Dick Francis

At eighteen, easy-going Benedict Juliard has no stronger ambition than to ride as an amateur jockey. His father, immersed in politics, asks his only son to enter into a pact that neither of them will commit any act that could destroy the father's burgeoning career. Ben agrees lightheartedly, but ten years later finds himself targetted in a vicious attack mounted by his father's increasingly violent political enemies as he makes his drive towards the Prime Ministership. In practice, a 10-lb penalty is the maximum extra weight a winning thoroughbred is normally set to carry in a race. A 10-lb penalty can be a killer.

Gene Hawkins becomes involved in attempted murders on the Thames and on the ranch, death in the Blue Grass country of Kentucky, three stallions hi-jacked, blackmail, burglary and bugging devices.

Princess Casilia, Kit Fielding’s patron, is in real trouble with her invalid husband being threatened by his business partner and all her best runners being wantonly destroyed. She turns to Kit for help but he has problems of his own….

Family ties mean trouble and when a vicious press campaign threatens the career of trainer Bobby Allardeck his brother-in-law, Kit Fielding, decides to find out who is behind it, so putting himself in danger.

Sid Halley, ex-jockey turned investigator, has uncovered an obnoxious crime committed by his friend, Ellis Quint. He is called as a witness at the trial but on the morning the trial is due to start, other people’s troubles put him in danger.

On leave from the Foreign Office, Peter Darwin returns to his childhood home. Here he becomes involved with the plight of a local vet, whose operating theatre is becoming an abattoir for a string of valuable racehorses. Peter realises that events from his own past hold the key to the mystery and so puts his own life at risk

Tom Forsyth returns to Lambourn, his childhood home, after being badly wounded by an IED in Afghanistan. Never having seen eye to eye with his racehorse trainer mother, Tom doesn't expect a hero's welcome, but even he's not prepared for the reception that awaits him.

For millionaire jockey Alan York, winning is a bonus; but for Bill Davidson, front running on strongly fancied Admiral, triumph means murder - his own. Turning private detective, York uses his underworld connections to go on the trail of the killers, only to draw a series of blanks - until York finds himself in hospital, without a memory...

The night before the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket sees the great and the good of the horse-racing community gathered for a prestigious black-tie Gala dinner. Michelin-starred chef Max Moreton is cooking the evening's meal. But the day is far from over, and soon Max Moreton finds himself fighting for more than just his livelihood.

Fast-paced radio dramatisations of six of Dick Francis' classic racing thrillers, plus bonus documentary. Enquiry: After riding the favourite into second place, jockey Kelly Hughes loses his licence. But he didn't throw the race, and is determined to find out who framed him...

Rat Race: A cushy job transporting passengers between racecourses turns dangerous for pilot Matt Shore when his plane explodes and he's embroiled in a deadly plot.

Bonecrack: Abducted by masked men, Neil Griffon is faced with a deadly ultimatum - obey the instructions of a ruthless crime czar, or risk the destruction of his father's racing stables.

Whip Hand: Disabled ex-jockey turned investigator Sid Halley is faced with a triple threat when he is asked to guard a horse, probe a suspicious syndicate and find a swindler.

Proof: When a party to celebrate the success of the racing season ends in tragedy, wine dealer and amateur sleuth Tony Beach investigates.

Bolt: Asked by a princess to fend off a dangerous cousin who is making threats, Kit Fielding agrees to help. But he also has problems of his own to deal with... 

Among the casts of these six action-packed adaptations are Bill Nighy, Nigel Havers and Siân Phillips. Also included is a bonus episode of the Radio 4 series Great Lives, presented by Matthew Parris, in which Francis' biographer Graham Lord, chairman of the British Horseracing Board Martin Broughton and racing correspondent Jonathan Powell explore the life and work of the champion thriller writer.

Retired steeplechase jockey Freddie Craft runs a fleet of motor horseboxes transporting runners from their stables to the races. When a hitch-hiker is picked up and someone dies Freddie becomes involved in a conspiracy.

Tor Kelsey, an undercover agent for the Jockey Club’s Security Service is sent to trail a blackmailer and murderer, Julius Apollo Filmer, on a luxury train across Canada. Filmer is wanted for corruption and witness intimidation and proves very difficult to entrap.

Bookmaker Ned Talbot is counting his losses at Royal Ascot as the favourites all come in. Then suddenly an old man accosts him claiming to be the father he had believed dead in a car crash years before.

A collection of thirteen exciting short stories from a master of equine thriller writing.

John Kendall knows how to survive. He's written six handbooks on the subject. Now he wants to become a novelist and he is to research and write a biography of Tremayne Vickers, a famous racecourse trainer. Staying at Vickers' home in rural Berkshire, Kendall soon learns to like his host and friends, learns to ride racehorses, and learns about murderers...

Perry Stuart, TV meteorologist has the chance to chase a Caribbean hurricane in a small plane. By accident he also learns a secret that places him in deadly danger.

When jockey Martin Stukely dies after a fall, he accidentally involves his artist friend, Gerard Logan, in a life and death race to find a valuable missing video-tape.

Barrister and amateur jockey Geoffrey Mason finds his racing life colliding with his working life when a fellow rider is murdered. The prime suspect is champion jockey Steve Mitchell, but Mason soon finds himself at the centre of a web of threat and intimidation.

Derek Franklin is an injured jockey. The last fence at Cheltenham has left him on crutches. But his brother's death means even bigger trouble. He inherits a jewellery business, a mistress - and some very shadowy business associates. Money hungry men who scorn the good and despise the straight . . .

Artist living in remote area of Scotland returns to find a group of strangers waiting to attack him. The following days are more dangerous than he could have imagined.

Ex-steeplechaser Randall Drew knows more about horses than Russians - and more about farming than spying. Yet he still finds himself Moscow bound, armed only with a vague brief and an invisible opposition. It's time for a winter crash course in Soviet diplomacy..

Former champion jockey, now super-sleuth, Sid Halley’s suspicions are aroused after three deaths in a single afternoon at Cheltenham Gold Cup Day.

Film director,Thomas Lyon, finds himself listening to a blacksmith’s confession when the dying man mistakes him for a priest. When there is a frenzied knife attack on the set of his current film, Thomas feels tempted to reveal what he has heard in the man’s confession, but what he knows could put his own life in danger.