The Lady in the Van

A collection of short stories from the Archives, read for Radio 4, by best-selling author Maeve Binchy. Stories included are: "The Garden Party" - Helen looked down at Mrs. Kennedy's garden. It was cheerfully coloured yet ordered, like Mrs. Kennedy. But first impressions are not always reliable. "The Special Sale" - Yvonne's good deed leads to a romantic encounter on the day after Christmas. "The Sensible Celebration" - Are the picture-perfect couple really the ones to envy? All is not as it seems....

June Whitfield returns as the deceptively mild spinster sleuth in three full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisations. Specially broadcast to mark the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth, these brand new dramas are based on three of her best short stories.

Following on from the phenomenal success of Writing Home, Alan Bennett reminisces about his early years, from his schooldays to undergraduate life at Oxford University.

Twelve BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of short stories by the Queen of Crime. First broadcast in the early 2000s, the stories were adapted and brought up-to-date for a contemporary audience. The stories are 'Philomel Cottage'; 'Swan Song'; 'Magnolia Blossom'; 'Witness for the Prosecution'; 'The Gates of Baghdad'; 'The Hounds of Death'; 'In a Glass Darkly'; 'The Dressmaker's Doll'; 'The Case of the Perfect Carer'; 'The £199 Adventure'; 'The Gypsy'; and 'The Last Seance'. Duration: 6 hours approx.

In 'Homecoming', read by Sean Campion, the Brennans run Quentin's restaurant in Dublin for the owner, who lives abroad. But what will happen when he suddenly pays a visit? 'Telling Stories', read by Joanna Myers, sees Irene's fiancé turning up the night before the wedding with a face as white as the dress that is to be worn the next day. Then trouble starts....

A collection of full-cast dramatisations and readings from the best-selling author. Maeve Binchy was one of Britain's best-loved storytellers, and this compilation of her finest fiction, as heard on BBC Radio, demonstrates all the warmth, wit and compassion that made her so popular.

Anthropologist Domenica MacDonald observes the lives of her neighbours and the neighbourhood in Edinburgh's New Town. Pat, a new young tenant, arrives at 44 Scotland Street to flat share with Bruce. Bruce is a surveyor with more of an eye for the ladies than a sound property. We're introduced to five-year-old Bertie, who is controlled by his pretentious and intellectual mother, Irene - he's learning the saxophone, speaks Italian, and is extremely knowledgeable about many subjects.

His career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned nearly five decades and there are very few places on the globe that he has not visited. In this volume of memoirs David tells stories of the people and animals he has met and the places that he has visited. Over the last 25 years he has established himself as the world's leading Natural History programme maker with several landmark BBC series.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays the young, feisty, devastatingly acute Horace Rumpole in this collection of cracking cases, also starring Timothy West as the older Rumpole.

One of the nation's most popular presenters examines twenty marvels of the natural world from his extraordinary and pioneering experiences. What was Sir David's first pet? Which animal would he most like to be? What creature lays 'the biggest egg in the world'? How do you communicate with an ancient nomadic community in Fiji? And what did Sir David do when confronted by a ten-foot-long reptile?

Penguin presents the downloadable audiobook edition of Goodnight Mister Tom, read by Patrick Malahide. Young Willie Beech is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of World War II. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley , but his newfound happiness is shattered by a summons from his mother back in London.... Winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Award.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatization of Rosemary Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth. Around 117 AD, the Roman Ninth Legion was ordered to put down an uprising among the Caledonian tribes. Four thousand men vanished without a trace into the swirling mists of the north of Roman Britain. Many years after their disappearance, a young centurion, Marcus Aquila, sets out to discover the truth about what happened to the legion and to its First Cohort Commander - his father.

Julian Rhind-Tutt takes on the role of Rumpole in this fifth collection of cracking court cases. Starring Julian Rhind-Tutt as Rumpole, Jasmine Hyde as Hilda and Nigel Anthony as Claude Erskine-Brown. A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays the young, feisty, devastatingly acute Horace Rumpole in this collection of cracking cases, also starring Timothy West as the older Rumpole. Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders: It is the '50s, and two war heroes have been shot dead. Defending the suspect is deemed hopeless, so the case is handed to a novice. But the novice's superiors didn't count on the tenacity and wit of the young and hungry Horace Rumpole.

A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels. Jane Austen is one of the finest writers in the English language, and this volume includes all six of her classic novels. Mansfield Park: on a quest to find a position in society, Fanny Price goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle. Northanger Abbey: young, naïve Catherine Morland receives an invitation to stay at the isolated Gothic mansion Northanger Abbey.