ELIJAH DIXON played a key role in the Blanketeer's March of 1817. Arrested, chained in double irons and imprisoned without trial, the episode set the stage for the Peterloo Massacre.Everybody in Victorian Manchester knew of Elijah Dixon. Over a period of sixty years, he was an ever-present force in the tumultuous politics of the town. He worked alongside the great figures of nineteenth century Radicalism, and as 'The Manchester Man' he became the towns ambassador for Chartism. An early apo...

In her first collection of plays, writer and BAFTA-nominated actor Maxine Peake introduces four unique stories of resistance and passion based on real women.From the famous Leeds-born cyclist Beryl Burton battling through various obstacles to achieve success; to Lillian Bilocca, the 'headscarf revolutionary'; to four bold women protesting for Women Against Pit Closures, occupying a coal pit over Easter weekend in 1993; to former MP Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the fir...

I had a constant battle to get where I am today. Scrimping and scraping, people telling me not to do it, I couldn't do it. That my life wouldn't amount to very much. Now I might have had a bit of natural talent but I got here because of pure determination and persistence. Stubbornness you might say. I always went that extra mile, pushed myself that bit harder than anyone else and never took anything for granted.It was 1954 when Beryl Charnock met keen cyclist Charlie Burto...

Shakespeare’s Sonnets, one of the most remarkable collections of poetry, was first published in 1609, 400 years ago, by Mr Thomas Thorpe. Naxos AudioBooks marks the occasion with a selection of 80 of the finest, read by leading actors. The selection includes famous ones such as ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’ as well as lesser well-known sonnets though of equally fine stature.

'Fast-paced and twisting' PAULA HAWKINS, author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN'At the very least it should reach the shortlist of this year's Booker prize' THE TIMES__________Pre-order Mark Billingham's pulse-racing new Tom Thorne thriller, THE MURDER BOOK, now!__________My name is Alice. I'm a police officer.I'm trying to solve a mu...

An epic audiobook in 12 partsNorthampton. The centre of England. Twelve extraordinary characters transport you through six thousand years of astonishing history.As Alan Moore’s place-writing masterpiece reaches its 25th anniversary, New Perspectives brings this expansive work to life through twelve immersive audio journeys. Violence, madness, lust and ecstasy all weave together in patterns of recurring visions, restless apparitions, and gut...

Lady Chatterley’s husband returns from the War paralysed from the waist down. Frustrated by his attitudes as much as his disability, she begins a love-affair with the gamekeeper, Mellors. She realises that to be fully alive she must live the life of the body as well as the mind, but in doing so she angers the conventions of her day. Banned for over 30 years for the explicit nature of its language and descriptions of sex, Lady Chatterley’s Lover also exposes the dehumanisation of the mechan...

**A Richard and Judy Book Club pick, If I Let You Go is a darkly comic tale of searing loss, coercive control and the consequences of taking the wrong path.'Simultaneously tragic and uplifting . . . Charlotte Levin is SUCH a clever writer' - Ruth Jones, author of Love Untold**Every morning, Janet Brown goes to work cleaning offices. It calms her – cleanliness, neatness. All the things she’s unable to do with her soul can be achieved with a damp cloth and a...

Fifteen highly original and darkly unsettling supernatural stories, performed by some of Britain's finest actresses'This is what we know about The Hotel. It is bigger on the inside than on the outside. Do not go into Room 63. Doors and windows do not stay in the same places. The Hotel listens when you speak. The Hotel watches... We'll be at The Hotel soon.'A place of myths, rumours and secrets, The Hotel looms over the dark Fens, tall and grey in i...

Megan and Kit met in their early twenties. Their friendship was intense, wild and true.Years later, when Kit becomes desperately unwell, Megan tries to pull her old friend back from the precipice, navigating the difficulties of revisiting a relationship conceived in the great freedom of youth, whilst attempting to remain fully present in the messy beauty of her family life.Kit is a story of the sumptuous complication – and precariousness – of life and relationships...

A selection of Euripides’ renowned Greek tragedies, adapted for BBC RadioAcclaimed by Aristotle as ‘the most tragic of the poets’, Euripides was one of the pre-eminent playwrights of 5th century Athens. Included here are seven of his masterpieces: powerful, shocking tales of passion, suffering and revenge that still resonate with us today. Among the star casts are Maxine Peake, Richard Dormer, Roger Allam, Olympia Dukakis, Christine Bottoml...

In this BBC full-cast production of Much Ado About Nothing, some handsome soldiers return from battle. Yet one soldier finds himself locked in a merry war of his own...In Shakespeare's comedy of wit, love and miscommunication, Beatrice and Benedick and Hero and Claudio are pushed into and pulled out of love, their friends playing cupid with life-changing consequences.David Tennant and Samantha Spiro star as the famous sparring part...