Audiobooks narrated by Nigel Lambert

Life and Intrigue in Tudor Britain: A Collection of BBC Radio Historical Docu Dramas

Six gripping dramatised documentaries detailing the history of the turbulent Tudor period. Passion, power, sex and suspicious deaths – the Tudor story is one of drama and dysfunction, and it has kept us enthralled for over 400 years. In these six dramatised documentaries, we take a behind-the-scenes look at Tudor England and get to know the key characters we have grown to love and hate, such as Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Compiled from contemporary sources by Alison Plowman and featuring first-hand accounts and letters, these thrilling, historically accurate retellings bring this tumultuous era to vivid life. The Most Unhappy Lady spans three critical years in the life of Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, and later Queen of England. It begins in 1533, when her father divorces her mother and marries Anne Boleyn. Refusing to accept the validity of Henry’s actions, Mary finds herself facing danger and disgrace… In Elizabeth's Admiral, we follow the events which took place in the immediate aftermath of Henry VIII’s death in 1547 – events which led to the execution of the Lord High Admiral Thomas Seymour and came near to seriously compromising the future of the 15-year-old Princess Elizabeth. The Killing at Kirk O’Field, set between March 1566 and June 1567, tells the tragic tale of the murder of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary Queen of Scots: a crime that remains one of the most controversial 'whodunnits' of all time. Chance or Villainy? explores the mysterious death of Amy Robsart in 1560. Her husband, Lord Robert Dudley, was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I and was rumoured to be having an affair with her – so when Amy was found dead at the foot of a staircase, it seemed that a serious crisis might ensue… In A Knot of Secret Might, we hear the ill-fated love story of Lady Katherine Grey, sister of the doomed ‘Nine-Day Queen’ Lady Jane Grey. And in The Great Enterprise, 1588, we are transported back to sixteenth-century Spain, as Philip II prepares to launch his ‘Invincible Armada’... Among the ensemble casts of these superb docu-dramas are Beryl Calder, Haydn Jones, Marjorie Westbury, Kathleen Helme, Patricia Leventon, Nerys Hughes and Roger Delgado. Credits Compiled from contemporary sources by Alison Plowden Special thanks to Keith Wickham for Archive material. The Most Unhappy Lady Produced by Joe Burroughs First broadcast BBC Home Service, 22 Dec 1964 Elizabeth’s Admiral (A Pattern of Tudors) Produced by Joe Burroughs First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 24 Apr 1968 The Killing at Kirk O’Field Produced by Alison Plowden First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 18 Sep 1969 Chance or Villainy? (A Pattern of Tudors) Produced by Joe Burroughs First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4 Feb 1966 A Knot of Secret Might Produced by Richard Wortley First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 Oct 1970 The Great Enterprise, 1588 (A Pattern of Tudors) Produced by Joe Burroughs First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11 Aug 1968 © 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Alison Plowden (Author), Beryl Calder, Frank Duncan, Full Cast, Haydn Jones, Jane Wenham, Kathleen Helme, Madi Hedd, Marjorie Westbury, Nerys Hughes, Nigel Lambert, Patricia Leventon, Pauline Letts, Richard Hurndall, Roger Delgado, Stephen Thorne (Narrator)

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Fiddler on the Reels

Thomas Hardy was born in the hamlet of Upper Bockhampton about three miles east of Dorchester in Dorset, England, on 2nd June 1840. Despite a fairly wide education and being an avid reader his parents thought it unlikely he would lead a successful scholarly or clerical career and he was apprenticed in 1856, at age 16, to a local architect whose speciality was in church restoration. Hardy’s only opportunity to read was in the morning before work between the hours of five and eight. On the back of a failed love affair he moved to London and spent five years working as an assistant to the architect Arthur Blomfield, also a restorer and designer of churches. Hardy though had by now become disillusioned with institutionalised forms of Christianity and abandoned any lingering hopes of ordination in the Anglican Church. However, his writing of poetry was now flourishing, although it was still rejected for publication. His novel ‘Desperate Remedies’, was published anonymously in 1871 and he now resolved to write full time though he was not yet in a position to achieve financial security or literary success. His second novel, ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’, appeared in 1872 and in 1873 ‘A Pair of Blue Eyes’, the most autobiographical of his works arrived. With ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ in 1874, came critical acclaim, public attention and financial success. This was repeated in 1878 with ‘The Return of the Native’, and the ensuing years saw him rise to ever greater popularity. His classic ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ arrived in 1886 and 5 years later ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’. The latter only saw publication after extensive alterations to its plot and the deletion of long passages to lessen the shock to the prudish Victorian audience who were dismayed by the seduction and ruin of a young girl by a rakish aristocrat. ‘Jude the Obscure’, his last novel, suffered the same fate when it was published in 1895. The uproar so disturbed him that he returned to poetry. In 1898 he had an earlier poetry collection, ‘Wessex Poems’ published.Hardy spent the years between 1903 and 1908 writing ‘The Dynasts’, an epic poem on the Napoleonic Wars.In his twilight years came honours and awards from the great and the good in recognition of his stature as one of the most outstanding of British authors across novels, short stories and poetry. George V conferred on him the Order of Merit in 1910.From 1920 to 1927 he worked, in secret, on his autobiography, which was later published after his death as the work of his second wife, Florence Hardy. Thomas Hardy OM died on the 11th January 1928.His heart was buried alongside his first wife in Stinsford churchyard, Dorchester.

Thomas Hardy (Author), Ghizela Rowe, Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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Father Giles of Ballymoy

Born in London on 24th April 1815 Anthony Trollope is considered a giant of English literature. His early schooling was at Harrow and Sunbury. Here was often bullied due to the family’s reduced financial means. His bad tempered father seemed to be full of energy but unable to execute any idea into a regular income. In 1834 Trollope moved with his family to Bruges in Belgium to escape the debt collectors pursuing his father. With an offer of work for the General Post Office he returned to London later that same year. The next 7 years were, by his own account, unproductive and miserable. However, in 1841 a chance to move to Ireland for the GPO availed itself and he took it. During his long travels around Ireland he now began to write extensively often setting himself a schedule about how many words to write in a day. In 1851 he was sent to England to organise rural delivery in part of the country. In this period he began to nurture the first of the six Barsetshire novels “The Warden’ which was published in 1855. In his prolific career he wrote 47 novels as well as many short stories and travel books. On December 6th, 1882 he died in London and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

Anthony Trollope (Author), Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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Thomas Hardy - The Short Stories

Thomas Hardy - The Short Stories - An Introduction. Many giants of Literature originate from the shores of these emerald isles; Shakespeare, Dickens, Chaucer, The Brontes and Austen to which most people would willingly add the name Thomas Hardy. Far From The Madding Crowd, Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, The Mayor Of Casterbridge are but three of his literary masterpieces. But let us add to this his short stories. They are often overlooked as being the poor, under-developed relative of a greater work. But from writers of the calibre of Hardy this is just not so. He picks stories and creates characters that drive, meld and create pages that in their numerically shorter length are in fact the perfect length. Our stories are read for you by Richard Mitchley

Thomas Hardy (Author), Eve Karpf , Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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Charles Dickens: The Short Stories

Charles Dickens enjoyed entertaining his friends with readings of ghost stories, especially at Christmas time. In his classic tale The Signalman, the then high technology world of steam railway comes to contact with what looks like a good old fashioned haunting. A night at a desolate country inn dramatically changes Tom Smart's fortunes in The Bagman's Story. Together with Christmas Ghosts and Mr Testator's Visitation, these tales are fine examples of Dickens's spine-chilling talents. These stories are read for you by RADA trained Nigel Lambert, a member of the National Theatre who has made numerous appearances for the BBC in fields as varied as classic drama and children's television and Richard Mitchley who has worked in theatres throughout Britain as well as the BBC and ITV and his own Mayfly Theatre company.

Charles Dickens (Author), Nigel Lambert, Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

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A Pelican at Blandings

Clarence, ninth Earl of Emsworth, sank back in his chair looking like the good old man in a Victorian melodrama whose mortgage the villain had just foreclosed. He felt the absence of that gentle glow which customarily accompanied the departure of one of his sisters. Lord Emsworth needed Galahad. There are tricky corners to be rounded, and assorted godsons, impostors, and pretty girls to be paired off. Fortunately, many years' membership of the Pelican Club means the Hon. Galahad Threepwood is able to keep cool, stiffen his upper lip, and always think a shade quicker than the next man. “Full of delights—which are made all the more delightful by Nigel Lambert’s spirited reading.”—Library Journal, audio review

P.G. Wodehouse (Author), Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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Lord Emsworth and Others

Contained here are nine glorious episodes from the idyllic world of Wodehouse. There's a crime wave which broke out towards the middle of a fine summer afternoon and was to rock Blandings Castle to its foundations, Ukridge appears on Corky's doorstep at three in the morning, wearing his yellow mackintosh and requesting a whisky and soda, while the Oldest Member warns of the folly of driving into the father of the girl you love...

P.G. Wodehouse (Author), Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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Ring for Jeeves

Bill (Lord) Rowcester was well and truly in the gumbo. With the benefit of hindsight he could see that setting himself up as a Silver Ring bookie might not have been his smartest move ever. Particularly when being down on his dibbs threatens his oncoming nuptials with the sterling Jill Wyvern. Lucky for Bill he had the land-lease of Jeeves. Lucky indeed that the fish-fed mastermind's formidable genius was at liberty to take a header into such teasers as borrowing the stellar Mrs. Spottsworth's pendent for an hour or three or overseeing the added ingredients of Abbey's Derby Dinner, to say nothing of his lordship's mauve pajamas. "This classic Wodehouse novel is revisited in an audio edition that features a spirited reading from Nigel Lambert, whose remarkably entertaining performance will dazzle listeners from beginning to end...A truly rousing listening experience."-Publishers Weekly

P.G. Wodehouse (Author), Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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Uneasy Money

These are strange times for the English aristocracy. When hard-up William Fitz William Delamere Chalmers, Lord Dawlish—otherwise known as Bill—sets off for America to make a fortune, he does not expect to be left one by an American millionaire with whom he strikes up a passing acquaintance. Honor demands that Bill Dawlish should restore this unexpected windfall to the rightful heirs, but this involves him in complicated adventures with greedy relations, haughty dowagers, dogs, chickens and an angry monkey. Calm is eventually restored but not before Bill has met the woman of his dreams and married her in the church on Fifth Avenue.

P.G. Wodehouse (Author), Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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The Wind in Willows

The abridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Kenneth Graham's much-loved classic, The Wind in the Willows, read by James Saxon, June Whitfield, Nigel Anthony and Nigel Lambert. When Mole goes boating with Ratty instead of doing his spring-cleaning, he discovers a whole new world. As well as adventures on the river and in the Wild Wood, there are high jinks on the open road with that reckless ruffian, Mr Toad of Toad Hall. Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad become the firmest of friends, but after Toad's latest escapade, can they join together and beat the wretched weasels once and for all?

Kenneth Grahame (Author), James Saxon, June Whitfield, Nigel Anthony, Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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Service with a Smile

The description of his ancestral seat as an earthly paradise would, at present, have struck its proprietor as ironical, full as it was with unwanted and troublesome inhabitants. What Lord Emsworth needed above all was a rugged ally at his side to remove from Blandings its superfluous guests, leaving him in peace to tend his beloved pig, Empress of Blandings. However, when Lord Ickenham is on a sweetness-and-light-spreading expedition, there's always apt to be trouble. "It's Jarvis' voices, from squeaky young George to quavering Lady Constance, which make the comedy sparkle."-Guardian (London)

P.G. Wodehouse (Author), Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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The Wind in the Willows

This hardcover edition of the classic tale of THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS has been read and loved by children for generations. Start a new tradition of reading this timeless tale in your home today! •Fully illustrated in color, bringing each tale to life •Filled with humor, adventure and imagination for children of all ages •Great first-time reading for children as well as reading again for parents and grandparents •Beautiful story and unforgettable characters

Kenneth Grahame, More (Author), James Saxon, Nigel Anthony, Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Nigel Lambert