Audiobooks Narrated by Hugh Dickson

Ivan Turgenev: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Drama Collection: First Love, Father and Sons, A Month in the C

"Nine classic works by the Russian literary giant, adapted for BBC Radio Ivan Turgenev stands alongside Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as one of the three great Russian novelists of the 19th century. He was also a consummate short story writer, poet and playwright, and the first Russian author to become popular in the West. This specially curated collection showcases his key works, from the most celebrated to the undeservedly underrated. Described as ‘one of the most perfect things ever written’, the lyrical novella First Love tells the story of 16-year-old Vladimir, whose longing for the capricious Zinaida informs his whole life. Dramatised for Radio 4, it stars Simon Cadell, Rosalind Ayres and Bill Nighy. Succeeding it is Turgenev’s masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, an exploration of the eternal conflict between the reactionary older generation and the revolutionary younger one. John Castle stars as youthful nihilist Bazarov, with Maurice Denham as his father Nikolai. First published in 1855 as Two Women, Turgenev’s best-known play A Month in the Country centres around a landowner’s wife who finds herself attracted to her son’s tutor. Translated by Isaiah Berlin, our Radio 3 version stars Maureen O’Brien and Gerard Murphy. Written a few years before A Month in the Country, the little-known play The Poor Gentleman is an emotional comedy about an elderly man’s devotion to a daughter he can never recognise publicly. It stars Frank Finlay, Morag Hood and Colin Baker. Next up is Smoke, Turgenev’s only novel not to be set in Russia. Baden Baden is the setting for a tale that blends poignant love story and searing political satire, starring Garard Green, Rachel Gurney and Patricia Leventon. Meanwhile, in the short story ‘The Dog’, a mild Hussar (Timothy West) is the subject of a bizarre haunting… Turgenev’s debut novel, Rudin, features that archetypal character in Russian literature, the ‘superfluous man’. Ian Holm stars as the eponymous hero, an idealistic intellectual who is incapable of taking action: and suffers for it. Set just before the Crimean War, the romantic novella On the Eve has passion and patriotism as its themes. Amanda Root stars as the upper-class Elena, who embarks on a doomed affair with Bulgarian revolutionary Insarov (Philip Franks). We conclude as we began, with a tale of first love – Spring Torrents, one of Turgenev’s greatest and most autobiographical novellas. Adapted for Radio 4’s ‘Book at Bedtime’, it is read by David Horovitch. First published 1848 (The Poor Gentleman), 1855/1872 (A Month in the Country), 1857 (Rudin), 1860 (First Love, On the Eve), 1862 (Fathers and Sons), 1866 (‘The Dog’), 1867 (Smoke), 1872 (Spring Torrents) Production credits Written by Ivan Turgenev With thanks to Keith Wickham Contents List First Love Fathers and Sons A Month in the Country The Poor Gentleman Smoke The Dog Rudin On the Eve Spring Torrents © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Ivan Turgenev (Author), Amanda Root, Bill Nighy, David Horovitch, Full Cast, Hugh Dickson, Ian Holm, Maureen O'brien, Norman Shelley, Patrick Troughton, Rosalind Ayres, Tim Pigott-Smith, Timothy West (Narrator)

Audiobook

Play Sample Listen For Free

Winifred Holtby: A BBC Radio Collection: South Riding, Anderby Wold, The Crowded Street and more

"Full-cast adaptations of three of Winifred Holtby’s best-known novels, plus short stories and bonus programmes about the author Winifred Holtby was an acclaimed novelist, journalist, feminist and social reformer. Her work encompasses six novels, two short story collections, a play and the first critical study of Virginia Woolf, but she is best known for her posthumously published masterpiece South Riding, which won the James Tait Black Memorial Award. She died in 1935, aged just 37. Born into a Yorkshire farming family, Holtby set much of her fiction in the landscape of her youth, including the three novels in this collection. Adapted as a 15-part radio drama, South Riding follows the lives and loves of fiery young headmistress Sarah Burton, landowner and school governor Robert Carne, and alderwoman Mrs Beddowes. Sarah Lancashire, Philip Glenister and Carole Boyd star in this rich, memorable evocation of a community in flux. Anderby Wold tells the tale of a farmer’s wife, a radical young writer and a village rocked by social change. Dramatised from Holtby’s 1923 debut novel, it stars Joanna Mackie, Derek Smith and Joseph Peters. The Crowded Street, set in the years leading up to World War I, centres around a woman's journey from introspective teenager to self-fulfilled adult. Claire Goose stars as heroine Muriel Hammond in this poignant coming-of-age drama. Wry, witty and irreverent, Holtby’s short stories reflect the diversity of her writing. 'The Celebrity Who Failed', read by Alice Arnold, features a girl who learns to walk on water – but is unprepared for the public attention that follows. 'Why Herbert Killed His Mother' is the story of a beautiful baby who turns out to be very different as an adult. A searing condemnation of ‘mother love’, it is read by Anna Massey. And in 'The Voice of God', read by Hugh Dickson, a radio-like machine enables people to listen in on the conversations of historical figures – but what will happen once the newspapers get to hear of it? Finally, Holtby’s life, legacy and significance are explored in a Woman’s Hour biographical segment and in a revealing radio portrait, The Divided State, written by Valerie Windsor and featuring Alison Fiske as Winifred Holtby. Text copyright © Winifred Holtby 1923 (Anderby Wold), 1924 (The Crowded Street), 1934 (‘The Celebrity Who Failed’, ‘Why Herbert Killed His Mother’, ‘The Voice of God’), 1936 (South Riding) Contents South Riding Anderby Wold The Crowded Street ‘The Celebrity Who Failed’ ‘Why Herbert Killed His Mother’ ‘The Voice of God’ Woman’s Hour extract The Divided State © 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Winifred Holtby (Author), Alice Arnold, Alison Fiske, Anna Massey, Carole Boyd, Claire Goose, Derek Smith, Full Cast, Hugh Dickson, Joanna Mackie, Joseph Peters, Philip Glenister, Sarah Lancashire (Narrator)

Audiobook

Play Sample Listen For Free