A creative performance reading of The Lonely Londoners that juxtaposes modern imagery and fascinating archive footage to reflect on how Sam Selvon's novel shaped the London of today.

The Lonely Londoners

A performance reading of the abridged novel On the Black Hill, by Bruce Chatwin. Identical twin brothers grow up on a farm in rural Wales and never leave home.

On the Black Hill

A creative performance reading of a powerful novel of disaffection that charts a young man's uneasy passage into adulthood.

The Day of the Sardine

Performance reading of A Vision of Loveliness by Louise Levene. A darkly comic novel that reveals the seedy underbelly of London in the 1960s, rich with period detail.

A Vision of Loveliness

Christopher Eccleston narrates Barry Hines’s heartbreaking coming-of-age tale in this fresh take on a classic British novel.

A Kestrel for a Knave

Some of the best-known love poems are weaved together to create a fresh contemporary story told by four lovers.

Shakespeare Sonnets: A Modern Love Story

Alex Kingston breathes life into Mary Shelley’s timeless gothic horror story.

Young, gifted scientist Victor Frankenstein unwittingly creates a monster. Written more than 200 years ago, the classic masterpiece still resonates today as a tragic romance that examines the battle between ambition and morality.

Frankenstein

Heartbreak and longing are centre stage as BAFTA-winning actor Steve Pemberton narrates Kazuo Ishiguro’s contemporary classic.

The Remains of the Day: The Read with Steve Pemberton

A bleak dystopian future plays out before us as Royal Television Society award-winning actor Sacha Dhawan narrates George Orwell’s profoundly impactful and thought-provoking classic.

1984

Anne-Marie Duff performs an intimate reading of Charles Dickens’s timeless classic. Can the ghostly interventions salvage Scrooge’s soul?

A Christmas Carol

Emily Brontë’s timeless classic set against the haunting backdrop of the Yorkshire Moors and narrated by award-winning actor Vinette Robinson.

Wuthering Heights

Who is the real monster? Robert Louis Stevenson’s defining gothic horror explores alter egos in this captivating narration that reimagines the 19th-century classic.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with Reece Shearsmith

Bafta and Olivier Award-winning actor Monica Dolan gives a captivating reading of Jane Austen’s much-loved novel.

Persuasion

Steffan Rhodri (Gavin and Stacey, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) gives an enchanting reading performance of CS Lewis’s timeless classic, as we step into the magical world of Narnia, filled with adventure, courage and Turkish Delight.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Murder, conspiracy and espionage are the themes of John Buchan’s gripping novel, set against the backdrop of WWI, that sees Richard Hannay, a bored adventurer, become embroiled in a plot to assassinate a political figure.

The 39 Steps: The Read with John Hannah

Creative performance readings of iconic British novels.

All Episodes of The Read

Season 1

The Lonely Londoners

Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 4/10/2022

On the Black Hill

Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 6/5/2022

The Day of the Sardine

Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 11/6/2022

A Vision of Loveliness

Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 4/2/2023