‘Louis Wain invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world’. Broadcast in 1925 by H.G. Wells, these words characteristically foretold the future of the Wain cat which has, once more, become the century’s most recognisable image in cat art. During their heyday, in the time before the First World War, Louis Wain’s cats, dressed as humans, portrayed that stylish Edwardian world having fun: at restaurants and tea parties, going to the Race and the Seaside, celebrating at Christmas and ...

Benedict Cumberbatch reads these four new Sherlock Holmes stories by John Taylor'An Inscrutable Masquerade'/ 'The Conundrum of Coach 13'/ 'The Trinity Vicarage Larceny'/ 'The 10.59 Assassin'Inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories, John Taylor has written four more mysteries featuring the world's greatest detective. Read by acclaimed actor Benedict Cumberbatch, these new adventures share all the suspense of the original tales.In a drawer in ...

A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels Jane Austen is one of the finest writers in the English language, and this volume includes all six of her classic novels.Mansfield Park: On a quest to find a position in society, Fanny Price goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle.Northanger Abbey: Young, naïve Catherine Morland receives an invitation to stay at the isolated Gothic mansion Northanger Abbey.Full chapter listing:

Benedict Cumberbatch reads five stories featuring the famous vegetarian railway detective, Thorpe Hazell, as heard on BBC Radio 4.In The Affair of the German Dispatch-Box, Hazell hatches a daring plan to retrieve a highly sensitive government document before it reaches the German Ambassador.In Sir Gilbert Murrell's Picture, When an entire wagon containing valuable paintings disappears from a goods train, Hazell's skill is needed.In The Affair o...

A thriller and love story set in 10th-century Japan.Lady Shonagon is an imperial courtesan, living at the court of the Japanese Emperor in the 10th century. When a series of disturbing thefts within the palace walls throws the court into confusion and unrest, Shonagon is appointed guide and assistant to Lieutenant Yukinari as he investigates.Together, Shonagon and Yukinari must solve the mysteries and escalating crimes that plague the Japanese court, and their romance bloss...

Benedict Cumberbatch reads Ian Kelly’s biography of one of the most beguiling and controversial individuals of any age.In this fascinating biography of the notorious libertine, Ian Kelly draws on documents by Casanova, his friends and his lovers (male and female) in order to bring fresh insights to the man’s life and world. The sights and smells of Eighteenth Century Europe are brought keenly to life, as are the colourful incidents of Casanova’s life. As the young cleric he embarke...

In this BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of one of Jane Austen's most beloved works, Fanny Price finds her life isn't going as she would have wished...Fanny grows up mostly miserable in Mansfield Park, where she has always been treated as inferior to her vivacious cousins. However, over time her steadfast and kind character make her an indispensable part of the household. Her cousin Edmund has always been her ally but navigating Mary Crawford and Mrs Norris proves difficult......

The quintessential dramatisations of Homer’s two masterpieces, with exceptional casts including Derek Jacobi, Christopher Eccleston, Tim McInnerny and Benedict CumberbatchAttributed to the Greek poet Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey are among the greatest and most influential works of the past 3000 years, often claimed as the cornerstones of Western literature. For as long as these epics have existed, they have been retold, but these unmissable BB...

Beneath the streets of London there is another London. A subterranean labyrinth of sewers and abandoned tube stations. A somewhere that is Neverwhere... An act of kindness sees Richard Mayhew catapulted from his ordinary life into the strange world of London Below. There he meets the Earl of Earl's Court, faces a life-threatening ordeal at the hands of the Black Friars, comes face to face with the Great Beast of London, and encounters an Angel. Called Islington. Accompanied by the mysterio...

Dean Jocelin has a vision: that God has chosen him to erect a great spire on his cathedral. His mason anxiously advises against it, for the old cathedral was built without foundations. Nevertheless, the spire rises octagon upon octagon, pinnacle by pinnacle, until the stone pillars shriek and the ground beneath it swims. Its shadow falls ever darker on the world below, and on Dean Jocelin in particular.From the author of Lord of the Flies, The Spire is a dark and powerful portrait ...

An irresistible collection of sparkling stories featuring John Mortimer's beloved comic creationHorace Rumpole is the most erudite, astute, and seldom defeated of barristers in the annals of the Old Bailey. In these 32 dramas, arranged in order of broadcast, four distinguished actors don the wig and white band to portray our hero as he recalls his long, eventful career.Timothy West stars as the older Rumpole in eight cases in which he prove...

Sir Ian McKellen, fresh from his performance as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings is Prospero, and heads a strong cast in Shakespeare’s last great play. The wronged duke raises a tempest to shipwreck his old opponents on his island so that he can ensure justice is done. With Emilia Fox as Miranda, Scott Handy in the pivotal role of the sprite Ariel and Ben Owukwe as Caliban, this new production directed by John Tydeman, balances the magic and the earthiness with music playing a key role.