Audiobooks narrated by Siobhan Finneran

My Mother Said I Never Should: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Production

"Charlotte Keatley's powerful, poignant drama follows four generations of mothers and daughters through the sweeping societal changes of the 20th century ‘A landmark play, the theatrical equivalent of breaking the four-minute mile’ Guardian Written in 1985, this groundbreaking play premiered at Contact Theatre, Manchester, in 1987. It subsequently won the Royal Court/George Devine Award and the Manchester Evening News Best New Play Award, and in 2000, the National Theatre included it in their list of the 100 ‘Significant Plays of the 20th Century’. Translated into 33 languages, it has been performed worldwide and is acknowledged as a contemporary classic. Set in Manchester and London and moving back and forth in time between 1923 and 1987, it focuses on four women from one working-class family, bound together by entanglement and estrangement. Born at the turn of the century, matriarch Doris sacrifices her teaching career to become a wife and mother. Her daughter Margaret believes ‘women can do anything’, but finds herself in ‘50s suburbia juggling work and domesticity. When Margaret’s daughter Jackie, an art student and 1970s hippy, falls pregnant at 18 and has baby Rosie, a decision is made that will have profound and lasting effects on them all… As they navigate the highs and lows of their lives, balancing the complexities of motherhood, education, career and self-expression, we witness how each new generation is able to push further than their parents – and how the choices of one generation affect the potential of the next. Adapted for audio by Keatley herself, this moving, funny and bittersweet drama features an all-female cast, and stars Lesley Nicol, Siobhan Finneran, Cecilia Appiah and Bebe Massey. Production credits Written and adapted by Charlotte Keatley Produced and Directed by Nadia Molinari Pianist: Adam Hutchins Sound Design by Sharon Hughes Production Co-ordinator: Pippa Day This production is dedicated to the memory of Wyllie Longmore Cast Doris – Lesley Nicol Margaret – Siobhan Finneran Jackie – Cecilia Appiah Rosie – Bebe Massey Child Doris – Matilda Kent Child Margaret – Isla Pritchard Child Jackie – Mimi-Raie Mhlanga First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 April-5 May 2024 © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Charlotte Keatley (Author), Cecilia Appiah, Full Cast, Lesley Nicol, Siobhan Finneran (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Taste of Honey & more: Eight BBC Radio Full-Cast Productions

"A collection of plays by the trailblazing dramatist Shelagh Delaney 'The fact is, Miss Delaney is not only a shrewd and penetrating observer; she is a very delicate artist.' Bernard Levin Shelagh Delaney was just 19 when her debut play, A Taste of Honey, premiered in 1958. One of the great ‘kitchen sink dramas’, it was ground-breaking in its portrayal of working-class Northern women, gay and Black men, and influenced popular culture from The Smiths to Coronation Street. A huge hit in the West End and on Broadway, it was made into a BAFTA-winning film starring Rita Tushingham. This collection opens with a 2004 radio production of A Taste of Honey, starring Beth Squires as the pregnant teenager trading insults and repartee with her mother (Siobhan Finneran). It is followed by seven dramas specially written for BBC Radio, all showcasing Delaney’s extraordinary gift for depicting the experiences and emotions of ordinary women and children. In the trilogy Sweetly Sings the Donkey, Tell Me a Film and Baloney Said Salome, we follow the friendship of four women across the decades, from their childhood meeting in a Blackpool convalescent home to their 60th birthday reunion, and their fond farewell to one of their number. Beth Squires, Barbara Marten, Kay Purcell, Susan Twist and Eileen O’ Brien star in these funny, moving plays. Country Life and its sequel, Whoopi Goldberg’s Country Life, centre around Rose, whose peaceful life on a remote Yorkshire smallholding is disrupted by her moody nephew, her film-star brother and her embittered ex-sister-in law. This witty, poignant double bill about parenting, rural life and family ties stars Barbara Marten as Rose. Starring Daniel Hanbridge and Brooke Vincent, the rite-of-passage drama Out of the Pirate’s Playhouse sees five eleven-year-olds celebrating the start of the holidays by going to their favourite activity centre: only to be told they are too old to play there. Our final play, So Does the Nightingale, is set during another period of transition, as middle-aged Alice prepares for her father’s impending death – and reveals her shocking plans for a new, independent life… Linda Polan stars, with a cast including Barbara Laurenson and Margot Boyd. Production credits Text copyright © Shelagh Delaney 1959 (A Taste of Honey),1980 (So Does the Nightingale), 2000(Sweetly Sings the Donkey), 2003 (Tell Me a Film, Out of the Pirate’s Playhouse), 2004 (Baloney Said Salome), 2007 (Country Life), 2010 (Whoopi Goldberg’s Country Life) All rights reserved First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 Nov 1980, 18 Dec 2000, 6 Mar 2003, 22 Jul 2004, 7 Nov 2004, 22 Mar 2007, 18 Oct 2010, © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Shelagh Delaney (Author), Barbara Marten, Beth Squires, Brooke Vincent, Daniel Hanbridge, Eileen O'brien, Full Cast, Kay Purcell, Linda Polan, Nicola Gardner, Siobhan Finneran, Susan Twist, Thomas Sangster (Narrator)

Audiobook

The God of Small Things: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisation

"A full-cast BBC Radio dramatisation of Arundhati Roy's Booker Prize-winning novel - plus bonus interview with the author Arundhati Roy's debut novel The God of Small Things took the literary world by storm, winning the Booker Prize in 1997. It went on to sell over six million copies in 40 languages, and was named as one of the BBC's 100 'Novels That Shaped Our World' in 2019. Set in Kerala in both the present and 1969, it tells the compelling tale of fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, whose lives are shattered by the 'Love Laws' that dictate 'who should be loved, and how. And how much'. As children, they are inseparable: so close, they think of themselves as one person. But when they are just seven, everything changes. A terrible tragedy occurs, and, drawn into its devastating repercussions, they are forced apart. Twenty-three years later, Rahel has moved to America and made a new life. But when she hears that Estha has been 're-returned', she travels to Ayemenem to be with her long-lost, broken brother. As painful memories come flooding back, the heartbreaking events of the twins' childhood gradually unfold, and through flashbacks and flash-forwards, the secrets of their desperately dysfunctional family are revealed... A powerful story of forbidden cross-caste love and what a community will do to protect the old ways, this enthralling, atmospheric drama stars Yasmin Wilde, Richard Sumitro and Shaheen Khan, and features a haunting soundtrack by internationally-renowned musician Nitin Sawhney. Also included is a bonus episode of Radio 4's Bookclub from 2011, in which Arundhati Roy talks to James Naughtie about what was then her only work of fiction. Taking questions from the audience, she discusses the novel's themes and symbolism, and reveals how her training as an architect helped her plan its complex, multi-layered structure. Production credits Written by Arundhati Roy Adapted by Tanika Gupta Original music by Nitin Sawhney Produced by Nadia Molinari Cast Rahel - Yasmin Wilde Estha - Richard Sumitro Young Rahel - Jatlnder Purewal Young Estha - Shakeel Ahmed Ammu - Thushani Weerasekera Velutha - Paul Bhattacharjee Sophie Mol - Poppy Rush Chacko - Vincent Ebrahim Baby Kochamma - Josephine Welcome Mammachi - Shaheen Khan Inspector - Matthew Raadrawl Vellya - Badi Uzzaman Kochu - Adlyn Ross Margaret - Slobhan Finneran First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12-23 July 2004 Bookclub: Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things With James Naughtie and Arundhati Roy Produced by Dymphna Flynn First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 2 October 2011 ©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Arundhati Roy (Author), Full Cast, Paul Bhattacharjee, Richard Sumitro, Siobhan Finneran, Yasmin Wilde (Narrator)

Audiobook

Fault Lines: Money, Sex and Blood: A BBC Radio 4 drama series

"Glenda Jackson stars in this compelling drama series inspired by Émile Zola's Rougon-Macquart series, highlighting different aspects of contemporary Britain In 2015, double Oscar winner Glenda Jackson made a triumphant return to acting in Radio 4's Blood, Sex and Money, a radical reimagining of Émile Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle. Now, she reprises her role as matriarch/narrator in this eclectic mix of dramas inspired by Zola's novels, but set in modern Britain. Constance is confined to her sick bed and dying of motor neurone disease. Her body is paralysed, but her mind runs free, seeking out stories from the extended family she has long refused to acknowledge. As she delves into their lives, she uncovers dark secrets, lies and deceit. Has bad blood seeped down through the generations to corrupt them all, or is there a chink of light in the familial fault lines, where love and hope can flourish? In these three series, exploring British society through the lens of money, sex and blood, we meet the members of her flawed clan - from her son Miles, born into wealth and privilege, to her great-great-cousin Hannah and great-niece Natalie, struggling to survive in a world of zero-hours contracts, foodbanks and precarious social housing. Whether rich or poor, all have been shaped by the powerful driving forces of capitalism, desire and DNA... Written by a host of top dramatists including the award-winning Christopher Reason, Roy Williams, Eve Steele and Michael Symmons Roberts, these intimate, immersive dramas are performed by a stellar cast including Robert Glenister, Gillian Kearney, Don Gilet, Siobhan Finneran, Eleanor Bron and Rudolph Walker. Produced and directed by Pauline Harris and Gary Brown Sound design by Steve Brooke, Sharon Hughes and Simon Highfield First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 16-21 February 2020 (Money), 10-17 October 2020 (Sex), 18-26 January 2022 (Blood) © 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Becky Prestwich, Christopher Reason, Esther Wilson, Eve Steele, Fiona Evans, James O'neill, Kathrine Smith, Michael Simmons Roberts, Roy Williams, Sharon Kelly, Tom Fry (Author), Don Gilet, Eleanor Bron, Full Cast, Gillian Kearney, Glenda Jackson, Mina Anwar, Robert Glenister, Rudolph Walker, Siobhan Finneran (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Siobhan Finneran