THE DICK FRANCIS BBC RADIO DRAMA COLLECTION

10LB PENALTY

Amateur jockey Benedict Juliard finds himself in danger when he is targeted by the increasingly violent enemies of his father's bid to become Prime Minister.

BLOOD SPORT

Gene Hawkins becomes involved in attempted murders on the Thames and on the ranch, death in the Blue Grass country of Kentucky, three stallions hi-jacked, blackmail, burglary and bugging devices.

BOLT

Princess Casilia, Kit Fielding’s patron, is in real trouble with her invalid husband being threatened by his business partner and all her best runners being wantonly destroyed. She turns to Kit for help but he has problems of his own….

BREAK IN

Family ties mean trouble and when a vicious press campaign threatens the career of trainer Bobby Allardeck his brother-in-law, Kit Fielding, decides to find out who is behind it, so putting himself in danger.

COME TO GRIEF

Sid Halley, ex-jockey turned investigator, has uncovered an obnoxious crime committed by his friend, Ellis Quint. He is called as a witness at the trial but on the morning the trial is due to start, other people’s troubles put him in danger.

COMEBACK

On leave from the Foreign Office, Peter Darwin returns to his childhood home. Here he becomes involved with the plight of a local vet, whose operating theatre is becoming an abattoir for a string of valuable racehorses. Peter realises that events from his own past hold the key to the mystery and so puts his own life at risk

CROSSFIRE

Tom Forsyth returns to Lambourn, his childhood home, after being badly wounded by an IED in Afghanistan. Never having seen eye to eye with his racehorse trainer mother, Tom doesn't expect a hero's welcome, but even he's not prepared for the reception that awaits him.

DEAD CERT

For millionaire jockey Alan York, winning is a bonus; but for Bill Davidson, front running on strongly fancied Admiral, triumph means murder - his own. Turning private detective, York uses his underworld connections to go on the trail of the killers, only to draw a series of blanks - until York finds himself in hospital, without a memory...

DEAD HEAT

The night before the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket sees the great and the good of the horse-racing community gathered for a prestigious black-tie Gala dinner. Michelin-starred chef Max Moreton is cooking the evening's meal. But the day is far from over, and soon Max Moreton finds himself fighting for more than just his livelihood.

DRIVING FORCE

Retired steeplechase jockey Freddie Craft runs a fleet of motor horseboxes transporting runners from their stables to the races. When a hitch-hiker is picked up and someone dies Freddie becomes involved in a conspiracy.

THE EDGE

Tor Kelsey, an undercover agent for the Jockey Club’s Security Service is sent to trail a blackmailer and murderer, Julius Apollo Filmer, on a luxury train across Canada. Filmer is wanted for corruption and witness intimidation and proves very difficult to entrap.

EVEN MONEY

Bookmaker Ned Talbot is counting his losses at Royal Ascot as the favourites all come in. Then suddenly an old man accosts him claiming to be the father he had believed dead in a car crash years before.

FIELD OF 13

A collection of thirteen exciting short stories from a master of equine thriller writing.

GAMBLE

Nick 'Foxy' Foxton's career as a world class jockey is on a perfect track until a near fatal accident cuts his dream brutally short. But when he returns to Aintree years later, nothing can prepare him for what unfolds.

LONGSHOT

John Kendall knows how to survive. He's written six handbooks on the subject. Now he wants to become a novelist and he is to research and write a biography of Tremayne Vickers, a famous racecourse trainer. Staying at Vickers' home in rural Berkshire, Kendall soon learns to like his host and friends, learns to ride racehorses, and learns about murderers...

SECOND WIND

Perry Stuart, TV meteorologist has the chance to chase a Caribbean hurricane in a small plane. By accident he also learns a secret that places him in deadly danger.

SHATTERED

When jockey Martin Stukely dies after a fall, he accidentally involves his artist friend, Gerard Logan, in a life and death race to find a valuable missing video-tape.

SILKS

Barrister and amateur jockey Geoffrey Mason finds his racing life colliding with his working life when a fellow rider is murdered. The prime suspect is champion jockey Steve Mitchell, but Mason soon finds himself at the centre of a web of threat and intimidation.

STRAIGHT

Derek Franklin is an injured jockey. The last fence at Cheltenham has left him on crutches. But his brother's death means even bigger trouble. He inherits a jewellery business, a mistress - and some very shadowy business associates. Money hungry men who scorn the good and despise the straight . . .

TO THE HILT

Artist living in remote area of Scotland returns to find a group of strangers waiting to attack him. The following days are more dangerous than he could have imagined.

TRIAL RUN

Ex-steeplechaser Randall Drew knows more about horses than Russians - and more about farming than spying. Yet he still finds himself Moscow bound, armed only with a vague brief and an invisible opposition. It's time for a winter crash course in Soviet diplomacy..

UNDER ORDERS

Former champion jockey, now super-sleuth, Sid Halley’s suspicions are aroused after three deaths in a single afternoon at Cheltenham Gold Cup Day.

WILD HORSES

Film director,Thomas Lyon, finds himself listening to a blacksmith’s confession when the dying man mistakes him for a priest. When there is a frenzied knife attack on the set of his current film, Thomas feels tempted to reveal what he has heard in the man’s confession, but what he knows could put his own life in danger.