Entertainment Radio

What possesses a right-minded comedian to quit the day job for life as a breakfast radio DJ? "I have always been very aware that millions of people truly appreciate the breezy banter and lively tone of the majority of breakfast broadcasting...."

Sir John Betjeman, poet, broadcaster, journalist, prose writer and critic, was one of the best-loved figures of the 20th century. Betjeman was a prolific writer and his poems still resonate today. This release celebrates the centenary of Betjeman's birth.

In Michael B. Druxman's outrageous comedy, Hail on the Chief!, cantankerous gentleman rancher Oliver Pettridge hates his neighbor, a former cowboy movie star. He's hated him for years over a property line dispute. As the play begins, the neighbor has just been elected President of the United States.

"We interrupt this broadcast...." Having survived a day at the seaside, Robert Dalton and Emily Chaudhry are enjoying a few pints.... Having spent the day answering the phone and praying for some action, Will Hoffman is enjoying a night out.... Having signed a controversial new European treaty, the Prime Minister is on his way back to Downing Street.... Having survived yet another day, the people of Britain are settling down to eat dinner, stay in, go out, spend time with their friends....

Father Peyton of the Holy Cross Fathers wanted to inspire his country with a radio program. Footing the expense of the show himself, he arranged for some of the biggest names in radio and film to donate their services, and for a network to provide the broadcast time. The series that resulted featured heartwarming stories for audiences nationwide. The commercial breaks were filled only with an earnest, non-sectarian appeal for family prayer, reminding listeners that "The family that prays together stays together."

Excerpts from the classic medieval poem, performed in the original language with English translation, original music, and commentary.

1950s London: newcomers arrive daily on British shores seeking a fresh start, new opportunities, or simply the chance of a different life. However, some are from much further afield than India or Jamaica.... After an emergency landing, the TARDIS crew must make the best of it, and look to their new neighbours for help. But the Newman family has more than the prejudices of the time to contend with. A sinister force grows in strength amid the pubs, docks and backstreets of London....

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British institution, and its story during the Second World War is also our story. This was a period of remarkable voices: Churchill’s speeches, de Gaulle’s broadcasts from exile, Richard Dimbleby and Vera Lynn. Radio offered an incomparable tool for propaganda while at the same time eyewitness testimonies gave a voice to everyone, securing the BBC’s reputation as a purveyor of truth.

Tumbling from one love entanglement to another, 30-something teacher Izzy Comyn has a predilection for inappropriate men. Over the three hilarious series of Up the Garden Path, Izzy, played by Imelda Staunton, deals with the complicated ups and downs of her attempts to find true love.

There is a conspiracy at the heart of Earth's government. The Orion War situation is worsening by the day. The human race is sleepwalking towards extinction. Now, the time is right for the next phase of the Cyber plan to begin. Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

Nicholas Courtney, the man behind Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, remembers his time on Doctor Who, from The Web of Fear to Battlefield - and beyond! He's seen off Daleks, Cybermen and Yeti. He's witnessed Giant Robots running amok, met himself in the future and saved the world from the life-devouring Destroyer. He is, of course, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, alias actor Nicholas Courtney.

"That is our world out there. A chemical soup for a sky above and a scarred, radioactive wasteland below. It is purgatory. But we must make it paradise!" The Kaled city is now ravaged, and life has become one of fear, protected by a vast transparent dome that covers what remains of the city. The Thals undertake a desperate mission to take Davros away from his laboratories, and the Supremo must send a crack squad over enemy lines to retrieve his chief scientist.

John Tournour, known to his many listeners and fans as JT the Brick, is one of the biggest sports radio personalities in America. Making it as a sports radio host is almost impossible, and JT went about it in a fearless way, leaving a lucrative position as a Merrill Lynch stockbroker to pursue his dream. But Tournour's hardest challenge would come when his best friend and mentor, Andrew Ashwood was diagnosed with cancer.

The official biography of the Oscar-winning star of Cocoon, and the great radio actor, Don Ameche. Written with the aid of the Ameche family, this first book features many interviews with family and friends.

It's 1812, and the Doctor, Steven and Dodo get ready to spend their winter in a Russian village. The French are on their way, but that's not the only invasion the travellers will have to deal with. Written by: Marc Platt. Directed by: Nigel Fairs.

Mock the Week regularly produces the sharpest and funniest comedy on TV. With Dara O Briain, Hugh Dennis, Frankie Boyle, and Andy Parsons, it's no surprise. Here is the material that didn't make it to our screens!

Michael Shayne, "the reckless, redheaded Irishman", was a popular hard-boiled detective created by crime novelist Brett Halliday. In the novels, Michael Shayne settled in Miami just after WWII, making crime pay by fighting it with a license and an attitude. Like Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe, Shayne was a loner. The backstory on Mike is that he was happily married, but it hit him hard when his wife was tragically murdered. Grief stricken, Shayne loses himself in his work as a private eye, prowling the dark streets of the city.

The team from I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue present their own unique take on Lewis Carroll's most famous work, casting their reluctant chairman - the late Humphrey Lyttelton - in the title role, with support from Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer, Sandi Toksvig, Tony Hawks, Andy Hamilton, Rob Brydon, Jeremy Hardy and Jacke Dee, with Colin Sell at the piano.

Bob Harris first became known as the face of the 1970s live music TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test and his infectious enthusiasm for music and ability to discover new talent has seen him become a national treasure. He continues to be a household name today and his velvety voice can be heard on Radio 2's The Bob Harris Show and Bob Harris Country. In this fully revised and updated autobiography, with a forward by Robert Plant, Bob tells his story of over 40 years of broadcasting.

In 1926, the American version of the film classic Metropolis was cut in half, now for the first time in seventy years you can experience the whole story. A very important book in the development of the audiobook industry. The music and sound effects are piped through differant speakers so the listener gets the surround sound or 3-D effect. The futuristic music alone (and the listener's imagination) tells part of the story without any words describing the action.