Audiobooks narrated by Nicholas Boulton

The Spaceship: The Complete Series 1 and 2: A BBC Radio Sci-Fi Comedy

James Fleet stars as Captain ‘Flashdance’ Gordon Taylor in this science fiction sitcom set in the 22nd century It’s the year 2104, and a fleet of research cruisers has been launched into space on a mission to seek out new life. Every moment on board has been captured, preserved and transmitted back to Earth – and in these unique recordings from The Really Invincible III, Macclesfield Division, we get to eavesdrop on all the goings-on of the plucky but inept crew... From a problematic meeting with an alien princess to a horde of space tourists on a holiday from hell, life on the cruiser is never less than eventful. Indecisive Captain Taylor is faced with disaster when another of the fleet’s spaceships, The Indestructible III, suddenly explodes; relentlessly nice Communications Officer Karen embarks on a forbidden romance with ship’s engineer Stuart; and medical scientist Clive 55 causes chaos when he is arrested for murdering his 136 clones, and experiments with dark matter to catastrophic effect. Having survived a trip into a black hole, the team run into trouble with some murderous plant life; get into a spot of bother with a marauding, undead space pirate; contract a mystery plague that causes them to age at an alarming rate; and find reality reflected back at them in the mirror at the end of the universe... Created by Clayton Grange writers Paul Barnhill and Neil Warhurst, who also play Stuart and Clive 55, this zany space comedy features an ensemble cast including James Fleet, Emily Joyce and Rosie Cavaliero. Written by Paul Barnhill and Neil Warhurst Directed by Sally Avens Cast Captain Gordon Taylor – James Fleet Melissa Patterson – Emily Joyce Karen Trex – Rosie Cavaliero Stuart Jackson – Paul Barnhill Clive 55 – Neil Warhurst Princess Urrgh/Captain Ponter/The King of the Dwapeye – Stephen Hogan Urrgh Emperor/Ion – Jason Chan Narrator – Nicholas Boulton Trevor – Rob Hastie The Pendula Verbularis – Anna Bengo Captain Jones – Simon Treves Therapy Computer – Joannah Tincey Spam – Ben Crowe Doreen – Rachel Atkins First broadcast BBC Radio 7, 27 June-1 July 2005 (Series 1), 25–29 February 2008 (Series 2) © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Neil Warhurst, Paul Barnhill (Author), Emily Joyce, Full Cast, James Fleet, Neil Warhurst, Nicholas Boulton, Paul Barnhill, Rosie Cavaliero (Narrator)

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The Moving Finger

Recuperating from a flying accident, Jerry Burton needs to take a break somewhere peaceful. He and his sister Joanna rent a house in the little village of Lymstock, where they know no-one and hope to be able to relax. Their quiet life is shattered, however, by the arrival of an obscene anonymous letter accusing them of impropriety. Jerry refuses to take it seriously and throws it on the fire. But during a routine check-up with the local GP, Doctor Griffiths, he soon discovers that theirs is by no means the first unpleasant missive: a number of other village residents have been similarly harassed. Suspicion is rife, and matters are brought to a head by the suicide of one of the letters' recipients. With the whole village in a state of shock, the vicar's wife decides to invite down an old friend with considerable experience of the darker side of human nature. Can Miss Marple's arrival in Lymstock cast light on events? And can she discover the culprit before more deaths occur? One of Agatha Christie's own favourite novels is dramatised with a full cast including Clare Corbett and Nicholas Boulton.

Agatha Christie (Author), Clare Corbett, June Whitfield, Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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The Monk

A masterpiece of gothic fiction, The Monk is a cautionary tale of madness, horror, lust and despair. Father Ambrosio, the most pious and venerated monk in all of Madrid, is held as a paragon of virtue. But after thirty years of study and prayer, evil thoughts begin to permeate his mind. As two plots cleverly converge, torture, murder, incest, rape, poison and magic prevail, sustained by an elegance in the writing of the nineteen-year-old Matthew Lewis. The book was banned upon its initial publication in 1796, but later caught the attention of Lord Byron and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with Coleridge naming it 'the offspring of no common genius'.

Matthew Lewis (Author), Georgina Sutton, Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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The Magus

Nicholas Urfe accepts a teaching post on a beautiful, remote Greek island, in order to escape an unsatisfactory love affair. He meets the enigmatic Maurice Conchis, who introduces him to the exquisitely lovely Lily, his ideal of the perfect woman. But is she flesh or fantasy? As the past bleeds into the present, he finds it increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from imagination. Under the spell of this magic isle and its presiding spirit, he struggles to understand the rules of the mysterious game into which he is drawn.

John Fowles (Author), Andrew Riches, Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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The Life & Works of W. B. Yeats

The Life of William Butler Yeats is a remarkable one - poet, playwright, essayist, politician, occultist, astrologer, founder of a national theatre, voluminous correspondent, lover, husband and father. It was a life that extended to a packed, sometimes frantic seventy-three years and left us with what many consider to be one of the finest collections of poetry from one voice.

William Butler Yeats (Author), Denys Hawthorne, Jim Norton, Marcella Riordan, Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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The House on Cold Hill

They said the dead can't hurt you . . . They were wrong. The House on Cold Hill is a chilling and suspenseful ghost story from the multi-million copy bestselling author of Dead Simple, Peter James. Moving from the heart of Brighton and Hove to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for Ollie and Caro Harcourt and their twelve-year-old daughter Jade. But when they view Cold Hill House - a huge, dilapidated Georgian mansion - Ollie is filled with excitement. Despite the financial strain of the move, he has dreamed of living in the country since he was a child, and he sees Cold Hill House as a paradise for his animal-loving daughter, the perfect base for his web-design business and a terrific long-term investment. Caro is less certain, and Jade is grumpy about being separated from her friends. Within days of moving in, it becomes apparent that the Harcourt family aren't the only residents of the house. A friend of Jade's is the first to see the spectral woman, standing behind her as the girls talk on FaceTime. Then there are more sightings, as well as increasingly disturbing occurrences in the house. As the haunting becomes more malevolent and the house itself begins to turn on the Harcourts, the terrified family discover Cold Hill House's dark history, and the horrible truth of what it could mean for them . . .

Peter James (Author), Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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The House of the Dead

Completed six years after Dostoyevsky’s own term as a convict, The House of the Dead is a semi-autobiographical account of life in a Siberian prison camp, and the physical and mental effects it has on those who are sentenced to inhabit it. Alexandr Petrovitch Goryanchikov, a gentleman of the noble class, has been condemned to ten years of hard labour for murdering his wife. He is little prepared for the cruel conditions and punishing temperatures, and struggles to integrate with the other prisoners, who claw for their sanity. Fettered, hungry and isolated, Alexandr Petrovitch must find faith and hope if he is to make his way out alive, and resurrect himself from the ‘dead house’.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author), Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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The Great Poets

Naxos AudioBooks continues its new series of Great Poets - represented by a collection of their most popular poems on one CD - with W. B. Yeats, one of the most loved poets of the twentieth century. He left a large legacy of outstanding poems, and the finest are collected here: Down by the Salley Gardens, The Lake Isle of Inisfree, The Secret Rose and He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven. They are read by a strong cast led by Olivier award winner Jim Norton.

William Butler Yeats (Author), Denys Hawthorne, Jim Norton, Marcella Riordan, Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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The Fyodor Dostoevsky BBC Radio Drama Collection: Including Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Devils

BBC radio productions of Dostoevsky's masterpieces, plus selected shorter fiction and bonus programmes exploring his life and work One of the most important and influential Russian writers of the 19th Century, Fyodor Dostoevsky is admired worldwide for his great realist novels, exploring questions of morality, philosophy and the nature of existence. This compilation contains the BBC radio productions of his four most famous novels - as well as three lesser-known works and two bonus documentaries - collected together for the first time. Crime and Punishment - When he tests out a horrific theory, young Raskolnikov finds himself pursued by the cunning investigator Porfiry Petrovich. This thrilling tale of guilt and redemption stars Barnaby Kay and Jim Norton. The Idiot - Arriving back in Russia after years spent abroad treating his epilepsy, Prince Mishkin learns the story of the woman who will dominate his life - the spoilt but captivating Nastasya... Dostoevsky's most personal novel stars Paul Rhys, Roger Allam and Lia Williams. Devils - Idealism curdles into murderous anarchy in this fresh, contemporary 3-part adaptation of Dostoevsky's terrifying masterpiece, starring Gary Lilburn, Jane Whittenshaw, Joseph Arkley and Jonathan Forbes. The Brothers Karamazov- The Karamazov family reunite for a meeting with their father to discuss Dmitry's inheritance. But the unpredictable Fyodor seems unwilling to play the game.... Stars Roy Marsden, Paul Hilton and Nicholas Boulton. The Friend of the Family - Russia, 1859, and the Manor of Stephanchikovo is thrown into chaos when a former sergeant sets himself up as an arbiter of morals and taste. David Suchet and Clive Merrison star in this farcical comedy. Bobok - Loitering in the cemetery after a funeral, a drunken writer overhears the conversations of the recently deceased corpses... This blackly comic short story is performed by Boris Isarov. Dream of a Ridiculous Man - A study in music and words of Dostoevsky's vision of an idyllic, prelapsarian world. Read by Ronald Pickup. Dostoevsky and Dangerous Ideas - John Gray reflects on the lessons Dostoevsky's novels teach us about the perils of misguided idealism. Dr Rowan Williams on Dostoevsky - The onetime Archbishop of Canterbury joins Susan Hitch to consider conflicting ideas about spiritual regeneration and existentialism, as embodied in Dostoevsky's characters. First published 1859 (The Friend of the Family), 1866 (Crime and Punishment), 1869 (The Idiot), 1872 (Demons), 1873 ('Bobok'), 1877 ('The Dream of a Ridiculous Man'), 1880 (The Brothers Karamazov)

Fyodor Dostoevsky (Author), Alex Jennings, Barnaby Kay, David Suchet, Full Cast, Lia Williams, Nicholas Boulton, Paul Hilton, Paul Rhys, Roger Allam, Roy Marsden (Narrator)

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The Essential Englishman: A Celebration

There is no watertight excuse for this book. It strolls impertinently over ground that has been carefully mapped by the qualified authorities and elegantly appreciated by many devoted amateurs. Its purview is ludicrously broad - nothing less than an exhibition of the Englishman in his more characteristic manifestations through the ages. It is, wriggle out of it as we would, a hopelessly, damnably patriotic book. However, it is our opinion that the evils of nationalism, cultural hostility, race hatred and fear of social change are best countered by an open regard for the values of one's own society and a cheerful celebration of its virtues - and, on this basis, an honest recognition of its failures and weaknesses. The Essential Englishman is a fascinating portrait that seeks to define at least some of the Englishman's attitudes, to celebrate his successes, admire his strengths, to glance with understanding at his weaknesses and also to reflect the way that others see him. Recent dramatic political changes make it even more timely for the millennial Englishman to be able to gain, through looking back at history, a quirky if affectionate view at who and what he is. The picture that emerges is rich in contradictions. The archetypal Englishman, it seems, adores animals yet has a passion for fox hunting; he has founded empires but has an inherent mistrust for anything foreign; he is suspicious of government yet trusts his (unwritten) Constitution implicitly. And while the English possess a profound scepticism about the value of creative endeavour, England has consistently given the world some of its greatest poets, writers, musicians and artists. Authors Duncan Steen and Nicolas Soames have called evidence for the defence (and occasionally for the prosecution) from more than a thousand years of English literature, history and historical anecdote while witnesses range from Shakespeare to Bernard Shaw, from Dr Johnson to D. H. Lawrence - and a range of foreigners who are bemused yet often view their subjects with a whimsical goodwill. By turns hilarious, sad, heroic, eccentric, maddening and oddly inspiring, here is the true Englishman - at school, in love, in battle, at prayer, at sport, abroad, or at home in the country. This entertaining and informative book is essential listening for everyone in or out of England, and especially as it forges a new identity within the geographic (if not political) environs of Europe.

Duncan Steen, Nicolas Soames (Author), Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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The Dead Secret

A masterful blend of Gothic drama and romance, Wilkie Collins's mystery novel is an exploration of illegitimacy and inheritance. Set in Cornwall, the plot foreshadows The Woman in White with its themes of doubtful identity and deception, and involves a broad array of characters. The 'secret' of the book's title is the true parentage of the book's heroine, Rosamond Treverton, which has been written down and kept in an unused room at Porthgenna Tower. This is where, 20 years later, much of the novel's action is set.

Wilkie Collins (Author), Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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The Book of the Courtier

Set in the court of Urbino in 1507, Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier presents an invaluable look at court life and culture during the Renaissance. Over four nights of dialogue, the book explores the key question, 'What should a courtier be like?' and presents a deep and timeless discussion that is reminiscent of Plato's Symposium and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, and invites comparisons with Machiavelli's The Prince. It is absorbing and enlightening, and encompasses a wide range of topics that include dancing, fencing, war, religion, culture, courtly and corporeal love and gender relations, with a surprisingly modern defense of women and equal rights. ** Please contact Customer Service for additional content**

Baldassare Castiglione (Author), Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Nicholas Boulton