P. D. James BBC Radio Drama Collection

Publisher's Summary

Seven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of P. D. James' acclaimed mysteries, plus P. D. James in Her Own Words.

This collection includes:

Cover Her Face
P. D. James' debut novel, introducing her famous detective Adam Dalgliesh. Starring Robin Ellis as Dalgliesh.

A Taste for Death
Dalgliesh investigates when two bodies are found murdered a London church. Starring Richard Derrington as Dalgliesh.

Devices and Desires
Dalgliesh hunts a serial killer in desolate Norfolk. Starring Robin Ellis as Dalgliesh.

A Certain Justice
Dalgliesh probes the murder of a brilliant criminal lawyer. Starring Philip Franks as Dalgliesh.

The Private Patient
Dalgliesh investigates a high-profile murder at an exclusive cosmetic surgery clinic. Starring Richard Derrington as Dalgliesh.

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
An eminent scientist hires Detective Cordelia Gray to discover why his son committed suicide. Starring Judi Bowker as Cordelia Gray.

The Skull Beneath the Skin
With her life in danger, actress Clarissa Lisle turns to private detective Cordelia Gray. Starring Greta Scacchi as Cordelia Gray.

Among the supporting cast in these classic dramas are Siân Phillips, Hugh Grant, Anna Massey and Geraldine James.

Also included is a bonus audio documentary, P. D. James in Her Own Words, in which the author discusses her professional career and private life.

©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd

Desert Island drama

This collection is a treat. Sîan Phillips, Anna Massey, and many other brilliant actors shine throughout nearly seventeen hours of dramatised James. I particularly enjoyed Robin Ellis in the role of Dalgliesh. Although I knew whodunnit in these stories because
I’ve been a James fan since I was a young teenager, I still loved listening to the mysteries as they unfolded once more. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good British mystery with beautifully done dramatisations from talented actors.

32 of 32 people found this review helpful

A Different Sort of Experience

Hearing these excellent BBC dramas is a joy. First, it's a chance to sample, refresh, or renew some really great mysteries by a master, P.D. James.

Secondly, it's a way to experience old favorites in a new way. There are stories here featuring both Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray, James' wonderful detectives. Each appears in more than one episode and is portrayed by more than one fine British actor. The collection includes works from several stages of James' career. And the stories are, of course, much shorter than the original works from which they are abridged.

Nobody is better than the BBC at reminding us why radio dramas are so much fun! These selections are perfect for car drives, bedtime listens, and sharing with others.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

full cast

If you could sum up P. D. James BBC Radio Drama Collection in three words, what would they be?

I love the full cast performances having read all her books

What other book might you compare P. D. James BBC Radio Drama Collection to and why?

Can't say enough about full cast dramas and mysteries

5 of 9 people found this review helpful

An Audio-Drama for Mystery Lovers

Most mystery novel fans have read PD James at some time or another, whether you are a fan of murder mysteries, British detectives, strong storylines that carry through a series of books, or simply a fan of great writing. This collection of seven stories is intense and yet the length of each is not so long as to become mind-numbing when casting back to earlier details. The voices are distinct enough to differentiate from each other, but I, an American reader, did not recognize the voices as belonging to anyone other than the characters in the story. The stories are, for the most part, propelled by the dialogue so there is minimal narration by non-characters. I'd love to hear more of these audio-dramas! #suspense #dialogue #tagsgiving #sweepstakes #whodunnit

Classy

These are classy, full-on adaptations of several PD James novels: mostly Dalgliesh stories, but there are two Cordelia Greys here as well. The collection includes the story I think of as James’s masterpiece, A Taste For Death. The adaptations follow the plots of the originals closely, though POV is often changed to better meet the requirements of the medium. (Most commonly, third-person narration is changed to first-person.)

I really have only one complaint: as with many recent BBC omnibus collections, there is no index of tracks, nor is there a comprehensive list of cast members. There really should be a PDF with this information.

Love the live action!!!

This is the first time I have ever listened to a dramatization. It was an amazing experience. Highly recommend it.

Excellent murder mystery

My first PD James book, and at first I found the stories a little hard to follow, she uses a lot of characters. She does an excellent job of defining the characters as the story develops.

Great stories

I loved all the stories P D James is one of my favourite authors she the master of weaving a story. The only one I didn’t enjoy was the one that stopped and then started again with the cast of the show each time, but on the whole I really enjoyed it.

enjoyable

thoroughly enjoyed this book with the different varied stories. great actors throughout.
would highly recommend

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Happy all 7 dramatisations are in one collection

I love all the bbc radio dramatisations of not only P. D. James but also of Agatha Christie however I had them on CDs from years ago and were therefore harder to access . Now that all of P D James radio dramatisations are in the one collection , it is far more convenient to listen to them and therefore more pleasurable to listen to . in fact I was missing a couple of the PD James dramatisations so I now have a complete set .And the dramatisations are superbly done .

28 of 31 people found this review helpful

Love These Dramatisations

The books are brought to life and are just the right length. PD James interviews are interesting and worth listening to.

18 of 21 people found this review helpful

Getting to know PD James

I thoroughly enjoyed all the dramatisation of her books but most especially her own words and thoughts at the end of this presentation. Excellent

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Wonderful dramatisation

I had previously read the books and even so I greatly enjoyed the dramatised stories, the narration and actors are excellent. I also very much enjoyed the interviews with P. D. James at the end of the book, what an admirable woman and writer!

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Thoroughly enjoyable

Excellent dramatisation, brilliant storylines.
Highly recommended. I shall be on the look out for more like this

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

First Class in every way

Radio 4 did an incredible job dramatising these novels for the radio and the casting is just perfect. I wish they would remake these for television.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Very well played

Very well played, as preciously read the books so familiar with the stories, most enjoyable

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

More PD James than you really need

I'm a bit of a fan of PD James, and there's no question that this offering represents great value for money. Seven full-cast dramatizations -- that's an awful lot of PD James for one Audible credit. It's actually a bit too much, if I'm being quite honest. I couldn't listen to the whole thing, and I've put it on the back-burner to come back to later.

The seven stories were (I think) recorded at different times by different actors, with different methods of dramatization. Some stories take the form of radio plays, where the whole thing is (voice-) acted. Some are essentially readings, but with some voice dialog. The plots are often too complicated to be carried entirely by voice-acting, but I don't particular like lengthy narration in some of the episodes, especially when it contains mostly dialog -- this should really be presented by an actor. What I'm trying to say is that the balance between acting and narration is not the same in all episodes, and in some episodes it's more effective than others.

Still, if Audible had just chosen the best three episodes and offered only those for one credit, I would have been satisfied. The others are just a bonus.

10 of 15 people found this review helpful

Difficult to play due to lack of chapterisation

Nothing wrong with P.D. James' work, or (most of) the stories in this collection. It's just that they are not split by story, nor are there any accompanying notes saying exactly what is in them.

In the end, I gave up constantly trying to *wind forward* to where I had left off - an issue for any of us listening on multiple devices.

This is a fault of Audible and perhaps, the BBC, for marketing it this way. A shame, spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar.