Three eminently respectable Yorkshire couples are in the midst of their joint silver wedding celebrations when they receive a rude shock - they are not legally married. Confronted with this revelation, the couples face a host of personal dilemmas - not to mention the fear of the public scandal that would ensue if the news were to get out. Hovering closely over the proceedings is the Yorkshire Argus’ alcohol-soaked photographer, keen to record the evening’s events for posterity, an...

13 plays and dramatisations of the works of the influential playwright, novelist and essayist J. B. Priestley - plus bonus programmesJ. B. Priestley was one of Britain's most significant writers. His output was prodigious: in his lifetime, he penned 26 novels, 39 plays and hundreds of essays. He enjoyed great success on stage, notably with Dangerous Corner, Time and the Conways and An Inspector Calls, which experimented with narrative str...

When he graduates with his law degree, handsome and charismatic Langston Hudson is ready to hit the ground running as a lawyer with his family's firm, but a routine traffic stop during a night out with his friends quickly derails his plans and turns his world upside down. Langston and his friends are arrested after officers find half a million dollars' worth of drugs in his car. When Jacqueline Hudson learns of her son's arrest, she immediately begins to build her case. She is one of the t...

This book integrates a science and business approach to provide an introduction and an insider view of intellectual property issues within the biotech industry, with case studies and examples from developing economy markets. Broad in scope, this book covers key principles in pharmaceutical, industrial, and agricultural biotechnology within four parts. Part 1 details the principles of intellectual property and biotechnology. Part 2 covers plant biotechnology, including biotic and abiotic st...

From one of England's most celebrated writers, a funny and superbly observed novella about the Queen of England and the subversive power of readingWhen her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the joy of reading widely (from J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, and Ivy Compton-Burnett to the classics) and intelligently, she finds that her view of the world changes dramatically. Abetted in ...

A radio adaptation of Alan Bennett's short autobiographical play, originally directed by Nicholas Hytner for the National Theatre. Alan looks back on his early life with affection and sadness, revisiting some of the themes and conversations of his memoir 'A Life Like other People's'. Both he and his mother are seduced by the idea that other people's lives are much richer and fulfilling than their own. But when they do, finally, have cocktail parties, they are not at all what his mother wou...

Alan Bennett's second story. This time, set in the 1970s, in classic Bennett country, Yorkshire. 'On the many occasions Midgley had killed his father, death had always come easily. He died promptly, painlessly and without a struggle. Looking back, Midgley could see that even in these imagined deaths he had failed his father. It was not like him to die like that. Nor did he.' Midgley is determined to deny his father a last occasion to be disappointed in him. He will do the right thing and s...

Like everything Bennett does, these stories are playful, witty and painfully observant of ordinary people's foibles. They all have brilliant twists, are immensely entertaining and highly moral. And all are modern classics.The Laying on of HandsThe painfully observant account of a memorial service for a masseur to the famous.The Clothes They Stood Up InThe comic tale of an elderly couple's trials after their flat is stripped ...

The complete audio collection of Alan Bennett’s celebrated monologues, published together for the first time and performed by some of Britain’s best actorsThe Talking Heads monologues are widely regarded as one of Alan Bennett’s finest dramatic achievements. First broadcast on BBC TV and BBC Radio 4 in the 1980s and 1990s, they won a host of awards and huge popular acclaim, and remain among his most admired works today.This collection includes all twelve Talking Heads, plus the pre...

One of NPR's Best Books of the Year: "Humorous, surprising, disarmingly human" essays and comic pieces from one of England's national treasures (T he Washington Post Book World).A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Best Book of the YearA Lambda Literary Award finalistBringing together the hilarious, revealing, and lucidly intelligent writing of one of England's best-known literary figures, Keeping On Keeping On contains Tony Award–wi...

A unique collection of eight Alan Bennett stories, read by the author.Alan Bennett is one of Britain's best-loved authors and an acclaimed storyteller. Poignant, compassionate, wise and witty, this compilation includes eight of his best tales: His celebrated, iconic memoir The Lady in the Van; as well as two fascinating autobiographical accounts of his family and childhood. Uncle Clarence sees Bennett visiting the...

Maggie Smith stars in this BBC radio adaptation of Alan Bennett's highly acclaimed autobiographical stage playAn eccentric old lady moves into a quiet street in Camden Town. There she remains, installed in her van in glorious self-sufficiency, until the council instructs her to move on. Then a kind homeowner invites her to move her van into his garden – where she stays for the next fifteen years. This is the fascinating story of the genteel vagrant who found a unique place in Alan ...