The day her children leave home, Eva climbs into bed and stays there. She's had enough-of her kids' carelessness, her husband's thoughtlessness and of the world's general indifference. Brian can't believe his wife is doing this. Who is going to make dinner? But Eva won't budge; and soon she realises to her horror that everyone has been taking her f...

When Jilly Cooper, then a young Sunday Times journalist, was asked to write a book on marriage, she had been married to Leo Cooper for a mere seven years. Now they are celebrating their Golden Wedding, and although the institution of marriage has changed a great deal since this book was first written, much of Jilly's advice - frank, fearless, often...

From one of the masters of wit, this collection of off-beat and unusual short stories all feature animals and includes 'The She-Wolf'; 'The Mouse'; 'The Broag'; 'The Boar Pig'; 'The Remoulding of Groby Lington'; 'The Wolves of Cernogratz'; 'Mrs Packletide's Tiger'; 'The Lull'; 'Laura'; 'The Stalled Ox'; 'Tobermory'; 'The Bull' and 'The Elk'.

A surreal, dark comedy from BBC Radio 3's The Wire, by Cornish writer Carl Grose that was inspired by seeing a Johannesburg local newspaper headline about a farmer who hanged 49 donkeys from tree branches on his land. Originally broadcast 1 November 2008 and repeated 18 July 2009. In Grose's play, Stanley Bray, a Cornish farmer, is compelled to han...

When a Republican party wins the General Election, they strip the royal family of everything and send them to live on a housing estate in the Midlands. Exchanging caviar for boiled eggs, servants for a social worker named Trish, the Queen and her family learn what it means to be poor among the great unwashed. Is their breeding sufficient to allow t...

The troubled teenager continues to struggle valiantly against the slings and arrows of growing up and his own family's attempts to scar him for life. In between the ups and downs of his relationship with the divine Pandora and worrying that his genius is going unrecognized, Adrian Mole chronicles the pains and pleasures of a misspent adolescence.

Finally given the heave-ho by Pandora, Adrian Mole finds himself in the situation of living with the love-of-his-life as she goes about shacking up with other men. Worse, as he slides down the employment ladder, from deskbound civil servant in Oxford to part-time washer-upper in Soho, he finds that critical reception for his epic novel, Lo! The Fla...

Michael Hordern stars as Jeeves with Richard Briers as Bertie in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation. The rural beauty of Steeple Bumpleigh holds no attractions for Bertie, containing (as it does) the appalling Aunt Agatha. But there is man's work to do and, with Jeeves at his side, how can Bertie fail?

The first series of Lynne Truss's hugely popular BBC Radio 4 comedy thriller set in 1950s Brighton. A place of knickerbocker glories, end-of-the pier shows...and an enormous amount of unsolved crime. Step forward Inspector Steine. Naive and innocent, he believes that he wiped out all the villains at a single stroke in the Middle Street Massacre whe...

All six episodes of series one of the BBC Radio 4 Comedy drama series by Emmy Award-winning writer Nigel Williams, charting the misfortunes of a middle-aged HR officer and his trouble-making colleague. Includes the following episodes: An Appraisal / An Away-Day / A Commute / A Role Play / A Leaving Party / A Bus Pass Starring Nicholas le Prevost as...

Roy Smiles' celebration of the 'Beyond the Fringe' team takes a funny and affectionate look at how four young men from Oxbridge changed the face of British comedy. Starring Matt Addis as Alan Bennett, Rory Kinnear as Peter Cook, Jonathan Aris as Jonathan Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch as Dudley Moore. A CPL production for BBC Radio 4.

Stephen looks to the future with some predictions. Will robots be able to read novels? How much will our computers be able to understand us? Will English rule - or change? And then there's a question about a duck...

The complete BBC Radio 4 series, 'Touchline Tales', in which old friends Des Lynam and Christopher Matthew visit some famous sporting venues to enjoy, observe, reminisce and trade tales about some of the greatest pleasures in their lives. Originally broadcast 2 - 16 July 2010. They lay some bets at a mid-week meet at Goodwood Races, take in the ope...

A small-town politician is world-weary, until he meets some unlikely allies, in the form of some animal companions! Saki's brilliant satirical wit is showcased to perfection in this wonderful short story from CSA Word's 'Classic Saki Stories' collection.

This is the story of Laura, Amanda and a she-otter, executed in Saki's characteristic witty and caustic style. A classic humor story taken from CSA Word's 'Classic Saki Stories', the tale meets Laura, who is dying, and hears her views on reincarnation and her perhaps odd desire to return as a certain mischievous creature. Both a funny and a moving...

Until the time of her death in 2003, actress Thora Hird worked regularly with the playwright Alan Bennett. In this audiobook, Bennett recalls his work and friendship with Thora, and introduces three examples of their collaboration.

Once again we find ourselves at that idyllic country seat, Blandings. This time it's debonair charmer, Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, fifth Earl of Ickenham (known to most as 'Uncle Fred') who has been lured to the castle by affable Lord Emsworth. His lordship requires an expert in human behaviour to prevent the egg-throwing Duke of Duns...

A popular story in the acclaimed 'Pat Hobby' series. Poor Pat Hobby's fates go from bad to worse when he gets the wrong impression of a heated situation. Amusing and delightfully cringeworthy at times, Pat Hobby is a stubborn anti-hero who you won't be able to resist.

Thursday Next, literary detective and newlywed, is back to embark on an adventure that begins, quite literally on her own doorstep. It seems that Landen, her husband of four weeks, actually drowned in an accident when he was two years old. Someone, somewhere, sometime, is responsible. The sinister Goliath Corporation wants its operative Jack Schitt...

Galahad's causing the usual uproar at Blandings, this time by deciding to write his memoirs - a choice not all of his high-society childhood buddies are keen on! Wodehouse's typically British farce is joyfully read by Martin Jarvis, who lends charismatic character voices to a plot which is as funny as it is ridiculous. Pig-kidnap also included!

The debonair Uncle Fred makes a welcome return to Blandings, where plotting and confusion is rife. Blackmail, sabotage, jilted lovers and pigs under threat of kidnap all feature largely, making this hilarious instalment in the Blandings series irresistible to fans and newcomers alike. The story sees lovely debutante Myra Schoonmaker unhappily ensco...