In the first story of the second radio series, Barton is on the trail of Tony Patelli, a criminal mastermind who has stolen a lorry-load of gold bullion. Can Barton save a kidnapped girl from Patelli's clutches? Can he defeat the Vulture? Find out in this next exciting instalment of 'Dick Barton - Special Agent!'

Nicholas Le Prevost stars as the French detective in this BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation. In 'My Friend Maigret', Maigret investigates the murder of a tramp on the French island of Porquerolles - but he is hampered by the attentions of Inspector Pyke of Scotland Yard.

Welsh stand-up comedian Rhod Gilbert hosts a brand new audience comedy show featuring comedy regulars Lloyd Langford and Greg Davies (We Are Klang), along with Sarah Millican who takes a weekly look at The Six Stages of Woman. This fifth episode features live music from Divine Comedy, including the hit National Express, and the guest comedian is Sh...

Voltaire and Pangloss travel the world looking for the good in life, but can they find it? Candide and his tutor Pangloss travel the globe trying to follow the philosophy 'All is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds'. However, they are stung and let down at every turn, being robbed, tortured and ridiculed, amongst other trials. On...

Rowan Atkinson stars as many different characters in four episodes from the classic comedy series, written by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill), which investigates the lives of four great - but imaginary - men. We hear about the life and times of master orator, Sir Benjamin Fletcher: writer, statesman, No...

It's the beginning of the summer holidays and William and the Outlaws see an endless expanse of gloriously carefree days stretching ahead but how to fill them? The six classic adventures contained in this unabridged reading are: William and the Holiday Centre - William's Treasure Trove - William and the Cottage - William Tackles the Job - William a...

In this official autobiography from four-time Olympic gold-winning and record-setting American gymnast Simone Biles, Simone shares how her faith, family, passion, and perseverance against tremendous odds helped make her one of the top athletes and record-breaking gymnasts in the world. Simone Biles' entrance into the world of gymnastics may have st...

Winner of the Writers Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy and the Comedy.co.uk awards for Best Radio Sketch Show! Celia Imrie, Alison Steadman, John Bird and Rebecca Front are among the cast of these BBC Radio 4 comedy dramas from the writer and producers of Cabin Pressure. These six self-contained duologues, each one brimming with humour and charm,...

Acclaimed historian Alison Weir looks into the life of the first Tudor queen, revealing the woman behind the image Elizabeth of York would have ruled England, but for the fact that she was a woman. One of the key figures of the Wars of the Roses, daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, she married Henry Tudor to bring peace to a war-torn Eng...

Dr. Geoff Bunn presents a journey through 5000 years of our understanding of the most complex thing in the known universe: the brain, in this major ten-part BBC Radio 4 series. In Episode 3, 'The Origin of Common Sense', the focus is on Ancient Rome with Galen's 'animal spirits' gently inflating the ventricles and making thought possible, and on ho...

Everything needed to brew beer right the first time. Presented in a light-hearted style without frivolous interruptions, this authoritative text introduces brewing in a easy step-by-step review. Beer is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. It is available nearly everywhere, from gas stations to specialty liquor stores. A new brew...

Recently rediscovered in the archives of the New York Public Library, these short stories provide an unparalleled look at Truman Capote writing in his teens and early twenties, before he penned such classics as Other Voices, Other Rooms, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and In Cold Blood. This collection of more than a dozen pieces showcases the young Capot...

Ferdinand von Schirach's The Collini Case has been at the top of the German charts since publication and will be loved by all fans of Bernhard Schlink and John le Carre. A murder. A murderer. No motive. For thirty-four years Fabrizio Collini has worked diligently for Mercedes Benz. He is a quiet and respectable person until the day he visits one of...

The sinister affair of the eighteenth century cow-creamer and the small, brown, leather-covered notebook tests the Wooster soul as it has never been tested before. Friends and relations, in urgent need, queue up to beg for assistance in a variety of troublesome situations, and ruthless enemies stop at nothing in their determination to bring Bertie...

Joseph Millson reads Alfred Lord Tennyson's 1855 dark and lyrical poem Maud in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the poet's birth in 2009. Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the 'Classic Serial' slot on 26 July 2009 and repeated on 1 August 2009. A disturbed young man roams the windswept hills, haunted by his father's suicide and his moth...

A contemporary BBC Radio 3 drama about the events that occur to a man after he snaps one day at work. The First Day of the Rest of My Life stars Jonathan Keeble as the protagonist, and was originally broadcast as part of The Wire collection of dramas on 10 October 2009, and repeated on 2 October 2010. Toby has a bad day at work on the phones for Ca...

Welsh stand-up comedian Rhod Gilbert hosts a brand new audience comedy show featuring regulars Lloyd Langford and Greg Davies (We Are Klang), along with Sarah Millican who takes a weekly look at The Six Stages of Woman. This second episode features live music from Athlete, including hits Superhuman Touch and Half Light, and the guest comedian is tr...

In 1909, actress Sybil Thorndike wed Welsh-born actor/director Lewis Casson. This is the story of their great theatre partnership as told by their son John.

On the theme of love a second great collection of romantic short stories from yesteryear read by another husband and wife team Edward Fox and Joanna David. LOVE is a staple theme of many short stories and in this second off-beat selection from CSA it comes in many guises. There is love tragically thwarted by duty in Thomas Hardy's The Son's Veto; t...

Here's a cornucopia of clever comedy, featuring sketches, monologues, poems and songs in this "sequential entertainment for radio". Among the sketches, Mr. Serpent, a sales rep in the Garden of Eden, tries to flog a knowledge course to Eve ("one bite and you're a Ph.D."). A doctor has to give some bad news, but gets more emotional than the patient,...

Badgers in my vest is a new, darkly funny play by an acclaimed contemporary playwright, based on a true incident in Dylan Thomas' life. Deemed unfit to fight in World War II, Dylan Thomas spends his time in Newquay in the local pub, cadging drinks, laughing at the Welsh behind their back and being outrageous. Privately, he is terrified, suffering n...