Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Literature & Fiction

Julius Hutch has planned to spend his retirement years 'pottering' and worrying about his bills, but wakes one morning to discover a foreign merchant bank has put four million pounds into his account—and won't take it back. So Julius, a humble man, sets out to spend the money helping other people, and wooing Pauline, the local bank teller. Up against an enormous banking corporation and an unsavoury property developer, Julius soon discovers that rather than being crushed by these financial giants as he would have been in the past, he is rendered rather more delightfully impervious.

This is the second collection of classic sketches from a star of the golden age of radio comedy. With his well-known catchphrases "Right Monkey" and "You'll be lucky, I say, you'll be lucky", the immortal Al Read drew on a rich vein of Northern humour to bring us the Johnny know-all, the nagging wife in the kitchen, and the horrible little boy in the Doctor's waiting room. A weekly audience of 35 million tuned in to catch the one-time sausage manufacturer from Salford turned household name. Enjoy those moments again!

An uplifting comedy drama about the life, loves and misadventures of wheelchair user Maz. Nicknamed Tinsel Girl by her best friend Lisa because of her sparkly view of life, wheelchair user Maz is one of life's eternal optimists. She has just turned 30, only to become all too aware that not only is she single but also disabled. Her degenerative disease means she now has to use a motorised wheelchair, which isn't exactly the sexiest accessory a girl can have!

In 1946, the Duke of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII) and his wife (formerly Wallis Simpson) paid a visit to Britain, hoping to secure a government job for the Duke and a title for the Duchess. During the visit, the Duchess' jewels, worth millions, were stolen. Conspiracy theories abounded. Was it an inside job by the Royal Family, or even an insurance fraud by the Duke and Duchess?

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast comedy by Alexis Zegerman about the hectic life of a single mother, originally broadcast 25 August - 29 September 2010.'Mum's on the Run' is a modern-day twist on the single-family situation. It follows the hectic life ('What life?') of single mum, Jen.

Angus Dry has no friends, no job and still lives at home with his mum. But he's quite happy to spend his time taking bubble baths, splashing his dole money on a motorised water laser and recapturing the joys of childhood. His busy mother has an international career as an arms dealer and a string of lovers. He feels terribly sorry for her. In these eight episodes, unambitious Angus tries to reconnect with his old schoolfriends, agonises over the death of a bee, steps out of the confines of his sheltered life to go on a date and writes a requiem to himself.

When newly widowed Jessica decides to rent a room to recently divorced Rex, she's a little apprehensive. She's never had a lodger before, and he's not used to being a tenant. Neither are quite sure how their relationship works—and to make things trickier, they're wildly different people. But unbeknownst to either of them, they share a secret—they both keep a diary. Taking turns to read from their respective journals, they relate their thoughts, hopes, dreams and first impressions of each other, which are somewhat less than flattering.

Wheeler-dealer snooker club owner Geoff Bryant and his wife Jenny have recently moved onto a new estate in Whittleshulme, Cheshire. Described in the brochure as an 'exclusive village development', it's squarely aimed at yuppies, the nouveau-riche and high-fliers. The trouble is, there are no local teenagers to babysit, leaving the residents to juggle careers and kids as best they can. So when local bigwig Julian Percival sets up a babysitting circle, it seems like the ideal solution.

The complete series of the Asian radio station comedy starring Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nitin Sawhney, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia. Spice up your life with Masala FM, East London’s most happening community radio station. It’s the home of banging tunes, advice for the lovelorn and the hottest news from the street – all brought to you by down-with-the-kids DJ Maz Mazoo, no-nonsense agony aunt ‘Auntieji’, romance show smoothie Khalid and hard-hitting investigative reporter Shanta.

These musical comedies contain some of the most foot-tapping satire you'll ever hear.

The hilarious BBC Radio comedy show where every sketch has been written by the public. The complete series of the ground-breaking comedy series, which called for submissions from members of the public. With over 12,000 sketches sent in from 1,500 different people, The Show What You Wrote spans such diverse comedy topics as Crime & Thriller, Kitchen Sink, Body & Soul, and "Geography", and features sketches about heaven's unexpectedly strict dress code, the Shopping Forecast, the grammar police, and some very literal highwaymen.

Three top actresses show off their comedic talents in the very first all-women sketch show written for BBC Radio 2. In these six episodes, Lynda Bellingham, Gwyneth Strong and Joanna Monro present a feast of skits and music with a distinctly feminist flavour. Highlights include the 'Classic Serial' strand, featuring strangely familiar titles such as Madame Ovary, Lady Chatterbox's Lover and Donna Karenina, and 'The History of Feminism', in which we learn the truth about Florence Nightingale, suffragettes, women drivers and Boadicea.

Once upon a time, there was a struggling writer named Woodhouse Carton, who tried to make his name as an author while simultaneously running his own creative writing class. Over 12 episodes, we follow the frustrated scribe's fruitless search for fame and fortune as, supported by his long-suffering wife, Gila, and feckless sidekick Seamus, he tries to write the definitive biography of philosophical novelist Wolf Heinrich Graubart - or compose the hit song that will set him up for life.

Cartoonist Steven Appleby asks where reality ends and fantasy begins, as he gives us his distinctly abnormal insights into everyday life. In these two series, he takes a look at a few of life’s fundamental topics, including Love, Death, Science, Truth and Oceanography.

Disgraced in the US, maverick ad man Eliott Thurber is forced to transfer to the newly opened London offices of Parabola Media. The clash of cultures has hilarious consequences as he tries to cope with promoting a range of peculiar products, challenging clients and not to mention his disgruntled new colleagues. His first assignment is a gourmet cat food for an intensely conservative company but Eliott has his eyes on a bigger prize, American investment in the NHS. After all, "where there's pain, there's gain..."

Anglo-Irish author Oliver Goldsmith was one of the most accomplished writers of the 18th century. A novelist, playwright, poet and essayist, he came to fame with his novel The Vicar of Wakefield and comic play She Stoops to Conquer. Both those classics are included here, with star casts including Julia McKenzie, Amanda Root, Peter Jeffrey and Sunny Ormonde.

George Orwell - the pen name of Eric Blair - was a writer and political commentator who is very hard to pin down. He is a complex mass of confusions - an antiestablishment, pro-English, ex-Etonian, ex-policeman and socialist who was ardently antiauthoritarian. He was as antifascist as he was anticommunist, a former Spanish Civil War soldier who was antiwar but pro the Second World War.

A collection of three comic tales from BBC Radio 4: ‘The Greengrocer’s Apostrophe’ was inspired by those hand-written signs offering ‘Apple's and Banana's’, which can be found in every town in Britain. Originally broadcast in the Afternoon Reading slots from 28-30 September 2010. ‘Penny's from Heaven’, by Anneliese Mackintosh: James Anthony Pearson reads a quirky story about the apostrophe that ends a relationship....

Meet the sinister, pipe-smoking dog who’s looking for a master, find out what’s on Morgan Freeman’s bucket list, witness Ian McEwan in a parallel universe as a grime artist. There’s the erudite, articulate troll who regards his work as performance art, Automated David the troubled man behind automated phone systems, and the Masterchef contestants serving up superinjunctions and making mountains out of molehills. Gamblers, gamers, music execs, and tech-CEOs seeking immortality.

Best friends Aidan and Paul make a yearly pilgrimage to catch their rock idols AC/DC on their European tour. This year Paul has chosen Zurich - and Aidan soon discovers why. The cast stars Conleth Hill as Paul and Patrick FitzSymons as Aidan, with music by Brendan Ratliff. First broadcast: BBC Radio 3, February 4, 2012.