Beale was the reader for the cassette recordings of the first two novels: A Question of Upbringing and A Buyer's Market.[79] As a result of his television portrayal of Widmerpool, he was asked by the Wallace Collection to open its Powell centenary exhibition in October 2005. In the following year he accepted a request from the Anthony Powell Society to serve as its president,[80] a post he held until 2011.[81]