Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

John Motram has the chance of a lifetime. A cell biologist convinced that the Black Death was not caused by bubonic plague but by an unknown virus, he is asked to examine preserved bodies buried under the ancient abbey at Dryburgh. However, Motram’s excavations end up in disaster when he first becomes violent and then dangerously ill after entering the secret tomb.

On suspension and unable to work, DCI Domenic Jejeune finds his attention snared by an unexplained death at an Antarctic research base. Meanwhile, DS Danny Maik investigates a string of arson attacks in Norfolk. When a corpse is discovered in a bird hide, Danny's investigation escalates. It appears the body links the two enquiries, but the men are unable to share information. As they attempt to unravel a twisted web of leads involving Antarctic researchers, climate scientists and billionaire philanthropists, Jejeune is forced to decide how much he is willing to sacrifice.

150 AD. Alaric, once lord of the Ravensworn is no longer feared nor revered. It has been six long years since his great defeat. He now lives life in the shadows. All hopes of glory and eternal rest in the Heroes Hall are gone. Alaric is alone. An outlaw to his land. When a band of horsemen appear on the horizon, eager to recruit the man they still believe to be a lord of war. And so Alaric is pulled back to a life he thought had forsaken him. For in the far north of Germania lies a tribe in desperate need of aid.

A Charlotte Riddell novella from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Haunted Houses. In The Uninhabited House, the owner of haunted house River Hall is taken to court by one of her tenants for failing to disclose prior spectral possession.

Newly appointed as land agent to the youthful Lord Croft, Matthew Rowsley finds plenty to keep him busy as he attends to his lordship's neglected country estate. But he's distracted from his tasks by the disappearance of a young housemaid. Has Maggie really eloped with a young man, as her mother attests - or is the truth rather more sinister? What's been going on behind the scenes at the grand country estate and where has his lordship disappeared to?

A wolf howls through the forests of Transylvania, the murky graveyards of H.P. Lovecraft, the mythic marshes of Count Stenbock and the ghostly vaults of English cathedrals in these timeless stories read by award-winning actors from The Story Circle company.

Newly estranged from his girlfriend, Lindy Hey, Inspector Domenic Jejeune returns to Southern Ontario, where he receives news that his brother, Damian, has gone missing in Wood Buffalo National Park while conducting research on whooping cranes. Domenic immediately heads out to try to find him. Back in the UK, Jejeune’s plan to protect Lindy has failed, and she has been kidnapped by his old foe, Ray Hayes. Jejeune's trusty sergeant, Danny Maik, tracks down Lindy, but there is far more to the situation than he anticipated.

Pilchard the cat has to make a trip to the vet for a check-up and gets a fright when Cooper the dog comes bounding in to try and scare her! Tilly the vet is worried, as she has Mayor Madison’s cat coming in later that day and she doesn’t want Cooper to scare her too. Bob and the team decide to help Tilly out by building a reception with separate areas for dogs and cats. The team soon realise that it’s not easy to get the job done whilst looking after an energetic dog and a mischievous cat at the same time.

The captivating story of football told through 100 amazing objects collected from its rich history – a must-read for any football fan What do a Paul Gascoigne puppet, the 1895 British Ladies’ kit, John Motson’s coat, an inflatable unicorn or the 1966 World Cup Final ball tell us about the...

The fifth and final instalment in Simon Scarrow's electrifying ARENA series sees gladiator Pavo face his most gruelling battle yet as strives to avenge his father's death. From the moment his father was executed in the arena for an act of treason, former military tribune and condemned gladiator...

A bold new dramatisation of Thomas Hardy’s classic, giving his story a 21st-century resonance. Tess Durbeyfield is driven by poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urberville family. But meeting her cousin Alec proves to be her downfall. This classic criticism of social convention is given a new treatment in this full-cast adaptation which blows away the shepherd's pipe and heritage stereotype, foregrounding Hardy's social and sexual radicalism.

A feel-good tale of unlikely friendship, community and learning to live life in the slow lane, perfect for fans of Clare Pooley and Hazel Prior Daniel isn’t used to living life in the slow lane. So when he finds himself unexpectedly jobless and back in his old Cornish hometown, he can’t sit...

Alaric has been home for a year. He went north and saved the Cimbri, just as he said he would. But the cost has been higher than he ever thought. A shadow of the War Lord he once was, he now trades in amber and dotes on his children. A simple life. And with it, contentment. But he knew this couldn’t last forever; peace isn’t for someone like him, and sure enough trouble finds him once again. A routine journey south turns into a new and unknown wave of danger as red-cloaked legionaries attack, causing confusion and carnage.

Lucius Falerius is dead, and Rome in its entirety mourns the passing of its most powerful senator. It falls to his son Marcellus to carry out his father's legacy and restore the rights promised to the defeated Sicilian slaves, yet there are those who will not see the honour of Rome compromised and the slaves assuaged. On the Roman border provinces there is trouble, and the legions move north to neutralise the threat posed by the Celts.

When his most celebrated case is suddenly reopened, Detective Chief Inspector Jejeune's long-buried secrets threaten to come to light. Meanwhile, his girlfriend, Lindy, faces an unseen threat of her own, one which Jejeune may not be able to protect her from. Between fending off inquiries from the internal review and an open murder case to solve, more than ever Jejeune will have to rely on the help of the stalwart Sergeant Danny Maik. But Maik is learning things on his own that have caused him to question his DCI‘s actions, both past and present.

When Max Brennan’s estranged father and then his own girlfriend go missing in quick succession, he turns to his old friend Detective Jake Porter for help. As Max is then attacked in his own home, Porter and his partner Nick Styles waste no time in investigating. But when their main suspect turns up dead, alongside a list of other targets, it seems the case is much bigger than it first appeared. With events spiralling, can Porter and Styles catch the killer before another victim is claimed?

Darkness falls. The undead rise to feast on the succulent blood of the living. For years vampires have fascinated great writers of the occult such as De Maupassant, Count Stenbock, E Nesbit and EF Benson. This is The Story Circle's collection of some of their spine-chilling tales told by award-winning actors.

Stories by: Desmond Barry, Ken Bruen, Stewart Home, Barry Adamson, Michael Ward, Sylvie Simmons, Daniel Bennett, Cathi Unsworth, Max Décharné, Martyn Waites, Joolz Denby, John Williams, Jerry Sykes, Mark Pilkington, Joe McNally, Patrick McCabe, and Ken Hollings. Cathi Unsworth moved to Ladbroke Grove in 1987 and has stayed there ever since. She began a career in rock writing with Sounds and Melody Maker, before co-editing the arts journal Purr and then Bizarre magazine. Her first novel, The Not Knowing, was published by Serpent’s Tail in 2005.

When Harry Jones discovers that former friend Zac Kravitz's life is in danger, a debt of honour sends him on a perilous rescue mission to Ta'argistan, a mountainous and landlocked former Soviet republic bordering Russia, China and Afghanistan. Muscling his way onto a delegation of MPs who happen...

When Eddy Stone meets an alien cat on a mission to destroy earth, his rainy weekend suddenly takes off. Shooting into space with his annoying cousin Millie, can Eddy stop the crazy kitty?