Audiobooks narrated by Brian Hewlett

Israbel, The Silver Sky & more: A BBC Radio Sci-Fi & Fantasy Collection

"Five tales of time-travel, vampires, Snow White and Odysseus from the legendary Tanith Lee Tanith Lee was one of the 20th century’s most influential writers of fantasy, horror and science fiction. She wrote over 90 novels and 300 short stories, as well as children’s books, poems and several episodes of Blake’s 7. Her many accolades include several World Fantasy Awards (including the Lifetime Achievement Award) and she was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel. This collection contains five of her fantastic stories, including three specially written for radio. The Silver Sky – Paul Baxter, a research scientist into time-travel, makes the unilateral decision that the first test flight will be a manned one. The risk is enormous. The result is a meeting of two different worlds… Paul Darrow and Elizabeth Bell star in this 1980 audio drama, a sci-fi puzzle story set on a mysterious planet where the sea is pink and the sky silver. Israbel – Rich, lovely Israbel is the cynosure of all eyes – but as a vampire, she cannot see her own reflection. So she hires an artist to paint her portrait so that she can discover what she looks like – only for him to fall in love with her… Mark Bonnar and Claire Harry read this haunting story of dangerous obsession, abridged by Gemma Jenkins and introduced by Natalie Haynes. Red Wine – Writer Constantine hires the young, beautiful Eve Smith to type the manuscript of his autobiography. As his menacing story unfolds, she should be terrified – but her reaction is not at all what Constantine expects… Stephen Thorne and Penelope Reynolds star in this original play for radio, first broadcast in 1977. Red as Blood – A witch queen enlists the help of a hunter and a rebel angel in an attempt to rescue her stepdaughter, Bianca, from her sinister heritage. Stella Gonet reads this dark retelling of the Snow White fairy tale. Bitter Gate – In her first play for radio, Tanith Lee gives a new feminist slant to the classic myth of Odysseus’s return to Ithaka to reclaim his wife Penelope from her suitors. Stephen Thorne stars as Odysseus, with Elizabeth Bell as Penelope. Production credits Written by Tanith Lee The Silver Sky Paul Baxter – Paul Darrow Elzereth – Elizabeth Bell Dene – Simon Molloy Francesca Baxter – Anne Reid Clyde/Computer – Andy Rashleigh Sir Arthur Maddock – John Jardine John Lass/Technician – David Fleeshman Reporter – John Talbot Photographer/Computer – Nina Holloway Nurse – Mary Cunningham Technician – Martin Oldfield Directed by Kay Patrick Music and effects: David Fleming-Williams Israbel Introduced by Natalie Haynes Read by Mark Bonnar and Claire Harry Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins Red Wine Constantine/Constantine’s father/Constantine as a young man – Stephen Thorne Eve/all other parts – Penelope Reynolds Directed by Richard Wortley Red as Blood Read by Stella Gonet Produced by Gemma Jenkins Bitter Gate Odysseus – Stephen Thorne Penelope – Elizabeth Bell Eurymakos – Michael Cochrane Telemakos – Brian Hewlett God – Gerald Cross Goddess – Jill Balcon Antinous – Sean Barrett Mentor – Tim Fearon Irikleia – Betty Baskcomb Swineherd – Anthony Jacobs Beggar King – Neville Jason First Suitor – Nick Brimble Second Suitor – Tim Brown Kryse – Penelope Reynolds Directed by Richard Wortley Incidental music composed and conducted by Christos Pittas (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. © 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Tanith Lee (Author), Anne Reid, Brian Hewlett, David Fleeshman, Elizabeth Bell, Full Cast, John Talbot, Mark Bonnar, Michael Cochrane, Paul Darrow, Stella Gonet (Narrator)

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Six Characters in Search of an Author & other plays: Three Full-Cast BBC Radio Productions

"Four plays by the award-winning Italian playwright and innovator Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello was an Italian playwright, novelist, and short-story writer and winner of the 1934 Nobel Prize for Literature. In the first performance of Six Characters in Search of an Author, an enraged Rome theatre audience yelled abuse at the Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello and chased him out of the theatre. Since then, the play has gained iconic status as a piece of theatre which helped move Western culture into modernity. This stunning, full-cast collection of the playwright’s most famous plays performed for radio is not to be missed. Six Characters in Search of an Author - Luigi Pirandello's famous 1921 play about the nature of theatre and the problems of theatricality, in which six characters, whose author has abandoned them mid-process, turn up at a rehearsal and demand to be played by the actors present to resolve their tragedy and become ‘real’. This contrast between art, which is unchanging, and life, which is in constant flux, is classic Pirandello. The Rules of the Game - Set in an Italian town in 1919. Leone and Silia, man and wife, live apart, and Guido is Silia's lover. There is an uncanny lack of jealousy on Leone's part, for he seems a man without any emotional cares whatever - to him it is all a game. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a dangerous game... Henry IV - A madman is shut up in a villa in Italy following an accident at a carnival. Twenty years later his friends come to visit him. Is he still mad, or is he sane? What is madness? What is sanity? This compelling production explores what lies just underneath the skin of ordinary life, starring Martin Jarvis and Andrew Sachs. First Night is an adaptation of Pirandello’s 1900 short story narrated by Mary Wimbush (Poldark, Jeeves and Wooster, The Archers). It tells the story of Marastella, a young Sicilian bride who is unhappily married off to a much older man and explores convention, desire and fate. Rounding off this curated collection we hear a bonus edition of The Forum, presented by Rajan Datar. On the centenary of the infamous premiere of Pirandello’s Six Characters, he asks: But what of the author? He was a complex figure who found inspiration from his wife’s madness as well as the actors he worked with. Datar is joined by celebrated academics and experts in this enigmatic and culture phenomenon. This star-studded collection is perfect for any fans of Pirandello or anyone wanting to dive deeper into a genre defining era of twentieth century theatre and the man behind it. Cast and credits Written by Luigi Pirandello Six Characters in Search of an Author Daughter - Cherie Lunghi Father - Emerald James The Rules of the Game Leone - Robert Rietty Silia - Sarah Badel Guido - Francis Matthews Clara - Wendy Fisher Marquis Miglioriti - James Goode First drunk - Anthony Morse Second drunk - Ken Cumberlidge Third drunk - Haydn Andrews Philip - Brian Hewlett Dr Spiga - Stephen Hattersley Barelli - Eric Stovell Henry IV Henry IV - Alec McCowan Tito Belcredi - George Baker Doctor Genoni - Maurice Denham Matilda Spina - Pauline Letts Landolph - Martin Jarvis Ordulph - Henry Knowles Charles di Nolli - Sean Arnold Frida, his fiancee - Janet Chappell Berthold - David Spenser Harold - Nigel Lambert John - James Thomason The two servants - Harvey Edwards & Andrew Sachs First Night Narrator - Mary Wimbush The Forum Presented by Rajan Datar Readings by Marco Gambino With: Guido Bonsaver, Dr Enza de Francisci, Patricia Gaborik ©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Luigi Pirandello (Author), Brian Hewlett, Charles Grey, Cherie Lunghi, Francis Matthews, Full Cast, James Goode, Ken Cumberlidge, Kevin McNally, Martin Jarvis, Mary Wimbush, Maurice Denham, Pauline Letts, Sarah Badel (Narrator)

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The Amateur Gentleman: A Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisation

"A vintage 13-part dramatisation of Jeffery Farnol’s historical romance When 22-year-old Barnabas Barty, the son of a landlord and ex-prize fighter, unexpectedly inherits £700,000 from his uncle in Jamaica, he decides to fulfil his dream of becoming a gentleman. Leaving his father’s country inn in Kent, he sets off to London determined to enter the beau monde. En route, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful woman, and engages in fisticuffs with an arrogant aristocrat in a green coat. Though the lady vanishes before Barnabas can ask for her name, he later learns that she is Lady Cleone Meredith… and that he has several rivals for her affections. He also learns that he has made a powerful enemy – for the man he knocked down was Sir Mortimer Carnaby, a member of the Ton and a close friend of the Prince Regent… Has Barnabas blighted his chances of becoming a person of quality? Can he ever win the heart of the fair Cleone? And what will fashionable London make of this amateur gentleman? Alongside Georgette Heyer, Jeffery Farnol largely originated the ‘Regency romance’ genre, and in his 50-year career he wrote over 40 bestselling tales of love and adventure. The Amateur Gentleman was among his most popular novels, and was adapted as a film three times in the 1920s and 1930s. First broadcast in 1966, this classic BBC Radio dramatisation stars Brian Hewlett as Barnabas, with Anthony Jackson as the Storyteller and Eva Haddon as Cleone. Cast Barnabas Barty – Brian Hewlett Storyteller – Anthony Jackson John Barty/Captain Slingsby – John Dearth Mr Crabtree – Stephen Jack Nathaniel Bell/Jack Truelove/Jaspar Gaunt – Wilfred Babbage A Chapman/Pufton, a Gentleman-in-Powder/Quinly – Michael McClain Sir Mortimer Carnaby/Jerry Tucker, the Bosun/Coachman/Waiter//Mr Tressider/Bow Street Runner – Ronald Herdman Cleone – Eva Haddon John Chumley/Gamekeeper/Jaspar Shrig – Basil Jones Viscount Devenham – Henry Stamper Milo – Nigel Anthony Mr Chichester/Guard – Anthony Hall John Peterby/A landlord – Kevin McHugh Clemency Dare – Carol Marsh Billy Button/Corporal Richard Roe/Nick, the Cobbler – Michael Kilgarriff A Fussy Gentleman/Sir George Annersley/Mr Bimby – Walter Fitzgerald Gabriel Martin/Major Piper – Alan Dudley Digby Smivvle – Harold Kasket The Marquis of Jerningham – John Justin Ronald Barrymaine – Allan McClelland A woman debtor/Mrs Smummitt – Anna Burden Duchess of Camberhurst – Noel Hood Countess of Orme – Joan Matheson Marquis of Jerningham – John Justin Ralph Darville – Noel Howlett Adapted by Felix Felton and Susan Ashman Produced by John Powell First broadcast BBC Home Service, 29 July-21 October 1966 Episode list 1. The Road to London 2. The Lace Handkerchief 3. At Oakshott’s Barn 4. The Duties of a Valet 5. The Misfortunes of Ronald Barrymaine 6. Annersley Revisited 7. Barnaby Bright 8. Wagers and Warnings 9. The Great Steeplechase 10. The Gathering Shadows 11. Account Settled 12. The Harder Way 13. The Duchess Decides © 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Jeffery Farnol (Author), Anthony Jackson, Brian Hewlett, Eva Haddon, Full Cast (Narrator)

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Sir Walter Scott: A BBC Radio Drama Collection: Five Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations including Waverley and Rob Roy

"Full-cast BBC adaptations of five of Sir Walter Scott’s ‘Waverley’ novels, plus a play adapted from his journal starring Alec Guinness, and a documentary about Scott and his legacy Poet, novelist, critic and campaigner Walter Scott invented the historical novel and shaped the world’s image of Scotland. His tales of heroism, romance and adventure were hugely successful, outselling Jane Austen and Lord Byron, and are still popular today. Included here are adaptations of five of the best-loved books in his ‘Waverley’ series, as well as two bonus programmes. Waverley – Sent to Scotland with his regiment, young English soldier Edward Waverley becomes embroiled in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. Torn between love and duty, he falls in with Bonnie Prince Charlie’s rebel army – and finds himself accused of treason… Richard Greenwood stars in this adaptation of Scott’s groundbreaking debut novel. Rob Roy – Francis Osbaldistone, the son of a rich London merchant, is banished to his family seat in the North. There, he meets the beautiful, high-spirited Diana Vernon and his villainous cousin Rashleigh, and befriends the enigmatic Scot, Robert Campbell – hero, chieftain of the clan MacGregor and wanted outlaw… Starring Liam Brennan, this thrilling drama is set during the Jacobite rising of 1715. The Heart of Midlothian – Edinburgh, 1737, and young Effie Deans is arrested for child murder and sentenced to death. Convinced of her innocence, her sister Jeanie decides to walk to London to plead for her sister’s life. Gerda Stevenson and Irene Allen star in this adaptation of Scott’s gripping novel, widely considered to be the finest of the ‘Waverley’ books. The Bride of Lammermoor – Edgar Ravenswood has sworn vengeance on the Ashton family who have destroyed his honour and ruined his fortune – but Lucy Ashton will come to mean more to him than honour, fortune and life Itself… This tragic tale of a doomed love affair stars David Rintoul and Gerda Stevenson. Woodstock – England, 1651. Charles Stuart’s army has been defeated at Worcester, and he is on the run. Suspecting that he will take refuge at Woodstock Manor, Oliver Cromwell sets a trap for him there – but he has reckoned without the wily King and his loyal Cavalier supporters… John Rowe and Brian Hewlett star in this epic Civil War tale. My Own Right Hand Shall Do It – Suffering a terrible reversal of fortune late in life, Sir Walter Scott determines to recover from financial ruin. Sir Alec Guinness stars in this moving portrait of tragedy and ultimate triumph. The Man Who Made Scotland – James Naughtie makes the case for a reappraisal of Sir Walter Scott, arguing that his branding of Scotland is the mark of a thoroughly modern thinker. NB: Due to the age of the recordings, the sound quality may vary First published 1814 (Waverley), 1817 (Rob Roy), 1818 (The Heart of Midlothian), 1819 (The Bride of Lammermoor), 1826 (Woodstock) © 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Walter Scott (Author), Alec Guinness, Brian Hewlett, David Rintoul, Full Cast, George Woolley, Gerda Stevenson, Irene Allan, Jill Meers, John Buick, John Ransome, John Rowe, Liam Brennan, Richard Greenwood, Sean Chapman, Tom George (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Brian Hewlett

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