Audiobooks narrated by Alison Steadman

Robert Lindsay stars in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the classic novel by Charles Dickens. From the echo of the first line 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' to the final 'It is a far far better thing that I do than I have ever done', Dickens' classic novel of the French revolution tells a story of the redemptive powers of love in the face of cruelty, violence and neglect. Set in London and Paris, it shows the plight of the French people under the brutal oppression of the aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, and the corresponding savage brutality of the revolutionaries towards the former aristocrats in the years immediately following. Among the memorable characters are Charles Darnay, a French former aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution, and Sydney Carton, a dissipated English barrister who tries to redeem his ill-spent life out of love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette. In this moving, intricate tale spanning eight tumultuous years, Dickens orchestrates the wider political picture behind the story of Lucie, Darnay and Carton with his customary brilliance. This epic production, dramatised by Mike Walker, stars Robert Lindsay as Dickens, with Alison Steadman, Jonathan Coy, Andrew Scott, Paul Ready and Karl Johnson. Winner of the Bronze Sony Award for Best Radio Drama.

Charles Dickens (Author), Alison Steadman, Robert Lindsay (Narrator)

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Aesop's Fables: The Complete Collection

40 of Aesop's tales, specially adapted for young children. Read by Richard Briers, Jane Horrocks, Jonathan Pryce, Alison Steadman, Richard E. Grant, Lindsay Duncan and Brenda Blethyn. Stories include: The Hare & the Tortoise/The Frogs & the Ox/The Fox & the Crow/The Monkey as King/The Bundle of Sticks/The Gnat & the Lion/The North Wind & the Sun/The Fox & the Grapes/The Dog, the Cockerel & the Fox/The Miller, His Son & the Donkey/The Wolf & the Heron/The Donkey in the Lion's Skin/The Ant & the Grasshopper/The Vain Jackdaw/The Frogs who Wanted a King/The Cat & the Mice/The Lion & the Mouse/The Caged Bird & the Bat/The Fox & the Goat/The Lion & the Elephant/The Crow & the Pitcher/The Fox & the Stork/Two Travellers & a Bear/The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs/The Kid & the Wolf/The Old Lion & the Fox/The Eagle & the Jackdaw/The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing/The Goatherd & the Wild Goats/The Dog in the Manger/Androcles & The Lion, plus 9 more.

Bbc Digital Audio (Author), Alison Steadman, Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks, Jonathan Pryce, Lindsay Duncan, Richard Briers, Richard E Grant, Richard E. Grant (Narrator)

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Alan Bennett Three Plays

Clever, funny and poignant, Alan Bennett’s masterful plays are rightly regarded as modern classics. Kafka’s Dick is Bennett’s brilliantly clever comedy drama that examines the relationship between life and art, and asks what was Kafka’s embarrassing little problem... Alison Steadman, Richard Griffiths and Nigel Anthony star in this BBC Radio 4 adaptation, described by the Daily Telegraph’s Gillian Reynolds as ‘Pure joy’. Forty Years On stars Alan Bennett in the production of his own acclaimed satirical comedy about a headmaster of Albion House who is retiring and takes part in the end-of-year entertainment for the last time. It also stars Robert Bathurst and Eleanor Bron. An Englishman Abroad stars Michael Gambon and Penelope Wilton as Guy Burgess and Coral Browne in this BBC Radio full-cast drama based on a real-life chance encounter in 1958 between the world famous spy and a Shakespearean actress.

Alan Bennett (Author), Alan Bennett, Alison Steadman, Eleanor Bron, Full Cast, Michael Gambon, Nigel Anthony, Penelope Wilton, Richard Griffiths, Robert Bathurst (Narrator)

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All Creatures Small and Great: How Insects Make the World

“George McGavin is a rarity” Sir David Attenborough Entomologist and broadcaster Dr George McGavin presents All Creatures Great and Small: How Insects Make the World, an Original Audiobook Production by W F Howes If you are at all interested in life on our planet, then you need to know about insects. They are the most successful group of animals ever to have lived on Earth. Making up three quarters of all animal species, insects conquered the planet long ago. They were among the very first animals to appear on land and were the first to take to the air. Their total biomass is at least ten times that of all humans and our livestock combined. This world is not ours alone. We are newcomers on a planet made and maintained by insects. If we are going to appreciate the massive part that insects play in the ecology of our planet we need to understand where they came from and how they became so successful. The survival of insects is key to our own survival. Join Dr George McGavin on an exciting audio journey to help us understand the fascinating world of insects. Along the way we are transported from bee-filled meadows to the forest floor, following Dr McGavin as he meets national treasures Sir David Attenborough, Alison Steadman and Jane Horrocks, and a range of experts such as Professors Stephen Simpson, Helen Roy, Phil Stevenson and Erica McAlister to understand more about their passion for these incredible creatures. All Creatures Small and Great is an important and timely work to engage people with wildlife, when the world is rapidly losing its biodiversity. Features bonus audio content including full-length interviews and immersive binaural nature sounds for focus and relaxation. Dr George McGavin is a regular TV and radio presenter for the BBC and others. He is an Honorary Research Associate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and a Research Associate of The Department of Zoology of Oxford University as well as a Senior Principal Research Fellow of Imperial College. George’s work has taken him from the tropical forests of Papua New Guinea to the caves of Thailand and from the jungles of Belize to the savannas of Tanzania. Dr George McGavin has several insect species named in his honour and hopes they survive him. “In this remarkable audiobook George McGavin combines his comprehensive understanding of the biology of insects with his own personal tales and those of experts to explain the extraordinary success of the insects, and to show their fundamental importance to life on earth - past, present and future. This audiobook is a paean to insects and a salutary story for our times. McGavin speaks with a passion that is founded in deep expertise of these small creatures but with an eye to the big picture.” PROFESSOR STEPHEN SIMPSON Guest contributors include: Sir David Attenborough – Broadcaster and Natural Historian Alison Steadman – Actress and Ambassador for the London Wildlife Trust Dr Erica McAlister – Senior Curator, Natural History Museum Professor Philip C. Stevenson – Kew Gardens Professor Stephen Simpson – Biologist and Biomedical Scientist Professor Helen Roy – President of the Royal Entomological Society Professor Karim Vahed – Entomologist specializing in insect behaviour Anne Riley – President of the Wharfedale Naturalists’ Society Jane Horrocks – Actress and co-host of the podcast Queen Bees

Dr George Mcgavin, Dr. George Mcgavin (Author), Alison Steadman, David Attenborough, Dr George Mcgavin, Dr. George Mcgavin, Jane Horrocks (Narrator)

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Blood, Sex and Money: A BBC Radio 4 serialisation of Zola's epic saga

Glenda Jackson stars in this award-winning BBC Radio series, inspired by literature's greatest ever whistleblower, Émile Zola, and his epic saga of the Rougon-Macquart family 'Unmissable' Daily Telegraph First published between 1870 and 1893, Émile Zola's 20-book cycle chronicling four generations of the Rougon-Macquarts was a shocking exposé of the decadence, degradation and moral decay of 19th-century France. It included some of his greatest novels, among them his masterpiece, Germinal. These innovative, ambitious dramas, first broadcast on Radio 4 over 24 hours in 2015-16, is a radical reimagining of Zola's classic series, introducing us to 104-year-old matriarch, Dide, imprisoned in an asylum in southern France. Trapped, but omniscient, she broods over her 'family of wolves'. As a young woman, she gave birth to two dynasties that exemplified French society. One legitimate - rich, powerful, obsessive and corrupt. The other illegitimate - poor, vulnerable, weak and depraved. In these three seasons, themed around blood, sex and money, we come to know the members of her extended family intimately - the good, the bad and the misguided. As we follow their highs and lows, we are taken deep into the heart of France's 'Second Empire' and drawn into the tragic, farcical reign of Napoleon III as it marches forward towards a modern, industrialised society. This groundbreaking series won Best Drama at the BBC Radio and Music Awards 2016 and Best Adaptation at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2017, and boasts a star cast including Robert Lindsay, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Holliday Grainger, Samuel West, Anna Maxwell Martin, Paul McGann, Georgina Campbell, Jack Lowden and Alison Steadman. Also included is a 30-minute bonus programme, The Life and Work of Émile Zola, in which Glenda Jackson travels to Paris to discover how Zola's experience and the physical and cultural landscape in which he lived influenced his great novels.

Emile Zola (Author), Alison Steadman, Angela Griffin, Anna Maxwell Martin, David Schofield, Emma Rigby, Fenella Woolgar, Georgina Campbell, Glenda Jackson, Holliday Grainger, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Paul Mcgann, Robert Lindsay, Samuel West (Narrator)

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Gloomsbury: Series 1: 6 episodes of the BBC Radio 4 sitcom

Miriam Margolyes, Alison Steadman and Nigel Planer star in Sue Limb's comedy parodying the arty and adulterous adventures of the Bloomsbury Group.A stellar cast, including Morwenna Banks, Jonathan Coy and John Sessions, join in this affectionate send-up of the infamous Bloomsbury literary group, who dominated the English cultural scene in the early 20th Century.The series follows the fortunes of Vera Sackcloth-Vest - writer, gardener and transvestite - and her urge to escape from the tranquillity of the rather cramped little castle in Kent which she shares with her doting but ambiguous husband, who is 'something in the Foreign Office'. Vera's heart is forever surging with exotic passion, either for Ginny Fox, a highly-strung novelist who adores her, or the beautiful but shallow Venus Traduces.As the scene shifts from Kent to London, and Cornwall to Monaco, this close-knit coterie is divided by misunderstandings, jealousies and rows, whilst the colourfully chaotic characters are joined by such sort-of familiar figures as DH Lollipop, TS Jellitot and Sigmund Void.

Sue Limb (Author), , Alison Steadman, Miriam Margolyes (Narrator)

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Gloomsbury: Series 2: 6 episodes of the BBC Radio 4 sitcom

Miriam Margolyes, Alison Steadman and Roger Lloyd-Pack star in Sue Limb's comedy parodying the arty and adulterous adventures of the Bloomsbury Group.A stellar cast, including Morwenna Banks, Jonathan Coy and John Sessions, join in this affectionate send-up of the infamous Bloomsbury literary group, who dominated the English cultural scene in the early 20th Century.The series follows the fortunes of Vera Sackcloth-Vest - writer, gardener and transvestite - and her urge to escape from the tranquillity of the rather cramped little castle in Kent which she shares with her doting but ambiguous husband, who is 'something in the Foreign Office'. Vera's heart is forever surging with exotic passion, either for Ginny Fox, a highly-strung novelist who adores her, or the beautiful but shallow Venus Traduces.As the scene shifts from Kent to London, and Cornwall to Monaco, this close-knit coterie is divided by misunderstandings, jealousies and rows, whilst the colourfully chaotic characters are joined by such sort-of familiar figures as DH Lollipop, TS Jellitot and Sigmund Void.

Sue Limb (Author), , Alison Steadman, Miriam Margolyes (Narrator)

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Gloomsbury: Series 3: 6 episodes of the BBC Radio 4 sitcom

Sue Limb (Author), , Alison Steadman, Miriam Margolyes (Narrator)

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Gloomsbury: Series 4: The hit BBC Radio 4 comedy

Miriam Margolyes and Alison Steadman star in the fourth BBC Radio 4 series of Sue Limb's wickedly funny parody of the Bloomsbury Group. '… one of the funniest, slyest, most naughtily inventive and brilliantly performed shows on the air' Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph This fourth series sees our arty, adulterous Bohemians struggling with the issues of class, money and how to become truly modern. Henry is concerned about Vera's dangerous susceptibility to romance, and her tendency to fascinate several women at once. In addition, he is wrestling with his biography of the king, misses the hurly burly of life at the Foreign Office and is tempted to stand for Parliament as a Labour MP. Meanwhile, Vera tangles with a randy Llewd George, accompanies Ginny to Sandwich where they meet Lytton Scratchy and Dora Barrington, and takes part in an indiscreet radio broadcast and a surprising séance. The friends also embark on a trip to Venice, where they meet Dave Lollipop, his pneumatic German wife Frieda and man-eating American art connoisseur Peggy Googleheim. Duration: 3 hours approx.

Sue Limb (Author), , Alison Steadman, John L. Sessions, John Sessions, Jonathan Coy, Miriam Margolyes, Morwenna Banks, Nigel Planer (Narrator)

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Gloomsbury: Series 5: The hit BBC Radio 4 comedy

The complete fifth series of Sue Limb's satirical send-up of the Bloomsbury Group. In this fifth series, our arty, adulterous Bohemians are creating havoc at home and abroad. Henry is hoping to ignore his fiftieth birthday - but Vera has organised a surprise party. When Venus sneaks in uninvited and makes a nuisance of herself in the bushes, Henry wants to head for the hills. Fortunately, a lecture tour of America beckons... In the USA, Vera meets Dorothy Barker at the Algonquin, while Henry rubs shoulders with Al Padrone en route to Chicago. Meanwhile, a cottage on the Sizzlinghurst estate has become vacant, and everybody wants it. Returning from the States, Henry seeks election as a Labour Party candidate, while Ginny talks socialism with George Gurnard Shaw. Vera decides she wants another child, but Henry whisks her off to Paris for a fling before the war starts. Accompanied by Ginny and Lionel, they are enjoying a last-minute whirlwind of pleasure in the City of Love when Venus arrives with some dreadful news... Miriam Margolyes, Alison Steadman, Nigel Planer, Morwenna Banks, Jonathan Coy and John Sessions star in these six episodes of the superbly funny literary sitcom star in these six episodes of the superbly funny literary sitcom star in these six episodes of the superbly funny literary sitcom. '... one of the funniest, slyest, most naughtily inventive and brilliantly performed shows on the air' Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph 'A gloriously silly show' The Lady

Sue Limb (Author), , Alison Steadman, John L. Sessions, John Sessions, Jonathan Coy, Miriam Margolyes, Morwenna Banks, Nigel Planer (Narrator)

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Gloomsbury: The complete series 1-5 of the hit BBC Radio 4 comedy

Miriam Margolyes, Alison Steadman and Nigel Planer star in Sue Limb's comedy parodying the arty and adulterous adventures of the Bloomsbury Group. A stellar cast, including Roger Lloyd-Pack, Morwenna Banks, Jonathan Coy and John Sessions, join in this affectionate send-up of the infamous Bloomsbury literary group, who dominated the English cultural scene in the early 20th Century.

Sue Limb (Author), Alison Steadman, John L. Sessions, Jonathan Coy, Miriam Margolyes, Morwenna Banks, Nigel Planer, Roger Lloyd Pack (Narrator)

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Grumpy Old Women The Official Handbook

Move over Grumpy Old Men - it's time for the Grumpy Old Women to have their say in this hilarious guide, read by the narrator of the BBC TV series Alison Steadman. OK, enough is enough. Grumpy Old Men have had their turn at complaining and now the Grumpy Old Women are taking over. It's about time the world knew what struggles and trials they have to go through. Not only do they multi-task in double figures every day, they have to learn to cope with their changing bodies (it's just not possible to wear kitten heels and sexy clothes without looking like a tart) and all those domestic goddesses don't help. And on top of all that, a lot them have their very own Grumpy Old Man to deal with. Sandwiched between the spoilt, lazy youth of today and the next generation up, these women are properly fed up. But they are also experienced, wise and serene, and it's about time their tirade against the world and their pearls of wisdom about coping with life's problems were heard. Especially as these women are really rather funny as well. As Sheila Hancock says, 'Who wants to be dreary old Snow White doing the housework when you can get all the laughs as Grumpy?' And laugh you will. Written with wit, style and sympathy and read by acclaimed actress Alison Steadman, this is sure to be a source of amusement to women everywhere - grumpy or otherwise.

Judith Holder (Author), Alison Steadman (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Alison Steadman