Showing results by narrator "Michael Tudor Barnes" in All Categories

Apothecary John Rawlings has travelled to Devon to be by the side of his mistress, Elizabeth di Lorenzi, who is due to give birth to their child. Leaving his shop and his new carbonated water business in good hands, John is presented with a surprise on his arrival at Sidmouth House. While Elizabeth is recuperating, he learns that Lady Sidmouth's daughter, Miranda, is to marry the elderly Earl of St. Austell, who is 54 years her senior and has a cruel reputation.

An epic full-cast play about Robin Hood, plus an episode of In Our Time setting him in his historical context and four dramatic interpretations of his story Robin Hood has captured the English imagination for centuries. His tale has been told in ballads, novels, plays, TV shows and films – and...

Robert Cecil, chief secretary to the king, summons the gentleman spy, Henry Gresham, to his death bed to give his arch enemy one final, deadly case. An unknown Cambridge bookseller has obtained devastating correspondence between King James I and Robert Carr, and Gresham is the one man who can return the letters, saving the monarch from a potentially scandalous downfall.

This heart-warming account of veterinary life traces Ivor Smith's early days as a student at university through setting up his own practice in the Cotswolds, recounting a memorable 40 years in the profession. Following in the Herriot tradition of veterinary humour, Ivor's memories of life as a vet in a very mixed practice include hilarious incidents, colourful local characters and engaging patients.

Journalist Laura Ackroyd has a lot on her plate. Having recently discovered she is pregnant, she must now gather the courage to tell her partner, DCI Michael Thackery. So she could have done without the task of profiling the elusive venture capitalist Sir David Murgatroyd. Gradually, Laura discovers more about Murgatroyd, but is there a more sinister side to him?

In the dark days of King James I, a man must know his enemies to survive. To Henry Gresham, gentleman, scholar, courtier, and spy, William Shadwell is invaluable. A thief, informer, double-dealer, and pimp, he may not be the most moral of men, but he is one of Gresham's best sources. When Shadwell is murdered, Gresham's enquiries uncover a plot so audacious it is scarcely believable.

One of the best-loved composers of all time, Dvorák rose from rural origins to become not only a great but an influential composer. The first composer to put his native Bohemia on the musical map of the world, he was invited to do the same for America. One result was the famous "New World" Symphony, which made him a household name across the globe. Writing music of irresistible color, lilt and peasant vitality, he was also a melodist-in-a-million. This portrait-in-sound follows a lovable and in many ways a very simple, man from hay cart to imperial palace, from tragic loss to heart-warming joy, to pigeon-raising and world celebrity.

Stepping over the threshold of a once happy family home, DCI Michael Thackeray faces a grim sight. In the kitchen lie the bloody bodies of a mother and her daughter. Outside, a trail of blood in the snow leads to another victim, a young girl barely alive. The father, Gordon Christie, and another child are missing. The police conclude that the scene is the result of a domestic row turned violent. But when journalist Laura Ackroyd tries to find out more about the missing man, she finds no traceable records of Gordon Christie.

Lieutenant Douglas Lindsay is amongst just a handful of men picked up when his ship is torpedoed. Unable to free himself from the memories of that night, he becomes an interrogator with naval intelligence. He is convinced the Germans have broken British naval codes, but he's a lone voice, and his superiors begin to wonder if he can really be trusted. As the losses at sea mount, Lindsay becomes increasingly desperate.

On capture, British officers and men were routinely told by the Germans, “For you the war is over”. Nothing could have been further from the truth. In the camps the war was eternal. There was the war against the German military, fought with everything from taunting humour to outright sabotage. British PoWs also battled starvation, disease, Prussian cruelties, boredom, and their own inner demons. And, of course, they escaped. Then escaped again.

It is 1588, and King Philip of Spain has assembled a great fleet and army to crush the English and end Queen Elizabeth's reign.

One man who has inside knowledge of this event is the young Henry Gresham. His good looks, youth, and wealth are the envy of some at court, so his position as spy for Walsingham further endangers his life.

The gunners on the Golden Ray were a strangely assorted bunch. There was the professional, Sergeant Willis, in love with his job, Vernon the intellectual, and Miller the tragic communistic misfit who found his Russian Mecca not quite what he expected.

Apothecary John Rawlings has been summoned to Devon by Elizabeth di Lorenzi, his beautiful but unpredictable mistress. Leaving his young daughter Rose in the good care of her grandfather Sir Gabriel Kent, Rawlings sets off for Exeter on board the stagecoach. His fellow-passengers are a motley crew, and incelude a large and talkative German lady; Cuthbert Simms, a dance-master; and Jack Beef, the so-called ï¿¿ï¿¿ï¿¿Black Pyramid", a bare-knuckle fighter.

Apothecary John Rawlings is intrigued when a letter arrives asking him to investigate an impostor claiming to be the long-lost step-son of a wealthy Bristol merchant in possession of his dead wife's diamond inheritance. John Rawlings' father, Sir Gabriel Kent joins him on the trip to take the healing waters at Hotwell where they socialize with the crème of Bristol society. But Rawlings is compelled to try and solve the mystery and so he must trawl through the underbelly of 18th-century society.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Sharif is finding it difficult to keep his balance on the tightrope he walks between his family's traditional Muslim beliefs and his job as a policeman. When his young, newly married cousin Faria Aziz disappears, Mohammed tries to trace her to ease the worry of his family. But as this unofficial inquiry soon becomes a police matter, DCI Thackeray must tread carefully in his investigations.

1212 and the forces of Christendom are on the march again. Twenty-five years ago, the Christian army lay slaughtered on the desolate plain of Hattin, slaughtered by Mighty Saladin, ruler of the Moslem world. The Holy Land seemed lost. The Pope has called for crusade. Many take the cross for pilgrimage and battle. Among them is Otto, a young noble in search of his vanished Hospitaller Knight Father. And tens of thousands of children, pledged to recapture Jerusalem. Nothing can prepare them for what they will face.

Sam Grant is tasked with the job of tracing the vendor of a painting that had come up for sale at a London auction room. Produced by a German Jewish artist who had perished in a Nazi concentration camp, the painting had been stolen from a schloss in Lower Saxony in World War Two. Then it had apparently vanished. Now it has surfaced 50 years later. So who had possessed it in those years? Grant has to find the answer for Gerda Hoffman, an attractive blonde. But the case turns out to be more dangerous and life-threatening than he could have anticipated…

Richard and Robin Mariner are amongst a select group of honoured guests at a reception in the Presidential Palace, in the recently refurbished capital of a powerful West Africa nation. They have been instrumental in helping the president take charge, which he is still fighting to drag into the 21st century.

The body of a young woman is found in the Bradfield canal: a new case for DCI Thackeray. But with the entire town focused on the local club's match against Chelsea, no one seems able to identify the girl, let alone give any clue as to how she died. Meanwhile, Thackeray's girlfriend, reporter Laura Ackroyd, stumbles upon evidence of shady dealings by the club's directors and unsavoury goings-on at post-game parties. But in her pursuit of answers, Laura may be putting Thackeray's job and her life in danger.

1938: As Hitler sets his sights on the Sudetenland, not everyone in Britain is willing to appease him. Convinced that the fürher’s land hunger is insatiable, the head of the SIS recruits Cal Jardine to help him prove that Czechoslovakia is threatened with invasion. Before heading undercover to Prague, however, Jardine must first extricate himself from France, where his attempts to smuggle guns to Spain have been held up by a group of fanatical fascists. Finally arriving in Czechoslovakia, working undercover for the SIS proves no less dangerous.