
Ivan Turgenev: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Drama Collection
First Love, Father and Sons, A Month in the Country & more
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.33
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
By:
-
Ivan Turgenev
About this listen
Nine classic works by the Russian literary giant, adapted for BBC Radio
Ivan Turgenev stands alongside Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as one of the three great Russian novelists of the 19th century. He was also a consummate short story writer, poet and playwright, and the first Russian author to become popular in the West. This specially curated collection showcases his key works, from the most celebrated to the undeservedly underrated.
Described as ‘one of the most perfect things ever written’, the lyrical novella First Love tells the story of 16-year-old Vladimir, whose longing for the capricious Zinaida informs his whole life. Dramatised for Radio 4, it stars Simon Cadell, Rosalind Ayres and Bill Nighy. Succeeding it is Turgenev’s masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, an exploration of the eternal conflict between the reactionary older generation and the revolutionary younger one. John Castle stars as youthful nihilist Bazarov, with Maurice Denham as his father Nikolai. First published in 1855 as Two Women, Turgenev’s best-known play A Month in the Country centres around a landowner’s wife who finds herself attracted to her son’s tutor. Translated by Isaiah Berlin, our Radio 3 version stars Maureen O’Brien and Gerard Murphy.
Written a few years before A Month in the Country, the little-known play The Poor Gentleman is an emotional comedy about an elderly man’s devotion to a daughter he can never recognise publicly. It stars Frank Finlay, Morag Hood and Colin Baker. Next up is Smoke, Turgenev’s only novel not to be set in Russia. Baden Baden is the setting for a tale that blends poignant love story and searing political satire, starring Garard Green, Rachel Gurney and Patricia Leventon. Meanwhile, in the short story ‘The Dog’, a mild Hussar (Timothy West) is the subject of a bizarre haunting…
Turgenev’s debut novel, Rudin, features that archetypal character in Russian literature, the ‘superfluous man’. Ian Holm stars as the eponymous hero, an idealistic intellectual who is incapable of taking action: and suffers for it. Set just before the Crimean War, the romantic novella On the Eve has passion and patriotism as its themes. Amanda Root stars as the upper-class Elena, who embarks on a doomed affair with Bulgarian revolutionary Insarov (Philip Franks). We conclude as we began, with a tale of first love – Spring Torrents, one of Turgenev’s greatest and most autobiographical novellas. Adapted for Radio 4’s ‘Book at Bedtime’, it is read by David Horovitch.
First published 1848 (The Poor Gentleman), 1855/1872 (A Month in the Country), 1857 (Rudin), 1860 (First Love, On the Eve), 1862 (Fathers and Sons), 1866 (‘The Dog’), 1867 (Smoke), 1872 (Spring Torrents)
Production credits
Written by Ivan Turgenev
With thanks to Keith Wickham
Contents List
First Love
Fathers and Sons
A Month in the Country
The Poor Gentleman
Smoke
The Dog
Rudin
On the Eve
Spring Torrents
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Herman Melville: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Three Full-Cast Dramatisations including Moby-Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Trevor White, Garrick Hagon, P J Brennan, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. He is best known for Moby-Dick, the opening line of which - ‘Call me Ishmael’ - is one of the most famous opening lines in literature. This BBC collection features lively full-cast dramatisations of three of Melville’s best-known works.
-
-
Two out of three
- By Aidan O'Reilly on 04-08-25
By: Herman Melville
-
The Alexander Pushkin BBC Radio Collection
- Including Eugene Onegin, Boris Godunov & The Queen of Spades
- By: Alexander Pushkin
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Ralph Fiennes, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Russia's most iconic poets, Alexander Pushkin is often described as the 'father of Russian literature'. A gambler, playboy and social reformer, he was exiled by the Tsar for his controversial poetry and died aged 37 in a duel defending his wife's honour. This BBC Radio anthology includes dramatisations and readings of Pushkin's most famous works - plus biographical programmes and an original play based on his life.
-
The Russian Classics Collection: 10+ Novels and Stories from Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Gogol, Turgenev, & More
- Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, Dead Souls, Fathers and Sons, The Shooting Party, We, & More
- By: Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Yevgeny Zamyatin, and others
- Narrated by: Ben Allen, Jonathan Keeble, Peter Noble, and others
- Length: 188 hrs and 26 mins
- Highlights
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Russian Classics Collection is a wide-ranging collection of 12 classic novels and short stories by Russian authors, read by an award-winning cast of narrators. Included here are stories by some of the greatest writers of all time, including Tolstoy; Dostoyevsky; Chekhov; Gogol; Turgenev; and more.
By: Leo Tolstoy, and others
-
Sir Walter Scott: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Five Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations including Waverley and Rob Roy
- By: Sir Walter Scott
- Narrated by: John Buick, Liam Brennan, Gerda Stevenson, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet, novelist, critic and campaigner Walter Scott invented the historical novel and shaped the world’s image of Scotland. His tales of heroism, romance and adventure were hugely successful, outselling Jane Austen and Lord Byron, and are still popular today. Included here are adaptations of five of the best-loved books in his ‘Waverley’ series, as well as two bonus programmes.
By: Sir Walter Scott
-
The August Strindberg BBC Radio Collection
- 13 Full-Cast Productions including Miss Julie, The Father and The Dream Play
- By: August Strindberg
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw, Andrew Garfield, Maurice Denham, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed by Arthur Miller as ‘the mad inventor of modern theatre’, Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, poet and novelist whose groundbreaking works mingled naturalism and psychology and paved the way for Expressionist drama. A prolific writer – penning over 60 plays, 19 novels and nine autobiographies – his turbulent life was marked by emotional conflict. This wide-ranging collection brings together 13 of his most important dramas and a semi-autobiographical ‘occult diary’, enhanced through stunning soundscapes and music composed by Strindberg himself.
-
Daphne du Maurier: The BBC Radio Collection
- Including Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, Frenchman’s Creek & more
- By: Daphne du Maurier
- Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove, Cathryn Harrison, Adam Godley, and others
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daphne du Maurier was one of the 20th century’s most popular writers. Extraordinarily prolific, she produced a string of bestsellers, many of which were adapted as award-winning films. From romance and adventure yarns to psychological thrillers and supernatural tales, the breadth and imaginative variety of her storytelling continues to thrill us today. This bumper collection features her most famous works and some lesser-known gems, beginning with full-cast adaptations of seven of her much-loved novels.
-
-
du Maurier is such a good author
- By Monhegan Monarch on 12-05-24
-
Herman Melville: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Three Full-Cast Dramatisations including Moby-Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Trevor White, Garrick Hagon, P J Brennan, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. He is best known for Moby-Dick, the opening line of which - ‘Call me Ishmael’ - is one of the most famous opening lines in literature. This BBC collection features lively full-cast dramatisations of three of Melville’s best-known works.
-
-
Two out of three
- By Aidan O'Reilly on 04-08-25
By: Herman Melville
-
The Alexander Pushkin BBC Radio Collection
- Including Eugene Onegin, Boris Godunov & The Queen of Spades
- By: Alexander Pushkin
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Ralph Fiennes, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Russia's most iconic poets, Alexander Pushkin is often described as the 'father of Russian literature'. A gambler, playboy and social reformer, he was exiled by the Tsar for his controversial poetry and died aged 37 in a duel defending his wife's honour. This BBC Radio anthology includes dramatisations and readings of Pushkin's most famous works - plus biographical programmes and an original play based on his life.
-
The Russian Classics Collection: 10+ Novels and Stories from Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Gogol, Turgenev, & More
- Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, Dead Souls, Fathers and Sons, The Shooting Party, We, & More
- By: Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Yevgeny Zamyatin, and others
- Narrated by: Ben Allen, Jonathan Keeble, Peter Noble, and others
- Length: 188 hrs and 26 mins
- Highlights
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Russian Classics Collection is a wide-ranging collection of 12 classic novels and short stories by Russian authors, read by an award-winning cast of narrators. Included here are stories by some of the greatest writers of all time, including Tolstoy; Dostoyevsky; Chekhov; Gogol; Turgenev; and more.
By: Leo Tolstoy, and others
-
Sir Walter Scott: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Five Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations including Waverley and Rob Roy
- By: Sir Walter Scott
- Narrated by: John Buick, Liam Brennan, Gerda Stevenson, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet, novelist, critic and campaigner Walter Scott invented the historical novel and shaped the world’s image of Scotland. His tales of heroism, romance and adventure were hugely successful, outselling Jane Austen and Lord Byron, and are still popular today. Included here are adaptations of five of the best-loved books in his ‘Waverley’ series, as well as two bonus programmes.
By: Sir Walter Scott
-
The August Strindberg BBC Radio Collection
- 13 Full-Cast Productions including Miss Julie, The Father and The Dream Play
- By: August Strindberg
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw, Andrew Garfield, Maurice Denham, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed by Arthur Miller as ‘the mad inventor of modern theatre’, Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, poet and novelist whose groundbreaking works mingled naturalism and psychology and paved the way for Expressionist drama. A prolific writer – penning over 60 plays, 19 novels and nine autobiographies – his turbulent life was marked by emotional conflict. This wide-ranging collection brings together 13 of his most important dramas and a semi-autobiographical ‘occult diary’, enhanced through stunning soundscapes and music composed by Strindberg himself.
-
Daphne du Maurier: The BBC Radio Collection
- Including Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, Frenchman’s Creek & more
- By: Daphne du Maurier
- Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove, Cathryn Harrison, Adam Godley, and others
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daphne du Maurier was one of the 20th century’s most popular writers. Extraordinarily prolific, she produced a string of bestsellers, many of which were adapted as award-winning films. From romance and adventure yarns to psychological thrillers and supernatural tales, the breadth and imaginative variety of her storytelling continues to thrill us today. This bumper collection features her most famous works and some lesser-known gems, beginning with full-cast adaptations of seven of her much-loved novels.
-
-
du Maurier is such a good author
- By Monhegan Monarch on 12-05-24
-
The American Classics Collection - Volume One: 15+ Novels, and Stories from HP Lovecraft, Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Frederick Douglass, & More
- A Farewell to Arms, At the Mountains of Madness, Little Women, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Call of the Wild, The Great Gatsby, The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, Walden, & More
- By: Louisa May Alcott, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, and others
- Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Nathan Osgood, Robert G. Slade, and others
- Length: 120 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The American Classics Collection is a century-spanning collection of 17 classic novels, short stories, essay, and poetry by American authors, read by a cast of incredible narrators including Kobna Holdbrook-Smith; Nathan Osgood; Robert G. Slade; Jonathan Keeble, and more. Included here are stories by some of the greatest writers of all time, including Ernest Hemingway; Mark Twain; F. Scott Fitzgerald; Edith Wharton; Frederick Douglass; and H.P. Lovecraft, amongst a host of others.
-
-
5* Collection of American Classics
- By James on 01-08-25
By: Louisa May Alcott, and others
-
Fathers and Sons
- By: Ivan Turgenev
- Narrated by: David Horovitch
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Arkady Petrovich comes home from college, his father finds his eager, naive son changed almost beyond recognition, for the impressionable Arkady has fallen under the powerful influence of the friend he has brought with him. A self-proclaimed nihilist, the ardent young Bazarov shocks Arkady's father by criticising the landowning way of life and by his outspoken determination to sweep away the traditional values of contemporary Russian society.
-
-
The greatest novel I'll ever read
- By Dan Harlow on 07-07-13
By: Ivan Turgenev
-
BBC Classics
- Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre & Cranford
- By: Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Katherine Press, Carolyn Pickles, Clare Corbett
- Length: 38 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This timeless collection brings together three of the finest works in the literary canon, read in full by some of the very best audiobook narrators. With over 38 hours of unmissable storytelling, tracked by chapter so you can easily find your place, this is the ideal way to enjoy these classic masterpieces.
By: Jane Austen, and others
-
Anton Chekhov: 6 Full-Cast BBC Radio Productions
- The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya, Wild Honey & More
- By: Anton Chekhov
- Narrated by: Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Helena Bonham-Carter, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A master of Russian realism, Anton Chekhov is renowned for his meticulously observed plays and short stories exploring the human condition, in all its joys and sorrows. Included here are six of his best-known dramas, as well as Michael Frayn's adaptation of Wild Honey, drawn from an early, untitled Chekhov play; and one documentary exploring Chekhov's life and work.
By: Anton Chekhov
-
Émile Zola: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Nine Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: Emile Zola
- Narrated by: Charlotte Riley, David Bradley, Claire Goose, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Novelist, journalist and literature’s greatest whistleblower, Émile Zola was one of the 19th century’s pre-eminent authors. He is renowned for his philosophy of naturalism, which informed his 20-volume Rougon-Macquart cycle, an epic family saga set during France’s Second Empire, and for his controversial intervention in the Dreyfus affair through his infamous protest letter, J’Accuse.
By: Emile Zola
-
The Egoist & The Adventures of Harry Richmond
- Two Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations
- By: George Meredith
- Narrated by: Keeley Hawes, Hannah Gordon, James Wilby, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Novelist and poet George Meredith is widely regarded as the last great Victorian author. He influenced writers including Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James, and was nominated for the Nobel Prize seven times. This BBC collection features dramatisations of his most famous novel, The Egoist, and his witty bildungsroman The Adventures of Harry Richmond.
By: George Meredith