Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

'I'm not working on a factory floor or digging for victory, but in my own small way I do what I can for those I love.' It's 1943, and Peggy Reilly is at her best when the troubles of war come knocking at the door of Beach View Boarding House - especially when it concerns her younger sister, Doreen. Doreen is divorced from Eddie, but his letters have taken on a more threatening tone of late.

It’s February 1942, and as the Americans finally join Britain and her allies, 23-year-old Francesca Fabrino is doing her bit for the war effort in a factory in East London. But her thoughts are constantly occupied by recently married Charlie Brogan, who is fighting in North Africa with the Eighth Army. When Francesca starts a new job for the BBC Overseas department, she meets handsome Count Leo D’Angelo and begins to put her hopeless love for Charlie aside.

After losing her mum in a tragic accident when she was young, Chrissy Moss had to find out the hard way how to survive on one of the East End's most notorious estates. When a 15-year-old girl disappears, hours after delivering a message for local gangland lowlife Eddie, the residents take the law into their own hands, forcing old secrets to resurface. With rumours flying - not just about the girl's disappearance, but about Laura Moss' death years earlier - Chrissy begins to suspect what happened to her mother was no accident: it was murder.

Michael Flynn is untouchable in a world of power, money and violence. He fights for what he wants and he takes it, whatever the cost. He learns the rules of the life from the best, and when his mentor, legendary Face Patrick Costello, is taken out, no one questions that Michael Flynn is his natural successor. For Michael, loyalty - and crime - pay. Michael Flynn rises to heights beyond anything the criminal underworld has seen. He owns everyone, and he rules his empire with an even but fierce hand. No one would dare challenge him.

The Quinns are one of the most feared criminal gangs in London's East End.So the reaction of Joe Quinn to the news that his daughter Lynsey is involved with a policeman is predictable and swift, and a pregnant Lynsey finds herself out on the street, bruised and alone.At the age of 11, Lynsey's daughter Helen is returned to the clan. Hated by her grandfather, loved only by her uncle, she struggles to fit into a world she doesn't understand. As warring factions battle for control of the East End, tragedy is about to strike again.

As the current Top Dog of the East End, Freddie knows he must protect his reign at all costs, and if that means disposing of his much younger, much stronger, number two, then so be it. Now, with a price on his head, Danny must use all of his wits and connections to stay one step ahead of Freddie - he knows his old boss won’t give up without a fight to the death. But with a turf war looming, the question is who will survive and who will be crowned Top Dog.

Excitement is running high in the Adams family. Mr Finch, after a long career in secret government work, is to be knighted - which means that Chinese Lady will become a real 'Lady'! What with having to find a new outfit suitable for the occasion, and worrying about whether she'll have to curtsey to the king, the redoubtable matriarch of the Adams family scarcely knows if she's coming or going.

Daisy Bacon has an ordinary, happy life living with her family in South London, until tragedy strikes and her mother is killed in a devastating accident. Blaming herself, Daisy retreats into a world of silence, unable to utter a word. When her father remarries, the family home becomes unbearable at the mercy of cruel stepmother Vera. Luckily, Daisy can always count on her cousin Lizzie to bring sunshine to her life. But when shocking truths about Vera come to light, could it bring the possibility of a fresh start for Daisy after all?

Growing up in fear of their cruel, drunken father, Olivia Bone and her siblings haven't had an easy start in life. But when Livvie's fiancé, Joe, is killed at Ypres, and he bequeaths her his house in Islington, it seems like the Bone family might finally escape the worst street in North London. Though their new life is anything but settled, at least Livvie has a good friend in Matilda Keiver and a better one in Lieutenant Lucas Black, her old boss at the Barratt's sweet factory. Lucas and Livvie might be from very different worlds, but he treats her with kindness and respect.

March, 1942: new mother Alice Milward is itching to return to her job as a shop assistant at Liberty’s. Despite her husband still being missing in action, Alice is determined to give baby Arthur the best possible start. She soon settles back into the rhythm of life on the shop floor, and the Liberty Girls rally to help keep everything on an even keel. But when the American GIs start swarming into London, there are more complications to come. And each of the Liberty Girls has their own impossible storm to weather.

Clara held on to the precious button, glimmering like a jewel in the dark alleyways of London's notorious Seven Dials. She needed to save her family...but who was going to save her? There was a time when the Carter sisters' father was their hero. Now he's a drunk who's gambled away everything they had and put them all in peril. It's on Clara's shoulders to save the four sisters from destitution. Clutching her precious button box, the only thing of value they have left, Clara dreams of starting a shop that could put a roof over their heads and keep them safe....

Twenty years ago, Fletch avenged the gangland killing of his younger brother, Spencer, and accepted his guilt. But his actions meant he had to leave his precious children to fend for themselves. He thought they would be looked after. Now a free man, Fletch returns to find his family in chaos. Kit is married to notorious gangster while Austin seems hell-bent on doing everything he can to create a turf war. Fletch knows he has to get his kids under control, but he also knows that the seeds of this disaster were planted long ago. Now Fletch is back and it’s time to settle the score.

September 1940. As Luftwaffe bombs rain from the skies over London, the women of Lavender Road are fighting their own battles. Shy Katy Parsons has always been sheltered by her overprotective parents. Enrolling as a nurse was always her dream, but the reality is tougher than she ever imagined. And falling in love isn't all plain sailing either.

Harry Fletcher - Fletch to his friends - has spent his life surviving the tough streets of the East End. He knows working for notorious gangster Billy King is dangerous, and sleeping with Billy’s beautiful wife, Susan, is deadly...but rules are meant to be broken. If Billy discovers the affair, Fletch is a dead man. But the closer he gets to Susan, the more reckless Fletch becomes. And soon, Fletch realises that every one - even him - must pay the price for his actions.

London 1941. Sirens warn of danger as German bomber planes approach the city. Ever cautious, Kathy and her mother head immediately for the nearest public air raid shelter, and when the building is destroyed in a direct hit, it is a miracle Kathy survives. Finding herself alone, Kathy is left with nothing but a burning fury and a determination to join the war effort.

December 1930. With the Depression biting deeper, it looks like many children in the East End will wake up to nothing on Christmas morning. Widower Robbie Graham earns just enough to put food on the table for his children, Ben and Ruthie. Local cake shop owner Flo Hawkins can't bear the thought of any child having nothing for Christmas. Along with her sister, Honour, she hatches a plan to bring some festive cheer to the community.

The house in Caulfield Place, off Browning Street in Walworth, was haunted, or at least that's what the street kids said. So when two men, a woman and a parrot moved in, everyone was very interested, especially 14-year-old Cassie Ford, who was particularly fascinated by the parrot. And it was just about this time that Mr Finch, Chinese Lady's husband and Boots's stepfather began to get mysterious telephone calls. Mr Finch had never told the rest of the Adams family - except for Boots - the secrets of his past, or what kind of work he did for the government.

1926: The murderer Gerald Ponsonby has been caught, thanks to Boots, and is facing trial. He hates Boots and the whole Adams clan and is hungry for revenge. When a dapper, quiet, but rather odd lodger turns up at Doreen Paterson's house, nobody thinks anything is amiss. Certainly not Doreen - who works for Boots in Adams Enterprises and thinks him just wonderful. Could the strange lodger be plotting the downfall of the irrepressible, outrageous, and larger-than-life Adams clan?

Susie Brown is overjoyed when her brother, Will, turns up unexpectedly on leave from service in time for her wedding to Sammy Adams. But Will's leave is an extended one due to bad health, and he's unsure whether the army will keep him or whether he'll be able to find a job in the slump of the '20s. To make matters worse, he's at risk of falling in love with the young and personable Annie Ford.

It will take more than Hitler's Luftwaffe to break the spirit of the residents of Lavender Road. If courage, resilience and a shared sense of humour could win wars, the conflict would already be over. It's not all harmony, though. Nurse Molly Coogan and would-be actress Jen Carter certainly don't see eye to eye. Molly, despite hating the strict discipline of wartime hospital life, is unimpressed by flighty Jen's prima donna ways.