Entertainment Radio

The CBS Radio Workshop aired from January 27, 1956 through September 22, 1957 and was a revival of the prestigious Columbia Workshop which aired from 1936 to 1943. Creator William Froug launched the series with the powerhouse two-part adaptation of "Brave New World" and booked author Aldous Huxley to narrate his famous novel. "We'll never get a sponsor anyway…," CBS vice president Howard Barnes explained to Time, "…so we might as well try anything."

In January 2014, Tom Baker celebrated his 80th birthday. In March 2014, Tom sat down with Nicholas Briggs to look back over his 80 amazing years - his youth, his early acting career, his great success with Doctor Who and beyond...and his return to his most famous role with Big Finish. This candid and intimate interview forms two fascinating hours of engaging entertainment in the unique company of Mr. Baker.

Nicholas Parsons was the host of the Just a Minute for nearly 52 years - from its first broadcast on 22nd December 1967 until his last show on 23rd September 2019, aged 96. He was a comedy 'straight man', West End actor, radio personality, game-show presenter, chat-show host, quiz master supreme and larger-than-life stage superstar. Here we celebrate his life and work with a series of programmes compered by Paul Merton, plus Series 85 of Just a Minute - his final series.

The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures - spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th-century writers, including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Alfred Hitchcock and Dennis Potter, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks.

The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel and...the summoning of the scourge. The Doctor, Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that's come back to life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host and a threat from another universe that's ready for every trick the Doctor's got up his sleeve. This time, has the Doctor gone too far? Written by Paul Cornell. Directed by Gary Russell.

Get ready for eight fantastic adventures in space and time with the Doctor and his companions, featuring stories from many of Doctor Who's most popular authors from the worlds of television, print, comics and audio as well as new talent and fresh voices...and read by your favourite Big Finish actors!

The Doctor and Charley travel to the remote Cimmerian System to unravel the mystery of its sun. But darkness has already embraced the scientific base on Cimmeria IV in more ways than one. In a fight for survival, the Doctor must use all his wits against a deadly artificial lifeform and an ancient race whose return to the Cimmerian System threatens suffering and death on an apocalyptic scale. Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

Get ready for eight fantastic new adventures in space and time with the Doctor and his companions, featuring stories from many of Doctor Who's most popular authors from the worlds of television, print, comics and audio as well as new talent and fresh voices...and read by your favourite Big Finish actors! 'Rise and Fall' by George Mann. Read by William Russell. On a distant planet, faces bloom in the air for a fraction of a second before disappearing. Will the Doctor and Ian solve the puzzle?

Welcome aboard the space vessel Vancouver. Its mission: to guard a vast shipment of grain from Earth to the planet Safenesthome. Its Captain is called Ace. She seems a little unsure of herself. In fact, some might almost think she was new to the job...Its medical officer is called simply 'The Doctor', and he's perhaps not all he seems either. When mysterious ships target the Vancouver, Ace and the Doctor are pushed to the limit. Meanwhile, there's something nasty in the grain containers. And it's not very happy....

In the 22nd century, the Daleks have occupied planet Earth. By the 43rd century, only a handful of humans survive. Still further into the distant future, a Thal scientist must choose whether to betray his heritage - or see the universe destroyed. When the Doctor and Nyssa find themselves trapped in this deadly chain of events, they must decide who their real enemies are. What is certain is that no matter where the Doctor turns, the Daleks will be waiting for him. What could possibly be worse than that?

In a desolate Cornish landscape littered with relics of prehistoric man, the Doctor and Evelyn uncover a catalogue of mysteries. What is the secret of the fog? Can the moor be haunted by a demonic host of imps? And what is Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart doing in Pengriffen? Teaming up with his old friend, the Doctor realises that an ancient conflict is nearing its conclusion - and Lanyon Moor is set to be the final battleground. Written and directed by Nicholas Pegg.

The Tardis lands in a forbidding castle in a time of religious upheaval. The old god has been overthrown, and all heretics are to be slaughtered. Obviously it isn't the sort of thing which would happen there every day - just every few years or so. And when the Doctor and Frobisher are hailed as messengers from heaven, they quickly become vital to opposing factions in their struggle for power. But will they be merely the acolytes of the new order - or will they be made gods themselves?

Germany, 1589: the townspeople of Cologne pronounce a sentence of death on a mass murderer who has stalked the countryside in the guise of a ferocious wolf. Russia, 1812: retreating from Napoleon's invading forces, a merchant's daughter is rescued from bandits by a handsome partisan with a ravenous appetite. Brazil, 2080: the Doctor and Turlough arrive for the Rio de Janeiro carnival. Is wealthy heiress Ileana de Santos all that she seems? What sinister ailment afflicts her invalid son, tended by the mysterious Dr Hayashi?

Scripting Empire recovers the literary and cultural history of West Indian and West African writing at the BBC in order to rethink the critical mid-century decades of shrinking British sovereignty, late modernism, and mass migration to the metropole. Scripting Empire works comparatively across dozens of different programs spanning the General Overseas Service, Home Service, Light Program, and Third Program.

The Doctor and Romana are enjoying a leisurely lifestyle as the Lord and Lady of a London townhouse. But trouble never stays away from them for long, and before they know it a chance discovery of alien technology leads them deep into the heart of the English countryside, where a malign presence lurks. As the Doctor dodges deadly butlers and ferocious gamekeepers, Romana is faced with a malevolent aunt and an even deadlier peril - marriage. Directed by Ken Bentley.

The Tardis takes the Doctor and Turlough to the London of 1702, where a mysterious highwayman roams the streets, a local occultist has made contact with the dead and gentlemen of fashion are disappearing, only to find themselves in a chamber whose walls weep blood.... The time travellers become enmeshed in the hideous plan of Sir Nikolas Valentine, a gambler at the mysterious Diabola Club who always seems to have a winning hand.... Written by Mark Gatiss. Directed by Nicholas Briggs.

Theosophy? Ha! Surely you mean theophany? Because we're not talking about real gods here, are we? We're talking about the appearance of gods.

Your heavenly powers are a little too mechanical for my liking. And, if I may be so bold, Lord Zeus, your demeanor is not very godlike.

Hallowe'en 1938. A year after a mysterious meteorite lit up the skies of New York State, Martian invaders laid waste to the nation. At least, according to soon-to-be infamous Orson Welles they did. But what if some of the panicked listeners to the legendary War of the Worlds broadcast weren't just imagining things? Attempting to deliver Charley to her rendezvous in Singapore in 1930, the Doctor overshoots a little, arriving in Manhattan just in time to find a dead private detective.

The Doctor and Lucie go glam when the Tardis makes an unexpected landing in 1974. Slade, The Sweet and Suzi Quatro are Top of the Pops - and brother-and-sister duo The Tomorrow Twins will soon be joining them, if the star-making Svengali Arnold Korns has his way. But will their dreams turn to dust at a service station somewhere on the M62, besieged by a pack of alien monsters?

Two thousand years ago, a volcanic eruption wiped the Roman city of Pompeii from the face of the Earth. It also buried the Doctor's Tardis.... Arriving in Pompeii one day before the disaster, the Doctor and Mel find themselves separated from their ship and entangled in local politics. As time runs out, they fight to escape from the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. But how can they succeed when history itself is working against them?