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Fear on 4 cover art

Fear on 4

By: BBC, Various
Narrated by: Anna Massey, Bernard Cribbins, Edward de Souza, full cast, Imelda Staunton, Sean Barrett, Thora Hird
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Summary

An unsettling collection of full-cast dramas from the long-running BBC Radio 4 horror series.

Throughout five series of Fear on 4 from 1988-1997, Edward de Souza was The Man in Black, a sinister raconteur who introduced a weekly half hour of terror and suspense. Here, he welcomes us to his house of horrors as he presents 13 terrifying tales that will make your flesh crawl.

The Snowman Killing by J C W Brook
Green and Pleasant by Bert Coules
Survival by John Wyndham
Soul Searching by Martyn Wade
The Beast with Five Fingers by William Fryer Harvey
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
By the River, Fontainebleau by Stephen Gallagher
The Face by E F Benson
The Monkey’s Revenge by Guy Jenkin
Fat Andy by Stephen Dunstone
The Journey Home by Bert Coules
Dead Man’s Boots by William Ingram
The Judge’s House by Bram Stoker

With eerie sound effects that enhance the atmosphere of dread, these bloodcurdling adaptations run the gamut from the mysterious to the macabre. With superb casts including Imelda Staunton, Bernard Cribbins, Anna Massey, Thora Hird and Sean Barrett.

©2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

What listeners say about Fear on 4

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Utterly Bizzare

To call this merely a mixed bag would be an understatement. It's as if someone was tasked with putting together the best and worst short stories they could find...or perhaps just the best, and they fell ill, passing the job onto the tea lady or something. The narrator is given dreadful links to the story ('welcome to story number ten. There are also ten commandments, such as do not kill. But in this story...someone GETS KILLED!' Also, the husbands are all melodramatic chauvinists and borderline psychopaths. So then, a quick by-story review: The Snowman: Clunky, predictable, dull. Green and Pleasant: Badly aged. Reads like an 80's student play. Survive(?): Odd choice for audio. Forgettable, bland. Soul Searching: Excellent acting, decent enough story. Bernard Cribbins on top form. The Beast with Five Fingers: Excellent interpretation of a classic tale. The Yellow Wallpaper: Best narration of this story I have heard, and the best in this collection by far. By the River : Enjoyable retelling, well acted. The Face: Painful. Lacking in any redeeming quality. ?: A scientist decides to hire a girl with learning difficulties to keep him alive after having his head transplanted onto the body of a monkey. Yes, that's right. It's even worse than it sounds. Fat Andy: Marvellous, genuinely frightening. Thora Hird co-stars. The Journey Home: Perfectly made for audio. Keeps one guessing. Dead Man's Boots: Dead End Script. Perhaps was written by a corpse. In 1920. The Judges House: Acceptable rendering of a classic tale. Neither good nor bad. It just is. So six good ones, six bad ones and one impaled on the fence. Never was there a better reason for the 'skip' function to exist.

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43 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

This can be downloaded for nothing...

A mixed bag of BBC stories which can be downloaded and streamed perfectly legally else where on the web.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

13 out of 13

Fantastic, great selection of stories with really awesome performances all around. Highly recommended to all lovers of horror!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

If you live in the U.K. this is another BBC Repeat

All stories have gone out over and over and over again on BBC Radio 4 , very disappointed to see that they charge license fee for repeated material and are now selling it on Audible? Sign in to BBC Radio 4 and listen to same old stuff there !

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fear on 4

I listened to these when they were first on the radio and remembered them fondly. I didn't expect I'd enjoy them as much as I have. I found the stories are creepy and interesting (if slightly too many hysterical women) and I've since even re-listened.

All the voice actors or great, but the kids voices can become grating - but maybe that's intentional.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Very Dated

These stories are horrifying - not from the quality of the writing but from the racism, classism and sexism sprinkled throughout. Not sure when these stories were first broadcast - I'm guessing late 1970s or early 80's. I understand why they have now sold them to Audible as you could not possibly broadcast them now. They are a terrifying reflection of BBC radio 4 at that time, who clearly considered that society was made up of cheerful cockney peasants and that the middle classes all had received pronunciation. If you enjoy stories about neglected stupid hysterical housewives and their assertive professional husbands then you will love this. Personally I suggest you have a listen to some more recent offerings. Also the stories are quite lame.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic listening for horror fans

I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this but was surprised. Really great acting by the casts. Music and sound effects were spot on too. Sometimes had the hairs on my neck stand on end. Absolutely brilliant.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

I don’t think these episodes have aged well, or perhaps they weren’t great to begin with. Great actors, terrible sound effect and even worse storylines. I usually love a great audio horror or gothic mystery, but even I wasn’t convinced by these.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

the most middle class horror collection

A radio 4 collection in the vein of twilight zone. it's a mixed bag. Performances are pretty good though.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great spine tingling stories

The stories are wonderfully dark. Let's hope more of the series are released! looking forward to returning to the world of The Mann on Black!

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1 person found this helpful