Audiobooks narrated by Stephen Critchlow

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)

Audiobook

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)

Audiobook

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)

Audiobook

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)

Audiobook

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)

Audiobook

The Great Poets

Naxos AudioBooks begins its new series of Great Poets - represented by their most popular poems on one CD - with William Blake, whose 250th anniversary of birth falls this year. This CD contains all of his most popular works - Tyger, the Auguries of Innocence, Jerusalem, as well as some lesser-known poetry that demonstrates the range and power of his verse. They are strikingly read by Robert Glenister, Michael Maloney and Stephen Critchlow.

William Blake (Author), Michael Maloney, Robert Glenister, Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

Audiobook

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)

Audiobook

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)

Audiobook

Robinson Crusoe: And His Farther Adventures

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation by Andy Barratt of Daniel Defoe's less famous sequel to the classic adventure 'Robinson Crusoe'. After returning to England from his island home, Robinson Crusoe sets sail once more in search of adventure. Starring Tim McInnerny as Robinson Crusoe, with Jonathan Tafler, Adrian Grove, Stephen Critchlow, David Timson, Alison Pettitt and Ben Onwukwe. Directed by Peter Leslie Wild.

Daniel Defoe (Author), Adrian Grove, Alison Pettitt, Ben Onwukwe, David Timson, Jonathan Tafler, Stephen Critchlow, Tim Mcinnerny (Narrator)

Audiobook

Pattern Of Painful Adventures, The (BBC Radio 3 Drama On 3)

A BBC Radio 3 full-cast drama by Stephen Wakelam on a period in the life of Shakespeare, 'The Pattern of Painful Adventures', originally broadcast in the 'Drama on 3' slot on 23 November 2008 and repeated on 25 April 2010. Business is going well, but the playwright urgently needs a collaborator for his latest play. His daughter is getting married. His brother has a sick child and is in need of a job. It is 1607 and Shakespeare's life is at a turning point. Starring Antony Sher as William Shakespeare, Will Keen as Jack Robinson and Stephen Critchlow as John Marston. Also included amongst the cast are Chris Pavlo, Helen Longworth, John Rowe, Robert Lonsdale and Joseph Kloska. Produced and directed by Jeremy Mortimer.

Stephen Wakelam (Author), Antony Sher, Stephen Critchlow, Will Keen (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mr Luby's Fear of Heaven (BBC Radio 4: Afternoon Play)

When Lewis Luby (Jeremy Irons) comes to, late at night in an Italian hospital, he finds himself lying under the monstrous big toe of God. Surely there has been some mistake: Luby, who has never for one moment believed in the immortality of the soul, cannot possibly be in heaven! John Mortimer had the idea for 'Mr Luby's Fear of Heaven' when he first visited the Santa Maria della Scala hospital in Siena and saw patients lying in beds under ceilings decorated with 15th-Century frescoes depicting Heaven and Hell. The play was first produced for BBC Radio 3 in 1976, with John Gielgud in the title role. Later that year it was presented on stage as part of a double bill 'Heaven and Hell', with Denholm Elliot as Luby. This BBC Radio 4 'Afternoon Play' production, starring Jeremy Irons as the protagonist, was first broadcast 31 December 2008 and repeated 15 February 2011. Stephen Critchlow, Marsha Fitzalan, Chris Pavlo, Donnla Hughes, Dan Starkey and Flaminia Cinque also feature amongst the cast.

John Clifford Mortimer, John Mortimer (Author), A Full Cast, Chris Pavlo, Dan Starkey, Donnla Hughes, Flaminia Cinque, Jeremy Irons, Marsha Fitzalan, Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

Audiobook

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)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Stephen Critchlow