Showing results by narrator "Tim Pigott-Smith" in All Categories

Tim Piggot-Smith reads J. Meade Falkner's exciting tale of a boy who gets caught up in a dangerous adventure with smugglers and treasure. Orphaned John Trenchard is just 15 when his adventures begin... Growing up by the sea in the village of Moonfleet, John is captivated by the local legend of the ghostly Blackbeard, who rises on winter nights to search for his lost treasure.

Alfred Lord Tennyson is one of Britain’s greatest and most popular poets. Even during his lifetime, he was considered a national institution: Queen Victoria appointed him Poet Laureate in 1850, a position he held for 42 years, and in 1884 he became the first writer to be granted a baronetcy. In a long and fruitful career, he penned numerous classic works, and this BBC Radio collection showcases some of the very best. We begin with two of his masterpieces, dramatised by award-winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts.

This novel, described as a '... brilliantly choreographed legal thriller' (Mail on Sunday), centres on the pathos of the main character, Lady Mason. Youthful marriage choices, middle-aged marital crisis, love and loss revolve around the legal action and the complex portrayal of Lady Mason, who...

Anthony Stevens argues that Jung's visionary powers and profound spirituality have helped many to find an alternative set of values to the arid materialism prevailing Western society.

Brunetti's investigations take him into unfamiliar areas of Venetian life, drug abuse and loan-sharking, while the deaths of two young drug addicts and the arrest, and subsequent release, of a suspected drug-dealer reveal, once again, what a difference it makes in Venice to have friends in high places.

The first in an epic new series, introducing a splendid hero, against the background of Europe in the Hundred Years’ War. In the fourteenth century the English were just beginning to discover their national identity, and one of the strongest elements of this was the overwhelming success in...

Brought to you by Penguin. In a small continental country civil war is raging. Once a lecturer in medieval French, now a government agent, D is a scarred stranger in England, sent on a mission to buy coal at any price. Initially, this seems to be a matter of straightforward negotiation, but soon...

Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, a collection of narratives written between 1387 and 1400, tells of a group of 30 people from all layers of society who pass the time along their pilgrimage to Canterbury by telling stories to one another, their interaction mediated (at times) by the affable host - Chaucer himself. Naxos AudioBooks’ third volume presents the tales of six people, here in an unabridged modern verse translation (by Frank Ernest Hill, 1935).

Uther, the High King of Britain, has died, leaving the infant Mordred as his only heir. His uncle, the loyal and gifted warlord Arthur, now rules as caretaker for a country which has fallen into chaos – threats emerge from within the British kingdoms while vicious Saxon armies stand ready to...

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...

Dramatisations of Calvino’s most famous works, starring Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook, plus bonus programmes Italo Calvino was one of the 20th Century's great experimenters, who consistently pushed the boundaries of literature. His works ranged from fantasy and science fiction to folktales...

The RMS Titanic sailed from Southampton en route for New York on her maiden voyage with 2228 passengers and crew on board. On the 14th April at twenty minutes before midnight, sailing at almost full speed, she struck an iceberg and sank in just two and a half hours. Over 1500 lives were lost...

On 1 July 1916, Douglas Haig's army launched the "Big Push" that was supposed finally to bring an end to the stalemate on the Western Front. What happened next was a human catastrophe: scrambling over the top into the face of the German machine guns and artillery fire, 19,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were killed, the greatest loss in a single day ever sustained by the British Army. The battle did not stop there, however.

A story of love, war, loyalty and betrayal, EXCALIBUR begins with the failure of Lancelot's rebellion and the ruin of Arthur's marriage to Guinevere. The Saxons, sensing the disunity of the Britons, seize the chance to destroy Arthur. The climax of the war comes with the legendary triumph at...

H. E. Bates is probably best known for his comic novel The Darling Buds of May, which introduced the lovable Larkins to the world and sparked three hugely popular TV adaptations. In his 68 years, Bates wrote over 20 further novels, more than 300 short stories, children’s books, poems, plays and non-fiction. This collection brings together three full-cast BBC Radio dramatisations and fourteen excellent readings, rounding off with extracts from H. E. Bates autobiographies.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a titanic among the world's great authors, and The Brothers Karamazov is often hailed as his finest novel. A masterpiece on many levels, it transcends the boundaries of a gripping murder mystery to become a moving account of the battle between love and hate, faith and despair, compassion and cruelty, good and evil.

Sir Ernest Shackleton was one of the greatest explorers and leaders of men in the 20th Century. From 1914 to 1916, following the wreck of his ship Endurance and despite finding himself stranded 1200 miles from any form of communication and with no hope of rescue, he led all 27 of his men to safety. After spending several months on the pack-ice living on seals, dogs, and penguins, they embarked on an heroic 800 mile trip across the frigid South Atlantic - in little more than a rowboat.

Three classic radio productions from the BBC archives starring Hannah Gordon, Tim Pigott-Smith, Paul Scofield and a host of celebrated acting talent. These three legendary plays, performed by some of the best-known theatrical actors of the 20th century, are the perfect way to commemorate England's greatest dramatist.

First-hand accounts featuring the RAF pilots who took part in the Battle of Britain - one of the chief turning points of World War Two. 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few' - Winston Churchill. The 'Few' were the nearly 3,000 RAF pilots who fought...

An epic literary adventure considered a classic around the world. The story centers around Edmond Dantes, a young sailor who finds himself arrested, accused of treason, and relegated to the bowls of the island fortress of Chateau d'If, all on his wedding day. The ensuing drama of his escape, revenge, and quest for the treasure of Monte Cristo is one reread by thousands every year.