mathematics

By: Marcus du Sautoy

Narrated by: Marcus du Sautoy

Length: 2 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

This ten-part history of mathematics reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science.

He... Read more

The Bob Servant Emails: A BBC Radio Dramatisation starring Brian Cox

By: Neil Forsyth

Narrated by: Brian Cox, Felix Dexter, Full Cast, Laura Solon...

Length: 1 hour 24 minutes

Abridged: No

Brian Cox stars as the 63-year-old Servant in these wickedly funny full-cast email exchangesBorn and bred in Dundee, Bob Servant sees himself as the people's champion. Once a cheeseburger magnate and part of what he claims to be 'the largest window cleaning round in Western Europe', he's now retired and feeling a little bored. After winning a... Read more

Charles Paris: Murder in the Title

By: Simon Brett, BBC & Jeremy Front

Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Full Cast & Suzanne Burden

Length: 1 hour 50 minutes

Abridged: No

Charles Paris is his own worst enemy, a louche lush who can resist anything except temptation – especially in the form of women and alcohol.

He’s been out of work so long now he feels he may never get a job and he’s driving Frances, his semi-ex-wife, mad. So when he’s offered a small role in a play, she nearly pushes him out of the door. But it... Read more

The Gospel of Matthew

By: Various

Narrated by: Derek Jacobi

Length: 1 hour 33 minutes

Abridged: No

'The Gospel of Matthew': Derek Jacobi reads St Matthew's account of the life and teachings of Jesus. Specially composed music is included. The readings were part of BBC Radio 4's series of 341 daily episodes of the Bible, broadcast in 1991 and 1992. Abridged by Catherine Czerkawska. 'The New Testament': These abridged readings of the New... Read more