Information Technology is becoming harder to control. Every year, organisations introduce new applications, cloud services, platforms, suppliers, data sources, and technologies. Individually, these decisions are often justified. Collectively, they create increasing complexity, rising costs, growing dependency, and reduced organisational agility. Most organisations respond with transformation programmes, cost-reduction initiatives, or technology modernisation projects. While these efforts o...

Set in the fictional South American country of Costaguana, Nostromo explores the volatile politics and crippling greed surrounding the San Tomé silver mine. The story of power, love, revolutions, loyalty and reward is told with richly evocative description and brilliantly realised characters. But Nostromo is more than an adventure story; it is also a profoundly dark moral fable. Its language is as compellingly resonant as the sea itself; the characters absorbing and complex. It was Conrad’...

A full-cast three-part adaptation of the Medieval Mystery Plays, introduced by David BuckDuring medieval religious holidays in certain English towns and cities, members of the various guilds would gather in the streets to re-enact Bible stories, from the Creation to the Last Judgment. Often staged from dawn to dusk on a single day, they were performed on a procession of pageant wagons, and the actors created all the music and effects themselves. In The Image of...

Five BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of John Buchan's espionage thrillers featuring gentleman spy Richard HannayThe forerunner to James Bond, secret agent Richard Hannay is a thoroughly British action hero, pursuing ruthless villains, foiling deadly plans and risking life and limb for his country. This gripping collection encompasses all five of Hannay's adventures, adapted for radio with superb casts including Tom Baker, Clive Merrison, Stuart Milligan, Jasmine...

Life has taken a funny turn for Siri Paiboun. After years in obscurity, his country needs him. He is to be their only coroner. Because he's the only doctor left.It's not as flattering as it could be, and when one of the leaders' wives turns up in his hot, shabby, smelly morgue, and he's expected to solve her murder, things take a turn for the worse. He has no experience, training or equipment to speak of, and his only hope are his two trusty assistants - neither of whom know anythi...

BBC Radio productions of the first seven books in Patrick O'Brian's hugely popular Napoleonic naval series - plus bonus materialWidely regarded as the most engaging historical novels ever written, the 21 books in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series have garnered millions of fans since the publication of the first volume over 50 years ago. Included here are BBC radio adaptations of the first seven thrilling stories.Master and Commander

Margaret Thatcher is one of the most iconic politicians of the twentieth century. With the possible exception of Winston Churchill, no other Prime Minister has had such an impact on modern British history. Like it or not, her radical social and economic policies have made Britain the country it is today. Without Margaret Thatcher there could have been no New Labour, no Tony Blair and no David Cameron.Now Robin Harris, for many years Thatcher's speechwriter, trusted adviser and the ...

A collection of dramas set in South and Central America by acclaimed dramatist Mike WalkerAn award-winning dramatist, author and feature writer, Mike Walker has written numerous original dramas for BBC Radio 4, including his epic chronicles Tsar, Caesar!, The Stuarts and Castle of the Hawk. Collected here are five of his gripping dramas from the 1980s and '90s, set around the Amazon rainforest and Nicaragua.Broken Wings and Bri...

A sixth collection of captivating courtroom dramas, starring Julian Rhind-Tutt as Horace RumpoleRumpole and the Way Through the WoodsRumpole makes friends with a dog named Sir Lancelot, and finds himself defending a hunt saboteur who claims to be guilty of murder. But Horace is convinced that the true culprit is among the hunting fraternity.Rumpole for the ProsecutionRumpole’s personal commandment is ‘Thou Sha...

One of the most tantalizing murder stories ever written, Crime and Punishment is a fascinating study of psychological tensions and spiritual struggle, as the student Rodion Raskolnikoff is overcome by remorse and guilt after he murders an old woman, a money-lender, to prove his theory that violence purifies the strong. But no sooner is the deed done than Raskolnikov begins to feel remorse.Set in the claustrophobic slums of St. Petersburg in the heat of the summer, the main...

When a blind, retired dentist is run down by a logging truck as he crosses the road to post a letter, Dr Siri Paiboun, official and only coroner of Laos, finds himself faced with his most explosive case yet. The dentist's mortal remains aren't nearly as intriguing as the letter in his pocket. Written in invisible ink and encrypted, the letter presents Dr Siri with an irresistible challenge. Enlisting the help of his old friend, Civilai, now a senior member of the Laos politburo; Nurse Dtui...

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Horace Rumpole in this fourth collection of dramatic court casesRumpole and the Bubble ReputationErskine-Brown is working on a sordid ABH and affray case which allegedly occurred in a Soho night club. When he and Rumpole visit the disreputable scene of the crime, they meet Maurice Machin, the editor of the Daily Beacon, whose paper is being sued for libel.Rumpole and the Age of Miracles