Showing results by narrator "Sir Derek Jacobi" in All Categories

Sir Ian McKellen, Corin Redgrave, and Derek Jacobi perform Shakespeare's historic play about Prince Hal's journey toward kingship, and his ultimate rejection of Falstaff.

Bath-based BBC Audiobooks hosted a sell-out event for the Bath Literature Festival. Reading Between the Lines: From Page to Production featured Rula Lenska, Lynne Truss, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Lorelei King in an entertaining and lively discussion about the art of the audiobook. They were joined by Sunday Times audio critic Karen Robinson, BBC Audiobooks' Publishing Director Jan Paterson, and Senior Producer Kate Thomas.

On a freezing, bleak Christmas Eve in London, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his counting house, resenting the holiday and all who celebrate it. But, contrary to what he has planned for, Mr. Scrooge won't be spending the evening alone. He's about to get a visit from a very old friend--one he thought he'd never see again.

Nearly 150 years since his poetry was first published, Lear's nonsense rhymes are still popular today. In this lively and colorful audiobook recording, Derek Jacobi reads Lear's most famous poems and most fantastic creations, including "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat", "The Daddy Long-Legs and the Fly", "The Jumblies", "The Dong with the Luminous Nose", and a collection of assorted limericks.

Here are four of Hans Christian Andersen’s best-loved short stories, specially adapted for young children and read by some of Britain’s most well-known actors. The Brave Tin Soldier: A one-legged toy soldier falls in love with a paper ballerina. Thumbelina: A tiny but beautiful girl grows from a barleycorn which has been enchanted by a witch. The Nightingale: An emperor prefers a sparkling mechanical bird to the song of a real nightingale. The Ugly Duckling: A little bird is called ugly by others until he matures into a swan.

In the summer of 1139, there is a pause in the civil war racking the country. St. Peter's Fair attracts merchants from across England and beyond, promising to bring some much-needed gaiety to Shrewsbury—that is, until the dead body of a wealthy merchant is found in the river Severn. Brother Cadfael offers to help the merchant's lovely niece uncover the murderer, but as he searches for the killer, the merchant's wares are ransacked and two more men are murdered.

With the final visitor of the night, Mr. Scrooge gets to peak at a rather grim future: his. A funeral attended only for the free lunch and no one to feel grief over his death, only relief, are enough to convince Mr. Scrooge. It's time to change his ways.

It's the middle of the night, and Mr. Scrooge, with a little ghostly help, is returning to buried memories of his youth: childhood friends, holidays spent alone, broken engagements. It's all a litte too much to bear.

The next spectral visitor takes a more current approach, bringing Mr. Scrooge into the cheerful but painfully sparse home of his only employee, Bob Cratchit. Watching the family celebrate, despite their circumstances, Scrooge experiences something he hasn't felt in a long time--empathy.

Finally, it's Christmas morning, and Mr. Scrooge awakens a changed man. His greed, selfishness and spite have been transformed into generosity and selflessness. He has been taught a lesson about kindness that he will not soon forget.