Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained cover art

Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained

Two BBC Radio 4 Dramatisations

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About this listen

The highly-acclaimed BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Milton's epic poem telling the story of the fall of man and also its sequel, Paradise Regained.

Out of chaos shall come order and out of darkness shall come light. Paradise is lost - and then regained.

John Milton's epic, biblically-inspired poems are wonderfully dramatised for BBC Radio starring Denis Quilley as Milton, Ian McDiarmid as Satan and Robert Glenister as Christ, enhanced by specially composed music.

First published in 1667, Paradise Lost describes Satan's plot to ruin God's new and most favoured creation, Mankind, and recounts the temptation of Adam and Eve and their banishment from the Garden of Eden.

Paradise Regained, published in 1671, tells of the temptation of Christ by Satan as he wanders in the wilderness for 40 days and nights.

Full cast:

  • Milton: Denis Quilley
  • Satan: Ian McDiarmid
  • Christ: Robert Glenister
  • Raphael: John Rowe
  • God: Godfrey Kenton
  • Adam: Linus Roache
  • Michael: Mark Straker
  • Abdiel/Andrew: Julian Rhind-Tutt
  • Nisroc: John Church
  • Simon/Angel: Matthew Morgan
  • Belial: Steve Hodson
  • Angel: David Thorpe

©2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd Classics Literature & Fiction Poetry
All stars
Most relevant
Giving depth and character to the Bible, wonderfully executed by the writer and inspiring by the narration 🥰

Simply devine

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...but you can't listen to this for long stretches. It was originally 50 radio episodes, so every 13 minutes there's an introduction and cast list, which completely breaks the flow. I wish this version was available without these interruptions, as it would be 5* without them. However, if you listen in bite-sized portions, you can still appreciate this great production.

Beautifully performed...

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Great poem but didn't finish listening to this recording because it is abridged. I was not told this in the description. Also it seems the arguments before each book are not read. The books are decided into parts which is not in the original text. Readers can be quite irritating.

Abridged

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Paradise Lost is a poem of sound - it’s meant to be spoken out loud, or heard, not read on the page. That’s how you experience its extraordinary vivid energy & dynamism. It’s absolutely amazing. And the psychological penetration, the sadness, the subtlety. And contrary to what C. S. Lewis and many others thoughtlessly assumed, it’s not misogynistic: Milton’s Eve is sympathetic, complex, & acts because she wants agency, to be the best she can be.

This version is, I think, the best reading. The voices are unparalleled: Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars) as Satan, Denis Quilley as the narrator. The energy never stops, carries you right through this thrilling poem.

Slightly abridged, but very unobtrusively: some long epic simile passages that aren’t key.

Nobody knows about Paradise Lost these days: I came to it by way of Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials, & an essay he wrote about Milton. It was Paradise Lost that galvanised Pullman’s creative life. Armando Iannucci, the great satirist (The Thick of It, David Copperfield) also studied Paradise Lost for his doctorate & was inspired by him.

Discover Milton. You’ll never look back.

Fabulous

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