Miscellaneous authors

Full-cast dramatisations of six masterpieces from the founding fathers of dystopian fiction Dark and disturbing provocative and prescient dystopian literature has long captured our imagination with its nightmarish visions of forbidding future worlds.

Included here are six classic novels of time-travel totalitarianism and terror written by some of the masters of speculative fiction and adapted for radio with all-star casts.

The Time Machine by HG Wells - A Victorian inventor takes a fateful journey into the far future where mankind has diverged into two species - the Eloi and the Morlocks. Robert Glenister and William Gaunt star in this pioneering science fiction adventure.

We by Evgeny Zamyatin - In a post-revolutionary future OneState is ruled according to the principles of rationality. The penalty for dissent is death. But when engineer D-503 meets the beautiful 1-330 he begins to question everything... Starring Anton Lesser Don Warrington and Brigit Forsyth.

The Trial by Franz Kafka - Josef K is an ordinary man who lives a quiet life. Then one morning he is awoken by two men and arrested - but what is his crime? Mike Gwylim stars in this gripping dramatisation by Hanif Kureishi.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - It's 2116 and Helmholtz Watson and Bernard Marx are token rebels in a society where eugenics promiscuity and happiness are gently enforced. Into this world comes an outsider John who will show the duo what rebellion really means... Starring Justin Salinger John Coy and Milton Lopes.

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell - Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth rewriting history to suit the Party. When he finds love with Julia he awakens to new possibilities - but free thinking is forbidden and Big Brother is always watching... Christopher Eccleston and Pippa Nixon star in Orwell's chilling tale.

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham - In a post-apocalyptic world devastated by genetic mutation the God-respecting people of Waknuk regard deviation as the work of the Devil. Young David and his friends can communicate by telepathy: but as Mutants they must hide their powers or face the consequences of discovery...

A new edition of the collection featuring each of the Doctor's full-cast BBC radio adventures - and more.

In The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space, the Third Doctor reunites with Sarah Jane Smith and UNIT for adventures on Earth and beyond, first broadcast on BBC Radio in the 1990s.

In Doctor Who and the Pescatons, made for LP release in 1976, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah fight alien invasion on present day Earth.

The duo return in Exploration Earth: The Time Machine, for BBC Schools Radio, in which they witness the Earth's early development.

Whatever Happened To...Susan? is a tongue-in-cheek look at how Susan Foreman's life might have turned out after her adventures with the Doctor, and Slipback is a full-throttle adventure for the Sixth Doctor and Peri, first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1985.

Also included in this new edition is a 45 minute conversation with Elisabeth Sladen, recorded exclusively for BBC Audio in 2004.

Six classic Doctor Who TV soundtrack adventures starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor. 

In 'The Sensorites' the Doctor and his friends visit an alien society with dark secrets. In 'The Romans' Ian and Barbara are sold into slavery in First Century Rome, and the Doctor encounters Nero!

In 'The Space Museum' the travellers must work to avert a terrible potential future for themselves.

In 'The Ark' the Doctor, Steven and Dodo encounter the last humans to flee Earth with their alien servants, the Monoids.

In 'The Gunfighters' the TARDIS crewmembers try to avoid getting caught in crossfire at the OK Corral.

In 'The War Machines' the TARDIS lands in London, 1966, to find the brand new Post Office Tower being controlled by sinister supercomputer.

Glenda Jackson stars in this compelling drama series inspired by Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart series, highlighting different aspects of contemporary Britain

In 2015, double Oscar winner Glenda Jackson made a triumphant return to acting in Radio 4's Blood, Sex and Money, a radical reimagining of Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle. Now, she reprises her role as matriarch/narrator in this eclectic mix of dramas inspired by Zola's novels, but set in modern Britain.

Constance is confined to her sick bed and dying of motor neurone disease. Her body is paralysed, but her mind runs free, seeking out stories from the extended family she has long refused to acknowledge. As she delves into their lives, she uncovers dark secrets, lies and deceit. Has bad blood seeped down through the generations to corrupt them all, or is there a chink of light in the familial fault lines, where love and hope can flourish?

In these three series, exploring British society through the lens of money, sex and blood, we meet the members of her flawed clan - from her son Miles, born into wealth and privilege, to her great-great-cousin Hannah and great-niece Natalie, struggling to survive in a world of zero-hours contracts, foodbanks and precarious social housing. Whether rich or poor, all have been shaped by the powerful driving forces of capitalism, desire and DNA...

Written by a host of top dramatists including the award-winning Christopher Reason, Roy Williams, Eve Steele and Michael Symmons Roberts, these intimate, immersive dramas are performed by a stellar cast including Robert Glenister, Gillian Kearney, Don Gilet, Siobhan Finneran, Eleanor Bron and Rudolph Walker.

Three top actresses show off their comedic talents in the very first all-women sketch show written for BBC Radio 2. In these six episodes, Lynda Bellingham, Gwyneth Strong and Joanna Monro present a feast of skits and music with a distinctly feminist flavour. Highlights include the 'Classic Serial' strand, featuring strangely familiar titles such as Madame Ovary, Lady Chatterbox's Lover and Donna Karenina; and 'The History of Feminism', in which we learn the truth about Florence Nightingale, suffragettes, women drivers and Boadicea. 

The vintage radio comedy series starring a real-life American family - husband and wife Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels, and their children

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in 1950, Life with the Lyons was the first UK 'situation comedy'. Over 11 million listeners tuned in to the hilarious fictional misadventures of real-life Hollywood stars Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyons and their two children Barbara and Richard, as well as Scottish housekeeper Aggie and next-door neighbours Florrie and Mr Wimple. Such was its popularity that the series ran for 11 years, spawning a TV spin-off, a West End play and two feature films.

Included here are 32 of the very best episodes, among them an early one from the first series and the very last show, Roaming Scandals. Molly Weir co-stars as Aggie, with Doris Rogers as Florrie, and there are special guest appearances from comedian Ted Ray, his son Robin Ray and boxer Freddie Mills, as well as cameos from household names including Charles Hawtrey, Roger Delgado and Norman Shelley. There's never a dull moment in the Lyons household, and these fast, frantic and funny slices of life are sure to have you roaring with laughter!

A collection of factual dramas exploring the history of oil - and the price we pay for it

Ever since it was first drilled over 150 years ago, oil has been both a blessing and a curse. It has enabled economic growth; provided an efficient energy source; fuelled our entire infrastructure - and caused wars, pollution and global warming. These seven dramas, set between 1951 and 2045, and taking us from postwar Iran to futuristic Lancashire, examine the role oil has played in shaping our world: recounting incredible stories of wealth, power, politics and corruption.

Stand Firm, You Cads! By Jonathan Myerson tells the colourful tale of how Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh took back the nation's oil from the British, and the chaos and conflict that followed. In Looking for Billy by Nigel Williams, a private detective investigates protests against an Alaskan pipeline - and finds out what oil did to the indigenous Inupiat people. The Weapon, by Jonathan Myerson, is a tense, thrilling dramatisation of the 1973 OPEC siege, while Baby Oil, also written by Myerson, is based on real events in the propaganda campaign at the outbreak of the First Gulf War.

In Someone's Making a Killing in Nigeria by Rex Obano, a local businesswoman is caught up in the violent consequences of the Ogoni people's campaign against the oil industry. No Two Days by Joy Wilkinson is a mesmerising maze of stories about risk, passion and deep-sea oil, centred around an ambitious journalist's attempts to investigate the 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. And in Tamsin Ogleby's future oil comedy Blood from Stone, a father-and-son energy company struggles with the new economics of the oil market. Is Ralph right about getting out for good? Is his dad Charlie more addict than businessman? And will we ever be able to give up oil?

Anna Maxwell Martin, Raad Rawi, Jemma Redgrave, Paul Ritter, Nicholas Le Prevost , James McArdle, Nadine Marshall, Faye Marsay, Obi Abili, David Ajala, Jude Akuwudike, and Alun Armstrong are among the casts in these enthralling dramas. Also included are two short clips in which Nicolas Kent discusses the difference between directing for radio and stage, and explains his inspiration for The Price of Oil.

From warrior queens to King Arthur this epic collection explores the tribes rulers and civilisations of Britain's Iron Age In the first millennium BC the Iron Age arrived in Britain bringing with it huge technological and social changes. New civilisations arose the landscape was transformed and societies developed new cultures and lifestyles. In this comprehensive collection we take an in-depth look at Iron Age Britain and its inhabitants.

The Essay: Unearthing Britannia's Tribes takes us on a 15-part 'woad trip' from the western reaches of Cornwall to the wilds of Scotland and Wales as archaeologists historians and writers reveal the peoples of ancient Albion and those who encountered them. We meet Queen Cartimandua King Arthur Boudicca Pytheas and Lindow Man; hear the stories of the Cantiaci the Demetae the Durotriges and the Druids; and probe their myths ideas and characters. Reaching journey's end we learn how tribal Britain succumbed and was integrated into the Roman world. With the arrival of Caesar's armies nothing would be the same again...

Bookending this fascinating series are three episodes from In Our Time unpacking the context behind this pivotal period of history. In the first programme Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the transition from Bronze to Iron and the dawning of the European Iron Age; while the second and third examine the legacy of both the prehistoric Celts and their ultimate conquerors the Romans analysing their lasting impact on Britain today.