Showing results by narrator "Alex Tregear" in All Categories

Summer 1933. Fresh from the discovery that she has family living nearby, Kitty Underhay has packed her carpet bag, commandeered a chambermaid and set off on a visit to stately Enderley Hall. She’s looking forward to getting to know her relatives, as well as the assembled group of house guests. But when elderly Nanny Thoms is found dead at the bottom of the stairs after papers of national importance are stolen, Kitty quickly learns that Muffy the dog’s muddy paws on her hemline are the least of her problems.

Late summer 1933. After a quarrel with too-plucky-for-her-own-good amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay, dashing ex-army captain Matthew Bryant is nursing his wounds, and a tumbler of brandy, when there’s a heavy knock at the door and he finds himself arrested for murder. The body of aspiring actress Pearl Bright has been found, strangled with one of Matt’s own bootlaces, and the evidence seems to be stacked against him. The local constabulary might have locked Matt up, but before they can throw away the key, Kitty hears the news and hies to his aid, determined to prove his innocence.

Today started off like every other: tedious letters, refilling the coffee machine, unjamming the printer. But then, just as I was about to clock off, for a girls’ night of pasta and wine with my best friends, big news: Michael Hunter is going to be my new boss. Gorgeous, smart, funny (maybe a little too confident) Michael, a.k.a. the man of my dreams.

The compelling new bestseller from the author of The Mersey Daughter and Winter on the Mersey. Alice Lake and her friend Edith have had everything thrown at them in their first year as district nurses in London’s East End. From babies born out of wedlock to battered wives, they’ve had plenty...

Megan has to climb round and step across the body to get a proper view. What's left is like a chalk white mask in the rough shape of a face. The innocence is still there, and a hint of the cheekiness. But perhaps she is imagining that. Detective Megan Thomas moved to Devon for a fresh start, after years spent undercover. She's staying with her sister and swimming in the sea daily, battling the tides and letting the waves wash her past away. But she can't outrun everything.

At 28, Lucy is doing well for herself. She's got a great job, her boss loves her, and her friends think she's great. The only problem is she does feel the need to lie outrageously on dates - often with hilarious results. But when Lucy decides that her flatmate and oldest friend, Henry, is in need of a makeover, nothing can prepare them for the surprise results! Before long, Lucy realises that their lives will never be the same again.

Emma and her friends are about to turn 30, and for Emma it's a defining moment. Defined, that is, by her having achieved none of the things she'd imagined she would. She's never jumped out of a plane, hasn't met the man she's going to marry or snogged anyone famous. As Emma hurtles towards her thirtieth, she discovers, with hilarious consequences, that some of them are trickier to tick off than she'd thought....

Kenneth Branagh stars in BBC Radio 4's ambitious eight-hour dramatisation of Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman's epic masterpiece set during the Battle of Stalingrad. This powerful work, completed in 1960, charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war. Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the KGB placed the manuscript under arrest and Grossman was informed his book would not be published for at least 200 years.

When Jamie Blair, 24, unemployed and back from the trenches, took lodgings at Larcom Street in Walworth, he had no idea he was walking into a trap. The house was owned by Henry Mullins, big, burly and a hard drinker. Henry made life hell for his four stepchildren who looked half-starved and frequently got bashed.

The unmissable third and final instalment of Jenny Colgan's return to the Little School by the Sea - perfect for anyone who ever dreamed of going to boarding school!    

Ever since Ruby was tiny, she has been unique. Her smiles are magically rare, and she likes things done in a very particular way - her blocks are always color-coded, and her toy animals stand in regimented lines. She’s also the daughter of Sara’s dreams - even on days when being a mother to a three-year-old is exhausting. Not everyone understands Ruby like Sara does though. Not Sara’s husband Mike, and certainly not her disapproving mother-in-law, Barbara. So when circumstances force their family to move in with Barbara, Sara knows it’s going to make motherhood even harder.

As the summer holidays start, scandal hits Downey House. The attraction between Maggie Adair, the fiery, committed English teacher at Downey House and David McDonald, a teacher at the local boys' school, has escalated - and now both are facing an uncertain future. The girls of Downey House - mercurial Fliss, glamorous Alice and shy, dependable Simone - are facing long summers at home. But the new term is not far away - and it will bring new pupils and lots of fresh new challenges.... 

The unmissable second instalment of Jenny Colgan's return to the Little School by the Sea - perfect for anyone who ever dreamed of going to boarding school!After the scandals of the summer, life has settled down for Maggie Adair and the girls of Downey House. But Ismé, the new scholarship girl, is causing trouble.

Can you ever outrun the past? It's Zoe's wedding day. She's about to marry Jamie, the love of her life. Then a phone call comes out of the blue, with the news that her mum, Gina, has been arrested. Zoe must make an impossible decision: should she leave her own wedding to help? Zoe hasn't seen Gina for years, blaming her for the secret that she's been running from ever since she was 16. Now Gina is back in her life, but she's very different to the mum Zoe remembers.

Milly always dreamed of being a mother. Adopted herself, she has always imagined a powerful, intimate connection with a child of her own. So when she and her husband Matt are told they can’t have children, her dreams are shattered. But then their loved ones offer the ultimate gift - Milly’s best friend Anna and Matt’s brother Jack will be donors, so that Milly can finally have a chance to be a mother. Except none of the four people involved are prepared for the feelings that will threaten their most important relationships as their daughter receives a heartbreaking diagnosis.

This history of relatives lost and found was originally broadcast on 3, 10 and 17 May 2011 in the 'Afternoon Play' slot. The first play, 'The Wrong Label', is set in London in 1941. Alice knows that to stop your children from being evacuated is tantamount to siding with Hitler. In 'The Year My...

It is October 1890 in London. Crime-scene photographer Sarah Bain is overjoyed to marry her beloved Detective Sergeant Barrett - but the wedding takes a sinister turn when the body of a stabbing victim is discovered in the crypt of the church. Not every newlywed couple begins their marriage with a murder investigation, but Sarah and Barrett, along with their friends Lord Hugh Staunton and Mick O'Reilly, take the case.

From the author of the No. 1 bestseller WATCH OVER ME, over half a million copies sold, comes a heartwrenching, uplifting novel about a mother who'll go to the ends of the earth to bring her grieving daughter back to life. 'Daniela Sacerdoti is fast becoming one of my favourites: and here she...

What goes through a woman's head while she's having sex? Women on Top of the World is a collection of 51 first person testimonies by 51 women from around the globe, from all ages and from all walks of life. Searingly honest, they reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings during sex to writer Lucy-Anne Holmes. The result is an incredible compendium of true disclosures that are funny and sad, shocking and tender.

Now - Living in her home in the remote countryside - the perfect place to get away from it all - Helena is a career woman with no job and a mother without a baby. She blames Ashley for destroying her life. But is what happened really Ashley's fault? Then - When Helena hires Ashley to work for her, she's startled but impressed by her fierce ambition. They form a dream team, and Helena is proud - maybe this is the protégée she's always wanted to have? But soon Helena realises that nothing will stand in the way of Ashley's drive to get to the top.