Showing titles in Dramatizations

Often referred to as the father of science fiction, Victorian author Jules Verne is renowned for his fantastical adventures imagining extraordinary voyages to strange new horizons. Prolific and prophetic, he wrote over 50 novels and numerous short stories, in which he foretold the skyscraper, the submarine, space missions and even the Internet. Featured here are contemporary adaptations of four of his most famous tales, as well as a special episode of The Forum examining the long-lasting appeal of his work.

This is a dynamic, modern dramatisation of a classic book by John Wyndham. Bill Nighy ( Love Actually and many other films) and Sarah Parish ( Cutting It) play Richard and Janet, a couple caught up in the goings-on of a sleepy English village in which all the children have golden eyes, blond hair, and a sinister talent for telepathy and telekinesis. (Wyndham's novel was filmed as Village of the Damned in 1960 and 1995.)

Annja Creed is in London on a secret archaeological dig on the grounds of Hampton Court Palace. The body of a decapitated medieval woman is unearthed. Annja helps to determine her cause of death and identify her. Who murdered her and why was she silenced? The grisly discovery leads Annja and Roux Dupree to a secret society of knights as they uncover a royal conspiracy. In the 1500s, King Henry VIII had two of his wives arrested and beheaded. Is this new body connected to the dead queens?

The universe is in grave danger. The very fabric of time and space is being altered. The Doctor and Lucie must race against time to prevent the destruction of everything they hold dear. They may have to sacrifice everything to save the universe. Even themselves....

A strange telepathic message prompts the Doctor to travel to the Sector of Forgotten Souls, a place where, thousands of years ago, Omega's ship vanished whilst detonating a star. He's not the only one journeying towards it. Jolly Chronolidays prides itself on giving its tourists an experience of galactic history that is far better than mere time travel. Its motto is, 'We don't go into history, we prefer to bring history to you.'

An excellent jumping-on point for new listeners.... Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor starts another phase of his adventures with a brand-new companion (Lucie Miller, played by the award-winning Sheridan Smith) and an all-star supporting cast. Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 7.... 'The crashed ship. The one Tom Cardwell saw all those years ago. And you borrowed its technology, didn't you? Maybe even found a Dalek or two in the wreckage. Dead but intact. And you began to turn human beings into creatures like them.'

Thermonuclear war erupts in Kerry Shale's award-winning 1993 dramatisation of the classic apocalyptic black comedy. Dr Strangelove came to prominence in the 1964 film, directed by Stanley Kubrick. Based on the novel Red Alert by Peter George, it famously starred Peter Sellers in multiple roles. As well as scripting the dramatisation, Kerry Shale also takes multiple roles: Dr Strangelove, Lieutenant 'Sweets' Kivel, Lieutenant Barney Goldberg, Lieutenant Lothar Zogg, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, General Jack D. Ripper and President Merkin Muffley.

Sheridan Moorkurk has just been elected president of Earth...And what's more, she's starting to hear voices. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Romana encounter a mass of aliens heading to Earth - aliens who have already made the mistake of upsetting the infamous Cuthbert, all-powerful CEO of The Conglomerate, by destroying one of his space platforms. Will the Doctor and Romana be able to avert interspecies war that will destroy all life on Earth?

The ongoing battle between star quarterback Quentin Barnes and team owner Gredok the Splithead is coming to a head. Endless threats and promises of ultraviolence hang on their every word. With sentients of several groups trying to manipulate or kill him, Quentin must chart a new course if he is to survive and overcome his injury to once again lead his beloved Krakens into battle.

Coupland's iconic novels brought to life in two full-cast adaptations: In this adaptation by Theo Toksvig-Stewart, Douglas Coupland's brilliantly funny novel Microserfs takes a microscope to working culture in the early days of the tech boom. Perhaps one of Coupland's most iconic novels, Girlfriend in a Coma begins in December 1979 when 17-year-old Karen unexpectedly falls into a deep coma after a teen house party.

It's like The Village That Time Forgot! The inhabitants of the quiet seaside town of Thorington in Suffolk are living the same day over and over again. What's so special about the first of September 1991? Why haven't the villagers noticed that the same song has been number one for years? And just where on Earth has the sea disappeared to? The Doctor and Lucie must solve the mystery before the 'visitors' return....

Roanoke Island, 1590. The TARDIS materializes in the past, and the Doctor's companions, Professor Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago, find themselves prisoners of the natives in the New World. But there's something strange here - stranger than even the colonists, led by Englishman John White. What are the ghostly children? And who is the Old Man of Croaton? The travellers are about to discover the secret of the lost colony...and it may cost Jago's life.

An interplanetary expedition from earth finds an exact duplicate of their ship and themselves crashed on the planet they were surveying. Should they stay or risk taking off and crashing?

October 1944: as World War II draws towards its conclusion, a Nazi defeat begins to seem almost inevitable. But that might be about to change.... Two intruders are captured in the grounds of Colditz Castle, the most secure POW camp in Germany. At first the guards think they're dealing with British spies. But the strangers arrived in an advanced travelling machine, the likes of which they've never seen before. With this Tardis in their hands, the Third Reich might triumph after all.

UFOs? Alien Abductions? Men in Black? Nothing in Jake Muller’s experience has prepared him for these kinds of things. But then he’s never been faced with a challenge that he didn’t take head-on. Finding a teenaged girl over a thousand miles from where she is supposed to be is just the beginning. Going toe to toe with a global cabal intent on ushering a new world order might just be the end.

Lucie Miller's been headhunted to join the staff of Hulbert Logistics, a respectable blue-chip firm in Telford. Great prospects, competitive salary - you don't have to be mad to work here! But wasn't she made for better things, like travelling by TARDIS through time and space? The Doctor, meanwhile, has been fired - into a confrontation with the most terrifying of enemies....

The violent, volcanic world of Hephastos is home to a colony of composers, painters, authors and poets, all striving to create the greatest works of art the universe has ever seen. But in pursuit of their goal, artistic collaboration has been taken a stage too far.... When the Doctor and Romana arrive, they discover the colonists have neglected their well-being and their once beautiful habitat, which has now succumbed to decay, and they are enslaved to the Babble network which occupies their every waking moment.

Tom Baker stars as the fourth Doctor in this double-bill of adventures, in which he's ably assisted by Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah-Jane Smith.

When the first Martian cylinder crash lands in England, Ogilvy the astronomer barely survives the deadly heat ray from the attack by aliens. He then accidentally stumbles upon the truth about the Red Weed and sends vital evidence to scientists in France on board HMS Thunder Child, but the ship is attacked by a Martian tripod.

The 21st century has just begun, and Malebolgia is enjoying its status as the newest state in America. After his successful involvement with Scotland's devolution, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart has been invited over to Malebolgia to offer some of his experiences and expertise. There he encounters the charismatic Brigham Elisha Dashwood III, an evangelical statesman running for Governor who may not be quite as clean-cut and wholesome as he makes out.