Douglas Hodge

Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in his own way.

"Pip is a poor orphan, a boy with "no expectations" being raised by his unkind sister and her husband in a small home on the marshes of Kent. But when Pip meets the bizarre Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward, Estella, he starts to yearn for a life as a gentleman. However, Pip will discover that wealth and honesty do not go hand in hand, and that kindness can be found in the most surprising places. A love story, a mystery, and a sharp critique of...

An artist falls for a young married woman while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of seventeenth century Amsterdam.

Charlie and the chocolate factory: Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket for a tour of Mr. Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in his or her own way. Charlie and the glass elevator: Taking up where Charlie and the Chocolate Factory leaves off, Charlie, his family, and Mr. Wonka find themselves launched into space in the great glass elevator. The BFG: Kidsnatched from her orphanage...

"Follow the exploits of Paul Pennyfeather, whose unfair expulsion from Oxford kick-starts a disastrous series of events, wherein he is by turn a naive teacher, a celebrity bridegroom, a wanted fugitive, and an international white slave-trader." --

A disillusioned 60-year-old historian is determined to make peace with his past after an archaeological dig as a young student led to an affair with his best friend's fiancee.

A fascinating look at the famous war poet and his poetry Douglas Hodge gives moving readings of over 40 of Rupert Brooke's poems in a well-researched account of his brief life written and narrated by Mike Read. Classic poems like The Soldier, The Fish, The Old Vicarage, Grantchester and Dining-Room Tea are combined with rare archive recordings of his close friends. Cathleen Nesbitt reads Brooke's poem 'Safety' and reminisces about the times she...

This satire of Victorian society shows the trials and tribulations of young love, the pettiness of upper class life, the raw energy and excitement of the most powerful city the world had ever seen, and the greed and corruption that lay just below its glittering surface.

When Ava is forced into early retirement her husband and daughter encourage her to learn gourmet cooking and prepare to be a grandmother. Instead she signs up for a drama class where she is cast as Juliet - and falls in love with her Romeo.