Entertainment Radio

Nicholas Parsons was the host of the Just a Minute for nearly 52 years - from its first broadcast on 22nd December 1967 until his last show on 23rd September 2019, aged 96. He was a comedy 'straight man', West End actor, radio personality, game-show presenter, chat-show host, quiz master supreme and larger-than-life stage superstar. Here we celebrate his life and work with a series of programmes compered by Paul Merton, plus Series 85 of Just a Minute - his final series.

The Whistler was one of radio’s top mystery programs airing from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. Sponsored by the Signal Oil Company, The Whistler (Joseph Kearns, Gale Gordon, and Bill Forman) was an ominous narrator who knew the killer’s every move even before they did. The stories followed an effective formula in which a person's criminal acts were typically undone by their own missteps. The Whistler often commenting directly upon the action in the manner of a Greek chorus, taunting the criminal from an omniscient perspective.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective genius, Sherlock Holmes, came to NBC radio in 1930 starring Richard Gordon. By 1939, Basil Rathbone was heard as Holmes with Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. The duo was simultaneously starring in a popular series of Sherlock Holmes features for Fox, and later for Universal.

Michael Shayne, "the reckless, redheaded Irishman", was a popular hard-boiled detective created by crime novelist Brett Halliday. In the novels, Michael Shayne settled in Miami just after WWII, making crime pay by fighting it with a license and an attitude. Like Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe, Shayne was a loner. The backstory on Mike is that he was happily married, but it hit him hard when his wife was tragically murdered. Grief stricken, Shayne loses himself in his work as a private eye, prowling the dark streets of the city.

Back in the 80s, radio was at the top of its game. Live DJs all day. Lots of contests, funny morning shows and a free good time anywhere you could get a signal. And I was there. Here’s a look behind the dial at possibly the greatest 12 years of my life. Come and get nostalgic with me. I’ll play all the hits…

With almost 20 million listeners on more than six hundred stations, Rush Limbaugh is the leading and most dangerous figure in the conservative movement today. John K. Wilson uses the most effective strategy of all—Rush’s own words—to show how Limbaugh’s flagrant disregard for the truth and penchant for savage personal attacks laced with racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs have held the political arena hostage.

How does a kid who survives the rain of V-2 rockets on London in the waning years of World War II end up in Hollywood announcing the diamond jubilee of Oscar? Veteran Hollywood voice actor Neil Ross tells the amazing story of his life, and 50-plus-year career, in two exciting, highly competitive professions in his autobiography Vocal Recall; A Life in Radio and Voice Overs.

The dead are walking. The dead are screaming. The dead are killing. Opening the Necropolis of Wati was a mistake. Undead hordes are streaming from the tombs, causing terror in the streets. Zombies. Ghouls. Mummies. Soon the dead will outnumber the living. Valeros, Ezren, Harsk and Merisiel must find the Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh. But can they trust anyone - including themselves?

Of all the forms of theater, radio drama commanded the most effective stage. No medium - not theater, not film, not television - had more sheer space in which to achieve the basic goal of drama, telling a story. Theater is bounded by the bare boards and the footlights and the flats, film by the white screen, and television by the comparatively tiny tube. But radio...radio played itself out in boundless space...the listener’s mind...your mind.

Author Michael J. Hayde's definitive work about Superman on radio and television. Hayde is well-known for My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet and The Films of Jack Webb and Little Elf: A Celebration of Harry Langdon, and this new treasure trove of information on the Man of Steel covers comprehensive episode logs for the radio series and the original television series, plus the complete story lines for two unproduced television series episodes, and dozens of "deleted scenes" taken right from the scripts.

In Anatomy of a Gildy Episode, author Peggy Adler offers a compelling, behind-the-scenes look at The Great Gildersleeve, one of radio’s most iconic comedies. Through a single 1947 episode, Adler explores the artistry of Emmy-nominated scriptwriter John Ogden Whedon—tracing his impact from radio’s Golden Age to the birth of the television sitcom.

Theosophy? Ha! Surely you mean theophany? Because we're not talking about real gods here, are we? We're talking about the appearance of gods.

Your heavenly powers are a little too mechanical for my liking. And, if I may be so bold, Lord Zeus, your demeanor is not very godlike.

A candid personal story of one radio broadcaster’s life, both on and off the air. It’s a look behind-the-scenes of the radio business and how it is has evolved for the author over many decades.

過去を大事に抱えていない？未来に背を向けていない？人生のシナリオはあとから自分で書き換えられるTBSラジオ人気Podcast番組「となりの雑談」のエッセンスをギュッと凝縮、二人の掛け合いパートに、それぞれが書き下ろしを加えた読み応えのある一冊となりました。

The Armageddon Storm Parts One, Two and Three is an enhanced audiobook performed by the stars of the classic BBC television series. When mercenary Del Grant alerts the Liberator crew to the existence of a new Federation super-weapon, Avon leads an epic battle to avert catastrophe....

The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel and...the summoning of the scourge. The Doctor, Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that's come back to life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host and a threat from another universe that's ready for every trick the Doctor's got up his sleeve. This time, has the Doctor gone too far? Written by Paul Cornell. Directed by Gary Russell.

Ever wonder what minor league baseball is really like behind the scenes? Are you a baseball fan that wants to get closer than ever to the action? This book pulls back the curtain to share the true and (until now) untold tales of America's national pastime. Fans of all ages can read some of the most jaw-dropping, eye-opening stories from life in minor league baseball!

'Brother', by Nigel Fairs. Auron scientist Gustav Nyrron is back aboard the Liberator, on his way home. But Avon does not trust him, and soon a drugged Nyrron wakes to find himself in Avon’s clutches on a devastated world. In this desert, their pasts are waiting for them...and a devastating truth that will shake their very beliefs to the core. 'Poison', by Iain McLaughlin. Federation Freighter Antares is a ship with many secrets. Why is it making regular runs to a heavily guarded frontier world?

Get ready for eight fantastic adventures in space and time with the Doctor and his companions, featuring stories from many of Doctor Who's most popular authors from the worlds of television, print, comics and audio as well as new talent and fresh voices...and read by your favourite Big Finish actors!

This is the story of how four people, grouped together inside a set of offices five floors above a greengrocer's shop on Shepherd's Bush Green in West London, scaled the heights of British comedy.