Join us next Wednesday (29th May’19) at 14:15 for a new afternoon play on BBC Radio 4; ‘The Not Knowing‘ by Daniel Maier! A trip to the supermarket with her son Frank turns into Harriet’s worst nightmare when he goes missing. In a short period of time, things will resolve one way or another, but until then Harriet processes the consequences of Frank’s disappearance imagining near and far futures… how will her marriage be affected? Her daughter? Her own capacity for love? And is it better to find out the worst possible news about your child than never to know what happened to them?
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Join us this Friday (26th Apr’19) at 15:45 for a brand new short story specially-commissioned for BBC Radio 4, written by Yvette Edwards. In ‘A Traditional Sunday Roast‘ read by Cherrelle Skeete, Muma Rosa has a disconcerting surprise in store for her grand-daughter…
We’re thrilled to be nominated for Best Fiction Podcast for ‘The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward‘ at the British Podcast Awards 2019!
Join us next Monday-Friday (1st-5th April’19) at 10:45 on BBC Radio 4 for a brand new drama/comedy series by Harry Venning – ‘Coach Karen’s Half-Time Team Talk‘ – about a young woman with no life experience, desperate to share it with people even younger than herself! Karen is the new coach of an under-13 girls football team called the Hopperton Hoops. They’re not the most successful team in the league, in fact they’ve never won a game. And under Karen, this record is unlikely to change…
Our fifth series of Murder, Mystery and Suspense short stories for BBC Radio 4 EXTRA starts next Tuesday (26th March’19) at 6pm! This time, our five fictional tales are from the gothic pen of Edgar Allan Poe, read by Owen Teale. In a writing career that spanned barely two decades (he died in his 41st year) the American penned over 70 short stories. These he incessantly revised over the years and many became standards of the short form (like ‘The Fall Of The House of Usher’ or ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’). But for these tales, we burrow down amongst Poe’s lesser-known, and often dark, gems.
Five episodes from Annika Stranded series 4 are getting a repeat on BBC Radio 4, next Monday-Friday (25th-29th March’19) at 10:45am! Annika has been promoted to Chief Inspector. Her first act was – apart from choosing a new speedboat – to co-opt Mikel, her forensic photographer of choice, to accompany her. Her son Tor is about to start school. Being Chief Inspector means a bigger case-load. What follows will test her physically and emotionally as never before…
BBC Radio 4 EXTRA are repeating ‘Tightrope‘ by Simon Mawer – our Book at Bedtime from August 2015 – starting this Monday (4th March’19) for 2 weeks, at 14:00! Read by Peter Firth, ‘Tightrope’ is a tale of love, betrayal and espionage as the political alliances forged during the Second World War give way to the moral uncertainties of the Cold War…
Join us this Friday (22nd Feb’19) at 14:15 on BBC Radio 4 for our afternoon play ‘Sick‘ by Annalisa Dinnella. This funny, dark and joyfully disgusting “vom com” takes inspiration from the playwright’s own experience of Hyperemesis Gravidarum, a rare and often misunderstood complication of pregnancy (also made famous by the Duchess of Cambridge). Kate is the woman who has it all. She’s the perfect Mum, wife and daughter until – for the first time in her charmed life – things do not go to plan. In her second pregnancy, Kate develops extreme morning sickness and, quite literally, cannot stop vomiting…
‘Copenhagen Curios‘ is getting its second repeat! This time on BBC Radio 4 EXTRA! Tune in next Tuesday-Thursday (5th-7th Feb’19) at 11am for these three specially-commissioned tales by Heidi Amsinck, in which Copenhagen is a place of twilight and shadow… and its antique shops are full of curiosity – and strangeness… The reader is Tim McInnerny.
Join us this Friday (18th Jan’18) at 15:45 on Radio 4 for ‘Green Paper‘ – a new specially-commissioned short story set in Poland; written by A.M. Bakalar and read by Anamaria Marinca! It’s 1980. Political unrest is high and support for Solidarity and other underground groups is growing. Sonia is heavily pregnant, but finds this can be useful when distributing illegal leaflets…
On Radio 4 EXTRA next week (14th-18th Jan’19) we have a selection of murder, mystery and suspense stories from Ruth Rendell’s ‘A Spot Of Folly‘ – starting with ‘The Haunting Of Shawley Rectory’ read by Miles Jupp! Ruth Rendell is probably best known for her detective stories featuring Inspector Wexford and the psychological mysteries she wrote under the name of Barbara Vine. But she also published seven collections of short stories…
We have a new fiction book on Radio 4, starting next Monday (14th Jan’19) at 12:04 and again at 22:45! ‘Washington Black’ by Esi Edugyan – shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2018 – is an epic, historical novel set in the 1830s, which explores the nature of evil, moral delusion, and the limits of responsibility. The reader is Alex Lanipekun!
Our first ever podcast – ‘The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward’ – is now available on iTunes!!
Following a Radio 4 repeat on NYE, our documentary ‘Wired Love‘ from 2017 is available on BBC iPlayer for one month! Lucy Hawking tells the story of one of the earliest online dating stories, written 140 years ago: ‘Wired Love – A Romance in Dots and Dashes’…
Tune in to BBC Radio 4 this Friday (14th Dec) at 15:45, for our latest short story by award-winning writer Adam Marek! In ‘Pale Blue Dots‘ read by Teresa Gallagher – specially-commissioned for Radio 4 – a high spec virtual assistant explains its powers to a new subscriber…
We’re very excited to announce that our first ever podcast has been released on to the BBC Sounds website and will live there for the whole of December! ‘The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward’ is a 10-part mystery podcast hosted by Matthew Heawood and Kennedy Fisher, who embark upon a new investigation; the disappearance of Charles Dexter Ward from a secure psychiatric hospital… listen while you can!!
Our third series of Murder, Mystery and Suspense goes out next Monday to Thursday (29th Oct-1st Nov’18) and the following Monday (5th Nov’18) on BBC Radio 4 EXTRA! This time, a selection of mysteries from America! First up, a doctor’s patient is under 24-hour supervision, but someone is poisoning her, in ‘A Mysterious Case’ by Anna Katharine Green, read by Teresa Gallagher…
Brace yourself for a week of tales from a gothic classic; The Second Pan Book of Horrors! For the season of Halloween, writer Anita Sullivan has selected five stories for her own fresh interpretation… starting with ‘The Vertical Ladder’ by William Sansome, Monday (29th Oct’18) at 10:45 on BBC Radio 4.
Short Works takes a ghostly turn this Friday (26th Oct’18) at 15:45, with ‘The Wild Hunt‘ – a specially-commissioned story by the award-winning writer Zoe Gilbert, read by Peter Firth! It’s All Hallows Eve, 1589. Desperately keen to impress one of the girls in the village, a young man stays out in the forest at night, hoping to glimpse the ghostly Wild Hunt…
Next weeks Book at Bedtime is ‘Melmoth‘, Sarah Perry’s contemporary novel set in Prague, inspired by an original Gothic story. An Englishwoman who carries a grave secret with her has made a home in the city, and is about to find the boundaries between legend and reality tested in a way she could never have imagined. Read by Greta Scacchi and Anton Lesser, and starting next Monday (22nd Oct’18) at 22:45 on BBC Radio 4!
Friday’s (7th Sept’18) Afternoon Drama, written & directed by Lisa Osborne, takes us back to the summer of 1815 and the western edge of France… and the story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s last weeks before the long exile on St Helena. Catch ‘Billy Ruffian‘ at 14:15 on BBC Radio 4!
This Friday (31st Aug’18) at 15:45, we have a brand new short story – ‘Deep Space Death Cruise‘ – on Radio 4, written by Harry Venning and read by Jeff Rawle! It’s 2118: day three of Jeff’s space cruise and already things are falling below his required standard. On his phone, he records his experience for the operator, Cosmic Tours of Hove, from whom he must surely get compensation…
Next Tuesday-Thursday (28th-30th Aug’18) and Monday/Tuesday (3rd/4th Sept’18) at 11am, BBC Radio 4 EXTRA are repeating ‘The Pre-War House and Other Stories‘ – five stories from Alison Moore’s atmospheric and sometimes dark debut collection, read by Ruth Gemmell…
Last week (w/c 13th Aug’18), BBC Radio 4 EXTRA repeated our Book of the Week (from April 2011) ‘Ken Campbell: The Great Caper‘… meaning all 5 episodes now live on BBC iPlayer for 20 days (until 12th Sept’18)! Toby Jones reads Michael Coveney’s biography of the writer, director and producer, who was one of the great mavericks of British theatre…