The Midwich Cuckoos cover art

The Midwich Cuckoos

Classic Radio Sci-Fi

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Midwich Cuckoos

By: BBC Audiobooks
Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Sarah Parish
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 This is a dynamic, modern dramatisation of a classic book by John Wyndham. Bill Nighy ( Love Actually and many other films) and Sarah Parish ( Cutting It) play Richard and Janet, a couple caught up in the goings-on of a sleepy English village in which all the children have golden eyes, blond hair, and a sinister talent for telepathy and telekinesis. (Wyndham's novel was filmed as Village of the Damned in 1960 and 1995.)©2007 BBC Audiobooks Ltd. (P)2007 BBC Audiobooks Ltd. Dramatisations Fiction Science Fiction Adaptation Village Parapsychology Extrasensory Perception

Listeners also enjoyed...

 John Wyndham: A BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
Chocky cover art
More of Poirot's Finest Cases cover art
The Cazalets cover art
More from Marple's Casebook cover art
The Birds cover art
Gothic Imagination: Dracula, Frankenstein & More cover art
Rumpole: The Golden Thread & Other Stories cover art
Falling Free cover art
The Stone Man - A Science Fiction Thriller, Book 1 cover art

Critic reviews

"Bill Nighy is terrific as Richard Gayford, drawn into the horror of a small village whose women all give birth on the same day to beautiful babies whose only intent, as they grow, is to survive - whatever the cost." ( Daily Express)
All stars
Most relevant
I love this story and generally love all John Wyndham stories. This is a great adaptation of this and a really good listen.

Highly recommended

Brilliant!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This audiobook definitely deserves a recommendation. It is one of the few performances that generally gives me the chills.
The children are just too creepy and the performance makes that brilliant.

What does Bill Nighy and Sarah Parish bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Bill turns a god performance (as you would expect) his flippant nature turns to serious and Nighy shows his full amazing range.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This is one that can definitely be digested in one sitting. It can be done though there is a good point for a pause in the middle.

Any additional comments?

I would heartily recommend this. Not only is it a good production of a good story, its been performed brilliantly, bringing this chilling story to your (should be) eager ears.

Really worth trying... spooky beyond belief.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am great fan of the original book and I very much enjoyed this interpretion. It did maybe over simplify the story a little too much in parts, but that did not distract from the overall enjoyment.

Loved It

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoy these type of audio books. I sometimes prefer the narrators to be people I don't know so I can create my own images in my mind. Having said that it was well dramatised. Being such a classic it was thoroughly entertaining. Worth a listen

Gripping

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautifully read, acted and performed... What more needs to be said other than get it today....

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews