The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Summary
A gripping collection of 15 BBC Radio full-cast dramas written by Bert Coules, inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories. In the 56 short stories and four novels Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about his great detective, how many times did Dr John Watson tantalise us with references to cases which were never written about in full? These original adventures flesh out those unrecorded cases to wonderful effect. Clive Merrison plays the great sleuth himself, with Andrew Sachs in the role of Doctor Watson. The star casts include Tom Baker, Jane Asher, Tim West, Toyah Willcox, Lindsay Duncan and Mark Gatiss. The stories in this collection are: 'The Madness of Colonel Warburton' 'The Star of the Adelphi' 'The Saviour of Cripplegate Square' 'The Singular Inheritance of Miss Gloria Watson' 'The Abergavenny Murder' 'The Shameful Betrayal of Miss Emily Smith' 'The Tragedy of Hanbury Street' 'The Determined Client' 'The Striking Success of Miss Franny Blossom' 'Thirteen Watches' 'Peculiar Persecution of Mr John Vincent Harden' 'The Ferrers Documents' 'The Remarkable Performance of Mr Frederick Merridew' 'The Eyes of Horus' 'The Marlbourne Point Mystery'
©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd
A Handful of Dust
Summary
After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last has grown bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. In a novel that combines tragedy, comedy, and savage irony, Evelyn Waugh indelibly captures the irresponsible mood of the "crazy and sterile generation" between the wars.
©1934 Evelyn Waugh (P)2015 Hachette Audio
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Dramatised)
Summary
Harry Enfield and Billy Boyd star in a brand new, full-cast dramatisation of Douglas Adams' first Dirk Gently book, directed by the award-winning Dirk Maggs.
Dirk Gently has an unshakeable belief in the interconnectedness of all things, but his Holistic Detective Agency mainly succeeds in tracking down missing cats for old ladies. Then Dirk stumbles upon an old friend behaving bizarrely - and he's drawn into a four-billion-year-old mystery that must be solved if the human race is to avoid immediate extinction.
Harry Enfield stars as Douglas Adams' much-loved psychic sleuth, with Billy Boyd (The Lord of the Rings), Andrew Sachs (Fawlty Towers), Jim Carter (The Golden Compass), and Olivia Colman (Peepshow).
©1987 Douglas Adams (P)2007 BBC Audiobooks Ltd
Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection
Summary
John Cleeseâs special introductions to each episode are included in this collection of all 12 TV soundtrack episodes. Welcome to Fawlty Towers, where attentive hotelier Basil Fawlty and his charming wife, Sybil, will attend to your every need - in your worst nightmare. With hapless waiter Manuel and long-suffering waitress Polly on hand to help, anything could happen during your stay - and probably will. Every episode of both TV series is included in this soundtrack collection: 'A Touch of Class', 'The Builders', 'The Wedding Party', 'The Hotel Inspectors', 'Gourmet Night', 'The Germans', 'Communication Problems' 'The Psychiatrist' 'Waldorf Salad', 'The Kipper and the Corpse', 'The Anniversary' and 'Basil the Rat'. Co-starring with John Cleese as Basil are Prunella Scales (Sybil), Andrew Sachs (Manuel), Connie Booth (Polly) with a supporting cast including Ballard Berkeley, Bernard Cribbins, Joan Sanderson, Geoffrey Palmer, Nicky Henson and Ken Campbell. These classic recordings were made between 1975 and 1979 and the content of the programme reflects the era in which it was broadcast.
©2015 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2015 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
The Isles
Summary
Here is the best-selling and controversial history of the British Isles, including Ireland, from the author of Europe: A History. Emphasizing long-standing European connections and positing a possible break-up of the United Kingdom, this agenda-setting work is destined to become a classic.
© Norman Davies; (P) Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Bitter Lemons of Cyprus
Summary
Lawrence Durrell's evocative memoir of living in Cyprus, just before the Greek/Turkish partition. This is a touching and atmospheric account of a place, now changed, where the two races lived side by side.
©1994 CSA Telltapes Ltd. (P)1994 CSA Telltapes Ltd.
The Power and the Glory
Summary
In a poor Mexican state in the 1930s, the Red Shirts have viciously persecuted the clergy and murdered many priests. Yet one remains - the âwhisky priestâ who believes he's lost his soul. On the run and with the police closing in, his routes of escape are being shut off, his chances getting fewer. But compassion and humanity force him along the road to his destiny⦠Andrew Sachs reads Graham Greeneâs powerful novel about a worldly Roman Catholic priest and his quest for penitence and dignity.
©1940 Graham Greene (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Mog and the Baby
Summary
A gorgeous story written by one of our best known and loved Childrenâs book authors, famed for her warm yet playful stories about the very much loved Mog the Cat. Mog's peaceful day is shattered when a baby comes to visit. All Mog wants to do is sleep and play but there is no chance of that with a little baby around! "Mog loves babies," says Mrs Thomas but suddenly Mog isn't quite so sureâ¦
©1980 Judith Kerr (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
The Willows at Christmas
Summary
Toad, Mole, Ratty and Badger return once more in a special Christmas tale from the bestselling author of The Willows in Winter, Toad Triumphant and The Willows and Beyond. The Tales of the Willows sequence â in which William Horwood returned to the idyllic setting of The Wind in the Willows and brought back Kenneth Grahameâs much-loved characters, began in 1993, with the The Willows in Winter, which immediately caught the imagination of the public. The series continued with Toad Triumphant and was brought to a conclusion with The Willows and Beyond. Now, in The Willows at Christmas, William Horwood has created a spellbinding new tale especially for Christmas which takes place after the events in The Wind in the Willows but before The Willows in Winter.As the story opens, the normally bumptious Toad is not looking forward to Christmas one bit. Every year the dreaded Mrs Ffleshe comes to stay at Toad Hall. And every year she does all she can to protect Toad from the dangers of over-indulgence, despite his protestations. The daughter of the nanny who made Toad Seniorâs life a misery years before, Mrs Ffleshe feels it is her duty to take the errant younger Toad under her wing to save him from himself. This year, however, his loyal friends Mole, Ratty, Badger and Otter plan to rescue Toad from his unwanted guardian. Yet their efforts serve only to goad him into his most mischievous behaviour, and it seems as if Mole and Toad will be spending their Christmas together â in the Village gaol.
©2010 William Horwood (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Snakes and Ladders
Summary
This is the second volume of Dirk Bogarde's autobiography, covering the time between his experiences at an army camp at Catterick to his role as von Aschenbach in the film Death in Venice. Since 1947 he has starred in more than 60 films, especially during the 1950s and 60s, including The Night Porter and Despair. Among his other volumes of autobiography are A Postillion Struck by Lightning, An Orderly Man, and Backcloth. He has also written novels: A Gentle Occupation, Voices in the Garden, and West of Sunset.
©1988 Dirk Bogarde (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Tales from Shakespeare
Summary
Discover Shakespeareâs best-loved plays. A perfect introduction for all ages to the breadth and beauty of Shakespeare's work, Tales from Shakespearehas become a classic work in its own right. The tales bring vividly alive the power of Hamlet and Macbeth, the fun of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the drama of The Tempest. Blending detailed narrative with original dialogue and poetic language, they fully convey the wit, wisdom, and imagination of Shakespeare's magnificent plays.
©2010 Penguin Books Ltd (P)2010 Penguin Books Ltd
A Prison Diary
Summary
DAY 5, MONDAY 23 JULY 2001, 5.53 AM The sun is shining through the bars of my window on what must be a glorious summer day. I've been incarcerated in a cell five paces by three for 12 and a half hours, and will not be let out again until midday; 18 and a half hours of solitary confinement. There is a child of 17 in the cell below me who has been charged with shoplifting, his first offence, not even convicted, and he is being locked up for 18 and a half hours, unable to speak to anyone. This is Great Britain in the 21st century, not Turkey, not Nigeria, not Kosovo, but Britain. On Thursday 19 July 2001, after a perjury trial lasting seven weeks, Jeffrey Archer was sentenced to four years in jail. He was to spend the first 22 days and 14 hours in HMP Belmarsh, a double A-Category high-security prison in South London, which houses some of Britain's most violent criminals. This is the author's daily record of the time he spent there.
© Jeffrey Archer; (P) Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Summary
A car that floats?...that flies?...that can steer itself? It must be Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Only Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, could have dreamed up this marvelous 'mobile, its enterprising owners and a series of adventures that rival those of 007 himself! When resourceful inventor Caractacus Pott saves the enormous green roadster from the scrap heap, it doesn't take long for his family to realize that they have a pretty amazing auto. Their day trip to the beach turns into an exciting sea voyage, complete with a secret cave and a gang of ruthless mobsters (who have a giant stockpile of explosives)! The Potts quickly learn that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang may be their only hope!
©1964, 1965 Glidrose Productions Ltd. (P)2003 Random House, Inc., Imagination Studio, an Imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group
Latecomers
Summary
Hartmann was a German, Fibich an orphan of World War II.... A novel about human relationships, focusing, unusually for Brookner, on two male characters. Hartmann and Fibich met at school and 40 years later they can no more think of living apart than of divorcing their wives. This book deals with their gradual coming to terms with the emotional gaps in their lives.
©1998 Anita Brookner (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
The Cherry Orchard: (Classic Radio Theatre - Dramatised)
Summary
Sinéad Cusack, Anna Massey, Patricia Routledge, Andrew Sachs and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies star in this 1974 BBC Radio full-cast production of Chekhovâs classic play.
Madame Ranyevskaya and her daughter Anya have returned home from Paris to discover that their family estate - which includes their beloved cherry orchard - has to be sold to cover the familyâs debts. They believe a miracle can save their orchard. But will their stubborn pride and fond, childhood memories be enough?
Chekhovâs tragic-comedy is about the passing of an era and is a timeless study of a Russian aristocratic family desperately clinging to the past.
Among the star cast in this 1974 production are Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Sinéad Cusack, Anna Massey, Patricia Routledge and Andrew Sachs.
The Classic Radio Theatre range presents notable radio productions of much-loved plays by some of the most renowned playwrights, and starring some of our finest actors.
©1974 Anton Chekhov (P)2011 AudioGO Ltd
The Need for Nonsense
Summary
Andrew Sachs stars in this BBC Radio 4 'Afternoon Play' about painter Edward Lear. The Need for Nonsense was originally broadcast on 9 February 2009, and repeated on 17 January 2011. Julia Blackburn's play captures the warm, heartfelt, and comic story of the Victorian poet and painter Edward Lear's lifelong friendship with his eccentric Greek servant, Giorgio, who inspired him to address the painful truths in his life while making us laugh. Stars Andrew Sachs as Edward Lear and Alexi Kaye-Campbell as Giorgio Kokalis. Also featured in the cast are Mark Meadows, Ross McKendrick, James Rastall, and Kim Hicks. Directed by Mary Ward-Lowery.
©2009 Julia Blackburn (P)2011 AudioGO Ltd
The Big Mog Collection
Summary
Share in 50 years of a really remarkable cat.... Join everyoneâs favourite family cat in this delightful collection, full of her warm-hearted and funny escapades and read by the wonderful Andrew Sachs and Geraldine McEwan. From the creator of The Tiger Who Came to Tea and Mog the Forgetful Cat comes a remarkable audio collection of five delightful family adventures about a really remarkable cat! Featuring five funny and exciting classic stories: Mog and the V.E.T., Mog the Forgetful Cat, Mog and the Baby, Mogâs Christmas, Mogâs Amazing Birthday Caper. With music and sound effects and extended text written especially for the audio by Judith Kerr, this incredible collection is read by the incredibly talented and beloved actors, Geraldine McEwan and Andrew Sachs.Â
©2019 Judith Kerr (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited