This Sceptered Isle

Last Edited: 29-Mar-2019 A Global British Comedy Collaborative document. Edited by John Lucas
Broadcast source is BBC Radio Four unless otherwise indicated. Recording quality is considered good unless otherwise indicated.

written by historian Christopher Lee
1995-1996 Original Series
216 quarter-hour episodes (47:28:18, 2.54 GB). 40-CD set is an abridgement, 28:35:47.
Narrator Anna Massey, readings by Paul Eddington and Peter Jeffrey, produced by Pete Atkin
Date Title Cast Parameters
from CDs
 1 55BC - 1087AD
The Romans to William I
4 files
2:54:07, 159 MB, m
  2 1087 - 1327
William II to Edward II
   4 files
2:55:56, 161 MB, m
  3 1327 - 1547
Edward III to Henry VIII 
   4 files
2:55:46, 160 MB, m
  4 1547 -1660
Edward VI to Cromwell
   4 files
2:59:18, 164 MB, m
  5 1660 - 1702
Charles II to James II
  4 files
2:58:36, 163 MB, m
  6 1702 - 1760
Anne to George II
   4 files
2:59:29, 164 MB, m

7 1760 - 1792
George III to the French Revolution
4 files
2:56:38, 161 MB, m

8 1792 - 1837
War with France to William IV
4 files
2:26:55, 134 MB, m

9 1861 - 1901
Victoria to Edward VII
4 files
3:01:43, 166 MB, m
1999 The Twentieth Century
90 episodes (20:53,49, 1.12 GB) 20-CD set is an abridgement, 14:56:31.
Narrator Anna Massey, readings by Robert Powell, produced by Pete Atkin
Date Title Cast Parameters

1 1901 - 1919
Edward VII to World War 1
4 files
2:56:03, 161 MB, m

2 1920 - 1939
The Russian Civil War to World War 2
4 files
2:55:47, 160 MB, m

3 1940 - 1959
Churchill to Castro
4 files
3:00:23, 165 MB, m

4 1960 - 1979
Wind of Change to Thatcher
4 files
3:02:36, 167 MB, m

5 1980 - 1999
Zimbabwe to the Dome
4 files
3:01:41, 166 MB, m
2001 Dynasties
50 episodes (11:37:47, 638 MB, m) (2005 repeats were abridged)
Narrator Anna Massey,
Date Title Cast Parameters
1-2
03-Feb-2002
10-Feb-2002
 1 The Godwines
2 files
1:11:24, 65.3 MB, m
3
17-Feb-2002
 2 The Despensers
1 file
35:39, 32.6 MB, m
4
??
 3 The Percys

1 files
35:33, 32.5 MB, m
5-6
??
 4 The Mortimers
2 files
1:11:29, 65.4 MB, m
7
24-Feb-2002
 5 The MacMurroughs, The Fitzgeralds, The O'Neills
1 file
37:02, 33.9 MB, M
8
10-Mar-2002
 6 The Berkeleys
1 files
34:48, 31.8 MB, m
9-10
03-Mar-2002
 7 The Churchills
2 files
56:06, 51.3 MB, m
11-12
 8 The Cecils
2 files
1:12:19, 66.2 MB, m
13
 9 The Cavendishes
1 file
36:29, 33.4 MB, m
14
 10 The Comptons
1 file
35:06, 32.1 MB, m
15-16
17-Mar-2002
 11 The Russells
2 files
1:11:46, 65.7 MB, m
17-18
 12 The Carringtons
2 files
1:08:32, 62.7 MB, m
19-20
24-Mar-2002
 13 The Norfolks
2 files
1:11:29, 65.4 MB, m
31-Mar-2002
 The Dalrymples

07-Apr-2002
 The Carringtons

2005-2006 Empire
90 episodes, 20:29:06, 1.09 GB
narrator Juliet Stevenson, many different readers including Jack Davenport, Joss Ackland, Christopher Eccleston, and Anna Massey, producer Pete Atkin
Date Title Cast Parameters
26-Sep-2005 to
30-Sep-2005
  1. No Grand Plan
  2. Ireland - the First Colony
  3. Elizabeth I and Ireland
  4. Looking For China
  5. Elizabeth, Trade and Francis Drake
5 files
1:08:50, 63.0 MB, S
03-Oct-2005 to
07-Oct-2005
  1. John Hawkins and Humphrey Gilbert
  2. Martin Frobisher and Fool's Gold
  3. Walter Raleigh and Virginia
  4. Disaster at Roanoke
  5. El Dorado and the Real Treasures
5 files
1:08:17, 62.5 MB, S
10-Oct-2005 to
14-Oct-2005
  1. Elizabeth and a New Economy
  2. The Spice Trade
  3. Towards the East Indies
  4. After the Armada and James Lancaster
  5. 1600 - the East India Company
5 files
1:08:21, 62.5 MB, S
17-Oct-2005 to
21-Oct-2005
  1. The England of James I and VI
  2. 1606 -the Virginia Company
  3. Jamestown, Virginia
  4. Bermuda and Shipwreck
  5. Slavery - Black and White
5 files
1:08:02, 62.2 MB, S
24-Oct-2005 to
28-Oct-2005
  1. The Pilgrim Fathers and the Massachusetts Bay Company
  2. The West Indies and Sugar
  3. Barbados and Civil War in England
  4. Trade with India
  5. Clive of India
5 files
1:08:11, 62.4 MB, S
31-Oct-2005 to
04-Nov-2005
  1. The Scottish Empire
  2. Gibraltar
  3. Canada - Wolfe and Montcalm
  4. America - the Way to Independence
  5. 1783 -the Empire Loses America
5 files
1:08:17, 56.2 MB, S
30-Jan-2006 to
03-Feb-2006
  1. After the Revolution - the Boost to Canada
  2. Canada
  3. Australia - Captain Cook
  4. Australia - Transportation
  5. Australia - Sheep and Gold
5 files
1:08:09, 62.3 MB, S
06-Feb-2006 to
10-Feb-2006
  1. The Innocents
  2. Imperialism and Edward Wakefield
  3. New Zealand
  4. Shutting the Slave Market
  5. The Last Shackle of Empire
5 files
1:08:30, 62.7 MB, S
13-Feb-2006 to
17-Feb-2006
  1. Warren Hastings
  2. The Trial of Warren Hastings
  3. Nelson and Empire
  4. Raffles
  5. Ceylon
5 files
1:08:19, 62.5 MB, S
20-Feb-2006 to
24-Feb-2006
  1. Mungo Park
  2. The First Opium War
  3. The First Sikh War
  4. The Origins of the Indian Mutiny
  5. The Sepoy Rebellion 1/2
5 files
1:07:59, 62.2 MB, S
27-Feb-2006 to
03-Mar-2006
  1. The Sepoy Rebellion 2/2
  2. End of Mutiny
  3. The Viceroys
  4. Abyssinia
  5. West Africa: Jaw-Jaw
5 files
1:08:17, 62.5 MB, S
06-Feb-2006 to
10-Feb-2006
  1. The Missionaries
  2. South Africa - the British Arrive
  3. South Africa Boers and Brits
  4. Zulu War
  5. Empress
5 files
1:08:07, 62.3 MB, S
08-May-2006 to
12-May-2006
  1. From Ireland to Ireland
  2. The Irish Question
  3. Egypt, Sudan, and the Suez Canal
  4. The Death of General Gordon
  5. Bismarck's Carve-up
5 files
1:08:18, 62.5 MB, S
15-May-2006 to
19-May-2006
  1. The Munshi
  2. Diamond Jubilee
  3. Omdurman and Churchill
  4. Boers, Outlanders, and the Jameson Raid
  5. Gold and the Second Boer War
5 files
1:08:02, 62.2 MB, S
22-May-2006 to
26-May-2006
  1. The End of the Second Boer War
  2. Death of the Queen Empress
  3. The Most Hated Nation of the World
  4. Lord Curzon, Tibet and Younghusband
  5. Lord Curzon–Duty and the Durbar
5 files
1:08:10, 62.4 MB, S
29-May-2006 to
02-Jun-2006
  1. Lord Curzon - Goodbye to All That
  2. A Greater Britain?
  3. Imperial Preferences
  4. Defending the Empire
  5. The Last Imperial Reign
5 files
1:08:38, 62.8 MB, S
05-Jun-2006 to
09-Jun-2006
  1. Irish Home Rule and the Road to War
  2. The Empire and the First World War
  3. The Amritsar Massacre
  4. Mesopotamia and the Balfour Declaration
  5. High Street Durbars
5 files
1:08:20, 62.5 MB, S
12-Jun-2006 to
16-Jun-2006
  1. India - Dominion or Not Dominion
  2. Gandhi or Jinnah
  3. The Empire and the Second World War
  4. India - Independence. Midnight, 14 August 1947
  5. What Happened Next?
5 files
1:08:12, 62.4 MB, S
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