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P.D. James BBC Radio Drama Collection: Seven Full-Cast Dramatisations
Seven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of P.D. James’ acclaimed mysteries, plus P.D. James In Her Own Words
This collection includes:
Cover Her Face
P.D. James' debut novel, introducing her famous detective Adam Dalgliesh. Starring Robin Ellis as Dalgliesh.
A Taste for Death
Dalgliesh investigates when two bodies are found murdered at a London church. Starring Richard Derrington as Dalgliesh.
Devices and Desires
Dalgliesh hunts a serial killer in desolate Norfolk. Starring Robin Ellis as Dalgliesh.
A Certain Justice
Dalgliesh probes the murder of a brilliant criminal lawyer. Starring Philip Franks as Dalgliesh.
The Private Patient
Dalgliesh investigates a high-profile murder at an exclusive cosmetic surgery clinic. Starring Richard Derrington as Dalgliesh.
An Unsuitable Job For A Woman
An eminent scientist hires private detective Cordelia Gray to discover why his son committed suicide. Starring Judi Bowker as Cordelia Gray.
The Skull Beneath the Skin
With her life in danger, actress Clarissa Lisle turns to private detective Cordelia Gray. Starring Greta Scacchi as Cordelia Gray.
Among the supporting cast in these classic dramas are Siân Phillips, Hugh Grant, Anna Massey and Geraldine James.
Also included is a bonus audio documentary, P.D. James In Her Own Words, in which the author discusses her professional career and private life.
Duration: approx. 17 hours
This collection includes:
Cover Her Face
P.D. James' debut novel, introducing her famous detective Adam Dalgliesh. Starring Robin Ellis as Dalgliesh.
A Taste for Death
Dalgliesh investigates when two bodies are found murdered at a London church. Starring Richard Derrington as Dalgliesh.
Devices and Desires
Dalgliesh hunts a serial killer in desolate Norfolk. Starring Robin Ellis as Dalgliesh.
A Certain Justice
Dalgliesh probes the murder of a brilliant criminal lawyer. Starring Philip Franks as Dalgliesh.
The Private Patient
Dalgliesh investigates a high-profile murder at an exclusive cosmetic surgery clinic. Starring Richard Derrington as Dalgliesh.
An Unsuitable Job For A Woman
An eminent scientist hires private detective Cordelia Gray to discover why his son committed suicide. Starring Judi Bowker as Cordelia Gray.
The Skull Beneath the Skin
With her life in danger, actress Clarissa Lisle turns to private detective Cordelia Gray. Starring Greta Scacchi as Cordelia Gray.
Among the supporting cast in these classic dramas are Siân Phillips, Hugh Grant, Anna Massey and Geraldine James.
Also included is a bonus audio documentary, P.D. James In Her Own Words, in which the author discusses her professional career and private life.
Duration: approx. 17 hours
Audible Audio
Published February 1, 2018
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About the author
P.D. James
319 books3,244 followersP. D. James, byname of Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park, (born August 3, 1920, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England—died November 27, 2014, Oxford), British mystery novelist best known for her fictional detective Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard.
The daughter of a middle-grade civil servant, James grew up in the university town of Cambridge. Her formal education, however, ended at age 16 because of lack of funds, and she was thereafter self-educated. In 1941 she married Ernest C.B. White, a medical student and future physician, who returned home from wartime service mentally deranged and spent much of the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals. To support her family (which included two children), she took work in hospital administration and, after her husband’s death in 1964, became a civil servant in the criminal section of the Department of Home Affairs. Her first mystery novel, Cover Her Face (1962), introduced Dalgliesh and was followed by six more mysteries before she retired from government service in 1979 to devote full time to writing.
Dalgliesh, James’s master detective who rises from chief inspector in the first novel to chief superintendent and then to commander, is a serious, introspective person, moralistic yet realistic. The novels in which he appears are peopled by fully rounded characters, who are civilized, genteel, and motivated. The public resonance created by James’s singular characterization and deployment of classic mystery devices led to most of the novels featuring Dalgliesh being filmed for television. James, who earned the sobriquet “Queen of Crime,” penned 14 Dalgliesh novels, with the last, The Private Patient, appearing in 2008.
James also wrote An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) and The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982), which centre on Cordelia Gray, a young private detective. The first of these novels was the basis for both a television movie and a short-lived series. James expanded beyond the mystery genre in The Children of Men (1992; film 2006), which explores a dystopian world in which the human race has become infertile. Her final work, Death Comes to Pemberley (2011)—a sequel to Pride and Prejudice (1813)—amplifies the class and relationship tensions between Jane Austen’s characters by situating them in the midst of a murder investigation. James’s nonfiction works include The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971), a telling of the Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 written with historian T.A. Critchley, and the insightful Talking About Detective Fiction (2009). Her memoir, Time to Be in Earnest, was published in 2000. She was made OBE in 1983 and was named a life peer in 1991.
The daughter of a middle-grade civil servant, James grew up in the university town of Cambridge. Her formal education, however, ended at age 16 because of lack of funds, and she was thereafter self-educated. In 1941 she married Ernest C.B. White, a medical student and future physician, who returned home from wartime service mentally deranged and spent much of the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals. To support her family (which included two children), she took work in hospital administration and, after her husband’s death in 1964, became a civil servant in the criminal section of the Department of Home Affairs. Her first mystery novel, Cover Her Face (1962), introduced Dalgliesh and was followed by six more mysteries before she retired from government service in 1979 to devote full time to writing.
Dalgliesh, James’s master detective who rises from chief inspector in the first novel to chief superintendent and then to commander, is a serious, introspective person, moralistic yet realistic. The novels in which he appears are peopled by fully rounded characters, who are civilized, genteel, and motivated. The public resonance created by James’s singular characterization and deployment of classic mystery devices led to most of the novels featuring Dalgliesh being filmed for television. James, who earned the sobriquet “Queen of Crime,” penned 14 Dalgliesh novels, with the last, The Private Patient, appearing in 2008.
James also wrote An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) and The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982), which centre on Cordelia Gray, a young private detective. The first of these novels was the basis for both a television movie and a short-lived series. James expanded beyond the mystery genre in The Children of Men (1992; film 2006), which explores a dystopian world in which the human race has become infertile. Her final work, Death Comes to Pemberley (2011)—a sequel to Pride and Prejudice (1813)—amplifies the class and relationship tensions between Jane Austen’s characters by situating them in the midst of a murder investigation. James’s nonfiction works include The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971), a telling of the Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 written with historian T.A. Critchley, and the insightful Talking About Detective Fiction (2009). Her memoir, Time to Be in Earnest, was published in 2000. She was made OBE in 1983 and was named a life peer in 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 16, 2018
This is a collection of radio plays dramatizing these classic P.D. James mysteries:
Cover Her Face (original book 1962; the first Adam Dalgleish mystery)
A Taste for Death (1986; the seventh Adam Dalgleish mystery)
Devices and Desires (1989; the eighth Adam Dalgleish mystery)
A Certain Justice (1997); the 10th Adam Dalgleish mystery)
The Private Patient (2008; the 14th and final Adam Dalgleish mystery)
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972; the first of two Cordelia Gray (PI) mysteries)
The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982; the second Cordelia Gray mystery)
I read all these books years ago; so long ago I knew I’d be unlikely to remember the whodunnit, and I thought it would be entertaining to hear the stories in radio play form—especially when I read that Hugh Grant was one of the players.
Each play is in the vicinity of 2 hours and 15 minutes. I wondered how the BBC condensed the books, and it turns out that what they’ve done is to remove a lot of the description of the police procedural aspects of the books and focus on dialog. Not too surprising, but a bit disappointing to those of us who are into police procedurals. What you end up with is the storyline, but no real hope for you to follow the investigation and figure out the whodunnit yourself.
The lack of the police procedural element was a letdown in itself, but it also made it easier to recognize something else I don’t remember ever thinking about these books back when I first read them. P.D. James sure created a lot of extremely unlikeable female characters! In several of the books, you have a woman who is cold and unfeeling, and sometimes downright malevolent. It made me wonder if P.D. James had issues with other women.
Although the plays were ultimately not very satisfying to me, the performances are good. Don’t get excited about any individual listed though (like Hugh Grant or Greta Scacchi). They generally only appear in one of the plays, though Robin Ellis (the original Poldark) does play Dalgleish in two of them.
Cover Her Face (original book 1962; the first Adam Dalgleish mystery)
A Taste for Death (1986; the seventh Adam Dalgleish mystery)
Devices and Desires (1989; the eighth Adam Dalgleish mystery)
A Certain Justice (1997); the 10th Adam Dalgleish mystery)
The Private Patient (2008; the 14th and final Adam Dalgleish mystery)
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972; the first of two Cordelia Gray (PI) mysteries)
The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982; the second Cordelia Gray mystery)
I read all these books years ago; so long ago I knew I’d be unlikely to remember the whodunnit, and I thought it would be entertaining to hear the stories in radio play form—especially when I read that Hugh Grant was one of the players.
Each play is in the vicinity of 2 hours and 15 minutes. I wondered how the BBC condensed the books, and it turns out that what they’ve done is to remove a lot of the description of the police procedural aspects of the books and focus on dialog. Not too surprising, but a bit disappointing to those of us who are into police procedurals. What you end up with is the storyline, but no real hope for you to follow the investigation and figure out the whodunnit yourself.
The lack of the police procedural element was a letdown in itself, but it also made it easier to recognize something else I don’t remember ever thinking about these books back when I first read them. P.D. James sure created a lot of extremely unlikeable female characters! In several of the books, you have a woman who is cold and unfeeling, and sometimes downright malevolent. It made me wonder if P.D. James had issues with other women.
Although the plays were ultimately not very satisfying to me, the performances are good. Don’t get excited about any individual listed though (like Hugh Grant or Greta Scacchi). They generally only appear in one of the plays, though Robin Ellis (the original Poldark) does play Dalgleish in two of them.
July 27, 2021
I prefer the books to these audio plays. I found something off about the characterizations. I did like the interviews at the end.
March 22, 2021
At over 16.5 hours this is one heck of an audiobook. It contains 7 dramatisations of James's novels as well as a bonus compilation of interviews with James at the end. The novels themselves were a bit hit and miss for me. I found the detective Dagliesh to be pretty bland and unlikeable throughout, unlikeable I suppose because of his poetry and 'higher education' bullshit. Others have also commented that much of the sleuthing in the original novels is missing from the dramatization which likely detracted from the overall experience.
I also found each book to be rampant with misogyny. Given the author's interview at the end of the book it's not clear to me that James wrote this with any particular agenda (in either direction) but that it was simply an accepted part of the landscape at the time. Later works this starts to be called out more explicitly, especially in the Cordelia Grey books but it's far from nuanced.
As for the actual books in this set then:
Cover Her Face
Introduces the inspector after a strange Midsomer Murders setting where the single mother servant in a wealthy home is found murdered. There was a LOT of eyebrow raising and tutting about single motherhood and unwedded women in this. Surprise (short) part by Hugh Grant. Also a bit dull.
A Taste for Death & Devices and Desires
I barely remember what happened in either of these, but I do remember the Kate character and that she was far more interesting than any of the men.
A Certain Justice
This was enjoyable. Lots of stuff about the interplay between defense law and keeping professional and personal lives separate.
The Private Patient
Death in a cosmetic surgery! The stories keep getting better. Dagliesh is still a boring character.
The Skull Beneath the Skin
Ok, this book I actually enjoyed, I think because I like Cordelia Grey much better as a character and also because the setting was so beautiful! The devil's kettle, the marble baby arm. So many details that worked well in this narrative.
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
The final book also followed Cordelia and I liked it best of all of them.
Overall then I'll probably try her written books in the future, especially the Cordelia series. Fantastic value for money and excellent listening whilst doing the chores. BBC dramatization & production was excellent as always.
I also found each book to be rampant with misogyny. Given the author's interview at the end of the book it's not clear to me that James wrote this with any particular agenda (in either direction) but that it was simply an accepted part of the landscape at the time. Later works this starts to be called out more explicitly, especially in the Cordelia Grey books but it's far from nuanced.
As for the actual books in this set then:
Cover Her Face
Introduces the inspector after a strange Midsomer Murders setting where the single mother servant in a wealthy home is found murdered. There was a LOT of eyebrow raising and tutting about single motherhood and unwedded women in this. Surprise (short) part by Hugh Grant. Also a bit dull.
A Taste for Death & Devices and Desires
I barely remember what happened in either of these, but I do remember the Kate character and that she was far more interesting than any of the men.
A Certain Justice
This was enjoyable. Lots of stuff about the interplay between defense law and keeping professional and personal lives separate.
The Private Patient
Death in a cosmetic surgery! The stories keep getting better. Dagliesh is still a boring character.
The Skull Beneath the Skin
Ok, this book I actually enjoyed, I think because I like Cordelia Grey much better as a character and also because the setting was so beautiful! The devil's kettle, the marble baby arm. So many details that worked well in this narrative.
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
The final book also followed Cordelia and I liked it best of all of them.
Overall then I'll probably try her written books in the future, especially the Cordelia series. Fantastic value for money and excellent listening whilst doing the chores. BBC dramatization & production was excellent as always.
May 24, 2023
A dramatic compendium of various PD James works, including Adam Dalgleishes and Cordelia Greys. They're all stand alone but still interesting to listen to one after the other. James' work is detailed and intricate, so these condensations depend on much plot summary spoken by various lead characters. Quality productions, although if you're not familiar with the books or television dramatisations you may be lost in the muddle.
February 1, 2019
I enjoyed listening these books. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy listening when different actors speak the different parts rather than hearing one person narrating the whole story. The only thing is that the stories were abridged, and now I'm torn between buying other collections because of the variety of speakers, OR buying the unabridged version of these books to get all the detail.
December 11, 2021
I really love the way the author creates a world for these characters to live in, although at times the modern ones sounds like they are from the turn of the century but I imagine some people of upper class really do live like this.
Read
July 29, 2023Excellent retelling of some of Jame's classic mysteries especially if you're interested but not sure you want to read James' mysteries. However, as one who enjoys reading her books, I the plays were a little choppy. Nevertheless, I recommend it fans.
April 11, 2019
Too many interuptions, telling us who we just listened to, fine for a radio drama sent one episode at a time, annoying when listening to it in your own pace.
DNF.
DNF.
March 18, 2020
Entertaining and well produced. Be prepared to backtrack at times, as the radio play fights can be occasionally difficult to follow.
March 10, 2022
This one was a mixed bag.
March 22, 2024
Whether my appetite....Will read more.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews