Showing titles in Arts & Entertainment

A gripping collection of 15 BBC Radio full-cast dramas written by Bert Coules, inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories. In the 56 short stories and four novels Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about his great detective, how many times did Dr John Watson tantalise us with references to cases which were never written about in full? These original adventures flesh out those unrecorded cases to wonderful effect. Clive Merrison plays the great sleuth himself, with Andrew Sachs in the role of Doctor Watson.

First broadcast in 1967, Just a Minute is Radio 4's longest-running panel game, and a national institution. These five series from 2015-2016, brought together in one collection to commemorate the show's 55th anniversary, feature some of the most magical moments in JAM's history—among them David Tennant's spectacular performance, speaking for an uninterrupted minute in his very first show.

2012 was full of historic milestones - London hosted the Olympics, the Queen celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, and The News Quiz marked its 35th anniversary. Sandi Toksvig is in the chair for these three series, as the team debate these and other top stories of the year.

Just a Minute is the grandaddy of panel games, entertaining Radio 4 listeners since 1967 with wit, whimsy and wonderful wordplay. To mark the show's 55th anniversary in December 2022, here are five fantastic series from 2011, 2012 and 2013, all chaired by the legendary Nicholas Parsons. Among them is Series 62, which commemorated JAM's 45th birthday with an episode tackling the same subjects given out in the very first series, and featured two special editions from Mumbai.

In the sleepy little English country village of St Mary Mead, all is not as it seems. Under a seemingly peaceful exterior lurks intrigue, guilt, deception - and murder. Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing landowner, is the most detested man in the village. Everyone, even the...

A podcast featuring short stories and news from the world of The Stranger Times - a newspaper based in Manchester reporting the weird and wonderful from around the world. Based on the novel The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell - out Jan 14th 2021.

Romans! Madrigals! The Dark Ages! Revolutions! Trumpets! The Oranges of The First World War! All of this (except trumpets) and more, is covered in this definitive, easy-clean history of all world history so far, written by the 21st Century's leading historian, philosopher and thinkerer Philomena Cunk. 

BRITISH BOOK OF THE YEAR: AUDIOBOOK WINNER 2024 Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she's had loads of boyfriends and is good at eye contact. This is a story of how being female can get in the way of being autistic and how being autistic gets in the way of being the 'right kind'...

Welcome to grow, cook, eat, arrange, the weekly podcast from gardener, writer, teacher,and cook, Sarah Raven. Over the last two decades, Sarah has led the way by introducing a new kind of productive gardening which places emphasis on intense colour, sophistication, and achievability. Recorded at the beautiful Perch Hill Farm in Sussex, Sarah talks with special guests from across garden design, floristry, food, ecology, conservation, and more. Brimming with top tips and helpful hints, listen and learn how to create your most productive garden ever. You can find out more about the products ...

Tony Hancock stars with Sid James and Kenneth Williams in the legendary BBC Radio comedy series. Created by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1954, Hancock’s Half Hour was the radio vehicle that made Tony Hancock a household name. Each week listeners would be admitted to the sometimes fantastical...

A Stunning Novel of Hope and Redemption Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable and beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse...

The complete BBC Radio collection bringing together two full-cast dramatisations of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently novels. In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Dirk Gently has an unshakable belief in the interconnectedness of all things, but his Holistic Detective Agency mainly succeeds in tracking down missing cats for old ladies. Then Dirk stumbles upon an old friend behaving bizarrely - and he's drawn into a four-billion-year-old mystery that must be solved if the human race is to avoid immediate extinction....

Actor and reluctant sleuth Charles Paris is facing chaos on the domestic front. He's lodging with his ex-wife Frances, and now their pregnant daughter has moved in as well. It's all a bit much.... So he is over the moon when he lands a job on the BBC Radio Rep - but the ink is barely dry on his...

In these three series, policeman turned stand-up Alfie Moore gives his audience of deputies the chance to find out, as he swears them in and presents them with some real-life scenarios to see how they’ll deal with the dilemmas he faced. Sharing hilarious anecdotes from his time on the front line and giving a helpful breakdown of the ins and outs of British law, he invites them to explain what decisions they would have made – and why...

This is the second series of one-off comedies written by the genius behind the smash-hit radio sitcom “Cabin Pressure” – John Finnemore. The first series won the coveted Writers Guild of Great Britain award for Best Comedy. Each show is a comedy perfumed by just two actors - including...

The Emerald explores the human experience through a vibrant lens of myth, story, and imagination. Brought to life through the wise, wild, and humorous vision of Joshua Michael Schrei — a teacher and lifelong student of the cosmologies and mythologies of the world — the podcast draws from a deep well of poetry, lore, and mythos to challenge conventional narratives on politics and public discourse, meditation and mindfulness, art, science, literature, and more. At the heart of the podcast is the premise that the imaginative, poetic, animate heart of human experience — elucidated by so many...

'Captures much of the warmth, wit and worthiness of this thoroughly British institution' THE TIMES 'Crammed with fascinating nuggets' INDEPENDENT, Biography of the Month 'Absolutely wonderful. The book I've been waiting to read since I was ten years old' JEREMY DYSON With its unique ability to...

Chaired by Simon Brett (author of the hugely popular Charles Paris series), this intriguing, interactive panel show challenges professional crime novelists to put their experience and expertise to the test as they try to unravel various mind-bending mysteries. Each episode features a death and a denouement - with various red herrings and misdirections along the way. As the murder scenario is described and the clues laid out, our writer-detectives take turns cross-examining the suspects. 

Alfie Moore spent 18 years on the Humberside police force before turning to stand-up comedy. In each episode of this live stand-up show, he takes his audience through a scenario based on a real-life case and tasks them with deciding how they would have acted in the circumstances. From drink driving to a missing gnome, road traffic collisions to the tricky subject of Stop and Search, not to mention a case in which you must imagine what it would be like if Bruce Lee came from Scunthorpe and had been hammering the kebabs for 20 years.... 

A Buffy the Vampire Slayer rewatch podcast. Join Steph and Kara as they recap and review every episode from the beginning. This podcast is spoiler-free and friendly to first-time watchers.