In these six pieces, Alan Bennett retains the gripping stories, intensity of delivery and masterly style of his original monologues. The suburban normality of the world his characters inhabit once again belies their lives of secrets, revelations, fears, crimes and passions. They tell their stories, and in doing so reveal more than they know of the...

In this BBC full-cast production of The Taming of the Shrew, the freedom and virility of women is frowned upon. Will Petruchio's quest to 'tame' his new wife succeed?Layers of assumed identity, elaborate role-playing, and acerbic exchanges of wit reveal the real relationship between men and women in this exuberant production of one of Shakespe...

In this BBC full-cast production of The Tempest, a magical storm washes some sailors up on a peculiar island, changing the course of their lives forever...Raging storms and rich beautiful music combine to magical effect in this production of Shakespeare's allegorical last play, where mystical forces work to restore harmony and order to an estr...

In this BBC full-cast production of Twelfth Night, Malvolio is looking for trouble - and revenge...Michael Maloney, Josette Simon and Anne-Marie Duff star in this fast and funny production of Shakespeare's most sparkling and optimistic comedy, when all the world is turned on its head and authority is usurped, when by civil...

In this BBC full-cast production of As You Like It, Rosalind is banished from the Royal court, heartbroken over Orlando. Will the two find a way to reunite?A comedy of wit, disguise and love, Shakespeare's tale about the enchanted world of the Forest of Arden remains as moving as it is funny.Helena Bonham Carter stars as Rosalind, with&nb...

'The Chief Justice of Beauty' finds the ladies hired by a beauty contest judge to check up on the integrity of the finalists in a forthcoming competition, following the embarrassing arrest for shoplifting of a previous winner. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotsweis worried about her fianc‚, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni. 'The Confession' sees Mma Ramotswe consulti...

In this BBC full-cast production of Coriolanus, allies and enemies become blurred just as Rome is in sight...Coriolanus tells of a proud Roman general who captures the town Corioli but subsequently falls from favour with the Roman people. He allies himself with the Volscians and leads an attack on Rome, but allegiances are won and lost be...

'The Daddy' introduces us to Mma Ramotswe as she embarks on her first case and takes on a new secretary, the resourceful and talented Mma Makutsi. Together, they must find the truth about a Daddy who appears to have returned from the dead - as well as investigating a wayward teenage girl and attempting to find a vanished child. 'The Bone' sees the...

Ed Bishop stars as Philip Marlowe in a powerful and atmospheric full-cast dramatisation of Raymond Chandler's classic noir novel. The first time Marlowe sets eyes on Terry Lennox, he is lying drunk in the passenger seat of a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. The next time, he's on Skid Row. After they share a few Gimlets, Marlowe thinks he seems like a ni...

Michael Sheen stars as Hamlet with Kenneth Cranham as Claudius, Juliet Stevenson as Gertrude and Ellie Beaven as Ophelia in the best-known and most powerful tragedy of modern times. BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and...

Warm, humorous and uplifting, Alexander McCall Smith's hugely popular novels featuring Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of Botswana's only female private detective agency, have become international bestsellers, sold over seven million copies, and been translated into 26 languages.These acclaimed productions, complete with vibrant music, bring the exot...

Two stand-alone BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas adapted by Alexander McCall Smith from his much-loved series 'The Kalahari Typing School for Men' opens with bad news for Mma Ramotswe - her agency has competition in the form of the Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency, run by a man. Mma Makutsi has entrepreneurial ambitions too, and has conceived t...

In this BBC full-cast production, King Lear tests his three daughters' love, to disastrous consequences.Some of the most stirring scenes Shakespeare ever wrote resonate powerfully in this dramatic radio production. Tortured madness, pure evil, and the fatal struggle for power grip the listener until the final, shockingly tragic conclusion.Starring&...

Ed Bishop stars as Philip Marlowe in this powerfully atmospheric dramatisation of Raymond Chandler's novel about the cynical, world-weary, wise-cracking shamus whose honesty in a dishonest world sent him down the mean streets again and again in search of some kind of justice. Blonde, beautiful and wild, Crystal Kingsley had never exactly been the f...

'The Maid' sees Mma Ramotswe visiting the house of the mechanic she has agreed to marry, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni. But there is a shock in store for her... Back at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, there is the mystery of the erratic doctor to look into, and a 'cold case' involving an American who went missing from a communal farm. 'Tears of the Gira...

'The Return of Note' finds Mma Ramotswe in a compromising situation when her past catches up with her. But things are looking brighter for her assistant, Mma Makutsi, when she takes up ballroom dancing... 'The Ceremony' sees Mma Ramotswe's agency work under control at last, so she has time to take care of her own problems. Can she release her fianc...

No caveats for readers of Davis's second playful, well-plotted mystery featuring imperial agent Marcus Didius Falco and based in first century, C.E., Rome. Nero's successor Vespasian has squelched an early treasonous plot and assigned Falco to take care of loose ends, which include the body of the uncle of the high-born young widow Helena Justina,...

One fine day, A.D. 70, Sosia Camillina quite literally runs into Marcus Didius Falco on the steps of the Forum. It seems Sosia is on the run from a couple of street toughs, and after a quick and dirty rescue, P.I. Falco wants to know why. Falco finds out that Sosia, the niece of a highly placed senator, holds the secret to a stockpile of silver pig...

'There is No Such Thing as Free Food' finds Precious Ramotswe, owner and founder of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, preoccupied both professionally and personally by the subject of food. 'The Best Profession for a Blackmailer' sees Mr Polopetsi, part-time mechanic and would-be assistant detective, taking on a case of his own; while Mma Makutsi f...

Six extraordinary adventures, never revealed before, starring Simon Callow as Sherlock Holmes and Nicky Henson as Dr Watson, written by John Taylor. 'The Wandering Corpse': The professor claimed he knew how to resurrect the dead. Now he's dead and his body's missing from the coffin. 'The Horror in Hanging Wood': The victim's arm has been wrenched h...

In the heyday of the Roman Empire, a small accounting error has left Marcus Didius Falco sharing a cell with a large rat. But the Empire's most hard-done-by investigator is finally bailed out, and promptly accepts a commission to help a family of freed slaves fend off a professional bribe... A third instalment of the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries s...