Frances Barber has narrated 14 audiobooks on Listento.it by 25 authors, with an average listener rating of 3.9★ across 352 ratings. The most-rated is Stardust.
Stardust
Summary
Matthew Beard and Sophie Rundle star in a brand-new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the best-selling novel by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Eleanor Bron. Challenged to retrieve a fallen star, Tristran Thorn leaves the sleepy English village of Wall and crosses into the land of Faerie and the realm of Stormhold. Locating the star, he discovers it is no meteorite but a young woman, Yvaine. When Yvaine evades him and escapes, Tristran discovers he is not the only one in pursuit of the star: there are dark forces in this magical land, and he must find Yvaine before she falls into their clutches. As he does so, Tristran will uncover the secret to his own identity and a fate beyond his wildest dreams. Directed by Dirk Maggs and Heather Larmour, and featuring over 35 minutes of unbroadcast material, this stunning new dramatisation boasts an extensive cast including Frances Barber, Maggie Steed, Nicholas Boulton, Blake Ritson, Bryan Dick, Charlotte Riley, Aisling Loftus, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Alex Macqueen, Matthew Beard and Sophie Rundle. There are also cameo appearances by Tori Amos and Neil Gaiman. Duration: 2 hours 30 mins approx.
©2017 Neil Gaiman (P)2017 BBC Digital Audio
Mansfield Park
Summary
Exclusively from Audible When the self-effacing 10-year-old Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relations at Mansfield Park she seems shy and withdrawn beside her witty and vivacious cousins. Growing up in the Bertram household, she is always treated as an inferior, only finding an ally in her cousin Edmund. But Fanny's steadfast and purposeful character eventually makes her an indispensable part of the household. During the absence of Fanny's uncle, the others become entangled in a maze of flirtation and intrigue upon the arrival of Mary Crawford and her brother Henry. It is only Fanny whose deep but secret love for Edmund remains true despite his fascination with her brilliant but frivolous cousin Mary. The most serious of Austen's works due to its discussion of religion and religious duty, Mansfield Park also offers a subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, making it one of Austen's most profound works. Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels which focused on the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Her plots often explore women's dependence on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Narrator Biography Frances Barber has received Olivier Award nominations for her work in the plays, Camille, and Uncle Vanya. Other theatre credits include; Madame Rubinstein, The School for Scandal, What The Butler Saw, Julius Caesar, Les Parents Terribles, That Face, Afterplay, Madame De Sade, and King Lear. Her numerous television credits include Father Brown, Medici: Masters of Florence, Mapp and Lucia, Psychobitches, The Spa, a new regular in the series Silk, several episodes of Doctor Who, Midsomer Murders and A Passionate Woman. Her film credits include The Escape; The Bookshop; Blue Iguana; Film Stars don't Die in Liverpool; El Elegido (The Chosen) and Mr. Holmes. Frances Barbar has narrated an impressive list of titles, including The Chimney Sweeper's Boy by Barbara Vine, The Voyages of the Princess Matilda by Shane Spall and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.
Public Domain (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Paradise Lost
Summary
Sir Ian McKellen stars as Milton in this dramatised retelling of John Milton's epic poem about the fall of man. Milton's biblical masterpiece, first published in 1667, is one of English literature's most seminal works. Straddling three worlds - heaven, hell and earth - it tells the gripping story of fallen angel Satan's rebellion against God, his temptation of Adam and Eve and their subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Written to 'justify the ways of God to men', it aimed to show what caused mankind's fall and the consequences for the world, both bad and good. By reaching back to the beginning of time, Milton hoped to discover the events that had led to the political and societal upheaval of his own era - as well as using allegory to ask powerful questions about authority, government, tyranny and disobedience. In this brand-new dramatisation, Milton himself (Sir Ian McKellen) is the blind narrator grieving the loss of his wife, played by Frances Barber. Also starring Simon Russell Beale as Satan, and adapted by award-winning poet and broadcaster Michael Symmons Roberts, this enthralling drama is a vital piece of storytelling with striking parallels to contemporary events. Cast and credits: Milton........................Sir Ian McKellen Elizabeth........................Frances Barber Satan........................Simon Russell Beale Beelzebub........................Jonathan Keeble Adam........................Ashley Margolis Eve........................Emily Pithon Christ........................David Seddon Raphael........................Conrad Nelson God........................Russell Dixon All other parts were played by members of the company. Written by John Milton. Dramatised by Michael Symmons Roberts. Produced and directed by Susan Roberts.
©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd
The Chimney Sweeper's Boy
Summary
The obituaries for Gerald Candless were respectful. He had been, after all, an admired and popular writer, and his sudden death at his home in Devon was a loss to literature as well as to his family and friends. The trouble was, as his daughter Sarah soon discovered, that it seemed that her father had taken on a different identity that he wasn't Gerald Candless at all. But if he wasn't Gerald Candless, who was he?
©1998 Kingsmarkham Enterprises Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
BBC Radio Shakespeare
Summary
Three full-cast BBC Radio productions of Shakespeare's most famous Roman plays. Featuring all-star casts and introduced by Sir Richard Eyre, these three iconic productions of Shakespeare's dynamic Roman histories are full of political intrigue, passion and tragedy. Julius Caesar This updated version of Shakespeare's classic play is set in Italy in 1925. Julius Caesar, a new Roman dictator, has swept to power, and his way is clear to assume total control - unless a coup by Cassius and Brutus can alter the tide of history. Nicholas Farrell stars as Brutus and Gerard Murphy as Julius Caesar. Coriolanus When Rome's greatest hero, the warrior Coriolanus, divides the people and the patricians through his arrogance, he is driven into exile. Samuel West stars as Coriolanus, with Susannah York as Volumnia. Antony and Cleopatra Shakespeare's last great tragedy is an action epic set against the political backdrop of the Roman Empire and the centre of Egyptian culture, Alexandria. But at the heart of the play is the story of what happens when two people fall in love. Starring Frances Barber as Cleopatra and David Harewood as Mark Antony.
©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Thirteen
Summary
Winner of the 2014 AUDIE award for Best Original Work In early 20th Century England Hamilton James Macaulay relates the tale of how he found himself in a Scarborough Bric-a-brac shop. The owner of the shop has 13 long playing records that each contain a hidden track at the end, that tell strange tales of future times. These 13 tales of terror will change Hamilton James Macaulay's life forever and he will leave the shop a murderer. Thirteen is a portmantaeu audio anthology, harking back to the classic horror albums of the 1970s. Written by Scott Harrison, George Mann, Mark Morris, Kaaron Warren, Martin Day, Gary McMahon, Cavan Scott, Dan Abnett, Alasdair Stuart, Kim Newman, Mark Wright, Simon Clark and Johnny Mains. Stories read by Barnaby Edwards, Greg Wise, Jilly Bond, Trevor White, Arthur Darvill, Stephen Rashbrook, Michael Maloney, John Banks, Frances Barber, Lalla Ward, Samuel West, Gemma Arterton, Jeff Harding and Steven Cree.
©2013 Spokenworld Audio/Ladbroke Audio Ltd (P)2013 Spokenworld Audio/Ladbroke Audio Ltd
Betrayed
Summary
A mother, a daughter, and a family torn apart, this title offers the heartbreaking true story of an unimaginable betrayal. For the first six years of her life, Sarah Harris was a normal, happy, popular little girl. But, from the age of six her life was a living hell as she became the victim of a vicious eighteen-month hate campaign. Before long, she was suspended from school, alienated from her friends, completely bewildered, and utterly terrified. Her happy childhood had been destroyed forever. For her mother, Lyndsey, it was a life beyond her worst nightmares. Her little girl, the daughter she loved so much, seemed to have transformed overnight, doing things unthinkable in a six-year-old child, things that made Lyndsey scared of her own child, stealing razor blades; attempting to poison her friends; and accusing her parents of sexual abuse. Soon, Lyndsey's marriage was on the verge of collapse, social services stepped in, and suddenly Lyndsey was fighting to keep her family together, and to save her daughter's sanity. But, worse was to come as Lyndsey discovered her family had been victims of the most hurtful betrayal of all.
©2006 Lyndsey Harris (P)2006 Random House Audiobooks
Shroud of Sorrow
Summary
23 November, 1963. It is the day after John F. Kennedy's assassination - and the faces of the dead are everywhere.
PC Reg Cranfield sees his late father in the mists along Totter's Lane. Reporter Mae Callon sees her grandmother in a coffee stain on her desk. FBI Special Agent Warren Skeet finds his long-dead partner staring back at him from raindrops on a window pane. Then the faces begin to talk, and scream... and push through into our world.
As the alien Shroud begins to feast on the grief of a world in mourning, can the Doctor dig deep enough into his own sorrow to save mankind?
A thrilling new adventure from the spectacular BBC series, starring Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman.
©2013 Tommy Donbavand (P)2013 AudioGO
How to Be Good
Summary
Katie Carr believes she is a good person. With a capital G. She is a doctor, after all. Besides, her husband David is Holloway's Angriest Man. Which is another reason why she can justify lying in bed with Stephen. When David becomes good, really good, as in Feed the World and Give the Homeless Our Spare Room good, as opposed to his wife's Feed the Family and Buy a Big Issue good, Katie has some serious thinking to do. Nick Hornby's brilliant new novel offers a painfully funny account of modern marriage and parenthood and asks the question: what does it mean to be good?
©2001 Nick Hornby (P)2001 Penguin Books Ltd
Season's Greetings (Classic Radio Theatre)
Summary
A sparkling BBC Radio 4 production of Alan Ayckbourn’s festive play, starring Frances Barber, Phil Daniels, Bill Nighy, Geoffrey Palmer and John Sessions.
Christmas is the season of good cheer and harmony among men, but things are not working out quite that way in the Bunker household. As a motley collection of friends and relatives fill the house with their own wishes, dreams and attitudes, the stage is set for seasonal disharmony and romantic intrigue.
It’s Christmas Eve and while Belinda is rushing around decorating the tree and seeing to all the guests and their needs, Eddie and Pattie are having a serious bust-up. Added to all of this, Bernard is conducting a chaotic rehearsal of his annual gift for the children - a puppet show of The Three Little Pigs - as his wife, Phyllis gets quietly sloshed in the kitchen on the cooking wine. Then something disastrous occurs...
©2011 AudioGO Ltd (P)2011 AudioGO Ltd
The Secret Grief (BBC Radio 3: Drama on 3)
Summary
A BBC Radio 3 production from the 'Drama on 3' series exploring the idea of a fascism of the mind. Nigel is bored. But then he meets the glamorous Liv and Tony and becomes part of their beautiful world; a beauty that hides a disturbing secret… David Eldridge's The Secret Grief stars Paul Chequer as Nigel, Frances Barber as Liv, and David Schofield as Tony. Also featured amongst the cast are Struan Rodger, Alex Tregear, Stuart McLoughlin and Nyasha Hatendi.
©2011 AudioGO Ltd (P)2011 AudioGO Ltd
The James Joyce BBC Radio Collection
Summary
Three BBC radio productions of major works by James Joyce - plus Gordon Bowker’s fascinating biographical account of his life.
Ulysses
In this full-cast dramatisation of Joyce’s epic modernist novel, the stories of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom combine as they meander through Dublin in the course of one day, 16 June 1904. Andrew Scott stars as Stephen, with Henry Goodman as Bloom, Niamh Cusack as Molly Bloom and Stephen Rea as the Narrator.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
An abridged reading of James Joyce's autobiographical masterpiece portraying the adolescence of Stephen Dedalus, who must question the culture and religion of his native land before he can break free to become an artist. Read by Andrew Scott.
Dubliners
This abridged collection of 15 naturalistic tales depicts an array of characters from childhood through adolescence to maturity. Stories of love, loss, friendship, marriage, politics and family combine to create a unified world and a celebration of a city. Read by Stephen Rea.
James Joyce - A Biography
Gordon Bowker’s comprehensive study explores Joyce’s years spent in exile in Europe and examines how his life shaped his genius. Read by Jim Norton, with Andrew Scott as the voice of Joyce.
©2019 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2019 BBC Worldwide Ltd
Daunt & Dervish
Summary
All four series of the jaunty crime drama featuring two ex-spies who set up a private detective agency London,1953. Josephine Daunt and Susan Dervish both worked for the Ministry of Defence during the Second World War, doing top-secret, highly dangerous espionage work. But in peacetime, they find themselves without a job and feeling useless. Determined to put their talents to good use, they decide to set up a detective agency, with the help of former private eye Bill Mackie. From their Covent Garden office, they handle a steady flow of business. But the ladies’ lives really become exciting when they rescue a woman from drowning – only to discover that she’s not what she seems. Soon, the daring duo are caught up in all manner of challenging cases, including a sporting assignment involving a priest and an Olympic boxing hopeful, a request to bid on a Monet that takes them on a trail across the Channel, a commission to investigate film actress Belinda Lane and a theft at a fashion designer’s workshop that leads them into a world of Teddy boys, political machinations and murder.... Guy Meredith's light-hearted crime series stars Anna Massey as Josephine Daunt, while Imelda Staunton, Frances Barber and Sylvestra Le Touzel play Susan Dervish. Bill Paterson and Sean Scanlan co-star as Bill Mackie. Written by Guy Meredith. Format by Imelda Staunton and Anna Massey. Series 1 produced by Cherry Cookson and directed by Janet Whitaker. Series 2-4 produced and directed by Colin Guthrie. Clarinet played by Julian Stringle (Series 3, Episode 1).
©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Summary
The three bears learn a valuable lesson about locking their door when they take a stroll while their breakfast cools, only to return to find an intruder in their home - an intruder with golden curls who has gotten lost in the woods.
©2008 PC Treasures, Inc.