Showing results by narrator "Martin Jarvis" in All Categories

A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys’ delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive and their behaviour starts to take on a murderous, savage significance.

Despite the title, Dickens's portrayal of early industrial society is less relentlessly grim than that in novels by contemporaries such as Elizabeth Gaskell or Charles Kingsley. Hard Times weaves the tale of Thomas Gradgrind, a hard-headed politician who raises his children Louisa and Tom without love and to have no empathy, their lives completely devoid of beauty, culture, or imagination. Only after a series of crises does their father realise that the manner in which he raised his children has ruined their lives.

Right Ho, Jeeves sees Bertie Wooster blithely attempting to assume the role of Jeeves himself as a matters-of-the-heart adviser. Very unwise: from Gussie Fink-Nottle's romance with Madeline Bassett, to Tuppy Glossop and his stop/go engagement to Angela Travers, the young master succeeds only in making a bally mess of everyone's love-lives.

Here are 10 hilarious stories from the genius pen of Richmal Crompton, featuring legendary, lateral-thinking schoolboy William Brown.

William Brown, the loveable rogue created by Richmal Crompton in the 1930s, is as well-received and enjoyed today as he was almost 80 years ago. Martin Jarvis has long been the voice of William, and brings a youthful sense of joy and a childlike excitement to the reading.

An all-star cast attend a mysterious private club in this hilarious parody of classic horror tales. Membership of the exclusive Mausoleum Club isn't for the faint of heart. The Honorable Clarence Green wants in, but to join he must first hear the spine-chilling stories of the existing members, before enthralling them with one of his own. But are their stories fact or fiction? And will Green still want to join after hearing the horrors they have to tell?

Galahad Threepwood is causing scandal again...this time by deciding to NOT publish his potentially humiliating high-society memoirs. His decision causes rifts in the ranks at castle Blandings and all involved split into three camps: those who want the book suppressed, those who want it published, and those, who for some reason or another, that have been sent to steal it.

There is a hint of Armageddon in the air. According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (recorded, thankfully, in 1655, before she blew up her entire village and all its inhabitants, who had gathered to watch her burn), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. So the Armies of Good and Evil are massing, the four Bikers of the Apocalypse are revving up their mighty hogs and hitting the road, and the world's last two remaining witchfinders are getting ready to Fight the Good Fight.

Jimmy Crocker, a.k.a. Piccadilly Jim is a lively young American ex-newspaper man who meets Ann Chester, the girl of his dreams, in London. Problem is Jim once wrote a bad review of her first book of poetry. They set sail to New York together with Ann still not knowing he's the dastardly critic!

The debonair Uncle Fred makes a welcome return to Blandings, where plotting and confusion is rife. Blackmail, sabotage, jilted lovers and pigs under threat of kidnap all feature largely, making this hilarious instalment in the Blandings series irresistible to fans and newcomers alike. The story sees lovely debutante Myra Schoonmaker unhappily ensconced in Blandings at the insistence of Lady Constance Keeble, who objects to Myra’s entanglement with curate Bill Bailey.

The first volume of Wodehouse's brilliant complete and unabridged short stories. Originally a semi-novel, this version contains self-contained stories which are nonetheless linked, often by Bingo Little, an endearingly hopeless chap and a serial romancer.

The second instalment of this wonderful collection of short stories sees Bertie Wooster in the proverbial soup as usual and Jeeves invariably shimmering to the rescue. Love, comic reunions and errant Uncles are all on the agenda, plus bucket loads of laughter. Where would Wooster be without his infinitely brainy valet? Where would audio listeners be without Wodehouse's sparkling comic invention?

Six unabridged stories from Richmal Crompton read by Martin Jarvis as the lovable scamp William Brown, detailing a whole host of scrapes, mistakes, misunderstandings, and straight-forward naughtiness. Kids will love this download, and adults will find themselves laughing out loud too!

We find ourselves in the austerity of the 1950s, when England's aristocracy was feeling the pinch. Bertie Wooster has gone to a residential self-help school to learn how to darn his socks. Until he re-emerges, Jeeves has signed up with Bill Rowcester (pronounced Roaster), an earl who is failing to make ends meet in trade, and yearning to sell his stately home, which has charm and damp in equal measure. In his new environment Jeeves is required to exert his mammoth brain to what would be breaking point for any normal intellect.

Chester Newton is a successful racehorse syndicate organiser and his company, Victrix Racing, is having its best year yet. When his prized horse, Potassium, wins the world-famous Epsom Derby, Chester is set to become the next big thing in British horse racing. But one phone call changes everything. Someone hiding behind a voice scrambler and an untraceable phone is demanding he fixes a race – and they’re willing to go after Chester’s family if he fails to comply.

Sid Halley, a private investigator, has a new left hand, having had a transplant since his last appearance in Refusal. After receiving death threats, an ex-jockey trainer friend calls Sid to ask for his help, but Sid has his own problems to deal with, like recovering from surgery and saving his crumbling marriage. When his friend’s stable yard is torched, horses killed and the friend is found dead, Sid can only blame himself for not helping sooner. The police think it’s suicide, but Sid is not convinced after his friend’s terrified phone calls.

The Diary of Nobody (1892) created a cultural icon, an English archetype. Anxious, accident-prone, occasionally waspish, Charles Pooter has come to epitomize English suburban life. His diary chronicles encounters with difficult tradesmen, the delights of home improvements, small parties, minor embarrassments, and problems with his troublesome son. The suburban world he inhabits is hilariously and painfully familiar in its small-mindedness and its essential decency.

Written in 1948 and made into a popular film the same year, Just William's Luck is the only novel Richmal Crompton wrote featuring her famous hero. The action takes place throughout one extraordinary day in William's life. It begins harmlessly enough in the old barn and soon develops into a riotous comedy-thriller as the invincible schoolboy hatches a plot to marry off the elder brothers of The Outlaws.

Dick Dunster and Philip Progmire have been friends from their schooldays. They have also been adversaries. Progmire’s thespian longings, nurtured since he was a university actor, are now submerged in his work as an accountant with Megapolis Television. Dunster is also at Megapolis, engaged on an exposé of war criminals, focussing on a blown-up church and the massacre of the whole population of a small town during the Italian campaign.

The very popular Christmas story given the full Martin Jarvis brilliant treatment. A whole new and accessible angle on an old favourite!