From the very first book publication in 1920 to the recent film release of Death on the Nile, this investigation into Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot celebrates a century of probably the world's favourite fictional detective. This book tells his story decade-by-decade, exploring his appearances not only in the original novels, short stories and plays but also across stage, screen and radio productions. Poirot has had near-permanent presence in the public eye ever since the 1920 publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles. From character development, publication history and private discussion concerning the original stories themselves, to early forays on to the stage and screen, the story of Poirot is as fascinating as it is enduring. Based on the author's original research, review excerpts and original Agatha Christie correspondence, Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World is a lively and accessible history of the character, offering new information and helpful pieces of context, that will delight all Agatha Christie fans, from a new generation of readers to those already highly familiar with the canon.

An Extraordinary and Death-Defying Tour of Edwardian Low Life and High Society, accompanied by our host Lucifer Box Esq - artist, dandy, rake ... and lethal secret agent. Lucifer Box is the darling of the Edwardian belle monde - society's most fashionable portrait painter is a wit, a dandy, a rake, the guest all hostesses (and not a few hosts) must have. But few know that Lucifer Box is also His Majesty's most accomplished and daring secret agent. Beneath London's facade of Imperial grandeur and divine aesthetes seethes an underworld of crazed anarchists, murder, and despicable vice, and Box is at home in both. And so of course when Britain's most prominent scientists begin turning up dead, there is only one man his country can turn to. Lucifer Box ruthlessly deduces and seduces his way from his elegant townhouse at Number 9 Downing Street (all his father left him), to private stews of London and the seediest, most colourful back alleys of Italy, in search of the mighty secret society that may hold the fate of the world in its claw-like hands - the Vesuvius Club.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as the titular character and the iconic John Watson, Sherlock captured the imagination of the world with its modern reinterpretation of the world-famous consulting detective. Now the series undergoes another contemporary twist in this 2-part adaptation of the second series episode A Scandal in Belgravia, translated into English for the first time.

Lucifer Box - the gorgeous butterfly of King Bertie's reign, portraitist, dandy and terribly good secret agent - is feeling his age. Assigned to observe the activities of fascist leader Olympus Mons and his fanatical Amber Shirts in a snow-bound 1920s New York, Box finds himself framed for a vicious murder. Using all his native cunning, Box escapes aboard a vessel bound for England armed only with a Broadway midget's suitcase and a string of unanswered questions. What lies hidden in the bleak Norfolk convent of St Bede? What is 'the lamb' that Olympus Mons searches for in his bid for world domination? And what has all this to do with a medieval prayer intended to summon the Devil himself? From the glittering sophistication of Art Deco Manhattan to the eerie Norfolk coast and the snow-capped peaks of Switzerland The Devil in Amber takes us on a thrilling ride that pits Lucifer Box against the most lethal adversary of his career : the Prince of Darkness himself.

From the very first book publication in 1920 to the upcoming film release of Death on the Nile, this investigation into Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot celebrates a century of probably the world’s favourite fictional detective. This book tells his story decade-by-decade, exploring his appearances not only in the original novels, short stories and plays but also across stage, screen and radio productions. The hardback edition includes more than 400 illustrations. Poirot has had near-permanent presence in the public eye ever since the 1920 publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles. From character development, publication history and private discussion concerning the original stories themselves, to early forays on to the stage and screen, the story of Poirot is as fascinating as it is enduring. Based on the author’s original research, review excerpts and original Agatha Christie correspondence, Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World is a lively and accessible history of the character, offering new information and helpful pieces of context, that will delight all Agatha Christie fans, from a new generation of readers to those already highly familiar with the canon.

A young soldier returning from the trenches of the First World War recollects a love that dare not speak its name. Almost one hundred years later, a groom-to-be prepares for his gay wedding. Queers celebrates a century of evolving social attitudes and political milestones in British gay history, as seen through the eyes of eight individuals. Poignant and personal, funny, tragic and riotous, these eight monologues for male and female performers cover major events - such as the Wolfenden Report of 1957, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the debate over the age of consent - through deeply affecting and personal rites-of-passage stories. Curated by Mark Gatiss, the monologues were commissioned to mark the anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men over the age of twenty-one. They were broadcast on BBC Four in 2017, directed and produced by Gatiss, and starring Alan Cumming, Rebecca Front, Ian Gelder, Kadiff Kirwan, Russell Tovey, Gemma Whelan, Ben Whishaw and Fionn Whitehead. They were also staged at The Old Vic in London. This volume includes: The Man on the Platform by Mark Gatiss The Perfect Gentleman by Jackie Clune Safest Spot in Town by Keith Jarrett Missing Alice by Jon Bradfield I Miss the War by Matthew Baldwin More Anger by Brian Fillis A Grand Day Out by Michael Dennis Something Borrowed by Gareth McLean

Adapting the first series of the smash-hit TV series into the manga format, collected together in this fantastic Slipcase Edition! Including Art Cards featuring the cover art from the individual books. This collection Includes A Study In Pink (9781785856150), The Blind Banker (9781785856167), The Great Game (9781785859168). Holmes and Watson tackle brain-teasing crimes in modern-day London in this stunning Manga, presented in its original right-to-left reading order, and in the full chapters as originally serialized! Meet Holmes and Watson for the first time... all over again! Starring worldwide superstars Benedict Cumberbatch (upcoming Doctor Strange) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit).

It's Christmas Eve. As the cold, bleak night draws in, the penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge is confronted by the spirit of his former business partner, Jacob Marley. Bound in chains as punishment for a lifetime of greed, the unearthly figure explains it isn't too late for Scrooge to change his miserly ways in order to escape the same fate. But first he'll have to face three more eerie encounters... Mark Gatiss' spine-tingling adaptation is faithful to the heart and spirit of Charles Dickens' much-loved festive ghost story - with an emphasis on the ghostly. Commissioned by Nottingham Playhouse, the adaptation premiered there in 2021, starring Nicholas Farrell alongside Gatiss, and directed by the theatre's Artistic Director, Adam Penford. A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story subsequently transferred to Alexandra Palace Theatre, London, produced by Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Eilene Davidson Productions.

Holmes and Watson tackle brain-teasing crimes in modern-day London in this stunning Manga, presented in its original right-to-left reading order, and in the full chapters as originally serialized! Meet Holmes and Watson for the first time...all over again!

Originally published in 1949, Tomato Cain and Other Stories is the sole collection of short fiction by Nigel Kneale. Drawing on his experiences of growing up on the Isle of Man, many of Kneale's tales conjure up a remote, old-fashioned community where mythology and superstition are part of everyday life. Several stories go further, making imaginative leaps into the kind of weird, eerie territory with which Kneale would go on to make his name, as the writer of TV's Quatermass, The Road, Beasts and The Stone Tape. Though garlanded with praise on publication - it won its author the 1950 Somerset Maugham Award - Tomato Cain has long since been out of print. This new edition is published to mark the centenary of Kneale's birth, uniting the stories from both the original UK and US editions for the first time ever. It's sure to delight Kneale's legions of fans and indeed all admirers of skilfully-crafted short stories.

Sherlock Manga - printed in English in the US for the first time! Adapting the episodes of the smash-hit TV series starring worldwide superstars Benedict Cumberbatch (upcomingDoctor Strange) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit). Holmes and Watson tackle brain-teasing crimes in modern-day London in this stunning Manga, presented in its original right-to-left reading order, and in the full chapters as originally serialized! Meet Holmes and Watson for the first time...all over again!"

Bernice Summerfield is still trapped in a dying universe with the wrong Doctor. Things have taken a turn for the worse - the Doctor has become President Of The Universe and, it turns out, he's a controversial choice for the job. While Bernice works to unearth the mythical Apocalypse Clock, the Doctor's immersed in the murky world of politics and the dark forces that are working against him. As battlefleets fight and terrible deals are done, the peoples of the universe wonder if they've made a terrible decision. Is the Doctor up to ruling the universe? Watching from the sidelines, the Master is quick to reassure everyone that he has no ambitions in that direction. And, meanwhile, the stars are going out. 1)The City And The Clock by Guy Adams. Bernice is on an archaeological dig for the mythical Apocalypse Clock. Can it really be the key to saving the universe? The ghosts of the planet have other ideas.2) Asking For A Friend by James Goss. Vast wars are raging across the stars, planets are dying, and the Doctor is sat on a psychiatrist's couch. What's it like to be the Doctor's therapist? 3) Truant by Guy Adams. The President of the Universe has run away. Bernice has to hunt him down, but he's too busy having fun. Evil warlords! Impossible escapes! Sinister plans! The Doctor's on an adventure. 4) The True Saviour Of The Universe by James Goss. Bernice finds that time has run out for the Doctor and the universe. Is this really the end of everything? Help is on hand from an unlikely quarter...Professor Bernice Summerfield was a character created as a companion to the Seventh Doctor by writer Paul Cornell for the popular 1990s Doctor Who novelisations. Since then she's found a whole new audio life through plays for Big Finish. Bernice (Benny) is played by Lisa Bowerman, an actor and director from TV and stage, including the last ever Classic Doctor Who story, Survival. British acting hero David Warner reprises his "unbound" Doctor, a character created in a series of "what if..." Doctor Who dramas from Big Finish. The Master is played by Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen, Sherlock, Doctor Who, and many, many more). CAST: Lisa Bowerman (Professor Bernice Summerfield), David Warner(The Doctor), Sam Kisgar t(The Master), Samantha Beárt (Chamu), Ben Arogundade (Joto), Stephen Critchlow(Leonard), Ben Crystal (Hood), Guy Adams (Host), Annette Badland (Guilana), Wilf Scolding (Radio / Mogron), Catrin Stewart (Killian), Jonathan Bailey (Lakis), Rhys Jennings (Slaygar), Oliver Mason (Sordo), Rowena Cooper (Mother Superior), and Hattie Hayridge (Ebbis / Morlick).

A brand-new four-part adventure featuring the Master's exploits in the Time War. In a Time War, there is a crime that not even the Daleks would dare consider. But the Master has more than considered - and he is ready to commit. When his TARDIS returns to Gallifrey carrying his corpse, a chain of events ensues that will change established history, Old friendships will be destroyed and dark alliances formed, as the Master exploits a terrifying truth. Even for the two most powerful races, time can be rewritten. 4.1 From the Flames by Nicholas Briggs. After the Master's TARDIS returns his remains to Gallifrey, in accordance with his final wishes, an intricate plot begins to change the nature of the universe forever. But even in death the Master threatens life. And only CIA Coordinator Narvin can hope to stop him. 4.2 The Master's Dalek Plan by Alan Barnes. As the Master infiltrates the Kaled scientific elite, the Time Lords seek to counter his interference. But while Narvin and President Livia try to stabilise the past, a new and horrifying future dawns in the wastelands of ancient Skaro. 4.3 Shockwave by Alan Barnes. With all known history threatened, the Daleks take desperate action to preserve their established legacy. When they cross dimensions to recruit an alternative incarnation of the Master, an uneasy alliance is formed ... But can either side truly trust the other? 4.4 He Who Wins by Nicholas Briggs. The Master has achieved an ultimate victory. But at what cost? Cast: Derek Jacobi (The Master), Mark Gatiss (The Other Master), Sean Carlsen (Narvin), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks), Zaraah Abrahams (Kaled Corporal), Pippa Bennett-Warner (Livia), Vikash Bhai (Arfor), Daniel Brocklebank (Yaren), Richard Clifford (Novar), Ben Crystal (Soogasor), Christopher Harper (Kaled Guard), Will Kirk (Uglen), Jordan Renzo (Insloy), Gavin Swift (Crazlus), Franchi Webb (Lamarius). Other parts played by members of the cast.

"What this charming, moving and fascinating collection proves is that the [letter] form itself - a scribbled note, a declaration of love, an outpouring of passion, a bitter word - has always been with us." - Mark Gatiss A good love letter can speak across centuries, and reassure us that the agony and the ecstasy one might feel today have been shared by lovers long gone. In The Love That Dares, queer love speaks its name through a wonderful selection of surviving letters between lovers and friends, confidants and companions. Alongside the more famous names coexist beautifully written letters by lesser-known lovers. Together, they weave a narrative of queer love through the centuries, through the romantic, often funny, and always poignant words of those who lived it. Including letters written by: John Cage Audre Lorde Benjamin Britten Lorraine Hansberry Walt Whitman Vita Sackville-West Radclyffe Hall Allen Ginsberg

The television set - the humble box in the corner of almost every British household - has brought about some of the biggest social changes in modern times. It gives us a window into the lives of people who are different from us: different classes, different races, different sexualities. And through this window, we've learnt that, perhaps, we're not so different after all. Playing Gay in the Golden Age of British TV looks at gay male representation on and off the small screen - from the programmes that hinted at homoeroticism to Mary Whitehouse's Clean Up TV campaign, and The Naked Civil Servant to the birth of Channel 4 as an exciting 'alternative' television channel. Here, acclaimed social historian Stephen Bourne tells the story of the innovation, experimentation, back-tracking and bravery that led British television to help change society for the better.

A chronicle of a lifetime's passion for gig-going, by one of British television's most respected writers. "Foreground Music is an absolute gem. Charming, very funny and often achingly melancholy, Graham Duff's memoir is suffused with a genuine passion for live music and its (occasionally eccentric) power. -Mark Gatiss The result of a lifetime's passion for gig-going by one of British television's most respected writers, Foreground Music is at once enthusiastically detailed and tremendously illuminating-of both the concert moment and its place in popular culture. It is an engaging memoir of a life lived to the fullest, and a vivid, insightful, and humorous exploration of what music writing might be. Foreground Music describes music performances that range from a Cliff Richard gospel concert, attended by Duff at the age of ten, to the fourteen-year-old Duff's first rock show, where the Jam played so loudly he blacks out, to a Joy Division gig that erupted into a full-scale riot. Duff goes on pub crawls with Mark E. Smith of the Fall, convinces Paul Weller to undertake his first acting role, and attempts to interview Genesis P. Orridge of Throbbing Gristle while tripping on LSD. Foreground Music captures the energy and power of life-changing gigs, while tracing the evolution of forty years of musical movements and subcultures. But more than that, it's an honest, touching, and very funny story of friendship, love, creativity, and mortality, and a testimony to music's ability to inspire and heal. Illustrated with photographs and ephemera from the author's private collection.

This Penguin Classic is narrated by Mark Gatiss who also wrote the screen play for the critically acclaimed BBC adaptation. Gatiss has also had an extensive acting career including roles in Sherlock, which he wrote alongside Steven Moffat, The League of Gentlemen and Wolf Hall. When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned shipis wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival. In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

This reader is accompanied with a CD that contains the full audio of the text in MP3 format. In beautiful Sherwood Forest, the Doctor learns of the dangerous plan of robots from space. He doesn’t like Robin Hood, but has to work with him. Who is real and who is not? The Doctor wants to help the people of Nottingham, so he has to know. Can heroes from storybooks be real?

Sherlock star Mark Gatiss selects and introduces chilling tales by the unsung master of the classic ghost story - E.F. Benson. There's nothing sinister about a London bus. Nothing supernatural could occur on a busy Tube platform. There's nothing terrifying about a little caterpillar. And a telephone, what could be scary about that? Don't be frightened of the dark corners of your room. Don't be alarmed by a sudden, inexplicable chill. There's no need for a ticking clock, a limping footstep, or a knock at the door to start you trembling. There's nothing to be scared of. Nothing at all.

Pearson English Readers bring language learning to life through the joy of reading.   Well-written stories entertain us, make us think, and keep our interest page after page. Pearson English Readers offer teenage and adult learners a huge range of titles, all featuring carefully graded language to make them accessible to learners of all abilities.   Through the imagination of some of the world’s greatest authors, the English language comes to life in pages of our Readers. Students have the pleasure and satisfaction of reading these stories in English, and at the same time develop a broader vocabulary, greater comprehension and reading fluency, improved grammar, and greater confidence and ability to express themselves.   Find out more at english.com/readers

Knave. Joker. Queen. Lucifer Box is back!

The hero of" The Vesuvius Club" and "The Devil in Amber" returns with an artistic licence to kill, and the deadliest mission of his career. A new Queen has been crowned, an old enemy has resurfaced and the world is about to be embraced by the lethal wings of the Black Butterfly....

Lucifer Box. He's tall, he's dark and, like the shark, he looks for trouble.

Or so he wishes. For, with Queen Elizabeth newly established on her throne, the now elderly secret agent is reaching the end of his scandalous career. Despite his fast-approaching retirement, however, queer events leave Box unable to resist investigating one last case....Why have pillars of the Establishment started dying in reckless accidents?Who are the deadly paymasters of enigmatic assassin Kingdom Kum?And who...or what...is the mysterious Black Butterfly?

From the seedy streets of Soho to the souks of Istanbul and the sun-drenched shores of Jamaica, Box must use his artistic licence to confront and kill an enemy with its roots in his own notorious past. Can Lucifer Box save the day before the dying of the light?

The fabulous Lucifer Box returns for another round of spirited, pun-heavy sleuthing in this devilishly decadent sequel to the acclaimed "The Vesuvius Club."

Lucifer Box -- portraitist, dandy and terribly good secret agent -- is feeling his age. He's also more than a little anxious about an ambitious younger agent, Percy Flarge, who's snapping at his heels. Assigned to observe the activities of fascist leader Olympus Mons and his fanatical followers, or "Amber Shirts," in F.A.U.S.T. -- The Fascist Anglo-United States Trinity (an acronym so tortuous it can only be sinister) -- in snowbound 1920s New York, Box finds himself framed for a vicious, mysterious murder.

Using all of his native cunning, Box escapes aboard a vessel bound for England armed with only a Broadway midget's suitcase and a string of unanswered questions: What lies hidden in the bleak Norfolk convent of St. Bede? What is "the lamb" that Olympus Mons searches for in his bid for world domination? And what has all this to do with a medieval prayer intended to summon the Devil himself?

From the glittering sophistication of Art Deco Manhattan to the eerie Norfolk coast and the snowcapped peaks of Switzerland, "The Devil in Amber" takes us on a thrilling, delicious ride that pits Lucifer Box against the most lethal adversary of his career: the Prince of Darkness himself.

Meet Lucifer Box: Equal parts James Bond and Sherlock Holmes, with a twist of Monty Python and a dash of Austin Powers, Lucifer has a charming countenance and rapier wit that make him the guest all hostesses must have. And most do.
But few of his conquests know that Lucifer is also His Majesty's most daring secret agent, at home in both London's Imperial grandeur and in its underworld of despicable vice. So when Britain's most prominent scientists begin turning up dead, there is only one man his country can turn to for help.
Following a dinnertime assassination, Lucifer is dispatched to uncover the whereabouts of missing agent Jocelyn Poop. Along the way he will give art lessons, be attacked by a poisonous centipede, bed a few choice specimens, and travel to Italy on business and pleasure. Aided by his henchwoman Delilah; the beautiful, mysterious, and Dutch Miss Bella Pok; his boss, a dwarf who takes meetings in a lavatory; grizzled vulcanologist Emmanuel Quibble; and the impertinent, delicious, right-hand-boy Charlie Jackpot, Lucifer Box deduces and seduces his way from his elegant townhouse at Number 9 Downing Street (somebody has to live there) to the ruined city of Pompeii, to infiltrate a highly dangerous secret society that may hold the fate of the world in its clawlike grip--the Vesuvius Club.

'We must get to the bottom of this dark and queer business, no matter what the cost!' Something ghastly is afoot in Victorian Yorkshire. Something that kills. Bodies are washing up in the canal, their skin a waxy, glowing red... But just what is this crimson horror? Madam Vastra, Jenny and Strax are despatched to investigate the mystery. Strangely reluctant to assist their enquiries is Mrs Winifred Gillyflower, matriarch of 'Sweetville', a seemingly utopian workers' community. Why do all roads lead to the team's old friends Clara and the Doctor? Who is Mrs Gillyflower's mysterious silent partner Mr Sweet? And will the motley gang be in time to defeat the mysterious power that threatens all the world with its poison?

Catrin Stewart reads this brand new novelisation of an action-packed TV adventure for the Eleventh Doctor and Clara. 'We must get to the bottom of this dark and queer business, no matter what the cost!' Something ghastly is afoot in Victorian Yorkshire. Something that kills. Bodies are washing up in the canal, their skin a waxy, glowing red... But just what is this crimson horror? Madam Vastra, Jenny and Strax are despatched to investigate the mystery. Strangely reluctant to assist their enquiries is Mrs Winifred Gillyflower, matriarch of 'Sweetville', a seemingly utopian workers' community. Why do all roads lead to the team's old friends, Clara and the Doctor? Who is Mrs Gillyflower's mysterious silent partner, Mr Sweet? And will the motley gang be in time to defeat the mysterious power that threatens all the world with its poison? Catrin Stewart, who played Jenny in the BBC TV series, is joined by Dan Starkey as Strax in this reading of Mark Gatiss's novelisation of his own 2013 TV script. (P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd Reading produced by Neil Gardner Sound design by Simon Power Executive producer: Michael Stevens