Showing results by narrator "Sophie Aldred" in All Categories

The charismatic and reclusive Brigadier Munchausen is visited, online, by the mysterious Smith. Has he written his pages? Munchausen obliges and reveals some extraordinary incidents from his early life: a boy on the run, a fight with a seven-foot sailor and a romantic affair involving a whale. These extraordinary events all serve to propel our hero into the realisation that he is destined to save the world. But who is Smith, and why has he been sent? Why does the brigadier fear email? And, most of all, what really happened to him in Raqqa?

One marriage. Three people. Proud king. Loving wife. Infamous mistress. 1362. Philippa of Hainault selects a young orphan from a convent. Alice Perrers, a girl born with nothing but ambition. The Queen has a role waiting for her at court. ‘I have lifted you from nothing Alice. Now you repay me.' Led down the corridors of the royal palace, the young virgin is secretly delivered to King Edward III - to perform the wifely duties of which ailing Philippa is no longer capable. Power has a price, and Alice Perrers will pay it.

It is 1968, and Frederica Potter is surprised to find herself embarking on a new career in television. While she endeavours to navigate this fast-paced and occasionally bewildering industry, her lover John takes up a post working with a pair of unusual scientists. Yet in Frederica’s home county of Yorkshire, tumultuous events are unfolding. Soon her future, and that of the people closest to her, begins to look rather different.

After her husband becomes violent, Frederica Potter flees with her young son to London. There, she secures a teaching position in an art school and finds herself surrounded by painters and poets with dreams of rebellion. Then Frederica meets Jude Mason, the strange and charismatic author of a wildly controversial novel. When her husband files for divorce and Jude becomes the target of a high-profile court case, Frederica’s life threatens to spiral out of control.

Frederica Potter arrives at Cambridge University greedy for knowledge, sex and love. It isn’t long before she becomes infatuated with a mysterious and controlling poet. Back in Yorkshire, her sister Stephanie abandons academia and is confronted with the boredom and frustrations of motherhood. Meanwhile, their younger brother Marcus begins to recover from a nervous breakdown. Each sibling is desperate to shape their own future, but a horrifying event will soon change their lives forever.

This book was written at a time when foot-and-mouth was very much in the news, as farmers across the UK fell victim to an outbreak that was to leave potent images of blazing carcasses deeply embedded in many minds.

The long-awaited portrait of a literary master from one of our generation's greatest biographers. Anthony Powell: the literary genius who gave us A Dance to the Music of Time, an undisputed classic of English literature. Spanning 12 spectacular volumes and written over 25 years, his comic masterpiece teems with idiosyncratic characters, capturing 20th-century Britain through war and peace. Drawing on Powell's letters and journals, and the memories of those who knew him, Hilary Spurling explores his life.

Cosmo the witch-cat is delighted that evil Sybil - the most terrible of witches - is safely in prison. In fact, she's even been fitted with a special tag, which means that if she tries to escape she will be turned into a frog. But then mysterious goings-on are reported on Witch News. Baby witches are being visited by strange midwives and having their toenails clipped and stolen. Cosmo is sure something sinister is afoot. Could a highly wily witch be brewing a spectacularly spooky spell?

In this second series, the Brigadier returns for more extraordinary adventures with Smith, his kind but sceptical publisher. Fresh from having shot himself out of a cannon, the Brigadier suddenly discovers he has the rather annoying ability to travel through time...but this rather unusual power comes at a high cost. Whether it will be enough to save himself, save the planet and save his only friend though is another matter altogether. The fateful clock is ticking, and time is surely running out....

Zed and her family move unwillingly from London to Cornwall in an attempt to support her mother’s mental health. Gradually, the family fall apart, and it is only when Zed realizes that the local cormorants are playing a part in the disasters that consume them in revenge for an ancient wrong, that she and her sister, Amy, start working together to find a solution and call a truce.

Home alone with her eccentric home-brewing father and a Jack Russell, she is just getting her life back on track when her job at the local museum is threatened by her first love and nemesis, Councillor David Barton, who intends to sell the beautiful old building to a pub chain. But help is at hand from her colleagues: Jackie, a former Greenham Common warrior; Tish, a flamboyant historian; and Carol, mega-flirt. Plus newcomer and former campaigner Tom. Who happens to be a widower. And quite sexy.

Step inside Marietta's Magic Dress Shop! There are hundreds of beautiful dresses in every colour of the rainbow, sewn with magic thread. Take a look, try one on, and wait for the magic to whisk you away on an amazing adventure! When Ava puts on a sparkling trapeze outfit with a dazzling butterfly tiara, she is transported back in time to a travelling circus. Ava loves the clever circus stunts and the beautiful costumes, but she's worried about a baby elephant that is meant to perform tricks.

An ancient artifact buried deep within the TARDIS leads the Doctor back to London, where a deadly predator prowls the tunnels beneath the city. As the Time Lord and her friends investigate, they uncover a mystery that will take them from a secret mountain base to the depths of the ocean - and if they cannot solve it, one of them will perish. In order to save her friend, the Doctor must solve the riddle of...the Maze of Doom!

Danger. Deportation. Death. These are just some of the fates facing the inmates at Huntercombe prison. Some have fled their homeland in fear of their lives. Others are being sent to a country they left decades ago. But Dr Amanda Brown is doing all she can for each patient stuck in no-man’s land. They have little or no idea of what awaits them outside, but she treats them with kindness and respect. Whatever their crime, and whatever their future holds, she is still their doctor.

Life at the Heart of Power is a very personal portrait of life as a woman at the centre of power. As Brexit discussions rail on, Fall offers an intimate account of the preceding seminal political years from the viewpoint of the ‘staffer’ rather than the more traditional memoirs of the ‘principals’- David Cameron and George Osborne whom she worked alongside. Fall takes us through 11 years of the Cameron project. From its inception and battle to win the soul of the Conservative party, through to life at No 10 during the coalition years.

Here are two of a series of stories about the riotous children who live in Paradise House.

Cosmo has always wanted to be a witch-cat so he's delighted when he passes the test. Now he'll be able to help Sybil with her spells. But Cosmo is suspicious when he discovers that Sybil has a magic recipe for making statues in the shape of kittens.

Step inside Marietta’s Magic Dress Shop! There are hundreds of beautiful dresses in every colour of the rainbow, sewn with magic thread. Take a look, try one on and wait for the magic to whisk you away... Ava is looking for her cat when she finds Marietta’s mysterious shop. She tries on a perfectly-fitting gold and emerald princess dress and whizzes through a secret mirror - to fairyland! Will she get there in time to be a bridesmaid at Cinderella’s wedding?

The puppy would fit on one hand, it was so small. Its fur was a pale silver-grey all over, except for one dark star on its head... Sylvie can't wait for the school holidays so she can get back to her grandparents' farm in Italy. Their dog, Bella, is going to have puppies and Sylvie is determined to be there when they are born. Perhaps her mum and dad will even let her keep one? There is just one puppy in the end. He is a tiny, furry bundle that Sylvie names Star.

In the far future, the inhabitants of Tarsus Six face a desperate struggle to evacuate their world before their sun, Tarsus Ultra, collapses into a cataclysmic spatial anomaly. When the Doctor navigates the Tardis to a space station orbiting Tarsus Six, Ace assumes that he intends offer their assistance. But it soon becomes clear that the Doctor has an agenda of his own. With the Tardis immobilised, Ace realises that their own lives are as much in danger as those of the fleeing inhabitants.