Meet Dr Anthony Webster and Dr Ruth Anderson, two pathologists attempting to live normal lives in an atmosphere of death, decay and seriously unpleasant smells. Anthony loves his chosen profession, finding every cadaver exciting and surprising: 'they're like Kinder eggs that have died'. Ruth, however, longs for a juicy murder mystery, instead of one routine autopsy after another.

Meet Budleigh Salterton's most famous son, Giles Wemmbley Hogg: bumbling backpacker, fearless investigator of cultural diversity, connoisseur of Eastern philosophies and upper middle-class student ponce. In these five series, armed with his trusty portable DAT and his Charterhouse rugby shirt, Giles bravely ventures forth to far-off foreign lands and records his adventures. His meanderings take him from the Sudan to Las Vegas - but wherever he goes, he always manages to make a thumping great prat of himself.

Sketch trio The Penny Dreadfuls made a name for themselves with The Brothers Faversham, telling the stories of nine extraordinary siblings in the Victorian era. In these 10 comedy dramas, they step away from the 19th century to revisit famous stories from history and literature. Featuring unforgettable characters, from the face of British treason to the last of the Plantagenets, their fresh, funny reimaginings are full of suspense, rip-roaring entertainment and gags galore.

Let Sandi Toksvig guide you on an eclectic meander through the calendar, illuminating neglected corners of history to tell tales of the fascinating figures you didn't learn about at school. From popes who gave birth during papal processions, to the inventor of Scrabble, to pioneering civil rights activist Ida B. Wells, who refused to give up her seat on a train decades before Rosa Parks was born. As witty and entertaining as it is instructive, this is an essential companion to each day of the year.

Linda Smith lives in her East London home, where her daily routine involves dozing through Thought for the Day, filing and cross-referencing the pizza leaflets that come through her door, and updating her limited edition 'Songbirds of Great Britain' porcelain collection. That is, when she's not managing the chaos caused by her flamboyant, sugar-loving live-in builder Chris; dealing with the demands of her morbid, crumbly boned Welsh neighbour Betty; or taking regular jaunts chauffeured by Worra, the philosophical Nigerian cabby.

London, England, 1952. Meet the mercurial genius Professor Quanderhorn (James Fleet) - a maverick scientist with absolutely no moral compass. Join him and his rag-tag crew on their frontal-lobe-knotting escapades as they battle insane hybrid creatures: the Gorrirrel and the Squirrilla, to the death; become gods to a Stone-Age tribe; are engulfed in a Martian invasion of Earth; escape shipwreck on the Moon in a spacecraft powered by anger; and evade multiple fiendish traps in the Alien Ziggurat of Death. Will our crew of Brave Boffins survive?  

Meet Clare Barker, the social worker who likes nothing more than sorting out other people's problems (while failing to deal with her own). Wracked with guilt over being white, middle-class and heterosexual, she has a dedicated social conscience (unless it's inconvenient for her) and lives to interfere in other people's lives—both on a personal and professional basis. Bearing the brunt of her control freakery and lack of self-awareness are her family, colleagues and long-suffering teacher partner, Brian—all of whom have their own frustrations, disappointments and dramas.

With its brilliant blend of the silly, the serious and the satirical, The News Quiz has been a must-listen for comedy fans since 1977. Recorded in front of a virtual audience, these three series see Andy Zaltzman presiding over a motley crew of comedians and journalists as they trawl through news stories big and small to provide comedy, commentary, irony and irreverence. Among the eager news-wranglers are Zoe Lyons, Nish Kumar, Helen Lewis, Athena Kugenblu, Lucy Porter, Paul Sinha, Daliso Chaponda, Mark Steel, Alice Fraser, Ayesha Hazarika and Kiri Pritchard-McLean.

Radio 4's longest-running panel game returns for the first time since the death of much-missed maestro Nicholas Parsons, who chaired the show for more than 50 years. Following in his footsteps for series 86 are an array of special guest hosts, including Paul Merton, Sue Perkins, Nish Kumar, Jenny Eclair, Gyles Brandreth, Lucy Porter, Stephen Fry, Julian Clary, Tom Allen and Jo Brand, while in series 87, Sue Perkins takes the chair and endeavours to keep the participants in check.

Well-meaning do-gooder Clare Barker is back, and dealing with more office politics, troublesome clients and domestic dramas. Secretly regarding herself as a cross between Mother Theresa and Wonder Woman, she's got all the right jargon for every problem, but never any practical solutions. However, in today's 'Big Society' there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker (or even Clare). These six series find her struggling once again to control both her professional and private life. 

Ramesh Mahju and his trusty sidekick Dave Legg are back with more banter, bargains, shop-based shenanigans and over-the-counter philosophy. In these 24 episodes, Ramesh gets in trouble with the local headmistress over his new line of sweets, has a wobble about his Meat Loaf date with new girlfriend Malcolm, ponders retiring (but who would take over his convenience store empire?) and makes a mint when the new House of Wax opens in Lenzie and the town is besieged by tourists.

In the first series, Lander presents a four-part exposé into irregularities over plans to site a new London airport near Birmingham. Series 2 finds him reopening the investigation into the Archibald Gallery (was the key suspect framed?), reporting on revolutionary methods of baby production, probing MI5 about dirty tricks, purple herrings and mauve sheep and interviewing a double agent in his luxury home in Bulgaria.... 

In his mid-20s, Jimmy was bored, boring, unfulfilled and underachieving. He wasn't exactly depressed, but he was very sad. Think of a baby owl whose mum has recently died in a windmill accident. He was that sad. This audiobook tells the story of how Jimmy turned it around and got happy, through the redemptive power of dick jokes.

Spanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved writers, chosen by those who know his work best: his devoted fans. A brilliant representation of Gaiman's groundbreaking, entrancing, endlessly imaginative fiction, this captivating volume includes excerpts from each of his five novels for adults—Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—and nearly fifty of his short stories.

Gerald C Potter is the proud author of Death in the Arboretum, described by the Bournemouth Echo as 'well-written'. He works hard on his books, and worries about every comma, adjective and unfortunate typo, but somehow, he never seems to get very much done. However, his wife and fellow novelist, Diana (aka Magnolia Badminton), is positively prolific - much to his chagrin. These four series recount his daily activities and struggles for inspiration.