Showing results by narrator "Siân Phillips"

Finding so young and pretty a girl as Amanda wandering unattended, Sir Gareth Ludlow knows it is his duty as a man of honour to restore her to her family.

But it is to prove no easy task for the Corinthian. His captive in sprig muslin has more than her rapturous good looks and bandboxes to aid her - she is also possessed of a runaway imagination...

With no police to investigate and no escape, could it be the perfect setting for a crime? Martin Schwartz (Beesley) is an undercover detective who is recovering from his wife and sons' bizarre disappearance from a cruise ship 5 years ago. He is a desperate man willing to take big risks. Martin never wanted to step onto a cruise ship again until he receives a call which can't be ignored. On average, 23 people per year disappear without a trace from cruise ships. Never before has someone come back... until now.

The Earl of Spenborough has always been noted for his eccentricity. Leaving a widow younger than his own daughter Serena is one thing, but quite another is leaving Serena's fortune to the trusteeship of the Marquis of Rotherham -- a man whom Serena once jilted and who now has the power to give or withhold his consent to any marriage she might contemplate. When Serena and her lovely young stepmother Fanny decide to move to Bath, Serena makes an odd new friend and discovers an old love, Major Hector Kirkby.

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, A Taste for Death, Devices and Desires, A Certain Justice, The Private Patient, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin.

A BBC Radio 3 full-cast dramatisation of Shakespeare’s classic ‘Cymbeline’, starring Bill Wallis. Originally broadcast in December 2006 as part of the ‘Drama on 3’ collection.Shakespeare's play, set during the Roman invasion of Britain, centres around the banishment of the man who has incurred the wrath of the king by secretly marrying his daughter. Confusion follows in an intricate plot in which nobody is quite who they seem to be.

Featuring David Sedaris's unique blend of hilarity and heart, this new collection of keen-eyed animal-themed tales is an utter delight. Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of everyday life.

Surreal and splendidly unconventional, The Hearing Trumpet is an apocalyptic fairy-tale quest about an occult old ladies' home and the spry nonagenarian who ends up there. After coming into possession of a hearing trumpet, 92-year-old Marian Leatherby discovers her son's plans to send her to a nursing home. But this is no ordinary place.... Here there are strange rituals, orgiastic nuns, levitating abbesses, animalistic humans, humanistic animals, a search for the Holy Grail, and a plan to escape to Lapland and knit a tent....

In this delightful tale, an Eastern Prince arrives in England with some family jewels which he’s having reset as a gift for his fiancée. However, the Prince also has a mistress; she asks to wear one particularly enchanting piece that features a huge ruby, and then promptly disappears with it. Poirot discovers a connection with a house party at the home of Colonel and Mrs Lacey, and in order to pursue his investigation an invitation is procured for him to the Laceys’.

As spring begins at Thrush Green, a series of local dramas takes hold of the community. Plans for the fete are hotting up, the illness of Mrs Peters at the restaurant makes the future unsure for the staff, and there are problems at Rectory Cottages.

The village schoolmistress, Miss Read, greets retirement with excitement, and settles down to endless lazy days, but her idyll is interrupted by the daily cares of her friends and fellow villagers in this, the latest Miss Read novel.

Irascible phonetics professor Henry Higgins makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can train Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle to talk ‘like a lady’ and pass as a duchess at the Ambassador’s Ball. As the day of reckoning approaches, can Eliza convince the assembled aristocrats that she’s one of them? And what will become of her afterwards? This effervescent radio version of Shaw’s classic comedy features a stellar cast, including award-winning comedians Alistair McGowan as Henry Higgins, Morgana Robinson as Eliza Doolittle and Al Murray as Alfred Doolittle.

Having enjoyed robust health throughout her career, Miss Read, the village schoolmistress at Fairacre, is looking forward to an energetic retirement in a few years' time. But, to her dismay, she is suddenly taken ill. She has no wish to give up her post yet, but memories of her former colleague collapsing in front of the schoolchildren haunt her. Is it time to say farewell to Fairacre?

Augustine Institute Radio Theatre presents the audio drama The Trials of Saint Patrick - an epic story of one man's spiritual odyssey through hardship and loss, mercy, and forgiveness. Dramatized with a fresh boldness by the Augustine Institute Radio Theatre, the characters will come alive through the talents of dozens of accomplished, award-winning actors including John Rhys-Davies, combined with cinematic sound and music. Your imagination will be quickened. Your heart will be inspired.

She dedicated her mind to beauty and truth. She offered her heart to her faith. She sacrificed her body to Christ. Ode to Saint Cecilia tells the dramatic story of a modest young woman from Rome whose life has transcended time to influence poets, composers, sculptors, and painters. Augustine Institute Radio Theatre's Ode to Saint Cecilia includes cinematic sound, original music, and the award-winning talents of highly-acclaimed British actors.

The definitive collection of full-cast BBC radio dramatisations of Henry James’ classic novels - plus a bonus documentary about his life and work. One of the greatest and most influential American novelists, Henry James is loved for his compelling storytelling, vividly realised characters and perceptive exploration of the shifting relationships between Europeans and Americans. But he also possessed extraordinary insights into the secrets of the human heart, as shown in the 10 dramas in this collection.

The end of the school year often brings unmitigated rapture for schoolteachers, and so it should for Miss Read, schoolmistress in the charming English village of Fairacre. But on the very first day of the long summer holiday, she falls and breaks her arm. Just when her summer seems ruined, her old friend Amy Garfield, comes to her aid with a diverting suggestion. They travel to Crete for two weeks, and the change of scene provides a welcome break for both of them.

On a summer’s day we have perhaps all wished to take flight and view life and the world from the vantage point of a clear blue sky. Our feathered friends do it as a matter of course, and in this volume some of our finest wordsmiths speak with imagination, longing and desire on their behalf.

Oliver and his wife arrive by Eurostar to attend the birthday party of grandchild Hugo. Hugo's grandmother Harriet is also on her way. Oliver and Harriet fail to recognise one another at first - but the physical attraction is instantaneous. Harriet's son, Roderick,, a successful banker, is married to Jennifer, who works in publishing. Attempting to reconcile careers, marriage and children leads to high stress levels as the two generations walk a dangerous tightrope between fidelity and parenthood.

Ellen's mother dreams of making a perfect home for everyone in the heart of the Suffolk countryside. Her father is preoccupied with mysterious troubles of his own. So when the swans fly over the church during the christening, grieving for their swan child, only sharp-eyed Ellen understands the terrible thing that has happened to her baby sister. But can she put right the harm that has been done?

Badgers in My Vest is a new, darkly funny play by an acclaimed contemporary playwright, based on a true incident in Dylan Thomas' life. Deemed unfit to fight in World War II, Dylan Thomas spends his time in Newquay in the local pub, cadging drinks, laughing at the Welsh behind their back and being outrageous. Privately, he is terrified, suffering nightmares and in the grip of writer's block. Then one night, a soldier comes in.