Showing results by narrator "Martin Jarvis" in All Categories

The Forsyte Saga initially centres on Soames Forsyte - a successful solicitor living in London with his beautiful wife Irene. A pillar of the late Victorian upper middle class, materially wealthy, his appears to be a golden existence endowed with all the necessary possessions for a 'Man of Property' but beneath this very proper exterior lies a core of unhappiness and brutal relationships. When The Forsyte Saga was shown on television in 1967 it was hugely successful.

Pinocchio is the best puppet story ever. Listeners will quickly be caught up in Carlo Collodi's impish creation as they are swept along at an action-packed pace. From the day when Geppetto first carves Pinocchio from a piece of wood to the final happy ending - with many exciting and dangerous adventures along the way - Pinocchio will charm and captivate. The story also has a strong moral throughout, which is as suitable for children (and adults!) today as when the original book was written.

An intimate, evocative, often funny, and always vital portrait of India at the peak of the British Raj. Written at the age of 22, they immediately show Kipling's natural and prodigious talent. Timeless, they can be listened to forever.

This fine collection of intelligent, unabridged short stories about intriguing, interesting and sometimes inspirational men is an audio treat for young and old, male or female. A carefully compiled anthology featuring timeless tales from classic authors including Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Anton Chekhov, read by a cast of acclaimed and respected actors, including Stephen Fry, Martin Jarvis and Kerry Shale; this compilation will be enjoyed by the whole family.

Here is a timeless classic in an exclusive audio edition featuring Matilda, who told such dreadful lies; George, who played with a dangerous toy and suffered a catastrophe of considerable dimensions; and many, many other colourful characters. Witty, memorable, and always instructive, join the many generations who have laughed together and enjoyed Belloc's unique and biting humour.

Born in 1832 in Pennsylvania, Louisa May Alcott was best known for Little Women, her phenomenal bestseller loosely based on her childhood experiences with her own sisters. Adapted numerous times for stage and screen, it is dramatised here alongside her follow-up novel Good Wives and the thrilling sensation story A Marble Woman.

You Never Can Tell was originally born out of a bet that Shaw couldn't write a "seaside comedy" (a popular theatrical genre at that time). The result is perhaps the most surprising of Shaw's plays, complete with marital mayhem, tangled romance, and even doubtful dentistry. Despite the play's lighthearted tone, it's really another of Shaw's brilliantly observed social treatises, this time in the guise of a light comedy.

An acclaimed novelist, short story writer and critic, Leslie Poles Hartley is best known for his 1953 novel The Go-Between, which won the W. H. Heinemann Award and was adapted as a BAFTA-winning film starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates. Included here is a radio dramatisation of that classic tale, alongside adaptations of three further novels and five short stories.

Fielding's rollicking comic masterpiece sparkles with life in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatization. Abandoned child Tom is raised by the rich and benevolent squire Mr. Allworthy, much to the chagrin of Allworthy's mean-natured nephew Blifil, and develops into a good-natured rake. But Tom's inability to resist a pretty face lands him in hot water when he impregnates Blifil's betrothed. When the lovely Sophia runs away to London, Tom pursues, embarking upon a series of riotous and amorous adventures.

There is no shortage of humour in Broadway, Jeeves?, an elegantly observed journal of a year in the life of the musical play by Jeeves, written and directed by Sir Alan Ayckbourn and composed by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, in which Jarvis starred in America.

Beginning in January 2001, the listener can enjoy a detailed account of this acclaimed production as it moves from Pittsburgh to Toronto to....Will it ever get to Broadway?

For the 90th anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh, a sequel featuring new stories from the Hundred Acre Wood. Ninety years since Winnie-the-Pooh first stepped into the Forest, he's venturing back in an entirely new collection of stories. Four highly acclaimed authors - Paul Bright, Brian Sibley, Kate Saunders and Jeanne Willis - will transport you to the Hundred Acre Wood, where you will meet new companions and old friends in four delightful adventures.

Mixing the colorful letters of Franz Liszt with some of his most ecstatic piano music, Odyssey of Love depicts his tempestuous relations with two fascinating women.

These witty vignettes are full of great repartee and wonderfully astute observations – read with the dry humour and enthusiasm they deserve by ‘The Olivier of Audiobooks’ Martin Jarvis.

Trent's Last Case, published when Conan Doyle and Chesterton were both at the pinnacle of their respective literary careers, was the first detective story to use finger-printing as a means of detecting the criminal. The book was intended to be a gentle parody of the detective genre, only for it to be quickly hailed as a classic.

Lu Xun (1881-1936) was born in Shaoxing, in the province of Zhejiang, China. He came from a scholar-official family and by the age of six had begun studying the ancient classics. Regarded as the founder of contemporary Chinese literature, Lu Xun used the pen as a weapon to wage an heroic struggle against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism. The rich heritage he has left behind is a treasure in the literature of the Chinese people.

When Christopher was six, the poems of Milne were always on hand to reassure him that other children were just as puzzled and naughty and silly as he was, and that grown-ups could be even sillier. When he turned 60, he decided it was high time there was an equally reassuring volume for those of his generation who were not only more confused than ever but were losing their teeth, their hair and, all too often, their car keys.

An outstanding selection of stories from the classic King James version of the Bible.

Throughout his life Kipling never stopped writing. Greatly revered during his own lifetime and recipient of the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature The Essential Kipling celebrates a truly prolific and varied career; with his poetry and stories interpreted vividly by wonderful actors.

Oliver Twist is an orphan who was born in a workhouse. After an unhappy apprenticeship, Oliver steals away to London where he is taken in by thieves, headed by a man named Fagin. He is rescued by Mr Brownlow, but the gang kidnaps him back. Oliver discovers the identity of his parents and the gang is exposed.

Throughout David Copperfield, Dickens masterfully sustains the action through a series of dramatic contrasts. As the story unfolds, David’s happiest moments are often followed by those of extreme misery and the author weaves the more humorous elements of the story between the times of great tragedy and sorrow.