Headlong Hall, Crotchet Castle & Nightmare Abbey: A BBC Radio Collection

Three stunning full-cast dramatisation of Thomas Love Peacock’s classic stories

Listen now to this collection of three of the finest stories from Thomas Love Peacock. A contemporary and close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Love Peacock was born in 1785 and wrote satirical novels discussing and criticising the philosophical opinions of the day. Packed with witty dialogue, intriguing ideas and featuring the iconic voices of Sir Michael Hordern (Lord Of The Rings) and Kenneth Williams (Carry On films, Just a Minute) this collection is a must listen for any fans of classic audio productions.

In Headlong Hall it’s winter, 1815 and Harry Headlong, like all Welsh squires, is fond of shooting, hunting and drinking. But he becomes seized with a passion to form the acquaintance of philosophers and dilettanti. Sir Michael Hordern narrates this classic novella.

Love Peacock assembles a group of eccentrics in Crochet Castle, each with a single monomaniacal obsession. Hilarity ensures as their various interactions and conversations play out a rich social satire of the day. Reverend Doctor Folliott, a vigorous middle-aged clergyman with a love for ancient Greek language and literature, is greatly suspicious of the reform slogan of the "March of Intellect", as well as anything done by Lord Brougham. Romance stirs between Mr. Chainmail (who is convinced that the world has gone downhill continuously since the twelfth century) and Susannah Touchandgo (the daughter of a disgraced banker), and between Captain Fitzchrome (an attractive gentleman with only a moderate income) and Lady Clarinda Bossnowl (the daughter of an impoverished peer, who is cynically determined to make a financially rewarding marriage).

Voted one of the 100 best novels ever in 2023 in The Guardian, Nightmare Abbey is read by Kenneth Williams who brings this story to life in Martin Remes’s brilliant adaptation. A true radio archive gem. Written in 1818, this is classic satire poking fun at the Romantic Movement and its obsession with the morbid. Raised by his widower father in the bleak family mansion in Lincolnshire, on a dry stretch of land between the sea and the fens, Scythrop Glowry vows to change the world…

This is a listening treat for any fans of the classics, featuring a star-studded cast and stories that will both intrigue and delight. Cast includes: Michael Horden, Daniel Massey, Carlton Hobbs, Vivienne Chatterton, Esme Percy and more.

Content

Headlong Hall

Crotchet Castle

Nightmare Abbey

©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

© 2026 BBC Digital Audio (Lydbog): 9781529992922

Udgivelsesdato

Lydbog: 22. oktober 2026