BBC Literary Archive
Play over 2000 programmes from the BBC’s archive of literary adaptations, performances and critiques.
Click here for an A-Z list of featured authors.
Literary analysis highlights
Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Writer Ian Rankin investigates The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, tracing Robert Louis Stevenson's story back to event...
GCSE Bitesize Revision | An Inspector Calls
GCSE Bitesize Revision | An Inspector Calls
GCSE English Literature video shorts to support students studying An Inspector Calls.
English File | Priestley Shorts
English File | Priestley Shorts
This programme focuses on key scenes from JB Priestley's An Inspector Calls from the point of view of designer, performer and director.
In Context | An Inspector Calls
In Context | An Inspector Calls
The social and cultural background to ''An Inspector Calls'', explored through archive footage, readings and personal accounts.
In Context | Journey's End
In Context | Journey's End
The social and cultural background to ''Journey's End'', explored through archive footage, readings and personal accounts.
English File | In Context: Of Mice and Men
English File | In Context: Of Mice and Men
schools prog looking at social and historical background to 3 texts set for GCSE study for 14-16 yr olds. This week: ''Of Mice and...
English File | Lord of the Flies
English File | Lord of the Flies
A social and historical context for 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding, is explored.
English File | In Context: To Kill a Mockingbird
English File | In Context: To Kill a Mockingbird
This programme looks at the historical context that the book ''To Kill A Mockingbird'' was written.
English File | In Context Animal Farm
English File | In Context Animal Farm
A historical background to George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' being studied for English Lit GCSE.
English File | A View from the Bridge
English File | A View from the Bridge
Arthur Miller's play of love, jealousy and betrayal on the New York waterfront. The Corbone family are Italian immigrants living in Bro...
GCSE Bitesize Revision | A View From the Bridge
GCSE Bitesize Revision | A View From the Bridge
GCSE English Literature video shorts to support students studying A View from the Bridge.
Mark Lawson Talks To... | Alan Bennett
Mark Lawson Talks To... | Alan Bennett
Author, actor, humorist and playwright Alan Bennett talks to Mark Lawson about his life and career.
Mark Lawson Talks To... | Kazuo Ishiguro
Mark Lawson Talks To... | Kazuo Ishiguro
Interview with the Booker Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, whose first novel in almost ten years, The Buried Giant, is published...
HARDtalk | Willy Russell
HARDtalk | Willy Russell
Playwright Willy Russell is interviewed.
HARDtalk Extra | Pat Barker
HARDtalk Extra | Pat Barker
In a rare television interview, Gavin Esler talks to the Booker Prize-winning novelist Pat Barker. She tells Gavin how the 20th century's two wor...
HARDtalk | Meera Syal
HARDtalk | Meera Syal
Tim Sebastian interviews writer Meera Syal.
Omnibus | The Great Gatsby: Midnight in Manhattan
Omnibus | The Great Gatsby: Midnight in Manhattan
A profile of writer F Scott Fitzgerald on the 75th anniversary of the publication of his most enduring achievement, The Gre...
Omnibus | Roddy Doyle Ha Ha Ha
Omnibus | Roddy Doyle Ha Ha Ha
The first Television profile of the best-selling Irish novelist Roddy Doyle who is now compiling a trilogy encompassing 20th Century Irish His...
Omnibus | Arthur Miller
Omnibus | Arthur Miller
Tonight Alan Yentob talks to playwright Arthur Miller at his Connecticut home about the political and poetic nature of his plays, about being a write...
Omnibus | Alice Walker and The Color Purple
Omnibus | Alice Walker and The Color Purple
From her retreat in northern California, and her home town in Georgia, the reclusive Alice Walker speaks to Omnibus about her lif...
Africa Turns The Page | The Novels That Shaped A Continent
Africa Turns The Page | The Novels That Shaped A Continent
David Olusoga explores the incredible journey of the African novel – how a fearless collection of writers created ...
19th century novels and prose for GCSE
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
BBC TV and radio programmes about A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adaptations and analysis to support English Literature.
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
BBC TV and radio programmes about The War of the World by H G Wells. Adaptations and analysis to support English Literature.
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
BBC TV and radio programmes about Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Adaptations and analysis to support English Literature.
Great Expectations
Great Expectations
BBC TV and radio programmes about Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Adaptations and analysis to support English Literature.
Frankenstein
Frankenstein
BBC TV and radio programmes about Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Adaptations and analysis to support English Literature.
Silas Marner
Silas Marner
BBC TV and radio programmes about Silas Marner by George Eliot. Adaptations and analysis to support English Literature.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes | The Sign of Four
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes | The Sign of Four
Dramatised for television by Michael and Mollie Hardwick, and starring Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock as the inves...
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Adapted from the story by Robert Louis Stevenson, and starring Lisa Harrow and Ian Bannen.
Modern drama texts for GCSE
Bringing Books to Life | Refugee Boy
Bringing Books to Life | Refugee Boy
Actor Alexander Vlahos reads extracts from 'Refugee Boy' by Benjamin Zephaniah, explaining why he loves the book, how it captured his im...
An Inspector Calls (2015)
An Inspector Calls (2015)
The mysterious 'Inspector Goole' interrupts a wealthy family's family party to tell them a young woman died of suicide that night.
The History Boys (2006)
The History Boys (2006)
A class of likely lads, caught in a clash of educational styles as they prepare to apply to Oxford or Cambridge, find their loyalties as well as thei...
Drama | A Taste of Honey (1971)
Drama | A Taste of Honey (1971)
First in a three part production for television of Shelagh Delaney's first play.
Hobson's Choice
Hobson's Choice
The play has been translated into a musical without words by choreographer David Bintley and composer Paul Reade. Set in 1880s Salford, this comedy of Victor...
Journey's End
Journey's End
Adapted for television in 1988, starring Jeremy Northam as Stanhope, Edward Petherbridge as Osborne, and Timothy Spall as Trotter.
Drama on 3 | A View from the Bridge
Drama on 3 | A View from the Bridge
Martin Jarvis directs Miller's award-winning 1955 drama, with a US cast including Alfred Molina, Jane Kaczmarek, Melissa Benoist and Hect...
Afternoon Play | Be My Baby
Afternoon Play | Be My Baby
Amanda Whittington's drama-documentary combines the fictional stories of young women who gave up their illegitimate babies for adoption in the 19...
Globe Theatre | All My Sons
Globe Theatre | All My Sons
Chris Keller's decision to marry his dead brother's sweetheart opens old family wounds, with tragic consequences. Directed by Martin Jenkins.
Sunday Play | Juno and the Paycock (1997)
Sunday Play | Juno and the Paycock (1997)
Sean O'Casey 's best-loved play, set in Dublin in 1922, takes a curiously contemporary look at the endlessly sacrificing wife trapp...
Storytellers - Philadelphia, Here I Come!
Storytellers - Philadelphia, Here I Come!
The night before he emigrates to America, Gareth O'Donnell begins to have second thoughts about leaving his home in the rural villa...
Saturday Night Theatre | Our Town (1995)
Saturday Night Theatre | Our Town (1995)
Thornton Wilder's American theatre classic tells of everyday life in turn-of-the-century Grover's Corners in New Hampshire.
Drama on 3 | Leave Taking
Drama on 3 | Leave Taking
Enid lives in Deptford with her two teenage daughters. When she takes them to the local ‘obeah' woman for some traditional Caribbean soul healing, ...
Modern prose texts for GCSE
Things Fall Apart (2020)
Things Fall Apart (2020)
Chinua Achebe's classic novel depicting 1890s pre-colonial Igbo life, dramatised by Biyi Bandele.
Lord of the Flies (1963)
Lord of the Flies (1963)
Compelling film adaptation of William Golding's disturbing tale of a group of stranded schoolchildren who revert to primitive savagery following a p...
Animal Farm (1955)
Animal Farm (1955)
An animated version of George Orwell's classic allegorical novel about the totalitarian aftermath of a barnyard revolution.
The Monday Play | Of Mice and Men (1992)
The Monday Play | Of Mice and Men (1992)
In the golden valleys of California, two itinerant workers struggle to sustain their dream. The story of a friendship put to a terri...
Anita and Me (2002)
Anita and Me (2002)
In 1972, 12-year-old British Asian girl Meena is on the verge of her teenage years, when Anita, her blonde and glamorous 14-year-old neighbour, becomes h...
The Woman in Black (2012)
The Woman in Black (2012)
A young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals. Starring Dan...
Booker 1993 | 1: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Booker 1993 | 1: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Abridged version of Roddy Doyle's Booker Prize-winning novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, read by Aidan Gillen.
Maya Angelou's Autobiographies | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou's Autobiographies | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The author's iconic debut charting her childhood with her brother in Arkansas. Narrated by Adjoa Andoh starr...
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (1989)
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (1989)
Three-part drama written by Jeanette Winterson, adapted from her autobiographical novel. The part of Jess's fanatical mother was taken ...
Book at Bedtime | 1: How Many Miles to Babylon? (2013)
Book at Bedtime | 1: How Many Miles to Babylon? (2013)
Against the backdrop of the First World War, Jennifer Johnson tells the remarkable story of a friendship.
Plays
Saturday Drama | Translations
Saturday Drama | Translations
In 1833, two army officers arrive in a Donegal village to draw up a new map of the area and change the Irish place names to English ones. Stars...
Performance | A Doll's House
Performance | A Doll's House
Henrik Ibsen's classic play directed by David Thacker, starring Juliet Stephenson and Trevor Eve.
Performance | Hedda Gabler (1993)
Performance | Hedda Gabler (1993)
Hedda Gabler and Jorgen Tesman have just returned from a long honeymoon, but Hedda is bored with her life and unhappy with her home.
World War One | Oh What a Lovely War (2014)
World War One | Oh What a Lovely War (2014)
The Theatre Royal Stratford East restages its controversial WW1 musical satire, directed by Tony Award-winner Terry Johnson and i...
Saturday Drama | Private Lives
Saturday Drama | Private Lives
Divorced couple Amanda and Elyot meet again on their second honeymoons. With Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter.
Drama on 3 | She Stoops to Conquer (2023)
Drama on 3 | She Stoops to Conquer (2023)
Robert Bathurst, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Mathew Baynton and Hugh Skinner star in an adaptation of Oliver Goldsmith's comedy of class ...
Christmas at the Wells | A Woman of No Importance
Christmas at the Wells | A Woman of No Importance
At a country house party, Mrs Arbuthnot's long-concealed secret comes back to haunt her. Stars Diana Rigg and Martin Jarvis.
An Ideal Husband (1999)
An Ideal Husband (1999)
An MP is bribed into pushing a scheme through the Commons by a woman he once had dealings with. Starring Cate Blanchett and Minnie Driver.
Theatre Night | Lady Windermere's Fan (1985)
Theatre Night | Lady Windermere's Fan (1985)
Drama play written by Oscar Wilde, set in 1892.
Theatre Night | The Importance of Being Earnest (1988)
Theatre Night | The Importance of Being Earnest (1988)
How did a baby come to be deposited in the left luggage room at Victoria Station in mistake for a three-volume novel? ...
Play of the Month | The School for Scandal
Play of the Month | The School for Scandal
Play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, with Jeremy Brett, Pauline, Collins, Edward Fox, Bernard Lee, Arthur Lowe, Bridget Armstrong, J...
Open University | Waiting for Godot
Open University | Waiting for Godot
Two acts from ''Waiting for Godot'' with Max Wall, Leo McKern, Graham Crowden and Basil Clarke.
Sunday Play | A Streetcar Named Desire
Sunday Play | A Streetcar Named Desire
In Tennessee Williams's masterpiece set in New Orleans, Blanche Dubois's tender feelings are destroyed by Stanley Kowalski's brutal de...
Drama on 3 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Drama on 3 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams: An adaptation of the classic drama in which, greed and secret passions overcome a family as ...
OCR Lit in Colour - GCSE English Literature
Poetry Please: Raymond Antrobus
Poetry Please: Raymond Antrobus
Raymond Antrobus explores a selection of poems from his own and others' work. His poetry features in OCR's GCSE English Literature Anthology.
See Hear: Raymond Antrobus
See Hear: Raymond Antrobus
Raymond Antrobus is a multi-award-winning poet whose work explores personal issues particularly around family, identity and deafness. Raymond give...
The Verb: Raymond Antrobus
The Verb: Raymond Antrobus
Raymond Antrobus talks to Ian McMillan about his life and work. His poetry features in OCR's GCSE English Literature Anthology.
We Belong Here: Raymond Antrobus (1)
We Belong Here: Raymond Antrobus (1)
Raymond Antrobus talks about his experiences of sound and d/Deaf education. His poetry features in OCR's GCSE English Literature Anthology.
We Belong Here: Raymond Antrobus (2)
We Belong Here: Raymond Antrobus (2)
Raymond Antrobus talks about his experiences of sound and d/Deaf education. His poetry features in OCR's GCSE English Literature Anthology.
Word of Mouth | Raymond Antrobus
Word of Mouth | Raymond Antrobus
Michael Rosen meets acclaimed poet Raymond Antrobus to discuss language, sign language and deafness.
Night Waves: Rita Dove
Night Waves: Rita Dove
Anne McElvoy interviews Rita Dove about her life and work. Her poetry features in OCR's GCSE English Literature Anthology.
Woman's Hour | Rita Dove
Woman's Hour | Rita Dove
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Rita Dove on poetry and Sonata Mulattica.
OCR Lit in Colour - A Level English Literature
Girl, Woman, Other By Bernardine Evaristo
Girl, Woman, Other By Bernardine Evaristo
Amma's new play, The Last Amazon of Dahomey, opens at The National Theatre.
Africa Turns the Page: Bernardine Evaristo and 'Girl, Woman, Other'
Africa Turns the Page: Bernardine Evaristo and 'Girl, Woman, Other'
Bernardine Evaristo reflects on the success of Girl, Woman, Other - a set text on OCR's A Level English L...
Front Row | Candice Carty-Williams In Conversation With Bernardine Evaristo
Front Row | Candice Carty-Williams In Conversation With Bernardine Evaristo
Candice Carty-Williams, author of the fastest-selling debut novel of 2019, Queenie, talks to Bern...
HARDtalk | Bernardine Evaristo: Is British Culture Changing?
HARDtalk | Bernardine Evaristo: Is British Culture Changing?
Stephen Sackur speaks to the Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other.
imagine... | Bernardine Evaristo: Never Give Up
imagine... | Bernardine Evaristo: Never Give Up
Alan Yentob explores the remarkable life and work of the trailblazing Anglo-Nigerian writer Bernardine Evaristo, author of th...
Open Book: Bernardine Evaristo and 'Girl, Woman, Other'
Open Book: Bernardine Evaristo and 'Girl, Woman, Other'
Bernardine Evaristo reads an extract from Girl, Woman, Other and discusses the different perspectives in her novel - ...
Profile | Bernardine Evaristo
Profile | Bernardine Evaristo
Bernardine Evaristo is the first black British woman to win the Booker Prize.
This Cultural Life | Bernardine Evaristo
This Cultural Life | Bernardine Evaristo
Author Bernardine Evaristo talks to John Wilson about the formative experiences and cultural influences that have had a profound eff...
World Book Club | Bernardine Evaristo: Girl, Woman, Other
World Book Club | Bernardine Evaristo: Girl, Woman, Other
Harriett Gillbert talks to Bernardine Evaristo about her novel Girl, Woman, Other, which offers an unforgettable in...
Rebecca (2006)
Rebecca (2006)
Actress Alex Kingston reads an abridged version of Daphne du Maurier's masterful tale of romance and suspense.
Rebecca (2001)
Rebecca (2001)
A young woman is haunted by the presence of her husband's first wife, the charming and charismatic Rebecca. Abridged in ten parts by Sally Marmion and read by...
Rebecca (1989)
Rebecca (1989)
With and Arriving at Manderley, the young Mrs de Winter finds the beautiful house and its occupants haunted by memories of Rebecca, her new husband's first wife.
Rebecca (1979)
Rebecca (1979)
First of four of this adaptation of the famous story by Daphne Du Maurier. Monte Carlo is a lonely, frightening place to the shy orphan girl (Joanna David) un...
Passing
Passing
Two African American women meet one hot afternoon in Chicago, 1925. Both are light skinned and able to pass for white, but only one has chosen to spend her life on t...
Thinking In Colour
Thinking In Colour
Gary Younge hears extraordinary personal accounts of racial passing, each a journey towards understanding identity, and belonging.
Free Thinking | Octavia Butler's Kindred
Free Thinking | Octavia Butler's Kindred
Gerry Canavan, Nisi Shawl and Irenosen Okojie join Shahidha Bari to discuss Octavia Butler, the American who became the first scienc...
Sunday Feature | Afterwords: Octavia E Butler
Sunday Feature | Afterwords: Octavia E Butler
In the last episode of this series the words of celebrated science fiction and fantasy writer Octavia E Butler take us on a jou...
The Lonely Londoners (2014)
The Lonely Londoners (2014)
A ten-year-long city dweller from the Caribbean goes to meet another boat train of hopeful new arrivals. Read by Don Warrington.
The Read | The Lonely Londoners (2022)
The Read | The Lonely Londoners (2022)
A creative performance reading of The Lonely Londoners that juxtaposes modern imagery and fascinating archive footage to reflect on ho...
Sam Selvon's novel The Lonely Londoners | A Good Read
Sam Selvon's novel The Lonely Londoners | A Good Read
Sue MacGregor, Marcus du Sautoy and David Dabydeen discuss Sam Selvon's novel The Lonely Londoners - a set text on OCR'...
Sam Selvon and The Lonely Londoners | A Good Read
Sam Selvon and The Lonely Londoners | A Good Read
Louise Doughty, Tariq Ali and Jean Binta Breeze discuss Sam Selvon's novel The Lonely Londoners - a set text on OCR's A Lev...
Sam Selvon's The Lonely Londoners | Between the Covers
Sam Selvon's The Lonely Londoners | Between the Covers
The panel discuss Sam Selvon's novel The Lonely Londoners - a set text on OCR's A Level English Literature 'The Immigr...
Open Book: Sam Selvon and the Lonely Londoners
Open Book: Sam Selvon and the Lonely Londoners
Susheila Nasta and Anthony Joseph discuss The Lonely Londoners' author.
Eldorado West One | 1: Sir Galahad Arrives
Eldorado West One | 1: Sir Galahad Arrives
A series of seven half-hour plavs by the West Indian writer who has adapted them for radio from his book The Lonely Londoners. The...
Novels That Shaped Our World | The Empire Writes Back
Novels That Shaped Our World | The Empire Writes Back
A look at how the novel has marched in lock step with the rise, decline and fall of the British Empire.
OCR Lit in Colour - A Level English Language and Literature
Free Thinking: Fatimah Asghar and 'If They Come For Us'
Free Thinking: Fatimah Asghar and 'If They Come For Us'
Fatimah Asghar explores the political and social influences on her work. Asghar's 'If They Come For Us' is a set text...
Halal If You Hear Me
Halal If You Hear Me
Poets Fatimah Asghar and Safia Elhillo explore how they've created a community through an anthology celebrating Muslim women, queer, trans, and gender n...
Ace: the cast of Inua Ellams' Barber Shop Chronicles (1)
Ace: the cast of Inua Ellams' Barber Shop Chronicles (1)
Hammed Animashaun and Fiasyo Akinade talk to Ace about the Inua Ellams' play Barber Shop Chronicles, which is a set ...
Ace: the cast of Inua Ellams' Barber Shop Chronicles (2)
Ace: the cast of Inua Ellams' Barber Shop Chronicles (2)
Hammed Animashaun and Fiasyo Akinade talk to Ace about the Inua Ellams' play Barber Shop Chronicles, which is a set ...
Front Row | Inua Ellams On Barber Shop Chronicles
Front Row | Inua Ellams On Barber Shop Chronicles
Inua Ellams on his play Barber Shop Chronicles. Reviews of TV drama Godless and tennis film Battle of the Sexes. Plus an ex...
Front Row | Inua Ellams
Front Row | Inua Ellams
The National Theatre is streaming, free, its hit production of Barber Shop Chronicles. Tom Sutcliffe talks to author Inua Ellams about his career and...
Power Lines | Place
Power Lines | Place
Sabrina Mahfouz and Inua Ellams explore the escalating popularity of spoken word poetry. Poet playwright Inua Ellams looks at how location affects poetry...
The Afternoon Show: the cast of Inua Ellams' Barber Shop Chronicles
The Afternoon Show: the cast of Inua Ellams' Barber Shop Chronicles
As acclaimed play Barber Shop Chronicles is streaming as part of the National Theatre at Home's series of...
The Big Scottish Book Club: Inua Ellams
The Big Scottish Book Club: Inua Ellams
Damian Barr is in Helensburgh with crime writer Denise Mina, novelist Patrick Gale and chat show host turned author Graham Norton. Th...
The Verb: Inua Ellams and Barber Shop Chronicles
The Verb: Inua Ellams and Barber Shop Chronicles
Ian McMillan's guests on the cabaret of the word include poet and playwright Inua Ellams. Plus The Verb's 'punctuation czar'...
Cerys Matthews | Poetry From Malika Booker
Cerys Matthews | Poetry From Malika Booker
Cerys welcomes Malika Booker to The Poet Tree to discuss her inspirations and influences.
Poetry Please | Malika Booker
Poetry Please | Malika Booker
Roger McGough talks to Malika Booker as she chooses her favourite poems. Her selection includes work by Warsan Shire, Sharon Olds and Jean 'Bin...
Songs To Live By | Samm Henshaw And Malika Booker
Songs To Live By | Samm Henshaw And Malika Booker
Poet Malika Booker and singer songwriter Samm Henshaw share songs that have shaped them.
The Verb: Jacob Sam-La Rose and Malika Booker
The Verb: Jacob Sam-La Rose and Malika Booker
Jacob Sam-La Rose and Malika Booker read from their work and discuss their influences. Both of their poetry collections are set...
Children's literature
Treasure Island (1977)
Treasure Island (1977)
RL Stevenson's famous tale of pirate gold and skulduggery on the high seas.
Just William
Just William
When the Bott family move into Croombe Hall, William and The Outlaws are horrified to learn that they are banned from playing in the woods. But the worst is yet...
Watership Down (2018)
Watership Down (2018)
Animated adaptation of the novel by Richard Adams telling the story of a gang of rabbits who embark on an epic adventure in search of a new home.
War Horse (2011)
War Horse (2011)
It is 1914, and struggling Devon farmer Ted Narracott buys a remarkable but unsuitable horse at auction. His son Albert names him Joey and, under pressure f...
The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden
Orphaned Mary Lennox arrives at Misselthwaite Manor from India to find a sad house full of mysteries. She's determined to discover more about them.
The Railway Children (2008)
The Railway Children (2008)
Joanna Tope reads from E Nesbit's classic 1906 children's novel which tells the story of the trials and adventures of a middle-class Edwardian fa...
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1991)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1991)
Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are evacuated from London at the beginning of the Second World War, littl...
Stig of the Dump
Stig of the Dump
Whilst exploring the woods, Barney stumbles across the village bullies, the Snarget brothers building a den. Chased by the brothers, Barney topples over the...
The BFG (2016)
The BFG (2016)
An exciting tale of a young girl named Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant, who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. Two of the world's gr...
The Borrowers (2011)
The Borrowers (2011)
After being discovered by 'human beans', a family of borrowers - tiny people who live under the floorboards - must leave their home.
Billionaire Boy
Billionaire Boy
Father and son Len and Joe Spud have very little, but they become overnight billionaires when Len invents a new toilet roll. Comedy adaptation of the book by...
Grandpa's Great Escape
Grandpa's Great Escape
A former WWII flying ace is determined to escape from his carehome for one last adventure. Adaptation of the book by David Walliams.
American literature
The Monday Play | Of Mice and Men (1992)
The Monday Play | Of Mice and Men (1992)
In the golden valleys of California, two itinerant workers struggle to sustain their dream. The story of a friendship put to a terri...
Saturday Night Theatre | Our Town (1946)
Saturday Night Theatre | Our Town (1946)
The everyday lives of the Webb and Gibbs family as they see their children fall in love, marry and live out their lives in the ficti...
The Great Gatsby (2013)
The Great Gatsby (2013)
The sumptuous life of enigmatic American millionaire Jay Gatsby, viewed through the eyes of neighbour Nick Carraway. Directed by Baz Luhrmann and sta...
Book at Bedtime | 1: The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Book at Bedtime | 1: The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Written by Moshin Hamid, abridged by Lisa Osborne and read by Riz Ahmed.
15 Minute Drama | Beloved
15 Minute Drama | Beloved
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radi...
Maya Angelou's Autobiographies | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou's Autobiographies | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The author's iconic debut charting her childhood with her brother in Arkansas. Narrated by Adjoa Andoh starr...
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck 's harrowing novel about a family driven from their Oklahoma farm during the dust bowl days of the thirties, dramatised in three parts by ...
Sunday Play | A Streetcar Named Desire
Sunday Play | A Streetcar Named Desire
In Tennessee Williams's masterpiece set in New Orleans, Blanche Dubois's tender feelings are destroyed by Stanley Kowalski's brutal de...
Drama on 3 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Drama on 3 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams: An adaptation of the classic drama in which, greed and secret passions overcome a family as ...
The Color Purple (1985)
The Color Purple (1985)
Celie, a poor black girl, fights to hold on to her self-esteem when she is separated from her sister and forced into a brutal marriage. Directed by S...
Drama on 3 | A View from the Bridge
Drama on 3 | A View from the Bridge
Martin Jarvis directs Miller's award-winning 1955 drama, with a US cast including Alfred Molina, Jane Kaczmarek, Melissa Benoist and Hect...
Romance
Sense and Sensibility (1971)
Sense and Sensibility (1971)
The earliest BBC dramatisation of Sense and Sensibility. Mrs Dash wood and her two daughters, Elinor and Marianne, are faced with the prospect o...
Jane Eyre (1983)
Jane Eyre (1983)
A 1983 television serial adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, produced by BBC and directed by Julian Amyes.
Rebecca (1989)
Rebecca (1989)
With and Arriving at Manderley, the young Mrs de Winter finds the beautiful house and its occupants haunted by memories of Rebecca, her new husband's first wife.
A Room with a View (1995)
A Room with a View (1995)
Radio adaptation of EM Forster's novel about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian-era England, starring Sheila Hancock and Stephen M...
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Colin Firth stars as Mr Darcy in this iconic BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by writer Andrew Davies. The arrival of the wealthy Mr Bingley ...
Comedy
Notes from a Small Island
Notes from a Small Island
Recalling tea with tinned biscuits, the American author takes a sentimental journey around Britain. Read by Kerry Shale.
Storytellers - Philadelphia, Here I Come!
Storytellers - Philadelphia, Here I Come!
The night before he emigrates to America, Gareth O'Donnell begins to have second thoughts about leaving his home in the rural villa...
The Saturday Play | Top Girls
The Saturday Play | Top Girls
Marlene celebrates her promotion to managing director of the Top Girls Employment Agency with a dinner. Her guests are five women from history,...
Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978)
Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978)
An epic adventure in time and space including some helpful advice on how to see the Universe for less than 30 Altairian dollars a day.
Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
Cult Science fiction comedy adapted from the radio series by Douglas Adams. An international multimedia phenomenon; the novels are ...
The Rotters' Club
The Rotters' Club
Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais' three-part adaptation of Jonathon Coe's novel follow a group of Birmingham teenagers, and their families, through the 1970s.
Book at Bedtime | Fever Pitch
Book at Bedtime | Fever Pitch
Author Nick Hornby reads his autobiographical account of an obsessive relationship with Arsenal Football Club.
Drama on 3 | The Way of the World
Drama on 3 | The Way of the World
Sheila Hancock stars in the comic masterpiece that exposes the grasping charlatanism that lurks within the belle monde of London society.
Play of the Month | The Country Wife
Play of the Month | The Country Wife
Play by William Wycherley, starring Helen Mirren, Bernard Cribbins, Anthony Andrews, Amanda Barrie, Adrienne Corri, Ciaran ,Madden and J...
Mansfield Park (2002)
Mansfield Park (2002)
Fanny Price and her wealthy cousin Edmund seem a perfect match, but their lives on a country estate are complicated by the arrival of the glamorous Cra...
Emma (1972)
Emma (1972)
Earliest existing BBC dramatisation of Emma (from 1972).
Play of the Month | The School for Scandal
Play of the Month | The School for Scandal
Play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, with Jeremy Brett, Pauline, Collins, Edward Fox, Bernard Lee, Arthur Lowe, Bridget Armstrong, J...
Tragedy
Stage 2 | 1: The Duchess of Malfi
Stage 2 | 1: The Duchess of Malfi
John Webster's tragedy of corruption, jealousy and intrigue with Aileen Atkins in the title role.
Mayor of Casterbridge
Mayor of Casterbridge
Seven part television adaptation of the famous novel by Thomas Hardy.
The Tess of the D'Urbervilles
The Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Four-part drama series based on the novel by Thomas Hardy, written by David Nicholls.
Book at Bedtime - Things Fall Apart (2008)
Book at Bedtime - Things Fall Apart (2008)
Chuk Iwuji reads from Chinua Achebe's classic novel, abridged by Jane Marshall.
The Great Gatsby (2000)
The Great Gatsby (2000)
In the volatile era of the twenties, flamboyant millionaire Jay Gatsby pursues the seductive Daisy, the love he lost while serving in the First World...
Drama on 3 | A View from the Bridge
Drama on 3 | A View from the Bridge
Martin Jarvis directs Miller's award-winning 1955 drama, with a US cast including Alfred Molina, Jane Kaczmarek, Melissa Benoist and Hect...
Gothic
Dracula (2006)
Dracula (2006)
Dramatisation of Bram Stoker's novel about Transylvanian count Dracula, with Marc Warren as Dracula and David Suchet as Van Helsing.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Adapted from the story by Robert Louis Stevenson, and starring Lisa Harrow and Ian Bannen.
Classic Serial | Frankenstein (1994)
Classic Serial | Frankenstein (1994)
Mary Shelley's gothic tale, dramatised for radio by Nick Stafford in two parts, starring Michael Maloney.
The Woman in Black (1993)
The Woman in Black (1993)
Retired solicitor Arthur Kipps recalls his visit to the isolated house of the reclusive Mrs Drablow. Stars Robert Glenister.
Wide Sargasso Sea
Wide Sargasso Sea
Dramatisation of Jean Rhys's novel set in 19th-century Jamaica. The tragic story of the first Mrs Rochester from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre centres on an...
The Turn of the Screw (2021)
The Turn of the Screw (2021)
Myfanwy Piper's liBretto of Henry James's famous short story leaves much to our imagination and Britten's score is haunting, terrifying and bri...
Wuthering Heights (1978)
Wuthering Heights (1978)
First of five of this adaptation of the novel by Emily Bronte. 1801: A social visit becomes a night of terror for Lockwood and a journey into the pa...
Screen 2 | Northanger Abbey
Screen 2 | Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen's classic story of a young girl whose head is full of romantic and melodramatic notions about the world.
The Woman in White (2018)
The Woman in White (2018)
Five part television series, adapated from Wilke Collnis' novel. The lives of two half-sisters and their drawing master get caught up in a deadly c...
Rebecca (1979)
Rebecca (1979)
First of four of this adaptation of the famous story by Daphne Du Maurier. Monte Carlo is a lonely, frightening place to the shy orphan girl (Joanna David) un...
Play of the Month | The Picture of Dorian Gray
Play of the Month | The Picture of Dorian Gray
Play by Oscar Wilde, dramatised by John Osbourne, with John Gielgud, Peter Firth Jeremy Brett and Mark Dignam, Judi Bowker and...
Satire
Hard Times (2003)
Hard Times (2003)
Charles Dickens' 1854 classic about struggles in the industrial north, dramatised for radio in four parts by Doug Lucie. Stars Kenneth Cranham and Philip J...
Theatre Night | Arms and the Man
Theatre Night | Arms and the Man
An adaptation of the play by Bernard Shaw, about a young Bulgarian girl who saves the life of a Swiss soldier of fortune. Starring Helena Bo...
Screen 2 | Persuasion
Screen 2 | Persuasion
Film adaption of Jane Austen's novel about the enduring power of love. England 1814. Having been ''persuaded'' several years earlier to reject the prop...
Vanity Fair (1998)
Vanity Fair (1998)
Six part television drama adapated from William Thackeray's satire of English society during the Napoleonic wars. How is a penniless orphan to make her wa...
The Sunday Play | Oh What a Lovely War (1995)
The Sunday Play | Oh What a Lovely War (1995)
Set in a fictional playhouse at the end of the pier in Scarborough, this theatrical chronicle of the First World War is told th...
Mansfield Park (1983)
Mansfield Park (1983)
First of six of this dramatisation of the classic novel by Jane Austen. Fanny Price (Sylvestra Le Touzel) is removed from her impoverished Portsmouth h...
Screen 2 | Northanger Abbey
Screen 2 | Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen's classic story of a young girl whose head is full of romantic and melodramatic notions about the world.