BEYOND BLACK (X Rated)

BEYOND BLACK AND MORE: A BBC RADIO DRAMA COLLECTION

One of the 21st century's most celebrated authors, Hilary Mantel won the Booker Prize twice: for 2009's Wolf Hall, the first in her phenomenally successful Thomas Cromwell trilogy, and its 2012 sequel Bring Up the Bodies. The third novel in the series, 2020's The Mirror and the Light, won the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. This collection includes three of her best works of contemporary fiction, ranging from the Gothic to the blackly comic. Fludd - Hilary Mantel reads her own abridged novel, set in the dour northern mill town of Fetherhoughton in the 1950s. Presiding over the community are Father Angwin, a Catholic priest who has lost his faith in God (but still believes in the Devil) and Mother Perpetua, the head of the local convent. Then, one day, the mysterious Fludd appears - and miracles begin to happen.... Winner of the 1989 Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, this is a magically inventive tale of faith, alchemy and transformation. Beyond Black - Starring Alison Steadman, this dramatisation of Hilary Mantel's witty, sinister novel introduces us to Alison Hart, an awkward, obese medium who spends her life touring suburban London's psychic fairs with her efficient but heartless assistant, Colette. Aided by her disgusting spirit guide Morris, she passes on reassuring messages from the other side - but offstage, she is haunted by her own malevolent ghosts. To banish them, she must confront the painful truth about her troubled past.... 'In a Right State' - A homeless, lonely old lady packs all her possessions into two faint-striped, shapeless bags and takes herself off to A & E. Sitting in the waiting room, she gives us her wry observations on the other 'habitués' - while sharing her own unlikely memories and the odd bad joke. Inspired by Alan Bennett's diaries, this beautifully drawn, witty and poignant tale was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story award, and is read by Miriam Margolyes.

BRING UP THE BODIES

By 1535 Thomas Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry VIII. His fortunes have risen with those of Anne Boleyn. But now Anne has failed to give the king an heir and Henry falls in love with plain Jane Seymour, an attachment that risks the safety of the nation. Cromwell must find a solution, but no-one will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne’s final days. Book 2 of the Wolf Hall Trilogy.

FLUDD

Fetherhoughton is a drab town somewhere in a half-real 1950s north England. Father Angwin, the town’s priest, has lost his faith, and wants nothing more than to be left alone. Yet all of that is about to change. A strange visitor appears one night, bringing with him the hint of something unknown. But who is Fludd? An angel come to shake the Fetherhoughtonians from their stupor. Or is he the devil himself, a shadowy wanderer of the darkest places in the human heart?

THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT

England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, and as her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; so what will you do when the king turns on you, as sooner or later he turns on everyone close to him? Book 3 of the Wolf Hall Trilogy.

WOLF HALL

Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Thomas Cromwell arrives as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor. His reforms are carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages. Book 1 of the Wolf Hall Trilogy.