Showing results by narrator "Brian Cox" in All Categories

Hailed by Arthur Miller as ‘the mad inventor of modern theatre’, Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, poet and novelist whose groundbreaking works mingled naturalism and psychology and paved the way for Expressionist drama. A prolific writer – penning over 60 plays, 19 novels and nine autobiographies – his turbulent life was marked by emotional conflict. This wide-ranging collection brings together 13 of his most important dramas and a semi-autobiographical ‘occult diary’, enhanced through stunning soundscapes and music composed by Strindberg himself.

One of the few Danish words that British people have become familiar with, 'hygge' is a specifically Scandinavian notion of snugness, comfort and contentment. It's all about enjoying the simple pleasures, like curling up with a book on a rainy afternoon or cradling a cup of hot cocoa while wearing a chunky sweater. In this convivial chat show, Danish comedian and author Sandi Toksvig takes a deep dive into both the concept and the Danish way of life.

Eleven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas telling the stories of Mary Queen of Scots and the Stuart royals. Under the Stuarts, Britain entered the modern world. But with great change came turmoil, and for 111 years, the Stuart monarchs faced dynastic struggles, religious conflict, the rise of parliamentary democracy - and civil war. These dramas chart that turbulent epoch through its royal family, from Mary, Queen of Scots to the ‘last Stuart’, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s daughter Charlotte.

A collection of BBC radio documentaries celebrating the lunar landings and their legacy. On July 20th 1969, for the first time in history, man walked on the moon. Over 50 years later, this 'giant leap for mankind' still captures our imagination, and in this four-part collection, we bring together some of the most fascinating and insightful BBC documentaries about our ever-changing relationship with our only natural satellite.

Alexander of Macedon was one of history’s greatest ever military commanders. By the time of his death, aged just 32, he had conquered the entire Persian Empire and was ruler of a vast territory stretching from Greece to the borders of India. These six episodes tell his extraordinary life story, as reimagined by acclaimed dramatist David Wade.

Lawyer Bobby Carter did a lot of work for the wrong type of people. Now he’s dead, and it was no accident. Besides a distraught family and a heap of powerful friends, Carter’s left behind his share of enemies. So, who dealt the fatal blow? DC Jack Laidlaw’s reputation precedes him. He’s not a team player, but he’s got a sixth sense for what’s happening on the streets. His boss chalks the violence up to the usual rivalries, but is it that simple? As two Glasgow gangs go to war, Laidlaw needs to find out who got Carter before the whole city explodes.

Born and bred in Dundee, Servant sees himself as a people's champion. His extraordinary self-belief stems largely from his dominant position in Dundee's notorious Cheeseburger Wars of the early 1980s - a period of riotous appreciation for the traditional American snack that caused madness on the streets and lined Servant's pockets. He continued his Midas touch in the 1990s by running what he often claims to have been the 'largest window cleaning round in Western Europe'.

Forced to run for his life after killing two suspects, assaulting the Chief Constable and inadvertently causing the death of Lieutenant Roach, McLevy has fled Leith for San Francisco. Somewhat rashly, and against her better judgement, Jean Brash has decided to accompany him. Arriving in America, it seems they’ve jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. San Francisco is as cold and foggy as Leith, and home to just as many criminals. With the Gold Rush at its height, the city is a madhouse, its inhabitants driven by greed.

Henry V is a study of kingship, patriotism, and heroic determination tempered by tender comedy as Henry courts Katherine, princess of France. Henry, the noble and courageous young king of England, decides to invade France, believing he has a rightful claim to the throne. At Agincourt he leads his army into battle against the powerful French forces and, against all the odds, wins a famous victory.

Penguin Classics presents H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, adapted for audio and now available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by the actor Brian Cox. 'Great shapes like big machines rose out of the dimness, and cast grotesque black shadows, in which dim spectral Morlocks sheltered from the glare'.

Brief Lives are some of the wittiest and most moving miniature portraits ever written. Aubrey's little biographies are amusing, ribald, moving; a testament to the brevity of human existence and one of the most precious relics of a distant age.

Set in the 12th century, during the reign of Richard the Lionheart, Ivanhoe tells of the love of Wilfred of Ivanhoe for the Lady Rowena, his father Cedric's ward. Cedric, who is dedicated to the liberation of the Saxon people from Norman oppression and to the revival of the Saxon royal line, intends Rowena, a descendant of King Alfred, for the oafish Athelstane, and he banishes his son. Ivanhoe joins King Richard on his crusade in the Holy Land, and eventually the two men return secretly to England.

Tony Award winner for Best Play and Olivier Award winner for Best Comedy. How much would you pay for a painting with nothing on it? Would it be art? Marc's best friend Serge has just bought a very expensive - and very white - painting. To Marc, the painting is a joke, and as battle lines are drawn, old friends use it to settle scores.

The Shootist is John Bernard Books, the last surviving top gunfighter in a vanishing American West. He rides into El Paso in the year 1901, to be told by a doctor that he has a terminal illness. As word spreads that the famous assassin has reached the end, an assortment of vultures gather to feast upon his corpse. Most men would end their days quietly, but Books outwits them all by selecting the where, the when and the manner of his death.

For a century Bram Stoker's Dracula has reigned supreme as the undisputed masterpiece of horror writing. We have all grown up under the shadow of the elegant Count, at once an attractive, brutal, and erotic creature of the night. A skilled and imaginative cast, including Brian Cox as Van Helsing and Heathcote Williams as Dracula, brings this classic horror story to life!

When British businessman Geoffrey Harrison is kidnapped on the same day that Franca Tantardini, Italy’s most ruthless terrorist, is captured, there seems no reason why their destinies should become linked, until Franca’s teenage lover intervenes, kidnapping Harrison from his kidnappers, and straightforward extortion becomes political terrorism. Beautiful, seductive and extremely dangerous, Franca Tantardini is one of Italy's most ruthless political extremists.

From Shakespeare and Milton to Alan Moore and Douglas Adams, writers have striven to convey the enormity and wonder of our universe. In this enlightening three-part series, Robin Ince, aided by special guests including his fellow Infinite Monkey Cage presenter Brian Cox, appraises the great communicators past and present, who have captured our imagination and advanced our knowledge.

A modern classic from one of the great thriller writers of our era. In the villages and on the mountains of County Tyrone, in the heartland of the Provisional IRA’s most active Brigade, the golden rule is ‘Hear nothing, see nothing, know nothing’. To collaborate with British Intelligence is to invite an inescapable death sentence. But there is word on the mountain that inside the Brigade there is a ‘tout’, an informer.

A thrilling classic from a master of the genre. Thrown out of the SAS for insubordination, Gord Brown now lives in disillusioned exile on a failing salmon farm in the Scottish highlands. Yet to the three Guatemalan Indians who track him down, he represents the last hope of freedom. They have come to recruit a fighting man to lead an uprising against the brutal military dictatorship which is killing their people. Gord flies with them to Cuba, then on with a small band of men to a rough landing strip in the rainforest of Guatemala.

A thrilling classic from a master of the genre. In a wrecked Croat village, a mass grave is uncovered and the mutilated body of a young Englishwoman, Dorrie Mowat, is exhumed. Her mother, who loathed Dorrie in life, becomes obsessed by the need to find out about her death. But with civil war tearing apart the former Yugoslavia, none of the authorities there or in Britain are interested in a ‘minor’ war crime. So she turns to Bill Penn, private investigator, MI5 reject.