Audiobooks narrated by Stephen Critchlow

Says on the Tin: BBC Radio 4 Comedy set in the cutthroat world of advertising

Comedy capers set in the cutthroat world of advertising Disgraced in the US, maverick ad man, Eliott Thurber is forced to transfer to the newly opened London offices of Parabola Media. The clash of cultures has hilarious consequences as he tries to cope with promoting a range of peculiar products, challenging clients and not to mention his disgruntled new colleagues. His first assignment is a gourmet cat food for an intensely conservative company but Eliott has his eyes on a bigger prize, American investment in the NHS. After all, 'where there's pain, there's gain...' Can the media mastermind win over a whole new market? Or will his eccentric ways see him fall even further from favour? Laugh out loud over six episodes of this fast paced comedy drama set in the shallow, dog-eat-dog world of advertising. The series features the brilliant Pippa Haywood, star of Green Wing and Prisoner's Wives and Samantha Bond, best known for playing Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies and her role in the BAFTA nominated Outnumbered series. Michael Brandon, from the classic TV show Dempsey and Makepeace as well as Jerry Springer the Opera, plays Eilott Thurber. Says on the Tin is written by Christopher William Hill and is an absolute treat for any listeners who have enjoyed Trevor's World of Sport, Chambers and Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful. Cast and credits Written by Christopher William Hill Produced by Liz Webb Eliott Thurber - Michael Brandon Esther Finn - Samantha Bond Hannah Walker - Pippa Haywood Zadie - Joannah Tincey Ted Bruckner - Malcolm Tierney Toothrot - Chris Pavlo Customs Officer/Moses/Rutter - Stephen Critchlow Woman/Film Director - Janice Acquah Child - Manjeet Mann Stewardess/Angelique - Donnla Hughes Mrs Braden - Rachel Atkins Interpreter - Gunnar Cauthery Plaque/Baz - Inam Mirza Sal - John Guerrasio Hospital Exec - Dan Starkey Max - Robert Lonsdale Other parts played by Dan Starkey, Jonathan Tafler, Janice Acquah, Gunnar Catuhery and Jill Cardo First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 December 2008 ©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Christopher William Hill (Author), Donnla Hughes, Full Cast, Gunnar Cauthery, Inam Mirza, Janice Acquah, Joannah Tincey, Jonathan Tafler, Malcolm Tierney, Manjeet Mann, Michael Brandon, Pippa Haywood, Samantha Bond, Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

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The Price of Oil, Episode 4: Baby Oil (BBC Afternoon Drama)

1991: the start of the First Gulf War. As the first bombs fall on Baghdad, a young man walks into the Marines Recruiting Office and demands to join up... because the war is his fault. Baby Oil follows a young staffer's last crazy weeks in the White House, as George Bush Snr's administration struggles to sell to the American people the unpalatable idea of committing US troops to defend an oil-rich monarchy like Kuwait. That is until the young staffer finds the perfect way... Daniel Betts, James McArdle and Michael J. Shannon star in Jonathan Myerson's imagined political drama, based on real events in the propaganda campaign at the outbreak of the First Gulf War. One of a season of dramas exploring the history of oil - and the price we've paid for it.

Jonathan Myerson (Author), Michael J. Shannon, Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

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The Price of Oil, Episode 3: The Weapon (BBC Afternoon Drama)

After the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War, OPEC used an oil embargo to punish the US and Europe for its support for Israel. By early 1974, the embargo had plunged the world into an economic crisis. Then on 21st December 1975, Venezuelan Marxist pin-up Carlos the Jackal storms the OPEC HQ in Vienna. He takes 96 hostages, including 11 oil ministers from OPEC countries. This is the story of the siege. Zubin Varla and Joseph Balderrama star in Jonathan Myerson's thriller - a tense dramatisation of the real-life OPEC siege. One of a season of dramas exploring the history of oil - and the price we've paid for it.

Jonathan Myerson (Author), Joseph Balderrama, Stephen Critchlow, Zubin Varla (Narrator)

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Journey to the Centre of the Earth: BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

A thrilling new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Jules Verne's classic novel. ‘Descend, bold traveller into the crater of the Jokul of Snæfell, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July and you will attain the centre of the earth. Which I have done.’ Renowned professor Otto Lidenbrock discovers a mysterious runic cryptogram in a rare manuscript. His nephew, Axel, accidentally cracks the code, which is by a Sixteenth Century alchemist who claims to have found a pathway to the centre of the Earth! Lidenbrock decides he must see for himself if such a journey is possible, and with the reluctant Axel and their guide, Hans, the three venture into the heart of a dormant Icelandic volcano. Shock and peril await at every turn, from a raft voyage across a subterranean sea - where they witness a battle between two prehistoric monsters - to a terrifying lightning storm that threatens to capsize them, and an expedition into the magma chamber of an active volcano filled with boiling lava. Will they ever make it back to the surface? Full of action, surprise and discovery, this suspenseful dramatisation of Verne’s ultimate adventure story stars Joel MacCormack and Stephen Critchlow. Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes approx.

Jules Verne (Author), , Joel MacCormack, Joel Maccormack, Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

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The Best of Our Spies

France, July, 1944: In the Pas de Calais, Nathalie Mercier, a young British Special Operations Executive secret agent working with the French Resistance, disappears. In London, her husband Owen Quinn, an officer with Royal Navy Intelligence, sets off on a perilous hunt through France in search of his wife. With the help of the Resistance he finds Nathalie, but then the bitterness of war and its insatiable appetite for revenge catch up with them in a dramatic fashion.

Alex Gerlis (Author), Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

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The Swiss Spy

It's not unusual for spies to have secrets, but Henry Hunter has more than most and after he is stopped by British Intelligence at Croydon airport on the eve of the Second World War, he finds he has even more. In March 1941 in Berlin, haunted by a dark episode from his past, he makes a fateful decision, resulting in a dramatic journey to the Swiss frontier with a shocking outcome.

Alex Gerlis (Author), Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

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The Ponson Case

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the forgotten second novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed 'The King of Detective Story Writers' and recognised as one of the 'big four' Golden Age crime authors. When the body of Sir William Ponson is found in the Cranshaw River near his home of Luce Manor, it is assumed to be an accident - until the evidence points to murder. Inspector Tanner of Scotland Yard discovers that those who would benefit most from Sir William's death seem to have unbreakable alibis, and a mysterious fifth man whose footprints were found at the crime scene is nowhere to be found . . .

Freeman Wills Crofts (Author), Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

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Chinese Rules: Mao's Dog, Deng's Cat, and Five Timeless Lessons from the Front Lines in China

From the author of the international bestseller Mr. China comes another rollicking ride through the slick mega-cities and industrial backwaters of twenty-first-century China, part adventure story, part erudite myth-buster, and part practical rule book to help Westerners win in China. China's role as struggling underdog is now firmly a thing of the past. The world has tilted eastward in its orbit even as the West seems mired in self-doubt. Through living and working in China for more than two decades, Tim Clissold has uncovered stealth methods Westerners can use to straighten out complicated situations in China and achieve their own objectives. Revealing the hidden logic that governs the Chinese business and political landscape, Clissold puts China's cultural, political, and military history into context and explains the mind-set that drives Chinese political and business leaders, a resource that has been sorely lacking in most books about doing business in China. Here, with sharp observations and a deep appreciation for China's rich past, Clissold presents five rules anyone can use to deal effectively with modern Chinese counterparts. These include understanding that: -China has its own set of rules that provide a unique pathway to success; -the quest for stability overrides all others; -in China, one should never attack directly; -in solving problems, stick to practicalities and avoid arguments over theory; -and knowing yourself and knowing the other will help you survive a hundred battles. Combining exuberant storytelling, sly humor, and counterintuitive insights, Chinese Rules traces Clissold's latest adventures, providing an object lesson in the contradictions between reality and conventional belief that continue to make China a fascinating, perplexing, and irresistible destination for Westerners.

Tim Clissold (Author), Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

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Chinese Rules: Mao’s Dog, Deng’s Cat, and Five Timeless Lessons for Understanding China

From the author of the acclaimed ‘Mr. China’ comes another rollicking adventure story – part memoir, part history, part business imbroglio – that offers valuable lessons to help Westerners win in China. In the twenty-first century, the world has tilted eastwards in its orbit; China grows confident while the West seems mired in doubt. Having lived and worked in China for more than two decades, Tim Clissold explains the secrets that Westerners can use to navigate through its cultural and political maze. Picking up where he left off in the international bestseller ‘Mr. China’, ‘Chinese Rules’ chronicles his most recent exploits, with assorted Chinese bureaucrats, factory owners, and local characters building a climate change business in China. Of course, all does not go as planned as he finds himself caught between the world’s largest carbon emitter and the world’s richest man. Clissold offers entertaining and enlightening anecdotes of the absurdities, gaffes, and mysteries he encountered along the way. Sprinkled amid surreal scenes of cultural confusion and near misses are smart myth-busting insights and practical lessons Westerns can use to succeed in China. Exploring key episodes in that nation’s long political, military, and cultural history, Clissold outlines five Chinese rules, which anyone can deploy in on-the-ground situations with modern Chinese counterparts. These Chinese rules will enable foreigners not only to co-operate with China but also to compete with it on its own terms.

Tim Clissold (Author), Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

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All Quiet on the Western Front: A BBC Radio Drama

A full-cast dramatisation of one of the greatest war novels of all time.First published as a novel in 1929, All Quiet on the Western Front tells the story of a group of young German soldiers who are enduring, and then coming to terms with, the realities of the First World War.At the age of 19, following the outbreak of the First World War, Paul Bäumer enlists in the German Army. He is deployed to the Western Front, where the experience of life and death in the trenches has an enormous effect on him. He begins to feel disconnected from his past life: his family, his love of poetry, and his feelings. As the war progresses, Paul becomes increasingly lost in battle.Haunting yet comic, lyrical yet desperate, the novel became a bestseller on its original publication. It inspired an Oscar-winning film of the same name, and has been adapted for television and stage. This powerful radio dramatisation stars Robert Lonsdale as Paul Bäumer, with a supporting cast including Simon Trinder, Stephen Critchlow, Carolyn Pickles and Malcolm Tierney.

Erich Maria Remarque (Author), Carolyn Pickles, Chris Pavlo, Dan Starkey, Donnla Hughes, Gunnar Cauthary, Inam Mirza, Janice Acquah, Jill Cardo, Joseph Arkley, Lloyd Thomas, Luke Walker, Malcolm Tierney, Manjeet Mann, Nick Sayce, Paul Rider, Robert Lonsdale, Simon Trinder, Stephen Critchlow, Stuart Mcloughlin, Tim Treloar (Narrator)

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Doctor Who At The BBC: Volume 1: 30 Years And Beyond

Doctor Who, the TV series which millions adore, is the inspiration for these three original radio plays. Presented in their entirety, they each focus on the effect which the programme has had on the lives of ordinary - and some extraordinary - people. In Regenerations, by Daragh Carville, a group of friends reunite for an annual Doctor Who convention. Set against the backdrop of the Belfast troubles, the play deals with themes of sexuality and love, and features appearances by Tom Baker and Sophie Aldred. Blue Veils and Golden Sands, by Martyn Wade, is a dramatised account of Delia Derbyshire's early days at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and her later recollections of that time. In Dalek, I Love You, by Colin Sharpe, Nigel's obsession with Doctor Who is a source of some concern to his mother. When he meets the girl of his dreams at a convention, life at home seems to change forever... Contains adult themes and language.

Colin Sharpe, Daragh Carville, Martyn Wade (Author), Elisabeth Sladen, Sophie Aldred, Stephen Critchlow, Tom Baker (Narrator)

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The Nation's Favourite Lakeland Poems

Enjoy the best of Lakeland poets Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey in this specially selected anthology, including The Two-Part Prelude, Wordsworth's own shortened version of his great autobiographical work The Prelude, and Coleridge's celebrated Kubla Khan. John Rowe, Alex Jennings and Stephen Critchlow read these perfect evocations of majestic Cumbrian scenery.

Robert Southey, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Various, William Wordsworth (Author), Alex Jennings, Full Cast, John Rowe, Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Stephen Critchlow