(BBC Audiobooks)

THE husband and wife duo shared an eclectic cornucopia of their favourite poetry and prose for two archive radio programmes from 1991 and 1996, accompanied by friend John Moffatt and Alec McGowan.

Surprising, inspiration and delightful, the choice of material includes extracts from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, WH Auden’s Funeral Song, Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas and assorted verses, ballads, limericks, stories, nursery rhymes and epitaphs.

Slip this CD onto the stereo on a Sunday afternoon, sink into an armchair with a cup of tea and a packet of biscuits and immerse yourself in a fascinating selection of material without any regard for the world outside. Sumptuous, heartwarming and emotional, this is a wonderful celebration of the power of the English language.