A BBC Radio 4 play about the marriage of George, Prince of Wales, originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 11 December 2008 (and repeated on 9 December 2010). Facing financial ruin, George was obliged by his father, George III, to marry his first cousin, Princess Caroline of Brunswick. But if he had been expecting a docile partner with whom...

Stephen Fry explores the highways and byways of the English language in these four programmes, as heard on BBC Radio 4. 'The Mouth': Why is the human food processor and word processor in the same unit? Stephen Fry takes you inside 'this hole we call cake' - the most important part of speech. 'Brevity': A celebration of the miniature in English. Tim...

Is English an innately playful language? Are word games good for you? Do we divide into number and word players? And could Scrabble have been invented in any other language? In this special programme, Stephen examines many word games, and we'll hear some familiar voices playing unfamiliar games-Sheila Dillon from The Food Programme plays Font or Ch...

Patrick Stewart stars as Raymond Chandler and Adrian Scarborough as Billy Wilder in BBC Radio 4's entertaining glimpse inside the Hollywood film industry. Double Jeopardy was originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 4 February 2011. In 1944, Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder came together to work on a screen adaptation of James M. Cain's nov...

A BBC Radio 4 production of Terence Rattigan's famous play about an innocent boy unjustly accused 'It is easy to do justice - very hard to do right.' When he is accused of stealing a five-shilling postal order, fourteen-year-old Ronnie Winslow is expelled from naval college. But his father believes his claim of innocence and, determined to clear hi...

Through the medium of four open letters, the comedian Tom Wrigglesworth investigates the myriad examples of corporate lunacy and maddening jobsworths in modern Britain. His subjects range from traffic wardens to estate agents, with Tom recalling his own funny and ridiculous experiences as well as recounting the absurd encounters of others.

England, today. Between the housing estate and the motorway lies an ancient wood. The motorway bends to avoid it. Last week, teenager Laura Brown went missing. Tonight, Vicky Caine will miss her bus and take a shortcut through the wood. And she will disappear too. England, 1917. Between the village and the main road lies an ancient wood. The old Ro...

In this exciting reading of a Doctor Who novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1986, the Doctor and his companions materialise near a North Sea gas refinery, where they encounter a terrifying foe in the dark, uncharted depths of the Sea.

Virginia Woolf's pioneering work on women in literature. An accessible yet fiercely astute essay, it is a crystallisation of the intelligent analysis behind her novels, and confirms her as a writer not only of style, but of undeniable substance. Ranging from discussing Austen's pandering to a male writing style, to imagining the dreadful fate of Sh...

W. W. Jacobs was one of the most popular English humorists of the early twentieth century. His stories, many of them amusing tales of life along the London docks, were much in demand by magazine publishers, as his name on the cover assured wide sales.

Read in the style of a secret diary, this famous sequel to I, Claudius gives a wry and human view of the Roman world, bringing to life some of the most scandalous and violent times in history. Claudius has survived the murderous intrigues of his predecessors to become, reluctantly, Emperor of Rome. He recounts his surprisingly successful rule; how...

Robert Graves relates his time in the trenches. Robert Graves's writing is versatile and intense. Famous as a war poet, his prose works are on a stage of their own, especially this piece, which is an autobiographical account of Grave's school days and life as a soldier in the trenches in World War 1. Political as well as personal, the piece is imp...

I, Claudius is Robert Graves' riveting account of Ancient Rome in all of its madness and debauchery. First published in 1934 and written in the form of a secret autobiography, it endures as one of literature's most celebrated and compelling historical novels. Abhorred for his weakness and viewed by his family as little more than a stammering fool,...

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde is one of the classic horror stories of all time with Sir Ian Holm giving us a rare and defininitive reading.

The story is an illustration of the power of Mrs Hauksbee. (It is Kipling's third story about her in book form.) Tarrion, a "clever and amusing" young officer in an unfashionable regiment, longs for a permanent appointment in Simla. There he has the good fortune to do Mrs Hauksbee a favour, and in return is due his reward.

This story of a love triangle in British India sees a young lady choosing between a young and handsome and an old and ugly suitor. Her Mother makes her choosing clear, but when the situation boils down to an archery competition, the result is not as might have been expected. A typically Kiplingesque study and quasi-acceptance of the strange and int...

A tough-minded young administrator, 'Georgie Porgie', in a wild hard district of Upper Burma, feels the need for a woman to look after him. As was not uncommon in those times, he buys a Burmese girl for 500 rupees from her father, a village headman, and calls her 'Georgina'. She lives with him, manages his household, and loves him dearly. Unfortuna...

One of Rudyard Kipling's more farcical stories, this look at the strange administration of the British Raj introduces us to the eccentric inventor Mellish, and the rich and important Mellishe, both of whom desire an audience with the Viceroy of the Indian Empire. By a strange quirk of fate, the Viceroy's invitation gets sent to the inventor instead...

This is a story about a Worm who turned. Though the name of this story's exceedingly pretty protagonist is Henry Augustus Ramsey Fusan, the narrative refers to him as 'The Worm'. The Worm is found unhappy in this classic India-set tale, as he finds himself at odds with the shakaris regiment, a group to whom one must be able to prove himself by abil...

A big drinker in India tries to reform for a woman whom he believes is worth making the transformation for. As the first woman reveals herself to be less than holy herself, the man is blind to her faults, and exalts her virtues as his savior, even after he has married a good woman. An anthropological and sociological study of Raj India and human fo...

A story of magic, Empire and deception in Raj India, our narrator tells of Suddhoo, a 'very, very old man' who lets out rooms in his house. All-accepting, Suddhoo gives a roof to grocers, prostitutes and other equally polar opposite professions, including a man who describes himself as a 'seal-cutter' but who actually seems to practice a career rat...