Art audiobooks

Ken Dodd's Palace Of Laughter

By: Ken Dodd

Narrated by: Guests & Ken Dodd

Length: 1 hour 35 minutes

Abridged: No

Ken Dodd and a supporting cast give us Ken's unique look behind the scenes and the show at his fictional theatre, the Palace Of Laughter. Enjoy more hilarity from the Squire of Notty Ash in these four classic radio shows, recorded in 1986 and 1987 at the Wigan Little Theatre, the Southport Little Theatre, Crewe's Lyceum Theatre and the Garrick... Read more

The Glums

By: Frank Muir

Narrated by: Dick Bently, Jimmy Edwards & June Whitfield

Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

Abridged: No

Eight 'Take It From Here' radio episodes from the 1950s, featuring Ron and Eth Glum. Jimmy Edwards stars as the beer-swilling head of the Glum household, with Dick Bentley as Ron and June Whitfield as Eth. Read more

Torchwood Mr Invincible

By: Joseph Lidster

Narrated by: Tom Price

Length: 1 hour 4 minutes

Abridged: No

Ross Chapman is one of life's losers. So when he survives a point-blank shooting, dons a superhero costume and becomes a crime-busting vigilante, something strange is clearly going on. And Ross's transformation isn't the only odd thing happening in Cardiff. Time is distorting - around the city, some people are aging, dying and decomposing in a... Read more

The Comedy Greats

By: Russell Davis & Clive Coleman

Narrated by: Russell Davis & Full Cast

Length: 2 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

A celebration of one hundred years of outstanding comic performers from music hall, radio and television. Researched, compiled and presented by Russell Davies, the collection includes a wide range of personalities, from the Crazy Gang to John Cleese and from Tallulah Bankhead to Victoria Wood. Read more

Last Tango in Toulouse

By: Mary Moody

Narrated by: Marie-Louise Walker

Length: 7 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

The year of her 50th birthday, Mary Moody ran away from home, family and work for six months to live in a remote French village. Her book about these experiences, Au Revoir, struck a chord with tens of thousands of readers across Australia. Yet those experiences were to mark a beginning rather than an end. To her surprise, Mary found herself... Read more

The Home of the Blizzard

By: Sir Douglas Mawson

Narrated by: James Condon

Length: 17 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

The Home of the Blizzard is a tale of discovery and adventure, of pioneering deeds, great courage, heart-stopping rescues and heroic endurance. This is Mawson’s own account of his years spent in Antarctica, travelling in sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds. At its heart is the epic journey of 1912-13, during which both his companions... Read more

The Art Of Monarchy

By: Will Gompertz

Narrated by: Will Gompertz

Length: 3 hours 41 minutes

Abridged: No

The Royal Collection is one of the most wide-ranging collections of art and artefacts in the world and provides an intriguing insight into the minds of the monarchs who have assembled it. In this series, BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz examines dozens of these unique objects, in a quest to 'use the Collection as a prism through which to better... Read more

Cecil Beaton In His Own Words

By: BBC & Cecil Beaton

Narrated by: Cecil Beaton

Length: 1 hour 21 minutes

Abridged: No

Cecil Beaton was a portrait and fashion photographer, as well as a diarist and Oscar-winning designer. Here he discusses his life and achievements in a series of interviews from the BBC radio and TV archive:

At Home: Cecil Beaton, broadcast on BBC Radio, 7th May 1957 (featuring Hywel Davies)
Face To Face, broadcast on BBC Television, 18th February... Read more

Gorilla Beach

By: Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

Narrated by: Emma Galvin

Length: 8 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

New York Times bestselling author and America’s favorite guidette, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi's latest novel set on the famed and fun-filled Jersey Shore!

Jersey Shore’s breakout star Snooki became a New York Times bestseller with her debut novel, A Shore Thing. Now she’s back for more in this fun follow-up novel. In Gorilla Beach, Gia and Bella... Read more

Leap Year Tales

By: Laura Marney, Ruth Thomas & Alan Spence

Narrated by: Gabriel Quigley, John Buick & Melody Grove

Length: 40 minutes

Abridged: No

A collection of three stories to mark the Leap Year by Laura Marney, Ruth Thomas and Alan Spence.

The Leap Year Tales are:

'Aw Wrong' by Laura Marney
Facing the imminent birth of their first child, a couple take steps to try to influence the course of nature.
Read by Gabriel Quigley.

'February Alone' by Ruth Thomas
An intended romantic lunch goes... Read more

The History Plays

By: Nigel Smith

Narrated by: Blake Harrison, Daniel Rigby, Fiona Allen, Imel...

Length: 2 hours 19 minutes

Abridged: No

The History Plays is a series of five two-hander plays by Vent author Nigel Smith, which are imagined conversations at key moments in recent history, moments that have permanently changed the British psyche.

Starting with Mick Jagger's conviction for drug possession; through the fragmented morality of John Stonehouse; the Indian summer of... Read more

Torchwood Red Skies

By: Joseph Lidster

Narrated by: John Telfer

Length: 1 hour 18 minutes

Abridged: No

Jack Harness is in need of a holiday. He wants to get away from Torchwood, away from the human race - and where better to get completely away from it all than Cotter Paluni's World, a planet surrounded by deadly scarlet lightning and cut off from the entire universe? But there are some shocks in store for Jack: the 'Devil's World' might be... Read more

O. Henry Stories

By: O. Henry

Narrated by: John Gerrasio

Length: 40 minutes

Abridged: No

A collection of three Christmas classics by a cherished American writer, to warm the soul and intrigue the listener with satisfyingly unexpected plot twists.

Episode 1: The Gift Of The Magi
A young couple struggle to find the money for a really special Christmas present for each other.

Episode 2: Mammon And The Archer
A young man is encouraged to... Read more

Aesop's Fables

By: Aesop

Narrated by: Alison Steadman, Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks,...

Length: 3 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

40 of Aesop's tales, specially adapted for young children. Read by Richard Briers, Jane Horrocks, Jonathan Pryce, Alison Steadman, Richard E. Grant, Lindsay Duncan and Brenda Blethyn. Stories include: The Hare & the Tortoise/The Frogs & the Ox/The Fox & the Crow/The Monkey as King/The Bundle of Sticks/The Gnat & the Lion/The... 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

Both of Us

By: Ryan O'Neal, Jodee Blanco & Kent Carroll

Narrated by: Ryan O'Neal

Length: 6 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

RYAN O’NEAL AND FARRAH FAWCETT.
One of the most storied love affairs in Hollywood history, their romance has captivated fans and media alike for more than three decades. Fans of each other from afar, Ryan and Farrah met through her husband, Lee Majors, and fell passionately in love. Soon, however, reality threatened their happiness and they... Read more

Effie

By: Suzanne Fagence Cooper

Narrated by: Sophie Ward

Length: 12 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Effie Gray, a beautiful and intelligent young socialite, rattled the foundations of England's Victorian age. Married at nineteen to John Ruskin, the leading art critic of the time, she found herself trapped in a loveless, unconsummated union after Ruskin rejected her on their wedding night. On a trip to Scotland she met John Everett Millais,... Read more

The Al Read Show 2

By: Ronnie Taylor

Narrated by: Al Read

Length: 1 hour 36 minutes

Abridged: No

The second 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... 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 Al Read Show 3

By: Ronnie Taylor

Narrated by: Al Read

Length: 1 hour 41 minutes

Abridged: No

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... Read more

Johnners At The Beeb

By: Brian Johnston

Narrated by: Barry Johnston

Length: 2 hours 52 minutes

Abridged: No

Jovial Johnners was the doyen of cricket commentators, as well as a consumer of chocolate cake, a reporter, presenter, quizmaster and much-loved voice at State occasions. For nearly 50 years the ever-affable, always enthusiastic Brian Johnston brought warmth and wit to a wide range of BBC programmes - commentating for Test Match Special and the... 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

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