Banned Books: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
Four Full-Cast Dramatisations of Modern Classics
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.33
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
About this listen
Four modern masterpieces that dared to push boundaries and disrupt the status quo
Deviant. Depraved. Dangerous. Denounced for their transgressive themes and inflammatory ideas, these 20th-century classics have all been considered so seditious that they had to be suppressed. Find out what made these iconic works so threatening to governments worldwide in these superlative dramatisations, featuring stellar casts and specially composed music.
Ulysses – Prosecuted for obscenity in the UK and US, James Joyce’s seminal novel tells the combined stories of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, as they wander through Dublin on one ordinary day: 16th June 1904.
The Well of Loneliness – Radclyffe Hall’s groundbreaking tale of lesbian love was judged as obscene soon after its publication in 1928, and banned in the UK for over 20 years. It centres around Stephen, a baby girl born to well-to-do parents who grows up feeling ‘different’ and knows she will never be attracted to a man. But will she always be an outcast?
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley's visionary dystopian fable, banned in Ireland and Australia when it first appeared in 1932, portrays a corrupt future society where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science and the drug soma is the opiate of the people. Token dissidents Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson long to be free – but it is an outsider, John ‘the Savage’, who shows them the true meaning of rebellion.
Nineteen Eighty-Four – London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Ministry of Truth employee Winston Smith finds love with Julia, the duo begin to question the Party – but for enemies of the state, Room 101 awaits… George Orwell’s classic tale, banned in the Soviet Union until 1988 and still one of the most-challenged books in the USA today.
The star-studded casts of these dramatisations include Andrew Scott, Henry Goodman, Niamh Cusack, Stephen Rea, Valerie Edmond, Amanda Root, Justin Salinger, John Coy, Milton Lopes, Christopher Eccleston, Pippa Nixon and Tim Pigott-Smith.
First published 1918 (Ulysses), 1928 (The Well of Loneliness), 1932 (Brave New World), 1949 (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
Cast and credits
Ulysses
Cast: Stephen Rea, Andrew Scott, Kevin Trainor, Harry Livingstone, Janet Moran, Ronan Raftery, Jim Norton, Joshua Ellershaw, Aidan Dunlop, Henry Goodman, Niamh Cusack, Grainne Keenan, Stephen Hogan, Des McAleer, Christine Absalom, Jonathan Forbes, Bronagh Taggart, Sean Campion, John Rogan, Peter Hamilton Dyer, Joshua Ellershaw, Lorcan Cranitch, Gerard McDermott, Denise Gough, Pip Donaghy, Frances Barber, Susie Riddell
Written by James Joyce
Dramatised by Robin Brooks
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Jonquil Panting
Produced by Jeremy Mortimer
Executive producer: Claire Grove
Singer: Daire Halpin
Pianist: Colin Guthrie
The Well of Loneliness
Cast: Valerie Edmond, Alexandra Bateman, Roberta Kerr, Rob Pickvance, Amanda Root, Sarah Parks, Paul Warriner, Russell Dixon, Katy Cavanagh, Sara Kaplan, Thomas Hudson, Martin Reeve, Paul Warriner, Katy Cavanagh, Malcolm Hebden
Written by Radclyffe Hall
Dramatised by Sarah Woods
Directed by Melanie Harris
Music composed and performed by Odaline de la Martinez
Celloist: Andy Wardale
Violinist: Janet Fuste
Brave New World
Cast: Justin Salinger, Jonathan Coy, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Anton Lesser, Milton Lopes, Karina Fernandez, Nicola Ferguson, Sam Rix, James Lailey, Sean Baker, Scarlett Brookes, Brian Protheroe, Nick Underwood
Written by Aldous Huxley
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway
Directed by David Hunter
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Pippa Nixon, Tim Pigott-Smith, Kim Wall, Robert Blythe, Sam Alexander, Susie Riddell, Christine Absalom, Don Gilet, Joe Sims and Joshua Swinney
Written by George Orwell
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer
Related to this topic
-
Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
-
-
Bazinga
- By Davidgonzalezsr on 05-04-21
By: Andy Weir
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
The Martian
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.
-
-
I love Wil Wheaton but why not R. C. Bray?
- By L. Newman on 01-11-20
By: Andy Weir
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
-
-
A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
-
The Signal
- By: Eric Buchman, Gabriel Urbina, Sarah Shachat
- Narrated by: Paget Brewster, full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two astronomers have detected a strange, pulsing signal from deep space. Within hours, the US government goes into lockdown, restricting airspace and scrubbing scientific data. Was the signal an intercepted communication revealing alarming plans for an enemy’s military strike? Or has humanity at long last found proof of extraterrestrial life?
-
-
A great new twist on the “alien conspiracy” genre
- By Amazon Customer on 12-08-24
By: Eric Buchman, and others
-
Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
-
-
Bazinga
- By Davidgonzalezsr on 05-04-21
By: Andy Weir
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
The Martian
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.
-
-
I love Wil Wheaton but why not R. C. Bray?
- By L. Newman on 01-11-20
By: Andy Weir
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
-
-
A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
-
The Signal
- By: Eric Buchman, Gabriel Urbina, Sarah Shachat
- Narrated by: Paget Brewster, full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two astronomers have detected a strange, pulsing signal from deep space. Within hours, the US government goes into lockdown, restricting airspace and scrubbing scientific data. Was the signal an intercepted communication revealing alarming plans for an enemy’s military strike? Or has humanity at long last found proof of extraterrestrial life?
-
-
A great new twist on the “alien conspiracy” genre
- By Amazon Customer on 12-08-24
By: Eric Buchman, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Herman Melville: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Three Full-Cast Dramatisations including Moby-Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Trevor White, Garrick Hagon, P J Brennan, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. He is best known for Moby-Dick, the opening line of which - ‘Call me Ishmael’ - is one of the most famous opening lines in literature. This BBC collection features lively full-cast dramatisations of three of Melville’s best-known works.
By: Herman Melville
-
Anti-Heroes: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Five Full-Cast Dramatisations Including Macbeth, Emma & The Great Gatsby
- By: William Shakespeare, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen, and others
- Narrated by: Neil Dudgeon, Emma Fielding, Iain Glen, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ambitious. Ruthless. Unprincipled. With their blurred morals and relatable imperfections, it’s no wonder we find anti-heroes so appealing and fascinating. Featuring a mixture of male and female anti-heroes across England, Scotland, France and New York, these fantastic adaptations of five of the best-known and best-loved classics of literature follow some of these flawed, nuanced characters as they steal the spotlight and make their presence known.
By: William Shakespeare, and others
-
Immorality Unmasked: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Five Full-Cast Dramatisations Including Othello, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde & The Picture of Dorian Gray
- By: William Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, and others
- Narrated by: Lenny Henry, Conrad Nelson, David Tennant, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cunning. Corrupt. Charismatic. The degenerate characters in this collection shun conventional morality, and will stop at nothing to get what they want... These five sensational dramas, set in locations ranging from 16th century Venice to Victorian England, revolve around their unscrupulous actions – and the devastating consequences of the choices they make.
By: William Shakespeare, and others
-
Jules Verne: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Four Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: Jules Verne
- Narrated by: Leslie Phillips, Jim Broadbent, Joel MacCormack, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Often referred to as the father of science fiction, Victorian author Jules Verne is renowned for his fantastical adventures imagining extraordinary voyages to strange new horizons. Prolific and prophetic, he wrote over 50 novels and numerous short stories, in which he foretold the skyscraper, the submarine, space missions and even the Internet. Featured here are contemporary adaptations of four of his most famous tales, as well as a special episode of The Forum examining the long-lasting appeal of his work.
By: Jules Verne
-
Classic Dystopias: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- The Time Machine, We, The Trial, Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Chrysalids
- By: H. G. Wells, Yevgeni Zamyatin, Franz Kafka, and others
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister, Anton Lesser, Don Warrington, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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 BBC DRAMA NEVER FAILS
- By Nati Yakobovich on 10-01-23
By: H. G. Wells, and others
-
The Guy de Maupassant BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Full-Cast Dramatisations of Un Vie, Bel Ami & More
- By: Guy de Maupassant
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Adam Nagaitis, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Guy de Maupassant is renowned as one of the fathers of the modern short story. A protégé of Flaubert, he was celebrated for his naturalistic fiction, and wrote over 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books and one volume of verse in his short but highly productive lifetime. He died in an asylum aged just 43. This collection brings together dramatisations of some of his finest works.
-
-
First Class
- By Anonymous User on 10-25-23
-
Herman Melville: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Three Full-Cast Dramatisations including Moby-Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Trevor White, Garrick Hagon, P J Brennan, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. He is best known for Moby-Dick, the opening line of which - ‘Call me Ishmael’ - is one of the most famous opening lines in literature. This BBC collection features lively full-cast dramatisations of three of Melville’s best-known works.
By: Herman Melville
-
Anti-Heroes: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Five Full-Cast Dramatisations Including Macbeth, Emma & The Great Gatsby
- By: William Shakespeare, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen, and others
- Narrated by: Neil Dudgeon, Emma Fielding, Iain Glen, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ambitious. Ruthless. Unprincipled. With their blurred morals and relatable imperfections, it’s no wonder we find anti-heroes so appealing and fascinating. Featuring a mixture of male and female anti-heroes across England, Scotland, France and New York, these fantastic adaptations of five of the best-known and best-loved classics of literature follow some of these flawed, nuanced characters as they steal the spotlight and make their presence known.
By: William Shakespeare, and others
-
Immorality Unmasked: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Five Full-Cast Dramatisations Including Othello, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde & The Picture of Dorian Gray
- By: William Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, and others
- Narrated by: Lenny Henry, Conrad Nelson, David Tennant, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cunning. Corrupt. Charismatic. The degenerate characters in this collection shun conventional morality, and will stop at nothing to get what they want... These five sensational dramas, set in locations ranging from 16th century Venice to Victorian England, revolve around their unscrupulous actions – and the devastating consequences of the choices they make.
By: William Shakespeare, and others
-
Jules Verne: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Four Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: Jules Verne
- Narrated by: Leslie Phillips, Jim Broadbent, Joel MacCormack, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Often referred to as the father of science fiction, Victorian author Jules Verne is renowned for his fantastical adventures imagining extraordinary voyages to strange new horizons. Prolific and prophetic, he wrote over 50 novels and numerous short stories, in which he foretold the skyscraper, the submarine, space missions and even the Internet. Featured here are contemporary adaptations of four of his most famous tales, as well as a special episode of The Forum examining the long-lasting appeal of his work.
By: Jules Verne
-
Classic Dystopias: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- The Time Machine, We, The Trial, Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Chrysalids
- By: H. G. Wells, Yevgeni Zamyatin, Franz Kafka, and others
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister, Anton Lesser, Don Warrington, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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 BBC DRAMA NEVER FAILS
- By Nati Yakobovich on 10-01-23
By: H. G. Wells, and others
-
The Guy de Maupassant BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Full-Cast Dramatisations of Un Vie, Bel Ami & More
- By: Guy de Maupassant
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Adam Nagaitis, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Guy de Maupassant is renowned as one of the fathers of the modern short story. A protégé of Flaubert, he was celebrated for his naturalistic fiction, and wrote over 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books and one volume of verse in his short but highly productive lifetime. He died in an asylum aged just 43. This collection brings together dramatisations of some of his finest works.
-
-
First Class
- By Anonymous User on 10-25-23
-
Eugene O’Neill: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- 9 Full-Cast Productions including Long Day’s Journey into the Night, The Hairy Ape, The Iceman Cometh & more
- By: Eugene O'Neill
- Narrated by: Dominic West, Shaun Dingwall, Anthony Jackson, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eugene O'Neill’s revolutionary 20th century dramas changed the direction of American theatre, introducing European realism and experimental techniques to the US stage. He wrote more than 50 plays, portraying characters on the margins of society and tackling controversial issues, winning a Nobel Prize, and four Pulitzer Prizes.
By: Eugene O'Neill
-
Goethe: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Six Full-Cast Dramatisations Including Faust, The Sorrows of Young Werther and More
- By: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Narrated by: Simon Callow, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jack Farthing, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Johann Wolfgang Goethe was a colossus of German literature and a true Renaissance man. A novelist, dramatist, poet, humanist, scientist and philosopher, he wrote the first international bestseller, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and his epic masterpiece Faust is one of the most famous and celebrated dramas of all time.
-
The August Strindberg BBC Radio Collection
- 13 Full-Cast Productions including Miss Julie, The Father and The Dream Play
- By: August Strindberg
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw, Andrew Garfield, Maurice Denham, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed by Arthur Miller as ‘the mad inventor of modern theatre’, Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, poet and novelist whose groundbreaking works mingled naturalism and psychology and paved the way for Expressionist drama. A prolific writer – penning over 60 plays, 19 novels and nine autobiographies – his turbulent life was marked by emotional conflict. This wide-ranging collection brings together 13 of his most important dramas and a semi-autobiographical ‘occult diary’, enhanced through stunning soundscapes and music composed by Strindberg himself.
-
Aldous Huxley: A BBC Radio Collection
- Including Brave New World, Antic Hay, The Devils & More
- By: Aldous Huxley
- Narrated by: Peter Bowles, Jonathan Coy, Justin Salinger, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Philosopher, pacifist, psychonaut and prophet Aldous Huxley was one of the 20th century’s pre-eminent intellectuals and writers. The author of over 50 books, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize nine times, and elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962, a year before his death. Known for his mordant satire and visionary ideas, Huxley spanned the period from post-First World War disillusionment to mid-century mysticism, and the works in this collection reflect his literary evolution.
By: Aldous Huxley
-
The Somerset Maugham BBC Radio Collection
- Eight Full-Cast Dramatisations and Readings
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Janet Maw, full cast
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of the BBC’s dramatisations and readings of W. Somerset Maugham’s fiction, with star casts including Alex Jennings, Dirk Bogarde, and Janet Maw.
-
-
Entertaining radio adaptations
- By scout86 on 08-23-21
-
Sophocles’ Greek Tragedies: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Oedipus, Antigone, Electra and More
- By: Sophocles
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Kenneth Cranham, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the three great tragic playwrights of ancient Greece, Sophocles wrote over 120 plays during his 60-year career, though only seven survive today. The most famous of these are the Theban Plays, all three of which are included in this collection alongside adaptations of Electra and Philoctetes, brought to life by celebrated writers, poets, and playwrights.
By: Sophocles
-
Émile Zola: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Nine Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: Emile Zola
- Narrated by: Charlotte Riley, David Bradley, Claire Goose, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Novelist, journalist and literature’s greatest whistleblower, Émile Zola was one of the 19th century’s pre-eminent authors. He is renowned for his philosophy of naturalism, which informed his 20-volume Rougon-Macquart cycle, an epic family saga set during France’s Second Empire, and for his controversial intervention in the Dreyfus affair through his infamous protest letter, J’Accuse.
By: Emile Zola
-
Franz Kafka: The Trial, Metamorphosis, Amerika & more
- A BBC Radio 4 full-cast drama collection
- By: Franz Kafka
- Narrated by: David Tennant, Miriam Margolyes, Tom Basden, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By day Franz Kafka worked as a lawyer for an insurance company, but he spent his nights writing visionary stories and novels exploring bureaucracy, power and alienation – iconic fiction that gave the world the adjective ‘Kafkaesque’. This BBC anthology showcases his most famous works, dealing with ordinary men caught up in impossible situations.
-
-
Best Kafka Collection
- By Nati Yakobovich on 10-31-24
By: Franz Kafka
-
Henrik Ibsen
- Nine Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations
- By: Henrik Ibsen
- Narrated by: David Threlfall, Full Cast, Harriet Walters, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Often described as ‘the father of realism’, Henrik Ibsen was a pioneer of modernist drama. He influenced playwrights as diverse as George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde, and is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare. Included in this collection are adaptations of his tragicomic masterpiece The Wild Duck, his complex and compelling play Rosmersholm, the epic drama Brand and the tragedy John Gabriel Borkman.
-
-
A Doll’s House Alone is Worth the Credit
- By Jeffrey Epstein on 12-15-21
By: Henrik Ibsen
-
Sir Walter Scott: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Five Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations including Waverley and Rob Roy
- By: Sir Walter Scott
- Narrated by: John Buick, Liam Brennan, Gerda Stevenson, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet, novelist, critic and campaigner Walter Scott invented the historical novel and shaped the world’s image of Scotland. His tales of heroism, romance and adventure were hugely successful, outselling Jane Austen and Lord Byron, and are still popular today. Included here are adaptations of five of the best-loved books in his ‘Waverley’ series, as well as two bonus programmes.
By: Sir Walter Scott
-
Robert Louis Stevenson: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and More
- By: Robert Louis Stevenson
- Narrated by: David Tennant, Wally K. Daly, Jack Lowden, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Louis Stevenson was a novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer, and created some of the most famous and influential characters in modern literature. From Long John Silver and David Balfour to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, his figures swiftly became the shorthand for piracy, monstrous medicine, and the slave trade in America. A master of atmosphere and an enthusiast of foreign travel, Stevenson wrote countless stories which have been enjoyed in film, television and theatre adaptations throughout the years.
-
The Virginia Woolf BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Glenister, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The collected BBC dramatisations of the fiction of Virginia Woolf, with star casts including Kristin Scott-Thomas, Vanessa Redgrave, Juliet Stevenson, Laura Fraser, Robert Glenister and Fenella Woolgar....
-
-
Updated with Chapter Titles!
- By Vickie Wang on 05-16-19
By: Virginia Woolf