Selected by Peter Davison with an introduction by Edward Hirsch. Sissman was a true phenomenon in American poetry. He published his first book, a collection of antic, autobiographical episodes in blank verse, in 1968. Eight years and three books later, he died of Hodgkin's disease at the age of forty-eight. Of Sissman's remarkable final poems John Updike wrote, "What other poet had ever given such wry and unblinking witness to his own dying? His poetry gave back to life more generously than he had received, and carried his beautiful wit into darkness undimmed." Now Sissman's longtime editor, Peter Davison, has selected from his lifework the essential poems--the essence of an American original. (A Mariner Original)

An array of familiar friends and foes join the Fifth Doctor in his second fortieth anniversary box set from Big Finish Productions. The Auton Infinity is a six-part full cast audio drama, where the Doctor and his faithful companions Tegan and Turlough arrive unexpectedly at a UNIT base. Snowdonia. UNIT is running a training exercise with the Brigadier in attendance. Except it isn't long before things start to go badly wrong. The fake aliens primed to attack the troops might not be so fake after all, and a temporal disturbance attracts the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough into the fray. Old enemies are on the scene with a deadly plan - but they might be the least of the Doctor's worries. Because he's recently been sent backwards and forwards through his own lifetime - and he's finally going to find out why. CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlough), Juliet Aubrey (Prodigal), Jon Culshaw (Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart/Kamelion), Lucy Fleming (Veronica Holmes), Fiona Hampton (Sergeant Janet Wharry), Glen McCready (Dodson/Autons), Oscar Pearce (Captain Ted Mears), Homer Todiwala (Corporal Vikram Palmer). Other parts played by members of the cast

Ralph Waldo Emerson issued a call for a great poet to capture and immortalize the unique American experience. In 1855, an answer came with "Leaves of Grass."
Today, this masterful collection remains not only a seminal event in American literature but also the incomparable achievement of one of America's greatest poets--an exuberant, passionate man who loved his country and wrote of it as no other has ever done. Walt Whitman was a singer, thinker, visionary, and citizen extraordinaire. Thoreau called Whitman "probably the greatest democrat that ever lived," and Emerson judged "Leaves of Grass" as "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed."
The text presented here is that of the "Deathbed" or ninth edition of "Leaves of Grass," published in 1892. The content and grouping of poems is the version authorized by Whitman himself for the final and complete edition of his masterpiece.
With a foreword by Billy Collins, an afterword by Peter Davison, and a new introduction by Elisabeth Panttaja Brink

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Turlough to a high-tech scientific installation on the planet Testament in the distant future. The human race have become intergalactic buccaneers, thanks to their ability to generate vast amounts of power for long distance travel. Testament is the source of that power - and the Doctor has never quite understood how it works. But experiments are underway on Testament - experiments with potentially explosive and devastating consequences. And even the Doctor may be too late to stop it. With politicians and bureaucrats getting in the way, the race is on. Not to stop a disaster - but to save as many people as possible. CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Mark Strickson (Vislor Turlough), Rakie Ayola (Violet Hardaker), Lynsey Murrell (Ellison/Fionn), Raj Ghatak (Horobin/Bradley), Donna Berlin (Montgomery/Prime Minister). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Including Animal Farm 'Orwell is the most influential political writer of the twentieth century' New York Review of Books Throughout his life George Orwell aimed, in his words, to make 'political writing into an art'. This collection brings together the best of his matchless political essays and journalism with his timeless satire on totalitarianism, Animal Farm. It includes articles on subjects from the corruption of language to the oppressive British Empire; his masterly wartime Socialist polemic, 'The Lion and the Unicorn'; a wry review of Mein Kampf; a defence of Nineteen Eighty-Four; and extracts from his controversial list of 'Crypto-Communists'. Together these works demonstrate Orwell's commitment to telling the truth, however unpalatable, and doing so with artistry and humanity. Edited by Peter Davison with an Introduction by Timothy Garton Ash

Including Down and Out in Paris and London 'Orwell was the great moral force of his age' Spectator The powerful writings collected together in this volume chronicle George Orwell's first-hand experiences of life among the underclass of the 'two nations' of rich and poor. Down and Out in Paris and London is the young Orwell's memoir of his time as a struggling, often penniless writer, living among the destitute and dispossessed, in which he exposes what 'going to the dogs' is really like. There are also articles and letters on sleeping rough in Trafalgar Square, being arrested for drunkenness, on the poverty Orwell witnessed in Morocco and India, and his shocking essay, 'How the Poor Die'. Edited by Peter Davison with an Introduction by Peter Clarke

Shakespeare's Richard III presents difficult textual problems. There are 2,000 verbal differences between the text of the first quarto (1597) and the version in the First Folio (1623). Although the narrative of the two plays is virtually identical, each has lines which are not found in the other, parts of the play are arranged differently, and the quarto deploys fewer characters. The text of the quarto is accompanied by a collation of variant readings and substantial textual notes. In a lengthy introduction Peter Davison proposes that Shakespeare's company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, used a memorially reconstructed text of Richard III during a touring performance of the play, and that text provided the manuscript for the 1597 quarto. Using examples of touring practice of the past 400 years, Davison shows how the actors' involvement helped to produce the text we have.

A searing account of George Orwell’s experiences of working- class life in the bleak industrial heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire, The Road to Wigan Pier is a brilliant and bitter polemic that has lost none of its political impact over time. His graphically unforgettable descriptions of social injustice, slum housing, mining conditions, squalor, hunger and growing unemployment are written with unblinking honesty, fury and great humanity.

There are 2,000 verbal differences between the text of the First Quarto of Shakespeare's Richard III (1597) and the version in the First Folio (1623). In this Quarto edition the text is accompanied by a collation of variant readings and substantial textual notes. Peter Davison argues that Shakespeare's company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, used a memorially reconstructed text of Richard III during a touring performance of the play, and that text provided the manuscript for the 1597 Quarto. The result is a breakthrough in textual studies.

The story of the Nightjar has been told for many years. A spaceship helmed by the legendary Captain Goben on a vital mission of mercy, delivering medical supplies to a distant colony in the middle of devastating war, an act of bravery that triggers the end of the conflict. At her heels throughout the journey, her pursuer, the spaceship Nemesis, helmed by the dogged Captain Eslo, never quite able to catch her target. The Doctor has always wanted to witness these historic events. And now, alongside Nyssa and Tegan, he’s got his chance. But history might just have other ideas. Further story details to follow

Including Homage to Catalonia 'Spain not only defined Orwell as an individual, it also gave him his first glimpse of totalitarianism' D. J. Taylor, Guardian George Orwell's experience of the Spanish Civil War had a transformative effect on his life and work. This volume brings together his complete writings on the war, including Homage to Catalonia, his searing memoir of fighting in the conflict and the bitter betrayal that followed. The powerful journalism, essays, letters and pamphlets also collected here show his resolution to tell the truth about what happened amid a 'crop of lies' from both the Communist Party and the British press, while in 'Looking Back on the Spanish War' he remembers the heroism and decency of the ordinary people he encountered. Edited by Peter Davison with an Introduction by Christopher Hitchens

The Doctor is recruited by Leela for a vital mission on behalf of the Time Lords. Together, they must track down and destroy two god-like beings whose extraordinary powers now threaten all of space and time. Their names are Abby and Zara...1. The Garden of Storms. In pursuit of Abby and Zara, Leela pilots the TARDIS to the eye of a violent storm in time. Yet she and the Doctor find themselves in an idyllic garden city, the people contented and happy. They soon discover that this bliss comes at a terrible cost, and that Abby and Zara are determined to put things right… so how can Leela and the Doctor stop them? 2. The Moonrakers. Life is hard for the early pioneers building the first settlements on the Moon. The laws of the Earth don’t apply here, and there are tussles over limited resources vital to survival. Arriving on the Moon, the Doctor and Zara discover than an aggressive alien species lies in wait. Yet there’s something very strange about these particular Sontarans: they refuse to fight. 3. The People Made of Smoke. Abby and Zara strive to use their powers for good but it’s clear they are damaging reality – and allowing monstrous creatures to bleed through from beyond. The Doctor knows he can only save the universe by destroying his friends. But just how much might he be willing to sacrifice if there’s a chance to save them? CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Louise Jameson (Leela), Ciara Janson (Abby), Laura Doddington (Zara), Lisa Bowerman (Smoke Creatures), Pandora Clifford (Zeeb/Zeet), Paul Courtenay Hyu (Wei), Nicky Goldie (Polk), Tom Mahy (Brody), Anjli Mohindra (Captain Riya Nehru), Dan Starkey (Stent/Sontarans).

This is the second of two new releases featuring Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and contains two adventures; Thin Time by Dan Abnett. Hallowe'en, 1892. Celebrated novelist Charles Crookshap claims to have been receiving time communiques, promising secrets that could change the world forever. But when the TARDIS interrupts the household's evening, the Doctor realises he isn't the only alien interloper in London. Madquake by Guy Adams. Abandoned on the planet Callanna, Nyssa, Tegan and Marc take advantage of its therapeutic atmosphere to come to terms with recent events; but others seek to take advantage too. The Slitheen are on their way - and they're ready to sell this world to the highest bidder! CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), George Watkins (Marc), Dona Croll (Bella), Raj Ghatak (Mison), Kate Isitt (Cott), Zaqi Ismail (John Hobshaw), Nicholas Khan (Stubbs), Luyanda Unati LewisNyawo (Mrs Polly), Wilf Scolding (Charles Crookshap), Harley Viveash (Grumma). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Separated from his companions, the Doctor attempts to find solace in the history of his favourite planet - Earth - but instead discovers new threats lying in wait. Travelling from twentieth-century East Berlin to sixteenth-century Strasbourg, the Doctor encounters creatures from other realities: monsters beneath the waves, and human beings determined to exploit their fellow man. But how long can he survive without a friend? In this release, Peter Davison returns as the Fifth Doctor, in the first of two new releases which pick up where 2019's Warzone/Conversion left off. This anthology release is compiled of four adventures which are loosely connected in that they see the Doctor travelling alone. CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Laura Aikman (Mary Wade), Timothy Blore (Peter Meier/Lucas), Wayne Forester (Clement/Dr Richard Alley/Gerhardt), Kate Harbour (Agatha/Teuthis/Margareta). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Once upon a time, a people of great artistry and great knowledge ruled the planet Mekalion: the Kamille. For a thousand years, they prospered peacefully. Then came disaster, when their sun set forever. Facing extinction, the Kamille made the Locus, a device to sustain their minds; and fashioned shape-changing machines, to act out their wishes on the physical plane. Servants they called the Kamelion. Big Finish have been producing Doctor Who audios since 1999, starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, David Tennant and John Hurt. Jon Culshaw comes on board to play Kamelion, a shape-changing android companion from the Fifth Doctor's era, the character's first appearance at Big Finish. CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor / Doctor-Kamelion aka Authority), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka / Tegan-Kamelion aka Harmony), Mark Strickson (Vislor Turlough / Turlough-Kamelion aka Liberty), Jon Culshaw (Kamelion / Chaos), Christopher Naylor (Alternate Kamelion / Chaos Soldier). Other parts played by members of the cast.

A walking tour guide meets a ghost who says her tour is being used to bring a terrible being into our world. Before he died, the ghost was known as the Doctor. Big Finish have been producing Doctor Who audios since 1999, starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, David Tennant and John Hurt. This release's director - Barnaby Edwards - is not only a prolific Big Finish director, but as an actor is the lead Dalek operator on TV's Doctor Who. Writer James Goss is the official representative of the Douglas Adams Estate, tasked with adapting the Sci-Fi/comedy legend's work as novels. CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Fenella Woolgar (Leanne), Sacha Dhawan (Matthew), Stephen Greif (Sabaoth), Carolyn Seymour (Mrs Stubbs), Philip Childs (Giles), John Banks (Louie), Rebecca Tromans (Nancy).

Containing two new adventures: Interstitial - when the tardis is drawn off-course by temporal disruption, the Doctor and his companions discover a research facility conducting dangerous experiments. But how do you fight the future when time itself is being used as a weapon? Feast of Fear - At the height of the Irish famine, a carnival travels the country bringing cheer to all they encounter. But is also brings something else along with them...and it already has the Doctor. CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), George Watkins (Marc), Jeremy Ang Jones (Jennings), Melissa Dean (Brianna), Peter Heenan (Armstrong), Niamh McGrady (Shannon), Deirdre Mullins (The Spae Wife), Anna- Maria Nabirye (Kalu), Michael Yare (Lorcan).

63BC. Following the overthrow of Catiline, Cicero and his wife retire to the coastal town of Cumae, safe from the threats of Rome. But when a stranger and his companions arrive at Cicero’s villa, new dangers lie in wait and Cicero finds himself plunged into a realm of gods and monsters. His only hope of returning home lies with a man known as the Doctor. But can Cicero trust him? CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Samuel Barnett (Cicero), Laura Riseborough (Terentia), George Watkins (Marc), Joe Shire (Septus), Tracy-Ann Oberman (Tartarus). Other parts played by members of the cast.

The TARDIS deposits the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and their android ally Kamelion aboard a prison ship. A ship with just one prisoner: Nustanu, last warlord of the Zamglitti - monstrous, mind-bending mimics able to turn themselves into mist. A ship that's in trouble, and about to make a crash-landing - on a planet of mists! Since Doctor Who, Peter Davison's appeared in shows such as The Last Detective and Campion, while London stage appearances include Legally Blonde and Spamelot. He's been reprising his role as the Fifth Doctor for Big Finish since 1999. Jon Culshaw comes on board to play Kamelion, a shape-changing android companion from the Fifth Doctor's era, the character's first appearance at Big Finish. Mark Strickson and Janet Fielding worked together as the Doctor's companions in 1983 and 1984, and this most recent run of adventures for them have been long anticipated by fans Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlough), Jon Culshaw (Kamelion), Anjella Mackintosh (Orna), John Voce (Rako), Simon Slater (Nustanu).

Daniel Hopkins thought he knew what he was letting himself in for when he joined the top-secret UNIT organisation as its latest Medical Officer. Racing about the countryside, chasing strange lights in the sky? Check. Defending the realm against extraterrestrial incursion? Check. Frequent ear-bashings from UNIT’s UK CO, the famously no-nonsense Lt-Col Lewis Price? Check. Close encounters of the First, Second and even Third kind? Check, check, check. But he had no idea what alien beings were really like. Until the day of the Fallen Kestrel. Until the day he met the Doctor.Big Finish have been producing Doctor Who audios since 1999, starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, David Tennant and John Hurt. his release is directed by Jamie Anderson, son of TV legend Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Terrahawks, etc). The Doctor in this story is played by Peter Davison, familiar to many viewers and audiences for his years as star of stage and screen. CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Blake Harrison (Lieutenant Daniel Hopkins), Russ Bain (Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Price), Genevieve Gaunt (Corporal Linda Maxwell), Deborah Thomas (Annabel Morden), Anna Louise Plowman (Dr Jennifer Harrison), Robbie Stevens (Morris), Jacob Dudman (Samuel).

You are cordially invited to Argentia, the galaxy’s most exclusive tax haven, to attend the funeral of mining magnate Carlo Mazzini. The memorial service will be followed by music, light refreshments, and murder! Carlo’s heirs have come to say their final goodbyes (and find out how much they’ve inherited) but when a masked killer begins picking them off one by one, Argentia goes into lock-down, closed off behind its own temporal displacement field. Can the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric apprehend the murderer before Argentia – and everyone on board - is forever cut off from the rest of the Universe? Big Finish have been producing Doctor Who audios since 1999, starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, David Tennant and John Hurt. This release's director - Barnaby Edwards - is not only a prolific Big Finish director, but as an actor is the lead Dalek operator on TV's Doctor Who. Peter Davison - the Fifth Doctor on television - is also well known from other TV shows such as The Last Detective, Campion and A Very Peculiar Practice, while more recently he's been a significant presence in many high profile West End musical productions including Legally Blonde. CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Samuel West (The Mazzini Family), Phil Cornwell (Superintendent Galgo / Zaleb 5), Sophie Winkleman (Sofia).

Gordon Comstock loathes dull, middle-class respectability and worship of money. He gives up a 'good job' in advertising to work part-time in a bookshop, giving him more time to write. But he slides instead into a self-induced poverty that destroys his creativity and his spirit. Only Rosemary, ever-faithful Rosemary, has the strength to challenge his commitment to his chosen way of life. Through the character of Gordon Comstock, Orwell reveals his own disaffection with the society he once himself renounced.

Astronomical navigation is a tricky business. To help Adric with his studies, the Doctor sets course for Gallius Ultima -a planet on the edge of the Milky Way, housing one of the most impressive observatories ever constructed. But the TARDIS arrives to find Gallius U in a state of emergency, tracking the return of the Explorer-class ship Johannes Kepler from its mission into the heart of the mysterious Large Magellanic Cloud. A mission that met with disaster...To find out what overtook the crew of the Johannes Kepler, the Doctor and his companions must journey into the heart of the Cloud...and beyond, into the darkness of another reality altogether. The universe of the Star Men. The Star Men marks the first of a trilogy of stories reuniting the 1982 TARDIS crew for Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor - Adric (Matthew Waterhouse), Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton). Director Barnaby Edwards is not only an overworked director for Big Finish productions, but on top of many audiobook voice-over duties, he's also the main Dalek operator in TV's Doctor Who.Sue Holderness takes an overdue dramatic role in this story, but is best known for playing Boycie's wife Marlene in much-loved sitcoms Only Fools and Horses and The Green Green Grass. Guest star Sophie Wu will be familiar to any fans of cult film hits Kiss-Ass and Kick Ass 2, or the much missed spooky BBC series The Fades. CAST: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sue Holderness (Kala Tace), Sophie Wu (Autumn Tace), Peter Guinness (Rovus), Damian Lynch (Fell/ Lom), Kris Dyer (Nomar/ Vedrin / Surgical Robot/ Pilot), Barnaby Edwards (Computer).