Audiobooks Narrated by Bill Wallis

Winston: Series 1-5: A BBC Comedy Drama

All five series of Peter Tinniswood's bawdy comedy about roguish poacher/philosopher Winston Hayballs - plus special seasonal episode Winston at Christmas 'Earthy, resilient, witty and bloody-minded ... nobody can write like Peter Tinniswood' The Times When the middle-class Empsons move from London to picturesque Winterleaf Gunner, they find themselves totally unprepared for country life - and utterly reliant on Winston. Handyman, village poacher, scholar, gentleman romantic and out-and-out rogue, Winston transforms their lives, fixing up their dilapidated house, introducing them to the works of Kingsley Amis - and giving Nancy a lesson in love. So when his wife throws him out because of his infidelities, he invites himself to stay with the family. Spoiling them with his cordon bleu cuisine, he lulls them into a false sense of security - but he's got an ulterior motive: Nancy... Series 1 sees him plotting to get rid of the other Empsons so he can have her all to himself... but his plans hit an unexpected snag. In Winston Comes to Town, Father's illness forces the family to return to London - only for Winston to stow away in a removal van and follow them. Winston in Love finds Nancy with a new boyfriend (Roland from the Ministry of Whatsisname), Winston hooking up with the woman from the fish shop, and Father announcing his engagement. In Winston at Christmas, Nancy wants the family to enjoy a festive celebration together, but Winston has other ideas. Winston in Europe follows the Empsons to France, where Winston's talk of Baudelaire leaves Nancy feeling baffled, and Father sings the praises of Crewe toilets. And in Winston Back Home, the clan return to Winterleaf Gunner, where Winston is set to wed Nancy at last. But exactly how will they tie the knot? Scripted by award-winning author Peter Tinniswood (Uncle Mort's North and South Country), this fantastic family sitcom brims with brilliantly funny dialogue and wonderful larger-than-life comic characters. Bill Wallis stars as Winston, alongside Maurice Denham, Shirley Dixon, Liz Goulding and Christian Rodska. Production credits Written by Peter Tinniswood Directed by Shaun MacLoughlin First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 April-31 May 1989 (Winston), 1 January-5 February 1990 (Winston Comes to Town), 31 December 1990-4 February 1991 (Winston in Love), 25 December 1991 (Winston at Christmas), 12 March-16 April 1992 (Winston in Europe), 31 March-5 May 1994 (Winston Back Home) Cast Winston - Bill Wallis Father - Maurice Denham Nancy - Shirley Dixon Rosie - Liz Goulding William - Christian Rodska

Peter Tinniswood (Author), Bill Wallis, Christian Rodska, Liz Goulding, Maurice Denham, Shirley Dixon (Narrator)

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Vita Nuova

When Marshal Guarnaccia is called upon to investigate the murder of a young woman, he is convinced that there's more to her family than meets the eye, and wonders if the girl's father, Paoletti, might have had something to do with her death. Enlisting the help of a local journalist, Marshal Guarnaccia's investigations draw him into the seedy underworld of Florence - lap dancing, prostitution and the illegal, human trafficking of Eastern European women who are sold into the sex trade. But can he save these women before it's too late? And what do they have to do with the killing of Daniela Paoletti? Distracted by the plight of these women and the murder investigation, Guarnaccia forgets about his own personal problems but it's not long before he has choices to make - should he seek help and risk exposing himself and possibly losing his job, or should he go it alone?

Magdalen Nabb (Author), Bill Wallis (Narrator)

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The Resurrection of Father Brown

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in Campden Hill, Kensington on May 29th 1874. Originally after attending St Pauls School he went to Slade to learn the art of illustration. In 1896 he joined a small London publisher and began his journalistic career as a freelance art and literary critic and going on to writing weekly columns in the Daily News and the Illustrated London News. In 1901 he married Frances Blogg, to whom he remained married for the rest of his life. For many he is known as a very fine novelist and the creator of the Father Brown Detective stories which were much influenced by his own beliefs. A large man – 6’ 4” and 21st in weight he was apt to be forgetful in that delightful way that the British sometimes are – a telegram home to his wife saying he was in one place but where should he actually be…….? He was prolific in many other areas; he wrote plays, short stories, essays, loved to debate and wrote hundreds of poems. G K Chesterton died of congestive heart failure on 14th June, 1936 and is buried in Beaconsfield just outside of London.

G K Chesterton (Author), Bill Wallis, Ghizela Rowe (Narrator)

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The Reavers

Elizabethan England, and a dastardly Spanish plot to take over the throne is uncovered. It's up to Agent Archie Noble to save Queen and country in this saucy and swashbuckling romp from the bestselling author of The Flashman Papers and The Pyrates.Spoiled, arrogant, filthy rich, and breathtakingly beautiful, the young Lady Godiva Dacre is exiled from the court of Good Queen Bess (who can't abide red-haired competition) to her lonely estate in distant Cumberland, where she looks forward to bullying the peasantry and getting her own imperious way. Little does she guess that the turbulent Scottish border is the last place for an Elizabethan heiress, beset by ruthless reivers (many of them unshaven), blackmailing ruffians, fiendish Spanish plotters intent on regime change and turning Merrie England into a ghastly European Union province.And no one to rely on but her half-witted blonde school chum, a rugged English superman with a knack for disaster, and a dashing highwayman who looks like Errol Flynn but has a Glasgow accent. To say nothing of warlocks, impersonators, taxi-drivers riding brooms, burlesque artists, the drunkest man in Scotland, and several quite normal characters - oh, yes, gossips, it's all happening in The Reavers, a moral tale obviously conceived in some kind of fit by Flashman author George MacDonald Fraser ... well, he's getting on, and was bound to crack eventually. He admits (nay, insists) that it's a crazy story for readers who love fun for its own sake.

George MacDonald Fraser (Author), Bill Wallis (Narrator)

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The Premature Burial

Edgar Allan Poe, is considered the greatest of all writers of macabre stories, was born in Boston, Massachesetts, in 1809. His father, an Irish-American actor, died the following year, and his mother, an English actress, the year after, in Richmond, Virginia. John Allan, a wealthy Richmond merchant, adopted him. When he was 7, the Allans moved to England, sending him to school at Stoke Newington, at age 12 they moved back to Richmond.He wanted to become a writer, but John Allan wanted him to become a lawyer. He failed to finish courses at the University of Virginia and at West Point Military Academy, and John Allan disowned him. Struggling to live by his writing, he became an ill-paid magazine writer, and at 26 married Virginia, the daughter of his aunt, Mrs Clemm, aged 14. They were happy together, and while married he wrote much of his best work. But Virginia contracted tuberculosis, and worry over her illness and their poverty led him to drink heavily. After six years of marriage, she died. Suffering a complete breakdown, he was nursed back to health by Mrs Clemm.Returning to Richmond, he made a determined attempt to give up drinking. In 1849 he got engaged to a Richmond woman he had loved in his youth. Travelling north to collect Mrs Clemm to the wedding, he stopped off in Baltimore, Ohio. Found there lying drunk on a pavement, he was taken to hospital, but died a few hours later. His poems and short stories have influenced scores of writers. He invented the modern detective story, and his tales of terror are as chilling and powerful today as they have ever been.

Edd Mcnair, Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Bill Wallis (Narrator)

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The Pit and the Pendulum

Edgar Allan Poe, is considered the greatest of all writers of macabre stories, was born in Boston, Massachesetts, in 1809. His father, an Irish-American actor, died the following year, and his mother, an English actress, the year after, in Richmond, Virginia. John Allan, a wealthy Richmond merchant, adopted him. When he was 7, the Allans moved to England, sending him to school at Stoke Newington, at age 12 they moved back to Richmond.He wanted to become a writer, but John Allan wanted him to become a lawyer. He failed to finish courses at the University of Virginia and at West Point Military Academy, and John Allan disowned him. Struggling to live by his writing, he became an ill-paid magazine writer, and at 26 married Virginia, the daughter of his aunt, Mrs Clemm, aged 14. They were happy together, and while married he wrote much of his best work. But Virginia contracted tuberculosis, and worry over her illness and their poverty led him to drink heavily. After six years of marriage, she died. Suffering a complete breakdown, he was nursed back to health by Mrs Clemm.Returning to Richmond, he made a determined attempt to give up drinking. In 1849 he got engaged to a Richmond woman he had loved in his youth. Travelling north to collect Mrs Clemm to the wedding, he stopped off in Baltimore, Ohio. Found there lying drunk on a pavement, he was taken to hospital, but died a few hours later. His poems and short stories have influenced scores of writers. He invented the modern detective story, and his tales of terror are as chilling and powerful today as they have ever been.

Edd Mcnair, Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Bill Wallis (Narrator)

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The L-Shaped Room, Backward Shadow & other stories: A BBC Radio 4 drama collection

A full-cast adaptation of Lynne Reid Banks' bestselling novel, plus sequel The Backward Shadow and more Award-winning author Lynne Reid Banks is perhaps best known for her classic children's book The Indian in the Cupboard. But it was her groundbreaking debut novel for adults, The L-Shaped Room, that made her name. First published in 1960, it was an instant success, and has been in print ever since. This collection contains both The L-Shaped Room and sequel The Backward Shadow, as well as two stories specially written for BBC radio and a bonus edition of Bookclub. The L-Shaped Room - Jane is young, middle-class, single - and pregnant. Thrown out by her parents, she rents a squalid bedsit, where she struggles to overcome both her own prejudices and those of 1950s society. Starring Lynne Seymour as Jane, with John McAndrew as Toby. The Backward Shadow - Living with her baby in a cottage inherited from her aunt, Jane's quiet life is shaken up by the arrival of her friend Dottie and the reappearance of Toby, the love of her life ... Lynne Seymour stars as Jane, with Rachel Atkins as Dottie. Who Shall I Run To? - Sally recalls how she and ex-husband Jeremy celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary with a romantic trip to Paris. Read by Siân Phillips. Lame Duck - Anne and her artist husband Lionel have three boys, and little time for going out - so they decide to take in a lodger who might be prepared to babysit occasionally. Sadly, things do not work out as planned... Starring Anne Rosenfeld as Anne and Manning Wilson as Lionel. Bookclub: Lynne Reid Banks - Readers talk to the celebrated author about The L-Shaped Room, describing what it means to them and how it has changed their lives. Chaired by James Naughtie. Text copyright © Lynne Reid Banks 1960 (The L-Shaped Room), 1970 (The Backward Shadow), 1978 (Lame Duck), 2005 (Who Shall I Run To?) Cast and credits Written by Lynne Reid Banks The L-Shaped Room Jane - Lynne Seymour Toby - John McAndrew John - Trevor Laird Father - Bill Wallis Doris - Nickie Rainsford Mavis - Marie Gordon Price James - Simon Armstrong Dr Maxwell - John Rowe Jane 2/Dottie - Rachel Atkins Boss - Dave Bond Dr Graham - Richard Mitchley Terry - Robert Bowman Addy - Shirley Dixon Dramatised by Juliet Ace Prioduced and directed by Alison Hindell First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 February-5 March 2004 The Backward Shadow Jane - Lynne Seymour Dottie - Rachel Atkins Toby - John McAndrew Henry - Simon Ludders Father/Ted - Don McCorkindale Billy Lee - Lesley Rooney Alan - Keiron Self Mrs Stephens - Manon Edwards Dora - Siriol Jenkins John - Trevor Laird Joanna - Nickie Rainsford Dramatised by Juliet Ace Prioduced and directed by Alison Hindell First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 16-27 May 2005 Who Shall I Run To? Read by Siân Phillips Produced by Emma Harding First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 14 August 2005 Lame Duck Cliff - Christopher Guard Anne - Anne Rosenfeld Lionel - Manning Wilson Jamie - Judy Bennett Terry - Delia Morgan Dan - Elizabeth Lindsay Jacky - Karen Archer Mr Brent, a publican - Bruce Beeby Mrs Brent - Jane Knowles Directed by David B Godfrey First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 6 January 1978 Bookclub: Lynne Reid Banks Presented by James Naughtie With Lynne Reid Banks and a live studio audience Produced by Dymphna Flynn First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 6 June 2010 ©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Lynne Reid Banks (Author), Anne Rosenfeld, Bill Wallis, John Mcandrew, Lynne Seymour, Manning Wilson, Rachel Atkins, Sian Philips, Various (Narrator)

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The Death of King Arthur: A New Verse Translation

First appearing around 1400, The Alliterative Morte Arthur, or The Death of King Arthur, is one of the most widely beloved and spectacularly alliterative poems ever penned in Middle English. Now, from the internationally acclaimed translator of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, comes this magisterial new presentation of the Arthurian tale, rendered in unflinching and gory detail. Following Arthur's bloody conquests across the cities and fields of Europe, all the way to his spectacular and even bloodier fall, this masterpiece features some of the most spellbinding and poignant passages in English poetry. Never before have the deaths of Arthur's loyal knights, his own final hours, and the subsequent burial been so poignantly evoked. Echoing the lyrical passion that so distinguished Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, Simon Armitage has produced a virtuosic new translation that promises to become both the literary event of the year and the definitive edition for generations to come.

Simon Armitage (Author), Bill Wallis (Narrator)

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The Blue Cross

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in Campden Hill, Kensington on May 29th 1874. Originally after attending St Pauls School he went to Slade to learn the art of illustration. In 1896 he joined a small London publisher and began his journalistic career as a freelance art and literary critic and going on to writing weekly columns in the Daily News and the Illustrated London News. In 1901 he married Frances Blogg, to whom he remained married for the rest of his life. For many he is known as a very fine novelist and the creator of the Father Brown Detective stories which were much influenced by his own beliefs. A large man – 6’ 4” and 21st in weight he was apt to be forgetful in that delightful way that the British sometimes are – a telegram home to his wife saying he was in one place but where should he actually be…….? He was prolific in many other areas; he wrote plays, short stories, essays, loved to debate and wrote hundreds of poems. G K Chesterton died of congestive heart failure on 14th June, 1936 and is buried in Beaconsfield just outside of London.

G K Chesterton (Author), Bill Wallis, Ghizela Rowe (Narrator)

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Some Bitter Taste

When it comes to motives for crime, the past can never be forgotten. Sara Hirsch is a nervous elderly spinster who still lives in the flat above a long-standing Florentine antiquities shop in which she was raised. Frightened, she calls Marshal Guarnaccia for help, sure that strangers have been in her apartment. The marshal knows she is a lonely old woman but he is preoccupied with an investigation into an Albanian prostitution ring. Before he can respond to her latest alarm, she is found dead. The marshal's search for the villains who precipitated her death brings him into confrontation with the past, with Jewish refugees from fascism, and with English expatriates, including the ailing heir to the elegant Villa L'Uliveto, Sir Christopher Wrothesly-

Magdalen Nabb (Author), Bill Wallis (Narrator)

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation

The famous Middle English poem by an anonymous English poet is beautifully translated by fellow poet Simon Armitage in this edition. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight narrates in crystalline verse the strange tale of a green knight who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts and decapitates the intruder with his own ax. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide Gawain dutifully sets forth. His quest for the Green Knight involves a winter journey, a seduction scene in a dream-like castle, a dire challenge answered, and a drama of enigmatic reward disguised as psychic undoing. “Compulsively readable…Simon Armitage has given us an energetic, free-flowing, high-spirited version.”--New York Times Book Review, front-page review

Anonymous (Author), Bill Wallis (Narrator)

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Shakespeare's Cymbeline

A BBC Radio 3 full-cast dramatisation of Shakespeare's classic 'Cymbeline', starring Bill Wallis. Originally broadcast in December 2006 as part of the 'Drama on 3' collection. Shakespeare's play, set during the Roman invasion of Britain, centres around the banishment of the man who has incurred the wrath of the king by secretly marrying his daughter. Confusion follows in an intricate plot in which nobody is quite who they seem to be. Featuring Bill Wallis as Cymbeline, Nia Roberts as Imogen, William Houston as Posthumus, Siân Phillips as the Queen and Andrew Wincott as Iachimo. Also stars Russell Gomer, Joseph Kloska, Gareth Armstrong, Christian Shaw, Meilyr Sion, John Labanowski, Richard Elfyn, Dorien Thomas and Manon Edwards. Directed by Alison Hindell.

William Shakespeare (Author), Andrew Wincott, Bill Wallis, Full Cast, Nia Roberts, Siân Phillips, William Houston (Narrator)

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