An engrossing, expansive historical fantasy drama, inspired by the Mamluk slave dynasty of EgyptTumanbay: the wealthiest city on earth. The beating heart of a vast empire. A city of dreams, where those who once arrived as slaves now hold power, and merchants, artists and warriors live side-by-side in peace. But this magnificent city is under threat. A rebellion in a far-off province, led by 'Queen' Maya, is gathering strength - and a mysterious force is devouring t...

Mike Walker's thrilling saga of the Habsburg dynasty, who ruled most of Europe - and much of the New World - for almost 600 yearsFor almost six centuries, the House of Habsburg was one of the most powerful royal families in Europe - and beyond. They established an empire that began with a castle on a crag, and ended up extending over four continents. In these riveting dramas, Mike Walker traces their rise and fall.Hawk Rising -...

Inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles, this series of radio dramas about the Plantagenet dynasty tells the story of the birth of a new Europe after the dark ages. The issues of control, of freedom, of belief, and the temptations of power were new to an age which had no template for domination on this scale.Henry II: What is a Man? - The first of the House of Anjou to be king of England, Henry II's long reign is beset by conflict with his sons. Starring David ...

Nine BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas by Mike Walker, chronicling Rome’s greatest rulersDrawing on historical sources including Suetonius’s ‘Lives of the Caesars’, Mike Walker’s compelling drama cycle follows the story of the leaders of Rome, from Julius Caesar’s ascension to power to the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West in AD 475.Meeting at Formiae – Julius Caesar secretly seeks senate leaders Cicero ...

A series of four BBC Radio full-cast dramas exploring the disjuncture between the man who was Eric Blair and the writer who was George Orwell.George Orwell - the pen name of Eric Blair - was a writer and political commentator who is very hard to pin down. He is a complex mass of confusions - an anti-establishment, pro-English, ex-Etonian, ex-policeman, and socialist, who was ardently anti-authoritarian. He was as anti-fascist as he was anti-communist, a former Span...

Charmain Burns, Hollywood's sexiest, most talked-about TV actress, wills top at nothing to rise to the top of Hollywood's A-movie list. So when the cutting-edge tabloid, The National Revealer, begins to uncover shocking information about her scandalous past, and threatens to expose her violent, narcissistic present, she directs a powerful third party to physically intimidate the newspaper from running the story. But, in an odd and undesired twist, Charmain's vicious, brazen act...

In the early hours of 5 June 1944, Captain Rob Collins, who is languishing in hospital, receives a call that will take him on a journey through England that will change his life.Mike Walker's play is an epic journey across England poised on the edge of a historical moment: D-Day. It is set on June 5th, the day before the invasion that will change the course of history - but an invasion only a very few know is about happen...Starring Benedict Cumberbatch,

Eleven compelling BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas telling the stories of the Russian tsarsBroadcast to mark the centenary of the Russian revolution, this extraordinary drama cycle by Mike Walker comprises eleven ambitious plays spanning over 400 years, exploring the lives of Russia’s key rulers from Ivan the Terrible to Vladimir Putin.Ivan the Terrible: Absolute Power - The rise and fearsome reign of the first Tsar of...

Mike Walker’s gripping BBC Radio drama about money, art, religion, politics and powerFlorence, 1415. Banker Cosimo Medici is looked down upon as a jumped up money-changer. Then he marries the noble Contessina de Bardi and becomes the richest man in Europe. But his wealth and power threaten the Florentine elite, who are determined to bring him down...However, the House of Medici cannot be crushed that easily. Sixty years and many violent deaths later, the fa...

Eleven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas telling the stories of Mary Queen of Scots and the Stuart royalsUnder the Stuarts, Britain entered the modern world. But with great change came turmoil, and for 111 years, the Stuart monarchs faced dynastic struggles, religious conflict, the rise of parliamentary democracy – and civil war. These dramas chart that turbulent epoch through its royal family, from Mary, Queen of Scots to the ‘last Stuart’, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s daug...

A radio anthology of George Orwell's finest novels, memoirs and essays, plus four biographical dramas and a bonus documentary, The Road to Nineteen Eighty-FourVisionary author and journalist George Orwell was the man behind two of the best-loved and most influential novels of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. This collection celebrating his life and work features dramatisations of both these classic books, with stell...

Charles Dickens was, for a time, editor of a daily newspaper. This series takes an imaginative look at how Dickens would have tackled bringing the news to the masses.We follow Dickens the editor as he contends with railway crashes, gory deaths in the River Thames, have his editorial judgement scrutinised, work with tyrannical landowners, enter the murky worlds of opium and prostitution, and most tragically of all, investigate a child's death. In he and his newspaper tackles financi...