Modern Radio Drama

BBC Radio dramatisations of some of Muriel Spark’s best works, plus bonus episode of The Essay: All Miss Brodie’s Girls Muriel Spark was one of Scotland’s brightest and most original literary talents. In a career spanning over 60 years, she published over 20 novels, as well as essays...

The classic tale of an Australian girl who marries into the English aristocracy at a time of great change to the traditional order November 1910, and seventeen-year-old Lucinda is looking forward to being making her debut in Melbourne society. Beautiful and wealthy, she is set to make a...

Brenda Blethyn, Lesley Manville and Phil Davis star in this special Mike Leigh collection, featuring the iconic hit Abigail’s Party and a banned play from the BBC archives One of Britain's most prolific and influential writers, Mike Leigh has directed some of the best British films of the last...

Elizabeth Taylor was an accomplished novelist and short story writer, celebrated for her witty observations on ordinary life. Her stories frequently centred around relationships and appeared in Vogue, The New Yorker and Harper’s Bazaar. Widely considered ‘underrated’ within the literary...

Broadcaster Matthew Sweet presents a sequence of radio plays by Samuel Beckett, with star casts including Stephen Rea and Ian McKellen Samuel Beckett captured the pathos and irony of modern life like no other dramatist. In the decade following the success of Waiting for Godot (1952), he wrote...

Two delightful detective dramas adapted from Jill Paton Walsh's bestselling books Award-winning author Jill Paton Walsh was well known for her four Lord Peter Wimsey novels that continued and completed Dorothy L. Sayers's much-loved series. These two cosy crime dramas introduce her own sparkling...

A superb selection of Emlyn Williams’ finest plays Emlyn Williams was one of the brightest stars of Welsh stage and screen. An acclaimed playwright, actor and director, he made over 40 film and TV appearances, re-invented the one-man show with his virtuoso portrayals of Charles Dickens and...

A selection of episodes of the iconic radio show about the Australian flying doctor service Listen now to this delight from the archives. A timeless and exciting drama series giving a fictional insight into the work of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. Adapted from the TV series, The...

A pair of action-packed mysteries featuring Satyajit Ray's famous super-sleuth Prodosh Chandra Mitter – aka Feluda – has been delighting Bengali crime fans since 1965. Sometimes referred to as ‘the Indian Sherlock Holmes’, he is the literary creation of award-winning filmmaker and...

Two novels by the award-winning Canadian writer Carol Shields, dramatised for BBC Radio Carol Shields was one of Canada’s most renowned contemporary authors. Often compared to Jane Austen, her deft, witty and compassionate works depicting the everyday lives of ordinary people won her numerous...

A collection of dramas by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Mamet A novelist, playwright, filmmaker and director, David Mamet ranks among America’s most famous living writers. He has penned more than 40 stage plays and over 20 screenplays, won numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize...

A collection of acclaimed radio retellings of Greek and Roman myths Andrew Rissik's powerful, uncompromising reimaginings of classic tales from Roman and Greek history were hailed as masterpieces when they first aired on BBC radio. Told in contemporary speech, they revitalised the ancient myths...

A young couple dream of moving to the Yorkshire Dales, with hilarious consequences Listen now to this delightful comedy from the archive starring Rodney Bewes (The Likely Lads) as David Parkinson, a young husband and a man with big dreams of country life. David and his wife Helen decided to swap...

A diverse selection of dramas by award-winning writer RC Sherriff Playwright and screenwriter RC Sherriff was best known for his anti-war classic Journey’s End, based on his own experiences of serving on the Western Front. He was a co-writer on several successful screenplays, including The...

A trio of novels by the renowned author, dramatised for BBC Radio Guyanese writer E. R. Braithwaite is probably best known for his semi-autobiograpical, internationally bestselling novel To Sir with Love, which was adapted as an award-winning film starring Sidney Poitier. Collected here are...

Stunning full-cast production of the classic mystery thriller set on the cusp of the First World War First published in 1920, The Great Impersonation was a runaway best-seller. Listen now to this stunning full-cast adaptation, available as a download for the first time. It’s early 1914 and two...

BBC adaptations of the 19th-century humourist’s best-loved tales, plus Judith French’s sly comedy based on Jerome’s experiences as a would-be actor Jerome K Jerome is best known for his comedy classic Three Men in a Boat and its sequel Three Men on the Bummel. Both hilarious tales are...

Major BBC adaptations of Ford Madox Ford’s two most famous works, with stellar casts including Tom Goodman-Hill, Ruth Gemmell, Kyle Soller and Mark Bonnar A forgotten great of British fiction, Ford Madox Ford wrote over 80 books, founded two trailblazing literary journals and was a friend and...