Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Crime Fiction

It is 1751, and 17-year-old David Balfour is all alone in the world. Recently orphaned, he receives a letter instructing him to seek out his sole remaining relative at the House of Shaws. But on meeting his uncle Ebenezer, David soon realises that he is a shifty, miserly man with designs on his inheritance. After an attempt on David's life fails, Ebenezer tricks him into boarding the brig Covenant, where he is knocked unconscious, kidnapped and taken to sea....

A few days into a murder inquiry following the brutal death of an Edinburgh art dealer, Rebus blows up at his superior, DCS Gill Templer, and is ordered to attend the Scottish Police College for "retraining". In other words, it's his Last Chance Saloon.

Jamie was 19. He was an ambitious personal trainer who wanted to be a social media influencer. But now his hopes and dreams will never be realised. Jamie was found killed at the family home, discovered by his dad - who’s now been charged with his own son’s murder. In this gripping crime drama, revealed through recordings of sessions led by forensic psychiatrist Dr Alex Bridges (Lolita Chakrabarti), we hear from those closest to Jamie and find out more about the family’s secrets.

Cath Staincliffe is best known as the creator of the hit TV series Blue Murder, as well as for her ‘Scott and Bailey’ books and ‘Sal Kilkenny’ crime novels. This full cast drama collection features the five gripping dramas in her ‘Legacy’ series, together with a standalone mystery and a three-part thriller, all specially written for BBC Radio.

Saughton Prison, Edinburgh. 1962. Thomas Scott is a prison warder, assigned to watch over a man condemned to hang for the murder of his wife. As the two men talk over a number of days, Scott begins to doubt whether his prisoner is guilty of the crime. With the execution date looming, can he find proof of his suspicions? And at what cost? An exciting original short story from Ian Rankin, written for the landmark Radio 4 Book at Bedtime.

Daniel Ballantyne: monster and angel, thief and conman, genius - and murderer? Newly released from Wormwood Scrubs, and dying of cancer, notorious art forger Daniel Ballantyne agrees to help art critic Jessica Brown write his biography. But as Jessica digs deeper into his life, she realises that nearly everything he's told her is a lie, and behind his charming persona is a man capable of almost anything. Trapped in a cat-and-mouse game with a master manipulator, Jessica finds herself putting her reputation - and her life - on the line.

Twenty years after a murder, the convicted man walks free. His supporters claim a victory for justice, but for the murdered man’s friends, life implodes. Old lies resurface, and new questions haunt them. What really happened back then, in the student house they all shared? The house where Ben died? Anna was one of the victim’s housemates, back when they were students. Now she is a vicar, but back then she did media studies. When the case opens up again she finds all her old student films in the loft - films about her housemates - and she watches them with new eyes.

What sort of mother would allow her child to perform online for paedophiles? And how could the family's social worker let it happen? Told in two parts, This Repulsive Woman and Every Child Matters is a real-time drama that follows the stories of the two women at the centre of a fictional high profile court case and national scandal.

September 1791. Newly promoted Lieutenant General Jacques Lacroix is transferred from Paris to Amiens, tasked to solve crimes and arrest criminals. But in these days of revolution, it’s increasingly tricky for him to identify the criminals amongst all the agitators, rabble-rousers and counter-revolutionaries. And his job is about to get even harder as he finds himself investigating a slew of grisly murders....

When Alex and Terry set up their own e-commerce company in Philomel Cottage, everything looks rosy until money goes missing from Alex's account. Soon she is questioning her partner - and, indeed, the cottage itself….

Tom Price reads this exclusive audio adventure set after the conclusion of Miracle Day, featuring Captain Jack Harkness and Sgt Andy Davidson. Ross Chapman is one of life's losers. So when he survives a point-blank shooting, dons a superhero costume, and becomes a crime-busting vigilante, something strange is clearly going on. And Ross's transformation isn't the only odd thing happening in Cardiff. Time is distorting - around the city, some people are aging, dying, and decomposing in a matter of minutes.

William Franklyn stars as Sexton Blake, with David Gregory as his assistant, Tinker, in four original BBC Radio dramatisations from 1967. Lost from the BBC archives for over 40 years, these rediscovered episodes are presented for the very first time. Includes 'The Eight Swords', 'A Murder of Crows', 'Double and Quit' and 'You Must Be Joking'.

Jack Frost is disheveled, disorganised and disrespectful. His superiors don't like him. He has a habit of doing things his way - and getting results. But when Denton CID is faced with a spate of major crimes, Frost finds himself under pressure. A young woman becomes the sixth victim of a multiple rapist, a teenage girl goes missing, there's a robbery at the Purple Parrot nightclub, and an old man is injured in a hit-and-run. With all this on his plate, Frost has little time and less patience for paperwork.

The year is 1920, and an ambitious doctor meets a nun apparently traumatised by what she witnessed in the Great War. An attempt to restore the woman's sanity results in the uncovering of something very sinister indeed.

William Franklyn stars as paperback hero Sexton Blake, with David Gregory as his assistant Tinker, in four original BBC Radio dramatisations from 1967. Lost from the BBC archives for over 40 years, these rediscovered episodes are presented for the very first time. ‘Lilies for the Ladies’: In the first episode of the series, Blake investigates the unexplained murders of four wealthy society women. ‘The Sin-Eater’: An old friend of Blake’s receives a series of cryptic messages written on playing cards.

Gordon Jackson stars in this classic noir thriller, with the music of Miles Davis. A man named Johnny Maxen reluctantly walks through the Gare du Nord on his way back to a life he thought he'd left behind. Summoned by a letter from his sometime mother-in-law, Helen Duncan, he returns to Glasgow and the news that his estranged wife has been missing for three months. As far as Johnny's concerned, his dealings with Julia ended five years ago. He's paid his dues and knows he should cut and run. But for Helen's sake, he agrees to find her - alive or dead.

Toby Ellis was looking after his four-month-old nephew, Derek Ellis. He nipped into his local newsagents, leaving the pram outside. Toby claimed he left the child for no longer than two minutes - but during this time, little Derek was abducted. Six days later the baby’s body was discovered, buried in a nearby wooded area. No one was ever charged with the murder, and the case has remained ongoing. As part of their final media degree assessment, three university students decide to make a podcast about the cold case which happened in Colecastle 14 years ago.

Lenny Henry plays double murderer Frank Watt, who is getting ready to face life on the outside after 30 years in prison. He's looking forward to getting out, but things have changed a lot since the '80s and he's institutionalised. He quite likes his bookish, monklike life inside and the anger he was boiling over with when he went to prison is down to a manageable simmer.

Terry Prince is an ex-SAS professional occasionally hired by the Secret Services to do special 'jobs'. His latest mission seems straightforward enough: find and retrieve a top secret file, belonging to the Department of Internal Security, that has been leaked to a left-wing magazine. Arriving at the offices of Socialist Attack, he discovers the editor dead - and he himself suspected of murder. Falsely accused, he goes on the run from both the Internal Security Department and gangsters from London’s underworld.

When their friend Keith Brandon is charged with murdering a policeman, Gemma, Liam and Andy decide to bunk off school and go to the trial. Keith had a knife, a motive and has confessed to the crime, but they're sure he didn't do it - so when he's found guilty, they can't believe it. Determined to prove Keith's innocence, they take their story to the local media, but no-one will take them seriously. Then Gemma comes up with an unorthodox way of appealing for new evidence: setting up their own pirate radio station.