´óÏó´«Ã½

Stories for Christmas

The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde

Children's story in which a bad tempered giant learns not to be selfish.

• 11 mins

Stories for Christmas

The Mezzotint by M R James

A museum curator notices an engraving changes each time he looks at it.

• 29 mins

Stories for Christmas

At Christmas Time by Anton Chekhov

An illiterate couple worry when their daughter doesn't reply to their letters.

• 13 mins

Stories for Christmas

The Elves and the Shoemaker by the Brothers Grimm

Christmas story about a poor cobbler who gets some magical help to do his work.

• 5 mins

Stories for Christmas

Papa Panov's Special Christmas by Leo Tolstoy

A lonely man receives divine inspiration in a dream and spends Christmas helping others.

• 11 mins

Stories for Christmas

The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde

Children's story about a living statue's quest to help others.

• 23 mins

Stories for Christmas

The Sealed Room by Arthur Conan Doyle

Solicitor Frank Alder meets a disturbed young man with a very strange inheritance.

• 33 mins

Stories for Christmas

Christmas Storms and Sunshine by Elizabeth Gaskell

Christmas story in which warring neighbours make peace.

• 26 mins

Stories for Christmas

The Gift of the Magi by O Henry

Christmas story in which a poor, young married couple sacrifice everything to buy gifts.

• 15 mins

Stories for Christmas

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

Darkly intense story in which a man is haunted by his misdeeds.

• 15 mins

Stories for Christmas

The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire by Arthur Conan Doyle

Holmes and Watson assist a man who suspects a vampire is wreaking havoc in his household.

• 39 mins

Stories for Christmas

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

A woman receives some bad news and has an unexpected response.

• 7 mins

Stories for Christmas

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

Sad Christmas story about a poor little girl who sells matches to pay for Christmas.

• 8 mins

Funny Stories

The Fall of Lord Barrymore by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Two famous young bucks struggle for supremacy in fashionable London.

• 28 mins

Funny Stories

Aunt Hetty on Matrimony by Fanny Fern

The opinionated Aunt Hetty holds forth on that perennial dilemma – to marry or not?

• 4 mins

Funny Stories

Mrs Badgery by Wilkie Collins

A man moves in to his new home, only to find the previous occupant hasn’t moved out.

• 24 mins

Funny Stories

Lost Hearts by MR James

A young orphan is sent to live with his uncle who is involved in some unusual alchemy...

• 26 mins

Funny Stories

The Monkey's Paw by WW Jacobs

Three wishes are granted to the owner of ‘the monkeys paw’ with terrifying consequences.

• 26 mins

Funny Stories

The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde’s story about a naïve young man taken in by an artist’s model.

• 12 mins

Funny Stories

Marriage a la Mode by Katherine Mansfield

A husband fears for his marriage when his wife falls in with a rather artistic set...

• 26 mins

Funny Stories

The Dilettante by Edith Wharton

What is going on at the heart of Thursdale and Mrs. Vervain’s ambiguous relationship?

• 21 mins

Funny Stories

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe’s story set during carnival season in 19th Century Italy.

• 16 mins

Funny Stories

How I Built Myself A House by Thomas Hardy

In Thomas Hardy’s story, he describes the pitfalls of building a dream home from scratch.

• 19 mins

Funny Stories

The Siren by Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov’s tale of hungry court officials taunting each other with visions of food.

• 13 mins

Funny Stories

The Open Window by Saki

Saki’s story about a suggestible man who is left reeling by a little girl’s spooky joke

• 7 mins

Funny Stories

The Man of No Account by Bret Hart

1850’s California. A group of young men are heading out to make their names and money.

• 11 mins

Funny Stories

At The Barbers by Anton Chekhov

In Anton Chekhov’s tale a barber cuts the old man’s hair.. but also dates his daughter

• 9 mins

Funny Stories

Tobermory by Saki

In Saki’s story a guest at Lady Blemley’s houseparty says he has taught her cat to talk.

• 19 mins

A Celebration of the Short Story

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s feminist masterpiece about madness and women breaking out.

• 38 mins

A Celebration of the Short Story

Two Friends by Guy de Maupassant

Maupassant’s tragic wartime tale of the friendship and loyalty that binds two friends.

• 14 mins