Showing results by narrator "Sophie Thompson" in All Categories

Christmas with Princess Mirror-Belle features two festive stories from Julia Donaldson. Ellen gets a big shock when her reflection climbs out of a mirror. But Mirror-Belle is a double with a difference! She is a princess, and a very mischievous one at that. Join Mirror-Belle as she sweeps Ellen into hilarious Christmassy escapades - from joining in with the Christmas ballet show to attending Ellen's friend's fancy-dress party and trying to catch Father Christmas!

Most famous for his Hornblower series, iconic writer C. S. Forester tells tales of adventure like no other. This BBC radio collection features modern adaptations of five of his acclaimed novels, including The African Queen (famously adapted as an Oscar-winning film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn) and The Gun, which was turned into the hit Hollywood movie The Pride and the Passion.

Digby the Diggedy Dog goes out into the garden to play. He digs a big, big hole. Dig, dig, diggedy, dig. And plays tag with two little frogs. Written by a speech and language therapist, each story in the Early Soundplay series is packed with multiple repetitions of selected sounds and rhymes. The stories are expertly crafted to support children's developing speech sound awareness and vocabulary knowledge. These are key foundation skills for success with phonics, early reading, and spelling.

Chatty Bat loves to chitter chatter chat with everyone. It's very noisy with constant chatter until it's time to sleep - then no more chatter, not a peep! The Early Soundplay series is stories that are fun to share, with lots of rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. Helping develop children's speech sound awareness, an important building block for success in early spelling.

It's cold on the cliffs. Clarabelle the calf has lost her scarf. She shivers and sniffs, then giggles and laughs when she sees who's taken her scarf! Written by a speech and language therapist, each story in the award-winning Early Soundplay series helps parents and practitioners develop children's spoken and written language.

Erica has three chicks: messy Mick, naughty Nick, and another little rascal, Rick. While Erica snoozes in the sun, the chicks are having lots of fun! Written by a speech and language therapist, each story in the Early Soundplay series is packed with multiple repetitions of selected sounds and rhymes. The stories are expertly crafted to support children's developing speech, sound awareness, and vocabulary knowledge.

There are nearly as many stories about Fluke and the Bannajee as there are stars in the sky. These are just the first four. No one knows where the Bannajee comes from or why he lives with Fluke. Toddy does!

Look up into the starry sky on the night of the full moon and you'll see...a bird? A plane? No...a little boy! Eight-year-old Mary Bird has discovered a secret: Her four-year-old brother Billy can fly! Floating around his room is bad enough, but when he takes off out an open window, Mary's sure disaster isn't far behind. She may be right!

Mary's little brother, Billy, seems perfectly normal, until one moonlit evening Mary finds him floating above his bed. From then on, whenever the full moon rises, Billy the Bird flies up, up and away and home again! In the second story, Jackson is a rabbit with a dream. He spends his days watching the tall sailing ships coming and longs to go to sea, too. So one day Jackson stows away on the Atalanta.

Mabel, Verity's beloved cat, once belonged to Verity's mum - not that she actually ever knew her mum because she died. She really doesn't mind too much about not having a mum, apart from when she goes to visit her grave, which makes her think about being in the ground with a head full of worms. So, when Mabel dies, Verity goes to extraordinary lengths to preserve her in the style of the ancient Egyptians.

When Squire Fenton Babblewick inherits his uncle's Yorkshire estate, it's the perfect opportunity to realise his utopian dreams. He attempts to become a member of parliament, reform beetroots, win the love of lovely Lucinda, be a musical composer genius and buy a workhouse to turn it into a school. His ever present manservant - August Snipe, the true brains - watches in dismay as his master makes mistake after mistake. A sit-com set in the 18th century.

Ellen gets a big shock when her double appears out of the bathroom mirror. But Mirror-Belle is a double with a difference! She is a princess, and a very mischievous one at that. Join magically mischievous Mirror-Belle as she comes popping out of Ellen's mirror to sweep her into a variety of hilarious escapades - from Mirror-Belle muscling in on Ellen's seaside holiday to the return of Prince Precious Paws. You can always guarantee that wherever Mirror-Belle goes, trouble will follow.

Ellen gets a big shock when her double appears out of the bathroom mirror. But Mirror-Belle is a double with a difference! She is a princess, and a very mischievous one at that. Join magically mischievous Mirror-Belle as she comes popping out of Ellen's mirror to sweep her into a variety of hilarious escapades - from exploring a hospital after Ellen falls off her bike to chasing after Mirror-Belle's Magic Ball. You can always guarantee that wherever Mirror-Belle goes, trouble will follow.

Hello, dear listener. Are you sitting, lying down, standing on your head, eating a jam sandwich comfortably? Then I'll begin.... I want to introduce you to a boy called Vince, whose birthday it is today.... Vince is a normal boy with an unusual dislike for animals. Well, you'd feel the same if your father was always working at a zoo and your mother had run off with a lion tamer. Then, on his ninth birthday, Vince discovers he has 'the gift'. He can talk to animals!

From the best-selling author of The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson, comes Princess Mirror-Belle, the exciting adventures of a princess with a difference. Ellen gets a big shock when her double appears out of the bathroom mirror. But Mirror-Belle is a double with a difference! She is a princess and a very mischievous one at that. Join magically mischievous Mirror-Belle as she comes popping out of Ellen's mirror to sweep her into a variety of hilarious escapades.

Zoo Boy and his host of talking animal friends are back! And this time, they're solving crime.... Another hilarious and delightful story by actress Sophie Thompson. Eight year old Vince (otherwise known somewhat affectionately as Zoo Boy) can talk to animals. Which is handy, as his dad works at the zoo! The only problem is, the animals are rather demanding.... But for once the animals are going to have to put their selfish ways aside, as there's a jewel thief on the loose.

A BBC comedy drama set in the world of a 'pile 'em high university'. Karen Poynter is the new head of the Geography Department - renamed Geographical Tourism - at Hayborough University, which is definitely not part of the elite Russell Group of top universities. Ranked 132nd in the UK academic league table; if you have a pulse, you can have a degree. This is the high-energy farce of the breeze block and grotty cafeteria, with all the endless meetings, the backstabbings and the sheer panic of a university setting. In an era of increasing fees and cutbacks, this satire has become all the more acute.