Benedict Cumberbatch has narrated 31 audiobooks on Listento.it by 25 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 1,320 ratings. The most-rated is Sojourn.
Benedict Cumberbatch Reads Thrilling Stories of the Railway
Summary
Benedict Cumberbatch reads five stories featuring the famous vegetarian railway detective Thorpe Hazell, as heard on BBC Radio 4. In "The Affair of the German Dispatch-Box", Hazell hatches a daring plan to retrieve a highly sensitive government document before it reaches the German Ambassador. In "Sir Gilbert Murrell's Picture", when an entire wagon containing valuable paintings disappears from a goods train, Hazell's skill is needed. In "The Affair of the Corridor Express", a multimillionaire's son disappears from a moving train. Hazell must find the kidnappers before the boy is lost forever. In "The Stolen Necklace" a lady begs Hazell to help when the diamond necklace that she borrowed is stolen from her suitcase. In "The Affair of the Birmingham Bank", customers keep drawing money from a Midlands bank, so gold reserves are sent by train. Hazell must guard against train robbery.
©2014 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2014 BBC Worldwide Ltd
The Raj Quartet: The Jewel in the Crown, The Day of the Scorpion, The Towers of Silence & A Division of the Spoils
Summary
An epic full-cast dramatisation of Paul Scott’s classic series of novels charting the last days of the British Raj. Spanning the years from 1942 to 1947, this landmark saga explores the relationships between an array of soldiers and civilians stationed in India as the sun sets on British colonial rule. As The Jewel in the Crown opens, World War II is at its height, and Gandhi is calling for the British to leave. When Daphne Manners arrives in Mayapore, she meets two men who will change her life: Hari Kumar and Ronald Merrick. She begins to fall for Hari, but Ronald Merrick - the local police superintendent - becomes infatuated with her and seethes with hatred for Hari. The Day of the Scorpion finds Merrick worming his way into the Layton family, and his treatment of Hari Kumar is revealed. In The Towers of Silence, it is summer 1945, and as the war ends Mabel Layton’s companion Barbie Batchelor is forced to leave her home in Pankot. In A Division of the Spoils, Sergeant Guy Perron arrives to witness India’s independence while the Laytons plan for their future - but the division of the country will spark tragic consequences for many. The extensive, star-studded cast includes Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House, Motherland), Prasanna Puwanarajah (Doctor Foster), Geraldine James (who also starred in the film of The Jewel in the Crown), Mark Bazeley (Broadchurch), Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), Kulvinder Ghir (Goodness Gracious Me) and Nina Wadia (EastEnders). Dramatised by John Harvey (The Jewel in the Crown, The Day of the Scorpion, The Towers of Silence) and Shelley Silas (A Division of the Spoils). Produced and directed by Sally Avens (The Jewel in the Crown, A Division of the Spoils) and Jeremy Mortimer (The Day of the Scorpion, The Towers of Silence). Music by Raiomond Mirza.
©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd
Rumpole: The Sleeping Partners & Other Stories
Summary
Benedict Cumberbatch plays the young, feisty, devastatingly acute Horace Rumpole in this collection of cracking cases, also starring Timothy West as the older Rumpole. Rumpole and the Old Boy Net: With the help of his new pupil, Miss Phillida Trant, Rumpole must defend Mr Napier Lee, who is charged with blackmail. But the alleged victim of the blackmail went to public school with Mr Lee, and so Mr Lee won't sneak on his old school chum.... Rumpole and the Sleeping Partners: After a legal ball in the Savoy Hotel, Rumpole and Hilda argue about Rumpole's drunken behaviour, and Rumpole decides to sleep the night on his sofa in chambers - strictly against the rules. But there he finds his colleague Erskine-Brown with Phillida Trant, 'working late'.... Rumpole and the Portia of Our Chambers: Rumpole comes close to giving up the law when forced to consider the path his life has taken by a combination of his attraction to his pupil Phillida, an unsettling case involving an Irish terrorist, and a visit from an old flame of Hilda's.
©2018 John Mortimer (P)2018 BBC Digital Audio
Letters of Note: Art
Summary
A surprising and varied collection of letters on the subject of art curated by the founder of the globally popular Letters of Note website. The first volume in the best-selling Letters of Note series was a collection of hundreds of the world's most entertaining, inspiring, and unusual letters, based on the seismically popular website of the same name - an online museum of correspondence visited by over 70 million people. From Virginia Woolf's heartbreaking suicide letter, to Queen Elizabeth II's recipe for drop scones sent to President Eisenhower; from the first recorded use of the expression "OMG" in a letter to Winston Churchill, to Gandhi's appeal for calm to Hitler; and from Iggy Pop's beautiful letter of advice to a troubled young fan, to Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable job application letter. Now, the curator of Letters of Note, Shaun Usher, gives us wonderful new volumes featuring letters organized around a universal theme. Featuring letters read by: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jude Law, Helen McCrory, Stephen Mangan, Clarke Peters, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong and Meera Syal, and including bonus performances by Noel Fielding and Ian McKellen.
©2020 McClelland & Stewart (P)2020 McClelland & Stewart
Artists in Crime
Summary
It started as a student exercise, the knife under the drape, the model's pose chalked in place. But before Agatha Troy, artist and instructor, returns to the class, the pose has been re-enacted in earnest: the model is dead, fixed for ever in one of the most dramatic poses Troy has ever seen. It's a difficult case for Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn. How can he believe that the woman he loves is a murderess? And yet no one can be above suspicion.
©1938 Ngaio Marsh (P)2008 Hachette Digital
Letters of Note: War
Summary
A powerful collection of letters on the theme of war, curated by the founder of the globally popular Letters of Note website. The first volume in the best-selling Letters of Note series was a collection of hundreds of the world's most entertaining, inspiring, and unusual letters, based on the seismically popular website of the same name - an online museum of correspondence visited by over 70 million people. Now, the curator of Letters of Note, Shaun Usher, gives us wonderful new volumes featuring letters organized around a universal theme. In this volume, Shaun Usher turns to the theme of war. There are few constants in life that weigh more heavily on the human race than our ceaseless engagement in acts of war. From time immemorial to the present day, across the world, wars have marked our history on earth like little else. Letters of Note: War brings together some of the most remarkable letters that encapsulate human experience of war, from unimaginable feats of courage and compassion, to unthinkable episodes of violence and horror. Includes letters by Kurt Vonnegut, Alexander Hamilton, Martha Gellhorn, and many more. Featuring letters read by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jude Law, Natascha McElhone, Clarke Peters, Juliet Stevenson and Mark Strong. With bonus performances by Ben Kingsley, Colin Firth, and Taron Egerton.
©2020 McClelland & Stewart (P)2020 McClelland & Stewart
The Spire
Summary
Dean Jocelin has a vision: that God has chosen him to erect a great spire on his cathedral. His mason anxiously advises against it, for the old cathedral was built without foundations. Nevertheless, the spire rises octagon upon octagon, pinnacle by pinnacle, until the stone pillars shriek and the ground beneath it swims. Its shadow falls ever darker on the world below, and on Dean Jocelin in particular. From the author of Lord of the Flies, The Spire is a dark and powerful portrait of one man's will, and the folly that he creates.
©1964 William Golding (P)2014 Faber Audio
The Biggest Secret
Summary
In the early hours of 5 June 1944, Captain Rob Collins, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who is languishing in hospital, receives a call that will take him on a journey through England that will change his life.
Mike Walker's play is an epic journey across England poised on the edge of a historical moment. It is set on June 5th, the day before the invasion. It is a portrait of England waiting for the invasion that will change the course of history, but an invasion only a very few know that is about happen.
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliet Stevenson and Claudia Harrison.
©2019 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2019 BBC Worldwide Ltd
Tom and Viv
Summary
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the heartbreaking story of TS Eliot's marriage to Viv Haigh-Wood. Michael Hastings' best known play charts the turbulent, doomed marriage of the young TS Eliot and the charismatic Vivienne Haigh-Wood. This moving, highly charged study has been described as 'one of the most important plays of the 20th century'. Stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Tom, Lia Williams as Viv, David Haig as Maurice and Judy Parfitt as Rose. Adapted and directed by Peter Kavanagh.
©2019 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2019 BBC Worldwide Ltd
Last Days of Grace
Summary
A cricketing legend faces his final innings in this moving BBC radio drama starring Kenneth Cranham and Benedict Cumberbatch. Easter Monday, 1908, and there's snow on the ground as ageing icon W.G. Grace arrives at the Oval to contemplate another day in his lifelong cricketing obsession. He can't face the thought of sitting in the clubhouse and meeting the same old people - so instead, he trudges out in the cold to the groundsman's hut, where he encounters a young stranger. Their talk turns, naturally, to cricket, and the two men recall the highlights of Grace's long career: his debut for the All-England team in 1866, when he made 100 runs on the first day, and his first Test Match at the Oval in 1880 where he scored 152 against Australia, becoming England's first centurion. But those triumphs occurred decades ago, and Grace no longer dominates the world of cricket as he once did. At nearly 60, he knows in his heart that it's time to retire, but he cannot bear the idea of giving up the game he loves. Can the stranger persuade him to bow out with dignity? Written by Nick Warburton, who won the 2007 Peter Tinniswood Award for Best New Play on Radio, this poignant, bittersweet drama stars Kenneth Cranham as Grace, with Benedict Cumberbatch as the young man and Christopher Martin-Jenkins as the Voice of Cricket. Produced by Steven Canny Cast W.G. Grace - Kenneth Cranham GF - Benedict Cumberbatch Voice of Cricket - Christopher Martin-Jenkins First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 24th September 2008
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Letters of Note: Mothers
Summary
A gorgeous collection of letters about mothers and motherhood, curated by the founder of the globally popular Letters of Note website. The first volume in the best-selling Letters of Note series was a collection of hundreds of the world's most entertaining, inspiring, and unusual letters, based on the seismically popular website of the same name - an online museum of correspondence visited by over 70 million people. From Virginia Woolf's heartbreaking suicide letter, to Queen Elizabeth II's recipe for drop scones sent to President Eisenhower; from the first recorded use of the expression OMG in a letter to Winston Churchill, to Gandhi's appeal for calm to Hitler; and from Iggy Pop's beautiful letter of advice to a troubled young fan, to Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable job-application letter. Now, the curator of Letters of Note, Shaun Usher, gives us wonderful new volumes featuring letters organized around a universal theme. In this volume, Shaun Usher turns his attention to mothers and motherhood. Featuring letters as read by: Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Neil Gaiman, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jude Law, Helen McCrory, Natascha McElhone, Miriam Margolyes, Clarke Peters, Juliet Stevenson, and Meera Syal. Includes bonus performances by Carey Mulligan and Anjelica Huston.
©2021 Shaun Usher (P)2021 McClelland & Stewart