Alan Bennett's distinctive readings of children's stories have become classics in their own right. His interpretations of the wonderful characters that people Lewis Carroll's extraordinary novels are, as ever, exactly right.

Young Huck Finn can't get along with the Widow Douglas' attempts to `civilise' him, or the smothering discipline which she and her sister serve up at home. So when his drunken, good-for-nothing father turns up and kidnaps him, Huck takes his cue to leave - and escapes to Jackson's Island. There he meets runaway slave Jim, and the two become firm fr...

To avoid tiresome family engagements, Algernon Moncrieff, a bachelor-about-town, has invented Bunbury, an invalid friend whose bedside he is frequently obliged to attend. At the same time, his friend Jack Worthing has invented a wicked brother called Ernest to disguise his own misdemeanours. When Algernon poses as Ernest, confusion reigns, and it t...

What is the connection between a corpse with a missing face and a ruthless secret society which once terrorised a desolate region of the United States? With the aid of a local guidebook, a missing dumb-bell and Dr Watson's umbrella, Holmes unravels a tangled web which stretches over fifteen years and two continents; and in the centre of that web lu...

Includes: The Dying Detective, The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, The Devil's Foot and His Last Bow.

The acclaimed BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Anthony Trollope's classic story of provincial life.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast Unabridged by Martyn Wade of Anthony Trollope's classic novel, Orley Farm. 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 a...

How many times did Dr John Watson tantalise us with references to mysteries which his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, never wrote about in full? In these full cast original adventures Bert Coules, the chief dramatist of BBC Radio 4's celebrated complete Sherlock Holmes canon, has imaginatively fleshed out four more unrecorded cases. The Striking S...

Ken Campbell, Windsor Davies, John bird and John Fortune star in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation. When Alice's wish to visit the Looking Glass world comes true, she can't resist delving deeper and deeper into a land of caustic characters and twisted logic. So begins a game of chess on a grand scale, where the inhabitants of each square hav...

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast Unabridged 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 Timso...

When the personable Captain Wentworth reappears in Anne Elliot's life several years after she had been persuaded to break off their engagement, he makes no secret of his angry indignation but, as they come to know each other again, their feelings are rekindled. There are many obstacles in their path, however, amongst them Anne's egotistical, snobbi...

Portraying each character in his own inimitable fashion, Alan Bennett reads the original story of Ratty, Mole, Badger and, of course, Toad.

The Musketeer's motto is 'One for all and all for one' and they follow it strictly, loyal friends and Staunch defenders of the king of France. The Three Musketeers is a swashbuckling adventure in which the king of France's guards swear by the motto "All for one and one for all" and follow it with the utmost commitment. The Musketeers find themselv...

Helen Graham moves to Wildfell Hall in a shroud of mystery: where has she come from, and who exactly is she? Anne's novel is the story of the beautiful and mysterious Helen Graham, who arrives at Wildfell Hall suddenly one day. No-one knows who she is or where she has come from, and Gilbert Markham, a young farmer who has fallen in love with her, s...

Nicholas Nickleby is left penniless by his father's death and becomes a champion for the weak and ill-treated. Nicholas Nickleby is at once a moving and funny novel following the fortunes and misfortunes of an impetuous and high-spirited hero. Left penniless by his father's death, and protector of his sister Kate, Nicholas Nickleby becomes a true...

Oliver Twist, the orphan, runs away to Victorian London to make his fortune... Oliver Twist is a family favourite at the same time as being a rather dark examination of the seedier side of life in Victorian London. An orphan, Oliver runs away to the big city, hoping to feel a sense of belonging and love. He falls in with a charismatic group of thi...

Sydney Carton, a lawyer and wastrel, tries to redeem himself somewhere between Paris and London to make up for his mis-spent youth. A tale of two cities is considered by many to be Dickens' most thrilling novel. Whilst contrasting the tranquility of London with revolution-torn Paris, incident follows incident as Sydney Carton finally redeems himse...

A touching tale of companionship and redemption, that challenges the age-old 'blood is thicker than water' adage. Silas Marner, a weaver, is cast out from his religious community and arrives in Raveloe, where he is feared because of his mysterious nature and brooding manner. When he is left an unwanted child to care for, his love for the child grow...

Orwell's darkly comic novel centres around the life of Gordon Comstock, onetime advertising copywriter turned bookshop employee and struggling poet. Gordon's disdain for money and artistic compromise preclude his earning enough of a living to escape constant public embarrassment. On top of this, it gives him terrible trouble holding on to his girlf...

Madame Bovary is one of Europe's most famous pieces of literature causing a huge scandal when first published in 1856 as a serial in La Revue de Paris and then, after being acquitted at a trial, as a book in 1857. Ahead of its time, Madame Bovary shocked its readers when first published, with its candid themes of adultery and betrayal. Emma Bovary...

A joyfully picaresque novel, Tom Jones is satirical and farcical in large doses, as well as confronting serious issues such as the importance of religion in eighteenth-century society. Tom is thrown out of his foster father's house for 'crimes' that he didn't commit, and proceeds to have numerous bawdy adventures and fights in the process of life,...