In this documentary portrait of Kenneth Williams, who died in 1988, the much-loved comedy actor's diaries are drawn upon to illustrate his life and career. David Benson, who won acclaim for his one-man show in which he portrayed Kenneth Williams, reads extracts from the diaries, whilst archive clips from such programmes as Round the Horne and Beyon...

The English language in India. Despite being the imposed language of the imperial power, English also had the power to unite the nation. The story of the English language in India is also the story of the British merchants, adventurers and colonial administrators for whom the country was the Empire's jewel in the crown. Calcutta, the great Victoria...

Suave but embattled chairman Nicholas Parsons attempts to control prattling panellists Peter Jones, Clement Freud, Derek Nimmo and Paul Merton as they pit their wits - and their words - against the clock. Another hilarious selection of mirth-filled minutes from BBC Radio 4's popular long-running panel game. Suave but embattled chairman Nicholas Par...

Untold Stories, Alan Bennett's first major collection of prose since his bestselling Writing Home, brings together the finest and funniest of his writing over the last ten years. Following on from Untold Stories: Part 1: Stories and Part 2: The Diaries (also available from BBC Audiobooks), Part 3: Written on the Body is both a reflection on Alan Be...

In today's world of exponentially increased communication and responsibility, yesterday's methods for staying on top just don't work. Veteran management consultant and trainer David Allen recognizes that "time management" is useless the minute your schedule is interrupted; "setting priorities" isn't relevant when your email is down; "procrastinatio...

We explore the rise of powerful non-English linguistic forces in the United States. Starting at Plymouth Rock where the Pilgrim Fathers landed in 1620, Melvyn Bragg follows the development of English in the American colony-from the War of Independence and the founding of the first capital, Philadelphia, right through to the controversial contempora...

Another hilarious selection of mirth-filled minutes from BBC Radio 4's popular long-running panel game. These four shows were recorded in Bath, Edinburgh, Brighton and, from Sheffield, Derek Nimmo's last appearance on Just A Minute. Just a minute began on BBC Radio 4 in 1967 and has become a classic panel game which is still popular on Radio 4 toda...

In the summer of 1986, two Cambridge history undergraduates set out on Marco Polo's famous journey across Central Asia to the city of Xanadu in Mongolia. This account traces their experiences in the war-torn Middle East and along 1500 miles of the Silk Road to their eventual destination.

The King James Version has continued to this day to be one of the most beloved and widely sought after translations of the bible into the English language. Now over 400 years old, the King James Version has been shaping Christians for centuries with it\u2019s majesty and solemnity.Narrator David Cochran Heath brings his voice of clarity and warmth,...

The final programme in the series considers the future of English dialects. In the last programme in the series Melvyn looks at Standard English. He is joined by Lynda Mugglestone, Fellow of English Language at Pembroke College, Oxford and John Wells, Professor of Phonetics at the University of London. Together they attempt to answer some of the qu...

Four of the most sparkling editions from recent series of the ever-popular Radio 4 comedy panel game, chaired by Nicholas Parsons with regular players Paul Merton and Clement Freud joined by a host of guest players. Among the subjects hilariously tackled are: The Scottish Play, The A to Z, An Infinite Number of Monkeys, Leonardo da Vinci, The Famou...

'Bitter Lemons' is Durrell's paen to the beauty and mystery of Cyprus, from the romance of the characters living in Bellapaix where Durrell bought a house, to the beauty of the mountain ranges and the excitement of the slow but gradual uprising of the Greek Cypriots who are determined to achieve 'Enosis' - union with Greece and freedom from British...

In September 2014 the wreck of a sailing vessel was discovered at the bottom of the sea in the frozen wastes of the Canadian Arctic. It was broken at the stern and covered in a woolly coat of underwater vegetation. Its whereabouts had been a mystery for over a century and a half. Its name was HMS Erebus. Now Michael Palin - former Monty Python stal...

Here, Melvyn visits Oswestry. Just five miles from the Welsh border, this is a frontier town whose name means "boundary". It's where Offa's Dyke and countless crumbling castles bear witness to centuries of shifting political allegiances. Language too, has been a battleground. Welsh and English have waxed and waned, woven and unravelled. Visit the t...

Four specially selected episodes of Radio 4's much-loved panel game, hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Among the subjects hilariously tackled are tomboys, my secret vice, charisma, hot air, Speakers' Corner, cat lovers, agony aunts and bugs. First broadcast in 1968, Just a Minute is one of the longest-running radio comedy shows. A national institution, i...

The Best of Just a Minute is a yearly event which brings together the greatest shows of the year. Just a Minute was devised by the late Ian Messiter, who came up with the idea on the top of a number 13 bus, where he suddenly remembered the horrible task of speaking for one minute without hesitation or deviation being meted out by one of his school...

Continuing to make the world a better place, this is the second series for Mark to free you from sin. Mark Watson is not only a fantastic stand-up comedian, but he may also be the best chance we have to overcome sin. He's got a plan to teach us everything we need to know about the Six Deadly Sins (he knows it's usually seven, but he's doing Greed a...

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Six Machine by Chris Gayle, read by Leroy Osei-Bonsu. 'If the ball's there, hit it. Don't worry about what might happen. Play for the glory. Play for the six' Chris Gayle is the only man to have ever hit a six off the first ball of a Test match. But then producing the impossible is...

Nicholas Parsons and Paul Merton introduce Ian Messiter's four classic archive episodes of the ever-popular comedy panel game. Just as uproariously funny and terrifically popular today as when it first began on BBC Radio 4 in 1967, Just a Minute challenges contestants to speak for one minute on a given subject without repetition, hesitation or devi...

As a starting point in making the world a better place, Mark will free you from sin. It's a big task, but he thinks it's going to go really well. Mark Watson is not only a fantastic stand-up comedian, but he may also be the best chance we have to overcome sin. He's got a plan to teach us everything we need to know about the Six Deadly Sins (he know...

What happens when a black detective goes undercover in the KKK? An extraordinary true story. In 1978, Ron Stallworth is the first black detective in the history of the Colorado Springs Police Department. In the local paper, he finds a classified ad for the Ku Klux Klan - and a P.O. box for interested enquiries. All he's expecting are some racist br...