The Hobbit (Dramatised)

While I concede that if you listen to, the truly wonderful, LOTR play before this as the earlier reviewer has you may be surprised at the different style and tone of the play. But I think the disappointment as he put it, may have clouded the plays many excellent qualities and caused him understandably, to be a too hash in his condemnation of this version of the book. The book of The Hobbit is not LOTR, it is children?s book, much lighter in tone but full of high drama for a young child and so wonderful tongue in cheek material for adults too but not as dark, serious and compelling as the later work, so the plays are naturally different and the way they are dramatized has rightly has to be different also (plus we must note they this was produced in 1968 and the LOTR produced in 1981 so the quality and technology is going to have improved) I had this play on tape as a child and wore it out, long before I fell in love with the written works of Tolkien and for the child then and the adult now, the eagle?s screaming voices came straight from the beaks of birds, the elves ululating tones made it clear they were from distant and higher & magical race, the music and actors seemed perfect for their places in this play, Gandalf is not the great Michael Hordern but he fits a friendly yet sinister guide who although he prove true at the end I never truly trusted of understood till the later books, just right for a wizard I think. Lastly the joint, mixed up and overleaping narration of Bilbo and a Tolkienesce narrator makes for a comforting friend in Bilbo that children can trust and rely on in later years. Too much to credit a children?s play with? I don?t this so! You?re kids need the Hobbit in their lives.

If you want a dramatised version of The Hobbit then simply put you can't go much wrong with this one. However if you wanted a dramatised version that didn't have dodgy singing, dated sound effects, sometimes confusing dialogue and a little too much old fashioned pomposity then you might want to look elsewhere or wait.



Kids love it, adults may suffer from occasional bouts of reality as they cringe.

Having never read this book, I have found this version easy to follow and understand. To be able to laugh along with the characters has brightened my day

What a great radio play loved the voices and story, Soon be the movie!!!!

I love the BBC dramatisation of 'Lord of the Rings' with Michael Hordern as Gandalf and thought it would be good to 'complete' the story by purchasing their version of 'The Hobbit', which was, I regret, a great mistake. I do not personally respond to the voicing of many of the characters - too much school of funny voices for my taste; the goblins, wargs, eagles, wood elves etc are all electronically filtered and remind me of daleks (sic). Also, I find the odd pronunciation of many of the names (garn-delf etc.) difficult to accept. The final thing I would flag up is the fact that the 'episodes' have not been edited together so approximately a minute of each is repeated after play out/play in music. Not recommended.

Excellent work here by the BBC. The voice acting and sound effects are spot on. I would listen to it at home, on the bus or at the gym, and it was easy to disconnect from the rest of the world and submerge into the story.

A fine tale, and a good introduction to the world of Middle Earth. This BBC dramatisation suffers a bit from the somewhat old-school BBC Sound Workshop effects by comparison with more recent versions, but the coming of age and adventures of a simple hobbit are told well, and, although heavily abridged, the story is well told and is great company on a journey of one's own!

This is the first audio book I have listened to,being dyslexic i find it hard reading ordinary books.I am enjoying listening to this book the dramatised version makes it fun to listen to.i have not seen the movie yet and wanted to listen to the book this first. The iPhone app has made it easy to listen to when I walk around i find it easier to concentrate thats why I have given this five stars.

So this audible site is a great way to enjoy books if you have difficulty reading or have trouble like me ! Great book now I have listened to it ! Wish I did this years ago.

Very strange production, the music is simply awful. It is high pitched and i cannot filter it out to get to the story.

Amazing audiobook, captures the whole feel of the story . Very adventurous and exciting read.