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Three powerful radio productions from the BBC archives starring Ian McKellen, Ronald Pickup and Paul Scofield and a host of celebrated acting talent. These three legendary plays, performed by some of the best-known theatrical actors of the 20th century, are the perfect way to commemorate England's greatest dramatist.

These are masterly readings, by renowned thespian Paul Schofield, of two substantial works of poetry by T.S. Eliot.

One of postwar France’s most influential writers, Albert Camus was fêted for his masterful exploration of the absurdity of the human condition. Included here are adaptations of his three iconic existential novels – The Plague, The Outsider and The Fall – alongside four bonus pieces shining a light on the man and his work.

Andrew Rissik's powerful, uncompromising reimaginings of classic tales from Roman and Greek history were hailed as masterpieces when they first aired on BBC radio. Told in contemporary speech, they revitalised the ancient myths, making them fresh, relevant and accessible to a modern-day audience. This collection brings them together on audio for the first time, with stellar casts including Michael Sheen, Paul Scofield, Lindsay Duncan, David Harewood, Eleanor Bron, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Diana Rigg, Roger Allam, Toby Stephens, Anton Lesser and Robert Hardy.

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.

The tragedy of King Lear receives an outstanding performance in an all-star cast led by Britain’s senior classical actor, Paul Scofield. He is joined by Alec McCowen as Gloucester, Kenneth Branagh as The Fool, Harriet Walter as Gonerill, Sara Kestelman as Regan and Emilia Fox as Cordelia. This is the ninth recording of Shakespeare plays undertaken by Naxos AudioBooks in conjunction with Cambridge University Press, and is directed by John Tydeman. It was released to mark the 80th birthday of Paul Scofield in January 2002.

Virgil's Aeneid, one of the greatest classical poems, tells the story of Aeneas, son of Priam, after the fall of Troy. His quest is to find the site "in the west" where he will found a new town prophesied to be the seat of a world empire: Rome.

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 Arthurian legends have long held a powerful grip on our collective imagination, inspiring numerous poets, novelists and playwrights to interpret them in countless different ways. In this epic play cycle, based on Malory's classic Le Morte D'Arthur, Graeme Fife gives us his dramatic, in-depth retelling of these perennially popular myths. Focusing on seven key characters: Merlin, Tristram, Gareth, Lancelot, Galahad, Guenever and Arthur himself, he builds a vivid, multi-layered picture of the fabled king and his heroic knights.

These six supernatural tales, each recounted in its entirety, say as much about the morbid humor and fascination of the English people as they do about Dickens' own joy at spinning a good yarn. This collection of short stories is performed by Academy Award winner Paul Scofield, whose career firmly established him as one of Britain's most distinguished actors.

This quintessential Christmas tale shows Dickens at his dazzling and provocative best, leaving Scrooge no doubts about the true spirit of Christmas, nor about the perils of ignoring the insistent ghosts of Christmases Past, Present...and Yet to Come.

Paul Scofield, Siobhan McKenna and John Neville perform Twelfth Night. This is Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores - only to be pursued by the woman he loves.

These three legendary plays, performed by some of the best-known theatrical actors of the 20th century, are the perfect way to commemorate England's greatest dramatist. The Winter's Tale: one man's consuming jealousy threatens to destroy both himself and those around him, but his actions arouse a passionate sense of honour, love, justice and self-sacrifice in members of his Court and family. First broadcast in 1982, starring Ronald Pickup as Leontes, with Hannah Gordon as Hermione and John Gielgud as Time.

Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude, Hamlet's mother.

On Christmas Eve, young Pip, an orphan being raised by his sister and her husband, encounters a convict in the village churchyard. The man, a convict who has escaped from a prison ship, scares Pip into stealing him some food and a file to grind away his leg shackle. This incident is crucial: firstly, it gives Pip, who must steal the goods from his sister's house, his first taste of true guilt, and secondly, Pip's kindness warms the convict's heart. The convict, however, waits many years to truly show his gratitude.

Here are 160 minutes of extracted scenes from Shakespeare’s finest plays, read by a staggering cast. The plays of Shakespeare are fully alive only in performance, and the HarperCollins recordings of the complete plays offer scenes from The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Richard III, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, Antony and Cleopatra, King Lear, Othello, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest.

Murder, a bitter love triangle, and a mysterious inheritance. In the last of Dickens's completed novels, the power of money ultimately motivates both character and action. One night Hexam, who makes his living pulling bodies from the Thames, pulls out a body bearing the identification of John Harmon, heir to the fortune of a 'dust-collector'. In fact, Harmon has swapped clothes and identities with a sailor, John Rokesmith.

Paul Scofield and Patricia Routledge star in Noël Coward’s classic comedy of manners. Private Lives was written in 1930 and has been a mainstay of British theatre ever since. This sharply funny play of reversals focuses on Elyot and Amanda, a passionate but feuding couple who divorced five years before. Now, on the first night of their honeymoons with their new partners, they find that they are all staying in the same hotel on the French Riviera. Fireworks are inevitable.

King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606. READ BY PAUL SCHOFIELD AND CAST.King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606. It is considered one of his greatest works. King Lear descends into madness after wrongly distributing his estate on the strength of flattery. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king.

From Edgar Allan Poe—the master of the short story and lyric poem—comes this rare treasury of classics. The outstanding works "A Descent into the Maelstrom," "Annabelle Lee," "Eldorado," "The Bells," and "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall," illustrate Poe's meticulous sense of construction, with signature themes of romance and melancholy that characterized his short and troubled life.