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

Dame Emma Thompson, DBE, is one of Britain's most acclaimed actresses and scriptwriters. In this collection we hear—in her own words—about her early career as a comic and scriptwriter. She discusses some of her most famous works, including Fortunes of War, Sense and Sensibility, Remains of the Day and Nanny McPhee, and explains how she has managed to remain grounded during her rise to fame as an actress.

Five interlinked short plays for Woman's Hour around the theme of separation, based on experiences submitted to the programme by listeners. In 'Empty Nest', Sheila is inconsolable when her daughter leaves home for a gap year. Can an eccentric elderly neighbour help her to feel needed again? In 'Fatima the Catima', Karen tries to keep normal family life going and her anxieties at bay while her husband is fighting in Afghanistan.

June Whitfield stars as the indomitable actress Margaret Rutherford in a tale of chimpanzees, Jordanian Princes, an adoring husband and falling in love with a musician 30 years her junior. First broadcast in BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Drama slot. With June Whitfield as Margaret, Ryan McCluskey as Malcolm, Sean Baker as Stringer, Gabrielle Lloyd as Rumer, Adeel Akhtar as Prince Juan, Lloyd Thomas as the driver, Sally Orrock as the chimp trainer and Sam Dale as the doctor. Written by Andy Merriman.

Three stories that explore the most evocative experience of summer - outdoor swimming. 'To Brixton Beach': A mysterious swimmer spends all day in the pool at Brockwell Lido. Written by Stella Duffy. Read by Adjoa Andoh. 'Lido Lover': An Englishwoman finds a kind of fulfilment on the Venetian Lido. Written by Michele Roberts. Read by Joanna Tope. 'The Horizon Pool': An unexpected swimming companion in the UK's northernmost outdoor pool - the Trinkie in Wick - may hold the key to recovery for a teenage boy. Written by Linda Cracknell. Read by Finn den Hertog.

What To Do If You're Not Like Everybody Else' is a four-part mini-series of short comedic monologues on BBC Radio 4. Written and performed by stand-up comedian Andrew Lawrence, it takes a light-hearted look at various aspects of conventional living and the pressure we feel to conform to social norms and ideals.

Henry Normal uses poetry, storytelling and comedy to tackle big subjects with his trademark humour. This collection includes five of his funny and moving BBC Radio 4 shows: 'A Normal Family' is centred around Henry's son, Johnny, who was diagnosed with autism. 'A Normal Life' continues to draw on Henry's experiences of bringing up a child with autism. 'A Normal Love' sees Henry explore love, romance and other unreasonable expectations. 'A Normal Imagination' looks at why humans create. 'A Normal Nature' is an exploration of unsung nature, from the point of view of a busy urban human.

Sean Lock replaces Bill Bailey in this second series with Professor John Lloyd in a search for the universe’s most mind-boggling oddness’s. The Museum of Curiosity is BBC Radio 4’s monumental comedy edifice, and the only one with gargoyles in the foyer. It allows nothing inside unless it makes you scratch your head, stroke your chin or, at the very least, go ‘Hmm’. Secondly, it is almost completely empty. Fortunately, helping to fill its vacant plinths is a gathering of the world’s most original minds.

After ten years, Peter leaves Gillian for Laura. Distraught, Gillian goes round to Peter's parents to be consoled. They take her in - then things go a little weird. This rousing audio dramatisation stars Diane Morgan, Colin Hoult, Janine Duvitski, John Henshaw, Zoe Gardner, Zahra Barri, John Biddle, Tony Marshall, Christine Hall, and Sean Grundy. It was directed by Alison Crawford.

Comic icon Spike Milligan recollects highlights from his stellar career. The comic genius of Spike Milligan changed the face of radio comedy through The Goon Show. Here Milligan chooses and introduces classic clips from an astonishing career: readings from his books Puckoon and Adolf Hitler, My Part in his Downfall, poems, songs, sketches, extracts from Q6 and In the Psychiatrist’s Chair. He reminisces about India and Bexhill and reads his favourite poems, including 'Fred Fernakerpan'.

Luke and Nettie are 15-year-old twins in a normally dysfunctional family. But when something bad happens to Nettie, it becomes clear that no one knew much about her. As the family wait by her hospital bedside, they gradually discover more about what was going on in her life.

Songwriter, broadcaster and award-winning entertainer Sir Richard Stilgoe goes out, about and around Britain in this amusing musical revue, which finds him taking a wry look at the pastimes and professions of our wayward island. In the company of a troupe of star guests including Sandi Toksvig, Emma Thompson, Kathryn Tickell, Pam Ayres and John Hegley, he visits locations ranging from the Boat Show to the City of London to perform a unique themed comedy show full of fun and laughter.

Vanessa Redgrave is an Oscar-winning actress, well known for her theatre appearances and roles in such films as Howards End and Mrs Dalloway, as well as her political activism. She discusses her life and achievements in this collection of BBC Radio and TV interviews.

Prepare to have your synapses twisted into a string theorist's nightmare, as Professor Lloyd and his new curator, the startlingly insightful comedian Jon Richardson, hurriedly throw the dust covers off the Museum's clump of empty plinths for a brand new series of the BBC's most improving comedy panel show.

Clare is the golden middle sister in a family headed by a formidable matriarch, Luca. Clare meets and quickly marries Martin, who falls just as much in love with her fun, sparky family. But Martin makes a mistake and sets in train a series of events which brings the family to its knees.

It's That Man Again is a giant in the history of radio comedy. As Mat Coward's book Classic Radio Comedy says, "Surely the most written-about radio series in history, it was successful to an extent which is hard to imagine today. Its international audience was measured in the tens of millions. Its star, Tommy Handley, was undoubtedly the most popular performer, in any field, ever known in Britain."

A BBC Radio 4 drama by Fin Kennedy, set in London in the near future, about Caesar Price, an illusionist who has reproduced nearly all of the miracles of Jesus and built a massive cult following. Is he prepared for what will happen when he decides to stage the Crucifixion? Originally transmitted on 26 September 2008, and re-broadcast as the ‘Afternoon Play’ on 30 August 2010.In a near-future London, society is in distress.

Sir Stirling Moss, OBE, is a legendary British racing driver. In this collection we hear - in his own words - about his family and upbringing, on starting out and his early career choices and why he became a racing driver. He discusses being a businessman, his relationships and the bittersweet feelings that occur with racing. He also touches on the many dangers involved with the sport, including the loss of friends. Stirling talks about his crash in 1962 - including his injuries and recuperation - as well as his celebrity lifestyle, his continuing popularity and reaching 70.

Matti is the 14-year-old son of a traditional Sami family living in Lapland, living 250 miles inside the Arctic Circle. Matti is a modern boy, who loves messing about with computers and hates pollution, drugs and Ginger Spice. By the author of Billy Elliott. Performed by Ben Tibber. Written by Lee Hall.

Ronald Pickup, Angela Pleasance, and Maxine Audley star in this BBC Radio 4 1971 production of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy of the Prince of Denmark. Written over 400 years ago, Hamlet still remains one of the most powerful, influential, and thrilling tragedies in the English language.

A BBC Radio 4 dark comedy by Alison Kennedy, set in 1870s London and based on a true story. Originally broadcast in the ‘Saturday Play’ slot on 13 March 2010.Mr Parker is a sincere and kind man who, in search of a higher meaning to life, has moved from conventional religion to séances and spiritualism. He believes he has met his saviour in the guise of Mr Thomson, a charming, erudite and utterly mesmerising medium. But, unbeknown to Parker, Thomson is a complete and utter fake.