Eli

The complete collected dramatisations of C. J. Sansom's historical mystery series: Set during the reign of Henry VIII, these six stunning dramas follow the adventures of hunchbacked lawyer-detective Matthew Shardlake as he navigates the dangerous world of Tudor England, solving crimes and seeking out murderers.

Progress in the Edwardian era is coming on apace. The motor car is becoming increasingly popular - and you can be sure that in the back seat you’ll find the luscious temptress Dame Jenny, driving someone to delicious distraction. And what about those magnificent men in their flying machines? It’s too early for Jenny to join the mile-high club, but give her an inch (or several) and she’ll do her level best….

On the surface, the Victorian age is one of propriety, industry, prudishness and piety. But scratch the surface and you’ll find scandal, sadism, sex, madness, malice and murder. Presented by Stephen Fry, this series delves deep into a period of time we think we know, to discover an altogether darker reality. The stories we’re told offer a different perspective on an era which underwent massive social change. As education, trade, technology and culture blossomed, why was there an undercurrent of the ‘forbidden’ festering beneath Victorian society?

Connie Willis, the multiple Hugo Award-winning author of Blackout, and Carrie Vaughn, the author of the Kitty Norville paranormal fantasy series, discuss speculative fiction and the art of writing.

In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.

Tim McInnerny stars as Allan Quatermaine in this dramatic full-cast BBC Radio 4 adaptation of H Rider Haggard's classic Victorian novel. A chance meeting with Sir Henry Curtis and his friend John Good leads professional game hunter Allan Quatermaine on a dangerous expedition to the uncharted, hostile heart of Africa.

A thrilling new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Jules Verne's classic novel. 'Descend, bold traveller into the crater of the Jokul of Snæfell, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July and you will attain the centre of the earth. Which I have done.'

These adventures of a Victorian heroine are considered by some to still be shocking as Eveline explores her sexuality in a series of erotic encounters from a very young age. She has a veneer of propriety which heightens her casual sexual behaviour and provides a revealing insight into our perceptions of Victorian society. Talented actress Sally Farmiloe captures this dichotomy beautifully.

A disturbed young man roams the windswept hills, haunted by his father's suicide and his mother's early death. He blames his father's old friend, the lord of the Hall, for his ruin. The young man was betrothed to Maud, the lord's daughter, when they were children, but she and her family left the area after the suicide. But now there are workmen up at the Hall - Maud has come home.

Love and death are the principal players in these two BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations of chilling Ruth Rendell stories. In "The Bridesmaid", when Philip embarks on an affair with Senta, his sister's bridesmaid, she reminds him of the stone statue he adored as a child. Yet Senta is married, and Philip's overwhelming aversion to violence leads indirectly to murder and horror as he is drawn into erotic but murderous complicity.