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Ivan Turgenev: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Drama Collection: First Love, Father and Sons, A Month in the C
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 popular in the West. This specially curated collection showcases his key works, from the most celebrated to the undeservedly underrated. Described as ‘one of the most perfect things ever written’, the lyrical novella First Love tells the story of 16-year-old Vladimir, whose longing for the capricious Zinaida informs his whole life. Dramatised for Radio 4, it stars Simon Cadell, Rosalind Ayres and Bill Nighy. Succeeding it is Turgenev’s masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, an exploration of the eternal conflict between the reactionary older generation and the revolutionary younger one. John Castle stars as youthful nihilist Bazarov, with Maurice Denham as his father Nikolai. First published in 1855 as Two Women, Turgenev’s best-known play A Month in the Country centres around a landowner’s wife who finds herself attracted to her son’s tutor. Translated by Isaiah Berlin, our Radio 3 version stars Maureen O’Brien and Gerard Murphy. Written a few years before A Month in the Country, the little-known play The Poor Gentleman is an emotional comedy about an elderly man’s devotion to a daughter he can never recognise publicly. It stars Frank Finlay, Morag Hood and Colin Baker. Next up is Smoke, Turgenev’s only novel not to be set in Russia. Baden Baden is the setting for a tale that blends poignant love story and searing political satire, starring Garard Green, Rachel Gurney and Patricia Leventon. Meanwhile, in the short story ‘The Dog’, a mild Hussar (Timothy West) is the subject of a bizarre haunting… Turgenev’s debut novel, Rudin, features that archetypal character in Russian literature, the ‘superfluous man’. Ian Holm stars as the eponymous hero, an idealistic intellectual who is incapable of taking action: and suffers for it. Set just before the Crimean War, the romantic novella On the Eve has passion and patriotism as its themes. Amanda Root stars as the upper-class Elena, who embarks on a doomed affair with Bulgarian revolutionary Insarov (Philip Franks). We conclude as we began, with a tale of first love – Spring Torrents, one of Turgenev’s greatest and most autobiographical novellas. Adapted for Radio 4’s ‘Book at Bedtime’, it is read by David Horovitch. First published 1848 (The Poor Gentleman), 1855/1872 (A Month in the Country), 1857 (Rudin), 1860 (First Love, On the Eve), 1862 (Fathers and Sons), 1866 (‘The Dog’), 1867 (Smoke), 1872 (Spring Torrents) Production credits Written by Ivan Turgenev With thanks to Keith Wickham Contents List First Love Fathers and Sons A Month in the Country The Poor Gentleman Smoke The Dog Rudin On the Eve Spring Torrents © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Ivan Turgenev (Author), Amanda Root, Bill Nighy, David Horovitch, Full Cast, Hugh Dickson, Ian Holm, Maureen O'brien, Norman Shelley, Patrick Troughton, Rosalind Ayres, Tim Pigott-Smith, Timothy West (Narrator)
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Wintersmith: (Discworld Novel 35)
Brought to you by Penguin. Saying it with frozen roses and icebergs Tiffany Aching leaps into a dance - and suddenly the spirit of winter is in love with her. He's showering her with snowflakes and offering her a crown of ice. Which is creepy, but also just a little bit . . . cool. Now she's dancing to his tune. She can't change the steps. But unless Tiffany can work out how to deal with the Wintersmith, there will never be another springtime . . . The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Wintersmith is the third book in the Tiffany Aching series. 'In every sense fantastic' Independent © Terry and Lyn Pratchett 2006 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Bill Nighy, Indira Varma, Peter Serafinowicz, Steven Cree (Narrator)
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Moving Pictures: (Discworld Novel 10)
Brought to you by Penguin. 'Holy Wood is a different sort of place. People act differently here. Everywhere else the most important things are gods or money or cattle. Here, the most important thing is to be important.' Cameras roll, for the first time, on the Discworld when alchemists discover the excitement of the silver screen. But what is the dark secret of Holy Wood hill? As the cliches of Tinsel Town pour into the world, it's up to the Disc's first film stars to find out . . . Join Victor Tugelbend ('Can't sing. Can't dance. Can handle a sword a little') and Theda Withel ('I come from a little town you've probably never heard of') as they battle the forces of evil and cinema advertising. They're about to discover that the magic of the silver screen might be powerful enough to put an end to, well, everything. The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Moving Pictures is a standalone novel. 'Cracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy' Sunday Times © Terry and Lyn Pratchett 1990 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Bill Nighy, Jason Isaacs, Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator)
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Read by Bill Nighy. From the minds of Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and Terry Jones (Monty Python) comes Starship Titanic, the hilarious novelization of the third-best adventure game of 1999. Welcome on board the Starship Titanic. The Ship that Cannot Possibly Go Wrong. At the centre of the galaxy, a vast, unknown civilization is preparing for an event of epic proportions: the launch of the greatest, most gorgeous, most technologically advanced spaceship ever built - the Starship Titanic. An Earthling would see the ship as something really, really big, but rather less provincial onlookers would recognize it as the design of Leovinus, the galaxy's most renowned architect. Before the launch Leovinus is having one last little look round and begins to find that things just aren't right: poor workmanship, cybersystems out of control, robots walking into doors. How could this have happened? The following morning, while the galaxy's media looks on, the fabulous ship eases away from the construction dock, picks up speed, sways a little, wobbles a bit, veers wildly and, just before it can do untold damage to everything around it, appears to undergo SMEF (Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure). In just ten seconds, the whole stupendous enterprise is over. And our story has just begun . . .
Douglas Adams, Terry Jones (Author), Bill Nighy (Narrator)
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Thud!: (Discworld Novel 34): from the bestselling series that inspired BBC’s The Watch
Brought to you by Penguin. 'Beating people up in little rooms . . . he knew where that led. And if you did it for a good reason, you'd do it for a bad one. You couldn't say 'we;re the good guys' and do bad-guy things.' Koom Valley, the ancient battle where the trolls ambushed the dwarfs, or the dwarfs ambushed the trolls, was a long time ago. But if he doesn't solve the murder of just one dwarf, Commander Sam Vimes of Ankh-Morpork City Watch is going to see it fought again, right outside his office. With his beloved Watch crumbling around him and war-drums sounding, he must unravel every clue, outwit every assassin and brave any darkness to find the solution. And darkness is following him. Oh . . . and at six o'clock every day, without fail, with no excuses, he must go home to read 'Where's My Cow?', with all the right farmyard noises, to his little boy. There are some things you have to do. The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Thud! is the seventh book in the City Watch series. 'Imaginative, witty and consistent' SFX © Terry and Lyn Pratchett 2005 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Bill Nighy, Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator)
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The Fifth Elephant: (Discworld Novel 24): from the bestselling series that inspired BBC’s The Watch
Brought to you by Penguin. 'Well, he thought, so this is diplomacy. It's lying, only for a better class of people. They say that diplomacy is a gentle art. That mastering it is a lifetime's work. But you do need a certain inclination in that direction. It's not something you can just pick up on the job. A few days ago Sam Vimes was a copper - an important copper, true - chief of police - but still, at his core, a policeman. But today he is an ambassador - to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Uberwald. Today, Sam Vimes is also a man on the run. At some point during his ambassadorship, things went very wrong. It's snowing. It's freezing. And if Vimes can't make it through the forest, with only his wits and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask), there's going to be a terrible war. There are monsters on his trail. They're bright. They're fast. They're werewolves - and they're catching up. The Discworld novels can be read in any order but The Fifth Elephant is the fifth book in the City Watch series. 'Precisely balanced . . . a cracking comic thriller' The Times © Terry and Lyn Pratchett 1999 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Bill Nighy, Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator)
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Snuff: (Discworld Novel 39): from the bestselling series that inspired BBC’s The Watch
Brought to you by Penguin. Winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction 'The jurisdiction of a good man extends to the end of the world.' It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse. Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside, but not for him a mere body in the wardrobe. There are many, many bodies - and an ancient crime more terrible than murder. He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiches; and out of his mind. But never out of guile. Where there is a crime there must be a punishment. They say that in the end all sins are forgiven. Vimes is about to uncover the exception. The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Snuff is the eighth book in the City Watch series. 'Snuff is entertaining, with all Pratchett's genius on display' Sunday Express © Dunmanifestin Ltd 2011 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Bill Nighy, Jon Culshaw (Narrator)
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Jingo: (Discworld Novel 21): from the bestselling series that inspired BBC’s The Watch
Brought to you by Penguin. 'Neighbours... hah. People'd live for ages side by side, nodding at one another amicably on their way to work, and then some trivial thing would happen and someone would be having a garden fork removed from their ear.' When the neighbours in question are the proud empires of Klatch and Ankh-Morpork, those are going to be some pretty large garden tools indeed. Of course, no-one would dream of starting a war without a perfectly good reason...such as a 'strategic' piece of old rock in the middle of nowhere. It is after all every citizen's right to bear arms to defend their own. Even if it isn't technically their own. And even if they don't have much in the way of actual weaponry. As two armies march, Commander Vimes of Ankh-Morpork City Watch faces unpleasant foes who are out to get him... and that's just the people on his side. The enemy might be even worse. The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Jingo is the fourth book in the City Watch series. 'Generous, amusing and the ideal boarding point for those who have never visited Discworld' Sunday Telegraph © Dunmanifestin Ltd 1997 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Bill Nighy, Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator)
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Guards! Guards!: (Discworld Novel 8): the bestseller that inspired BBC’s The Watch
Brought to you by Penguin. 'It was the usual Ankh-Morpork mob in times of crisis; half of them were here to complain, a quarter of them were here to watch the other half, and the remainder were here to rob, importune or sell hotdogs to the rest.' Insurrection is in the air in the city of Ankh-Morpork. The Haves and Have-Nots are about to fall out all over again. Captain Sam Vimes of the city's ramshackle Night Watch is used to this. It's enough to drive a man to drink. Well, to drink more. But this time, something is different - the Have-Nots have found the key to a dormant, lethal weapon that even they don't fully understand, and they're about to unleash a campaign of terror on the city. Time for Captain Vimes to sober up. The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Guards! Guards! is the first book in the City Watch series. 'This is one of Pratchett's best books. Hilarious and highly recommended' The Times © Terry Pratchett 1989 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Ben Aaronovitch, Bill Nighy, Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator)
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Men At Arms: (Discworld Novel 15): from the bestselling series that inspired BBC’s The Watch
Brought to you by Penguin. 'What's so hard about pulling a sword out of a stone? The real work's already been done. You ought to make yourself useful and find the man who put the sword in the stone in the first place.' The City Watch needs MEN! But what it's got includes Corporal Carrot (technically a dwarf), Lance-constable Cuddy (really a dwarf), Lance-constable Detritus (a troll), Lance-constable Angua (a woman... most of the time) and Corporal Nobbs (disqualified from the human race for shoving). And they need all the help they can get, because someone in Ankh-Morpork has been getting dangerous ideas - about crowns and legendary swords, and destiny. And the problem with destiny is, of course, that she is not always careful where she points her finger. One minute you might be minding your own business on a normal if not spectacular career path, the next you might be in the frame for the big job, like saving the world . . . The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Men At Arms is the second book in the City Watch series. 'Funny, wise and mock heroic . . . The funniest and best crafted book I have read all year' Sunday Express © Terry Pratchett 1993 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Bill Nighy, Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator)
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Feet Of Clay: (Discworld Novel 19): from the bestselling series that inspired BBC’s The Watch
Brought to you by Penguin. 'Sorry?' said Carrot. If it's just a thing, how can it commit murder? A sword is a thing' - he drew his own sword; it made an almost silken sound - 'and of course you can't blame a sword if someone thrust it at you, sir.' For Commander Vimes, Head of Ankh-Morpork City Watch, life consists of troubling times, linked together by...well, more troubling times. Right now, it's the latter. There's a werewolf with pre-lunar tension in the city, and a dwarf with attitude and a golem who's begun to think for itself, but that's just ordinary trouble. The real problem is more puzzling - people are being murdered, but there's no trace of anything alive having been at the crime scene. So Vimes not only has to find out whodunit, but howdunit too. He's not even sure what they dun. But soon as he knows what the questions are, he's going to want some answers. The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Feet of Clay is the third book in the City Watch series. 'The work of a prolific humorist at his best' Observer © Terry and Lyn Pratchett 1996 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Bill Nighy, Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator)
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Night Watch: (Discworld Novel 29): from the bestselling series that inspired BBC’s The Watch
Brought to you by Penguin. 'Don't put your trust in revolutions. They always come round again. That's why they're called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes.' For a policeman, there can be few things worse than a serial killer loose in your city. Except, perhaps, a serial killer who targets coppers, and a city on the brink of bloody revolution. For Commander Sam Vimes, it all feels horribly familiar. Caught on the roof of a very magical building during a storm, he's found himself back in his own rough, tough past without even the clothes he was standing up in when the lightning struck. Living in the past is hard, especially when your time travel companion is a serial killer who knows where you live. But he must survive, because he has a job to do: track down the murderer and change the outcome of the rebellion. The problem is: if he wins, he's got no wife, no child, no future... The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Night Watch is the sixth book in the City Watch series. 'The best Discworld book in the whole world ever. Until next time.' SFX © Terry and Lyn Pratchett 2002 (P) Penguin Audio 2023
Terry Pratchett (Author), Bill Nighy, Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator)
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