Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Arts & Entertainment

Set to original music by Roger Goula, the subject of A Sleepwalk on the Severn is moonrise, which happens five times in different forms: new moon, half moon, full moon, no moon and moon reborn. Various characters, some living some dead, and all based on real people from the Severn catchment, talk towards the moment of moonrise and are changed by it.

A special compilation of highlights from cuddly Ken’s television and radio shows.

Kenny Everett was one of radio’s great innovators, the funniest DJ of our time and a one-off whose madcap comedy burst the boundaries of broadcasting. Introduced and presented by Barry Cryer, this recording features the definitive Kenny Everett: the jokes, the jingles and the high-jinks, the interviews, the comic characters – and some naughty bits.

What caused the financial mess we're in? And how do we get out of it? Two of the great economic thinkers of the 20th century had sharply contrasting views. John Maynard Keynes believed that government spending could create employment and longer-term growth. His contemporary and rival Friedrich Hayek believed that investments have to be based on real savings rather than increased public spending or artificially low interest rates. Keynes's biographer, Professor Lord Skidelsky, takes on modern-day followers of Hayek in a debate.

Breakthrough comedian Tez Ilyas presents a show for everyone interested in - or interested in becoming - a British Muslim. Everything you need to know is here - the do's, don'ts, and avoid-or-you'll-be-arresteds. How can Muslims integrate better? And who says they don't at the moment? And more importantly, what's Marks & Spencer or hipster beards got to do with it? What is the mysterious organisation that is the 'Muslim Community'? Who runs it? What does it do? And does Nadiya from Bake Off speak for them all?

Sir Laurence Olivier, Lord Mountbatten, and Joyce Carey are just some of the voices heard paying tribute to the elegant star in this audio biography, which is linked by the broadcaster and critic Sheridan Morley.

Extracts from interviews with Coward himself, several of his songs and moments from his plays come together to form a fascinating picture of one of the 20th century's theatre greats.

All's Well That Ends Well finds Helena rewarded for her ministries to the sick with the choice of any husband she wishes. Her choice, Bertram, is unwilling to have her as his wife and sets her a number of seemingly impossible tasks to complete before he will relent.

Enjoy Bob's genius as a writer, stand-up comedian, chat-show host, and compere as he looks back on a lifetime of laughs in a selecton from his most famous radio and television shows.

Here is a two-part BBC 7 adaptation of Toby Hadoke's sensational stand-up show about Doctor Who, fandom, and one man's lifelong obsession.

In more than 500 episodes of Parkinson between 1971 and 1982, Michael Parkinson interviewed some of the greatest show-business talents. In his interview with The Goons, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe remember their "love/hate; let's get one over the BBC" relationship. Spike Milligan joins them from his sick bed in Australia. Amid the hilarity, the authentic voice of Peter Sellers emerges, as he talks about his childhood, early career, and achievements.

In this episode from the sitcom about two Liverpudlian lasses, it's Beryl's birthday, and Sandra is planning a surprise party for her. Among her presents she gets a hamster in the post from Robert. But then Thingy goes missing, and the hunt is on to find the rogue rodent. "Anybody Here Seen Thingy" stars Polly James and Nerys Hughes.

The TARDIS arrives in a futuristic Australia, where the genius Salamander has found a way to end starvation by harnessing the sun's energy and preventing natural disasters on a global scale. But there are those who believe Salamander's office is moving towards dictatorship. One such person is Giles Kent, and he is immediately struck by the Doctor's remarkable likeness to the great man.

Half hilarious stand-up routines, half cultural observations, these shows are both a tempting taster of the cities he visits and a perfect opportunity to spend some time in the wacky, whimsical, fantastically funny world of Ross Noble.

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 estranged community.

Jack and Liz are in Blackpool for one last time. John Godber's classic stage play tells the touching and funny story of a marriage through a lifetime of holidays together. September in the Rain, written very early in renowned playwright John Godber's career, dates from 1983 and drew heavily on his grandparents' relationship. A play for two actors, it was originally performed by the author and his now-wife, Jane. They resume their partnership for this radio production many years after last performing it together.

Doctor Who and the Zarbi finds the TARDIS drawn to the eerie planet Vortis, on which the Doctor and his companions encounter a host of alien creatures, including the Menoptera, the Animus, and the Zarbi.

Stand-up comic, musician and conductor Rainer Hersch has performed in comedy clubs worldwide, made numerous appearances at the Edinburgh Festival and put on several comedy-concert series at London’s Southbank Centre. This audio anthology brings together two of his BBC Radio series, All Classical Music Explained and Rainer Hersch’s 20th Century Retrospective, plus the standalone programme Gershwin’s Horns and some stand-up comedy from Rainer at London’s Comedy Store.

Simon Cadell stars as Henry Higgins with Imelda Staunton as Eliza Doolittle in this BBC Radio 4 production of Shaw’s famous play. When phonetics tutor and linguist Henry Higgins meets Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle, he makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can teach her to speak so well that she will be able to pass herself off as a Duchess at a society ball.

Sir Richard Branson is a world-famous entrepreneur and businessman. Here he discusses his life and achievements in a series of interviews from the BBC radio and TV archive.

When Radio One chief Matthew Bannister popped into 'A Lite Bite' in Altrincham for his favourite gherkin roll, little did he expect to find the two northern chancers who would bring so much sophistication to his beloved station. For there in the corner, playing a DLT Give Us A Break trivia game, stood Mark Radcliffe and his mate, known not particularly affectionately as Lard. Soon millions would be tuning in to hear the witty banter and roughhouse sketches of the men once described as 'that fat git and the other one'.

Presented by Michael Parkinson, this highly entertaining collection of interviews is taken from Spike Milligan's numerous appearances on Parkinson between 1972 and 1982. The subjects Spike covers include his early years, his poetry and books, The Goons, and his relationship with the BBC.