Audiobooks by Shaun Mckenna

Home Front: The Complete BBC Radio Collection Volume 1

Series 1-5 of the groundbreaking BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during World War One First heard on radio between 4 August 2014 and 9 November 2018, each episode of Home Front is set exactly one hundred years before the broadcast date, and each follows one character's day. Together they create a mosaic of experience from a wide cross-section of society, mixing historical fact with enthralling fiction to explore how ordinary people coped with daily life in wartime Britain. The story begins in Folkestone, as the first troops march off to the front lines. Soon, families such as the Grahams and the Wilsons begins to feel the impact of war, as the wounded return and first Belgian refugees, then Canadian troops, arrive in the seaside resort. In addition, the White Feather and suffragette movements grow in popularity, and a tide of grief increasingly leads people to thoughts of the hereafter. Industrial Tynemouth, meanwhile, is experiencing a quite different war. The factories and shipyards are at peak production, and more women are joining the workforce. At the munitions factory, owner Geoffrey Marshall and his family must adapt to the changing times - as must workers like Fraser and Edie Chadwick. Tackling themes including the outbreak of war, recruitment, industry, profiteering and spiritualism are some of radio's foremost dramatists including Katie Hims, Sebastian Baczkiewicz and Shaun McKenna. Among the extensive cast are Michael Bertenshaw, Keely Beresford, Freddie Fox, Ami Metcalf, Edmund Wiseman, Barbara Flynn, Mark Stobbart and Toby Jones, with Dame Harriet Walter making a cameo appearance as Emmeline Pankhurst.

Katie Hims, Lucy Catherine, Richard Monks, Sarah Daniels, Sebastian Baczkiewicz, Shaun Mckenna (Author), , Ami Metcalf, Freddie Fox, Harriet Walter, Keely Beresford, Mark Stobbart, Michael Bertenshaw, Toby Jones (Narrator)

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Home Front: The Complete BBC Radio Collection Volume 3

Series 11-15 of the major BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during the First World War - plus special extended episode Home Front: A Fragile Peace First heard on radio between 4 August 2014 and 9 November 2018, each episode of Home Front is set exactly one hundred years before the broadcast date, and each follows one character's day. Together they create a mosaic of experience from a wide cross-section of society, mixing historical fact with enthralling fiction to explore how ordinary people coped with daily life in wartime Britain. Back in Folkestone, the residents are dealing with the after-effects of a devastating air raid. Howard Argent is kept busy at the Bevan, while Ulysses Pilchard experiments with electro-shock therapy. Meanwhile, women's suffrage, prostitution and unmarried mothers are hot topics, and Kitty Lumley experiences the sharp end of intolerance. In Tyneside, ripples from the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution lead to a rise in union activity, and the factory faces the threat of strike action from the munitionettes. And in Devon, women, children and prisoners of war are being put to work on the land. With Britain on the brink of starvation, summer 1918's harvest is crucial - but conscientious objectors, unwilling or unable to help, arouse fury. As the Great War moves towards its end, can the wounded communities back home find some sort of peace, however fragile? Tackling themes including trauma and madness, industrial unrest, morality and sexuality, surrogate labour and the outbreak of peace are some of radio's foremost dramatists including Katie Hims, Shaun McKenna and Sarah Daniels. Among the extensive cast are Helen Schlesinger, Kathryn Beaumont, Roy Hudd and Billy Kennedy, with guest appearances from Geoffrey Palmer and Mark Heap. Also included is Home Front: A Fragile Peace, a special 75-minute episode which flashes forward to explore the lives of the characters on 10 November 1919.

Katie Hims, Lucy Catherine, Richard Monks, Sarah Daniels, Sebastian Baczkiewicz, Shaun Mckenna (Author), , Billy Kennedy, Geoffrey Palmer, Helen Schlesinger, Kathryn Beaumont, Mark Heap, Roy Hudd (Narrator)

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Home Front: The Complete BBC Radio Collection Volume 2

Series 6-10 of the epic BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during the First World War - plus special episode Home Front: A Lightening First heard on radio between 4 August 2014 and 9 November 2018, each episode of Home Front is set exactly one hundred years before the broadcast date, and each follows one character's day. Together they create a mosaic of experience from a wide cross-section of society, mixing historical fact with enthralling fiction to explore how ordinary people coped with daily life in wartime Britain. We resume the story in Folkestone, where hospital staff face pressure to return wounded men to duty as conscription is introduced. Zeppelin bombs leave residents jumpy, and 'spy fever' is at a pitch as the Secret Service comes to town. Food shortages begin to bite - and the town is rocked by Britain's first ever air raid, causing the greatest number of civilian casualties of the war to date. We also meet the residents of Ashburton, Devon, where the future of Isaac Cox's family hangs in the balance as old feuds are reignited at Halecot Farm. In Tynemouth, paranoia is rife and emotions run high for those at Marshall's factory. The repercussions of a devastating explosion ripple through people's lives, but they face the future with fortitude, taking small but courageous steps forward. Tackling themes including nursing and casualties, conscription and objection, espionage and propaganda, xenophobia and suspicion and the church and class are some of radio's foremost dramatists including Richard Monks, Mike Walker and Sarah Daniels. Among the extensive cast are Martine McCutcheon, Anton Lesser, Maggie Steed and Gunnar Cauthery. Also included is Home Front: A Lightening, a special 45-minute episode marking the centenary of Britain's first Gotha Air Raid, which devastated Folkestone on 25 May 1917.

Katie Hims, Lucy Catherine, Richard Monks, Sarah Daniels, Sebastian Baczkiewicz, Shaun Mckenna (Author), , Anton Lesser, Gunnar Cauthary, Maggie Steed, Martine Mccutcheon (Narrator)

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Home Front: Series Two: BBC Radio Drama

The entire second series of BBC Radio 4’s groundbreaking First World War drama serial. First broadcast from December 2014 to January 2015, the drama of Home Front Series Two is set exactly one hundred years before. Following characters from a wide cross-section of British society in 1914, the action is once again set in the Edwardian seaside town Folkestone. For the men and women of the town, recruitment and volunteering are the order of the day. The Graham household prepares for an arrival, but all is not well in the Winwood household. Meanwhile, good news is devastating for Kitty. This remarkable, groundbreaking drama charts the strategies that ordinary people found for managing life in wartime, and recalls how, together, they ensured that the Home Front didn’t break down. Through the characters’ lives, major and minor stories of wartime Britain are told. Among the cast are Claire Rushbrook, Michael Bertenshaw, Deborah Findlay, Ami Metcalf and Rachel Shelley. Duration: 6 hours approx.

Katie Hims, Sarah Daniels, Shaun Mckenna (Author), , Ami Metcalf, Deborah Findlay, Shaun McKenna (Narrator)

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