Showing results by author "Mr Punch" in All Categories

Mr Punch Presents: It’s a Wonderful Life, the irresistibly heart-warming story of George Bailey, who is prevented from committing suicide by the elderly angel Clarence, who takes him on a journey back through his life to show him how the town of Bedford Falls would have been had he never lived. Originally directed by the celebrated Frank Capra, it is performed here for radio with James Stewart, Victor Moore and Donna Reed recreating their original roles.

Mr Punch Presents: Sunset Boulevard, nominated for 11 Academy Awards, Billy Wilder’s brilliant 1950 film is about the flamboyant silent-movie star Norma Desmond played by Gloria Swanson and her pitiful attempt to stage a comeback to the silver screen through her friendship with a young, opportunistic screenwriter, played by William Holden. Re-created for the radio with the original stars in this special radio production.

In March 1950, Timothy Evans, aged 25, was hanged for the murder of his wife and child. Sixteen years, later the queen was to grant him a full pardon. So why did Timothy Evans confess to murder? Why was John Reginald Christie, his neighbour, not arrested until April Fool’s Day three years later? And what was the gruesome discovery behind the kitchen wall? The shocking truth of the sordid and tragic events that took place behind the doors of number 10 Rillington Place was to horrify the nation.

Hollywood Playhouse - The Oscar's Collection is a unique compilation of 12 Oscar winning films specially adapted for the radio and performed by many of the original film stars in front of a live studio audience. Originally broadcast on the radio, they were to become as popular with the public as the movies themselves.

A fascinating glimpse into some of the most notorious crimes and trials of the last 100 years. Using the original trial transcripts, eyewitness accounts and contemporary newspaper reports, we witness the actual events that made each trial a cause célèbre of its day.

Succeeding William IV in 1837, Victoria reigned for nearly 64 years and was always a keen chronicler of life around her, through both her paintings and the detailed diary she kept from the age of 13. Queen Victoria’s Highland Journals cover the period from 1848 to 1882 and provide a fascinating insight into those long 'never-to-be-forgotten days' she spent with her family in her much beloved Scottish Highlands.

Mr Punch Presents: Shane, the classic Western, nominated for six Academy Awards, is set in the late 1860s and tells the story of the mysterious retired gunslinger played by Alan Ladd, who arrives at the ranch of a family of homesteaders, only to find himself involved in a violent range war. In this special radio production both Alan Ladd and Van Heflin reprise their original film roles from the Oscar-winning movie.

Viscount Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), known as ‘The Hero’ during his own lifetime was both an inspiring commander and an innovative tactician, becoming a rear admiral after defeating the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. He was also responsible for the great victories of the Nile (1798) and Copenhagen (1801). Revered by his officers and men, he was renowned for both his arrogance and his scandalous love affair with the beautiful Emma Hamilton.

In 1911, Captain Robert Falcon Scott went back to the huge frozen wasteland of the Antarctic with the intention of reaching the South Pole, by a long and terribly arduous trek across the ice. On finally reaching the pole, Scott and his comrades were devastated to find that they had been beaten by the Norwegian explorer Amundsen. With temperatures of minus 30, they began their slow journey back to their base.

Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), the cynical owner of Rick’s Café Americain helps his former lover Ilse Lund (Ingrid Bergman) and her underground leader husband escape from the Nazis in this powerful love story, featuring the classic song "As Time Goes By". The Maltese Falcon, stars Humphrey Bogart as the private detective Sam Spade. In this compelling thriller, Sam Spade is entrusted with the safe-keeping of the much-coveted black falcon statuette as he becomes involved in a classic tale of greed and illusion.

A seven-volume collection containing some of the most fascinating journals and letters to have been written in the last two hundred and fifty years, all performed in a dramatised setting.

Dorothy Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth in 1771, being one year younger than her brother William. After their mother died in 1778, they were separated and did not return to the Lake District until 1794, when they spent two happy months walking around the hills near Keswick, eventually settling down at Grasmere in 1799. The journals that Dorothy kept are remarkable for the detailed observations she makes of the surrounding countryside and people, often providing glimpses of poverty and suffering, as well as displaying her complete love affair with nature.

The brief and tragic life of Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) is told through the beautiful and passionate letters written by Charlotte to her best friend Ellen Nussey. Born and brought up in the bleak Haworth parsonage with only her sisters and brother for company, she soon obtains employment as a Governess. Having travelled abroad to study languages in Brussels, she returns to the Yorkshire moors to join her family where she writes her most successful novel, Jane Eyre.

Mr Punch Presents: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, following the fortunes of three ill-matched gold diggers, who are searching for treasure in Mexico. As they hunt for their elusive prize, the three prospectors become progressively more corrupt and greedy and fall foul of each other’s all-consuming greed, in this exciting adventure story. With Humphrey Bogart recapturing his role as the wicked Fred C. Dobbs and Walter Huston as the grizzled old-timer Howard, the role for which he received the Oscar as best supporting actor.

The Philadelphia Story, known as Hollywood's most sophisticated and sparkling romantic comedy, tells the story of Philadelphia heiress Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) who is preparing for her second marriage, when Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), her first husband, re-enters her life on the day before her wedding, determined to spoil things. Holiday Inn is the story of Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) who is head over heels in love with Linda Mason (Dinah Shore), in this radio version of the Irving Berlin musical, featuring the smash hit songs 'White Christmas' and 'Easter Parade'.

Voices from the Past with David Suchet as Lord Nelson writing to his beloved Emma on the eve of Trafalgar, hoping in God that he will live to finish his letter after the Battle, while Harriet Walter as Virginia Woolf hangs about the House of Commons mourning the passing of Edward VIII and the coming of King Albert I. Winston Churchill is captured and imprisoned by the Boers and Jane Austen sells 'Pride & Prejudice' for £110.

Then climb aboard and join Oscar Wilde in America amused at the sight of local gun slingers looting the house where outlaw Jesse James had been killed a few days earlier. Meet John Betjeman as he implores the BBC to engage the impoverished Dylan Thomas while Jane Austen demands the return of her unpublished novel. Austen Chamberlain rages at Hitler for sending a wreath emblazoned with the Swastika to be placed at the foot of the Cenotaph.

As the First world War rapidly approaches, we arrive in a sleepy south coast town where Max Carrados, the celebrated blind detective, is soon investigating the sudden death of the local museum curator. All is not as it seems, as our blind hero finds himself on the cliff top in a duel to the death with the ruthless German spymaster who is the one who knows The Secret of Headlam Height.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, this epic three-part serial tells the true story of Fletcher Christian’s dramatic mutiny against his tyrannical Captain and how Lieutenant Bligh when cast adrift in an open rowing boat with 18 loyal men makes an incredible voyage across 3,600 miles of hostile and uncharted seas to the Dutch East Indies, while Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers fight for survival on the battered and wind-swept island of Pitcairn.

Join us for an exhilarating and immersive adventure through 500 years of history, told entirely in the words of those who were there. With their artless prose and their polished & witty gossip, these are the men and women who have shaped our past. Brought to life by an award-winning all-star cast of 30 celebrated actors, including Charles Dance, Harriet Walter, David Suchet, Maureen Lipman, Timothy West, Jenny Agutter and many more.