Showing results by narrator "Samuel West" in All Categories

Henry V, which dates from 1599, is the last in Shakespeare's series of plays based on English history. It is also, of course, among the Bard's best-known and most-performed works. It's given rich new life here by a full-cast presentation that combines classic literature with classical music.

Oscar Wilde's first play confronts the hypocrisy of public "morality" compared with genuine, private kindness. The reasons for its continued popularity are not difficult to identify: the play's witty dialogue contains many of Wilde's most quoted aphorisms, its stylish setting provides opportunities for elegant presentation, and its cast of memorable characters play out a story which is genuinely moving. This new audio production brings together a full cast worthy of Wilde's creative genius.

The young and virtuous physician's daughter Helena desperately loves Count Bertram, but he regards her as beneath his notice. When Helena cures the king of France of a mortal illness, he rewards her with Bertram's hand, but before their marriage can be consummated the count flees. To win her husband back again, Helena forms a daring and resourceful plan. A plot to unmask the strutting soldier Parolles makes up another strand in this sometimes disturbing comedy of deception and disguise.

Samuel narrates the 1990 Booker Prize winner, Possession by A. S. Byatt, an exhilarating novel of wit and romance. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets, uncovering their letters, journals, and poems, tracking their movements from London to Yorkshire, showing an extraordinary counterpoint of passions and ideas. In this interview, Samuel tells us about Possession, what he likes about narrating, what it was like growing up in a family of actors and what he’s working on next.

The President of the United States regularly lies to the public and accuses anyone who criticises him of being fake. Politicians openly rubbish the views of 'so called experts', dissemble and mislead. So how do we hold those in power accountable? Fox News, Breitbart Media and the Murdoch papers peddle views not news, pushing politically motivated agendas. So, where can we look for reliable, verifiable sources of news and information? What does it mean for democracy? And what will the future hold?

Coriolanus tells of a proud Roman general who captures the town Corioli but subsequently falls from favour with the Roman people. He allies himself with the Volscians and leads an attack on Rome, but allegiances are won and lost before the final tragic end.

In this BBC full-cast production of Richard II, the male ego and narcissism of monarchs are hung out to dry.... Written entirely in verse, the rhythms of the language in this epic tragedy encompass its themes of dignity and kingship with fitting grandeur and pathos, as the capricious and narcissistic Richard is brought to his own destruction. Starring Samuel West as Richard II.

Here are some of the finest narrative poems in the English language, dating from an age of rich inspiration.

The heartrending story of a British boy's four-year ordeal in a Japanese prison camp during the Second World War. Based on J. G. Ballard's own childhood, this is the extraordinary account of a boy's life in Japanese-occupied wartime Shanghai - a mesmerising, hypnotically compelling novel of war, of starvation and survival, of internment camps and death marches. It blends searing honesty with an almost hallucinatory vision of a world thrown utterly out of joint.

This is my manifesto for morning. There is an energy in the earlier hours, an awareness I enjoy. In today's world we tend to wake as late as we can, timed to when we have to work. But we don't need to chase the day. In Morning, Allan Jenkins shows how getting up earlier even once a week or month can free us to be more imaginative, to maybe read, to walk, to write. He talks to other early risers such as Jamie Oliver and Samuel West, to poets and painters.

Written by Matthew Solon. This play tells the story of the tense negotiation that followed the 2010 general election, which led to the country's first post-war coalition. Based on interviews with those who were at the meetings, political journalists and on published material - and using actors to play all the key characters - this is a compelling account of those five momentous days in May.

It's the day after tomorrow, and the Arctic sea ice has melted. While global business carves up the new frontier, cruise ships race each other to ever-rarer wildlife sightings. The passengers of the Vanir have come seeking a polar bear. What they find is even more astonishing: a dead body. It is Tom Harding, lost in an accident three years ago and now revealed by the melting ice of Midgard glacier. Tom had come to Midgard to help launch the new venture of his best friend of 30 years, Sean Cawson - a man whose business relies on discretion.

A BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime recording of Samuel West reading from the novella The Aspern Papers by Henry James, set against the decaying grandeur of Venice. Originally broadcast 26 April - 4 May 2010. Henry James took as inspiration for this tale the story of a mistress of Byron's who outlived the poet into lonely old age. He transposed the setting to Venice and cast the city he loved as a character in a taut narrative of literary theft and deception.

In early 20th Century England Hamilton James Macaulay relates the tale of how he found himself in a Scarborough Bric-a-brac shop. The owner of the shop has 13 long playing records that each contain a hidden track at the end, that tell strange tales of future times. These 13 tales of terror will change Hamilton James Macaulay's life forever and he will leave the shop a murderer. Thirteen is a portmantaeu audio anthology, harking back to the classic horror albums of the 1970s.

Fighting for justice, for freedom of speech, and sometimes even for their own lives, some of history's most significant figures demonstrate the finest resources of language in the service of the most dramatic issues of their day.

When Peter Pan flies into the Darlings’ room one dusky evening, he convinces Wendy and her brothers to come with him to the magical world of Neverland, where children never grow old. It’s the beginning of an amazing adventure featuring a cast of classic characters, from the mischievous Lost Boys and jealous fairy Tinker Bell, to the villainous Captain Hook and his pirate band. But will the Darlings choose to stay in Neverland or return to London to grow up like normal children?

Classic Cat Stories is an anthology that includes fairy tales and fables from the likes of Rudyard Kipling and Charles Perrault as well as comic tales from Saki and E. F. Benson. Cats, of course, have always had a dark and mysterious side, which is explored to chilling effect by the likes of Edgar Allan Poe in 'The Black Cat'. But above all, we love them, and you’ll find here stories about all kinds of cats that tug at the heartstrings like 'The Man of the House' by Ethel Colburn Mayne and other stories that celebrate their curious ways.

"I'm youth, I'm joy...I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg." The story of the little boy who refused to grow up has captured the imagination of generations of children (and the adults they grew into) since its publication in 1904. Peter Pan flies in through the bedroom window one night and teaches Wendy, John, and Michael to fly. He takes them away to endless adventures in the magical Neverland, where they meet the wicked Captain Hook and a host of other characters...

Old Macdonald is cleaning out his farmhouse kitchen when he comes across a dusty old teapot. And no one could be more surprised when a wish-granting genie pops out of the spout. Old Macdonald wishes for a wife, who wishes for a baby. A baby who wishes for a dog, who wishes for a cat, who wishes for some mice! It doesn't take long before the farmyard starts getting very busy, and very noisy! Will the genie ever get a break from granting wishes, and find some peace? If only there was someone who could grant him a wish....

In this entertaining collection, dogs of all kinds are brought to life. Working dogs, dogs who are mistreated by humans, dogs who save lives and the ones that make us laugh; they all leap and bound in stories by our most accomplished writers, including Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, Jack London and Jerome K. Jerome.