Showing results by narrator "Martin Jarvis" in All Categories

In the second “battle” of Ayckbourn’s celebrated triology The Norman Conquests, we rejoin the family weekend, this time hearing the events in the living room, where Norman gets drunk on homemade dandelion wine – and all hell breaks loose. Norman unleashes his merry brand of manipulative charm on the hapless guests and even his most formidable opponents go down in defeat on the drawing room rug.

Award-winning author Dame Susan Hill is best known for her hit ghost story The Woman in Black and her popular ‘Simon Serailler’ detective series, but she has also written extensively for radio. This audio anthology includes full-cast adaptations of two of her early novels, plus an additional 12 BBC Radio plays, many of them available for the very first time since their original broadcasts.

The Doctor walked slowly forward into the cul-de-sac. The giant dinosaur turned its head to focus on the midget now approaching... the Doctor aimed his gun to fire... suddenly from behind came a great roar of anger. He spun round - blocking the exit from the narrow street towered a Tyrannosaurus...

While attempting to discover the roots of Hamlet’s unhappiness, two courtiers go on a journey to plumb the depths of the universe’s mysteries. Tom Stoppard’s wildly inventive, Tony® Award-winning first play takes us through a tilted version of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy while casting new light on questions of fate, mortality and the meaning of existence. Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood in June 2022.

Full-cast productions of Seneca’s most famous tragedies, plus letters from the Roman philosopher read by Paul Scofield Stoic philosopher and playwright Lucius Annaeus Seneca lived through the reigns of Caligula and Claudius, and was tutor and adviser to Nero, before his untimely suicide in...

Donald Cameron, the principal character, a young Scotsman, is commissioned to write a book on the outsider’s view of the English. He sets about his task with all the enthusiasm of an “innocent abroad” and soon gets caught up in the foibles of English social life. On the way he encounters an array of richly comical characters - including civil servants, newspaper editors, minor poets, a foul-tempered pseudo-Frenchman, a glamorous film star; and experiences some equally droll situations.

The third “battle” of Ayckbourn’s celebrated trilogy The Norman Conquests, returns us to the same weekend in the country, but this time to the setting of Mother’s overgrown English country garden. Something more troublesome than brambles is lurking among the roses. Havoc ensues among the flora and fauna, as this cynical masterpiece makes its way to a hilarious conclusion.

This fine collection of intelligent, unabridged short stories about intriguing, interesting and sometimes inspirational men is an audio treat for young and old, male or female. A carefully compiled anthology featuring timeless tales from classic authors including Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Anton Chekhov, read by a cast of acclaimed and respected actors, including Stephen Fry, Martin Jarvis and Kerry Shale; this compilation will be enjoyed by the whole family.

United in their rivalry, Sons of Fortune is the classic tale of two brothers engaged in a power struggle from international bestselling author, Jeffrey Archer. In the late 1940s in Hartford, Connecticut a set of twins is parted at birth. Nat Cartwright goes home with his parents, a schoolteacher...

Frustrated copy man Ken Handley cannot help but conceive of the world in advert form. Over three series witness Ken coping with a drunken boss, straight-laced colleagues and an overactive mind, as we follow his exploits and moral dilemmas in this advertising satire. Martin Jarvis stars as Ken, alongside a cast that includes Miriam Margolyes, Imelda Staunton, Christopher Godwin and Joss Ackland.

Adapted by David Mamet from a translation by Vlada Chernornirdik. In this classic of Chekhov’s canon, an overbearing professor pays a visit to his country estate, where Sonya and Vanya, his daughter and former brother-in-law, have slaved to maintain his wealth. But Vanya is enchanted by the professor’s new wife, while Sonya has fallen for the town’s melancholy doctor. Includes a conversation with Rosamund Bartlett, author of Chekhov: Scenes from a Life.

This volume details the struggle between Soames and his beautiful wife, Irene, who leaves him but cannot persuade him to grant a divorce. While Soames cannot accept Irene's dissent, he insists his sister deal as she must with her own failed marriage. Irene gains independence through her friendship with Soames' Uncle, Old Jolyon, who leaves her a fortune in his will, and she flees the country, but Soames follows her.

Four plays by the award-winning Italian playwright and innovator Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello was an Italian playwright, novelist, and short-story writer and winner of the 1934 Nobel Prize for Literature. In the first performance of Six Characters in Search of an Author, an enraged Rome...

For the 90th anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh, a sequel featuring new stories from the Hundred Acre Wood. Ninety years since Winnie-the-Pooh first stepped into the Forest, he's venturing back in an entirely new collection of stories. Four highly acclaimed authors - Paul Bright, Brian Sibley, Kate Saunders and Jeanne Willis - will transport you to the Hundred Acre Wood, where you will meet new companions and old friends in four delightful adventures.

In the fast-paced world of horse racing and high-stakes betting, Ned Talbot, a small-time bookmaker on the verge of throwing in the towel, is about to face his biggest gamble yet. When a man claiming to be his father, long thought dead, appears out of the blue and is then murdered, Ned feels...

Meet the wonderfully weird Otherhand family and their faithful guardian, Edgar the raven, and discover the dark secrets of Castle Otherhand. Edgar is alarmed when he sees a nasty looking black tail slinking under the castle walls. But his warnings to the inhabitants of the castle go unheeded...

A lawyer and amateur jockey is torn between doing what’s right and what will keep him alive in this New York Times bestselling thriller from Dick and Felix Francis. Geoffrey Mason wasn’t terribly disappointed when his client Julian Trent was found guilty. Despite being paid handsomely as...

Shipwrecked on the shores of Illyria, Viola assumes the role of a male page to Duke Orsino. The Duke sends Viola, now disguised as ‘Cesario’ to press his suit with the beautiful Olivia–who promptly falls in love with Cesario. Confusion reigns until the truth is untangled and true love triumphs.

Soames Forsyte's great desire to own things even extends to his captivating wife, Irene. Jealous of her friendships with others, he concocts a plan to move her away to the countryside, where he might come to own her completely. Resisting his bitter intentions, she falls for architect Philip Bossiney, who is unfortunately engaged to her best friend (and Soames' cousin), June Forsyte.

In the quiet cul-de-sac where Keith and Stephen live, the only immediate signs of the Second World War are the blackout at night and a single random bombsite. But the two boys start to suspect all is not as it seems when one day Keith announces a disconcerting discovery: the Germans have infiltrated his own family. And when the secret underground world they have dreamed up emerges from the shadows, they find themselves engulfed in mysteries far deeper and more painful than they had bargained for.