Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Subtle Knife (Dramatised)

  • By: Philip Pullman
  • Narrated by: full cast
  • Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (187 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
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.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
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.
The Subtle Knife (Dramatised) cover art

The Subtle Knife (Dramatised)

By: Philip Pullman
Narrated by: full cast
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Black Feathers cover art
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes cover art
The Silmarillion cover art
When We Have Wings cover art
The Revolutions cover art
The Wind Singer cover art
Ruritanian Rogues: Volumes 1-3 cover art
The Lost Witch cover art
Six of Crows cover art
Elantris (Dramatized Adaptation) cover art
Mortal Engines cover art
Genesis cover art
Seventh Son cover art
Northern Lights cover art
Geomancer: Well of Echoes, Book 1 cover art
Wicked cover art

Summary

The award-winning His Dark Materials trilogy is a breathtaking epic adventure spanning a multitude of worlds. The second installment, The Subtle Knife, introduces Will Parry, a young boy in search of his long-lost explorer father.

Will's discovery of an extraordinary 'window in the air' near the Oxford ring road leads him out of our world and into the strange and unsettling Cittagazze. There he meets Lyra, a girl who is herself searching for something: the secret of the mystical substance Dust. Moving back and forth through the portal, Will and Lyra join forces in their quest. As they make allies and enemies along the way, they also learn of the Subtle Knife. An object which many would kill to possess, the knife has incredible powers, and Will finds himself reluctantly in a fight for its possession.

Ray Fearon, Emma Fielding, and Jack Klaff are amongst the cast in this gripping BBC Radio 4 dramatization.

©2003 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2003 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

What listeners say about The Subtle Knife (Dramatised)

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    115
  • 4 Stars
    35
  • 3 Stars
    21
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    96
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    7
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    93
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Mr
  • 13-10-15

not the real book

not the real book. dramatised and the real one is not available in all regions . look elsewhere to find

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not the Audio Book

I thought I was downloading the audio book but it’s not. This does not read the book, it has been rewritten feels more like having audio description on TV.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hmmm

Very abridged and a bit disappointing. After the Belle Sauvage read by Michael Sheen I guess it was a tall order. I now feel I have to go back and re read the book to pick up on the subtleties. I read the book a few years ago and wanted a refresher. Come on Audible get the trilogy re recorded in Michael Sheen fashion.. kindle and whisper sync... one of the classic stories of our time!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Edited beyond recognition!

Don't make the mistake of downloading this version when the full version, narrated by the author, is available for 1 credit. This version is (badly) edited to around 1/4 of the length of the original, is not particularly well acted and is so truncated that the story, at times, just does not make sense.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

The Subtle Knife (Dramatised)

Absolutely gripping and stretching your imagination beyond the realms of reality. At times the plot was a little far fetched and confusing, but it made you think different worlds. A big tip is to listen to the books in the correct order as I started Amber Glass before Subtle Knife and realised something was wrong! Brilliant book and excellent production very believable. Loved it loved it!!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Read this over and over again

The script and performances are riverting - I listen to this every 6 months as i love it so much.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

just wish the film wasn't stopped in its track's

epic novel loved it couldn't stop listening once I started why would anyone want to stop the film being released its only fiction after all lol

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Did not realise was dramatised and abridged

In error downloaded when the full unabridged version was not available. I couldnt listen as it was just too odd.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

This is not the book

Very disappointed with this as I thought I was buying the audiobook which was originally showing as “not available”
This is a very abridged (under 3 hours) radio play version of the story, the book version is 8 hrs. I have used one of my credits to buy this. Strangely, the audiobook version is now available to purchase for £15 but I have used my credits for this month and also I know how the story ends.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Too Short - due to no background narration

As this was my first ever Audible purchase, I should have read the full description more carefully, comparing it to the other Audible version available. If I had done this, I would have seen that the total running time was only 2 hours and 26 mins, compared to the other version which was around 12 hours. The difference was that this version of The Subtle Knife was entirely dramatised, missing out all the narration that was not speech. It also meant missing out on all the amazing descriptive words of Philip Pullman which beautifully tie everything in this story together.

Without any visual aid it can be difficult to appreciate and fully immerse yourself in the story as it’s hard to imagine locations or the mood and thoughts of the characters. I still enjoyed the story and the actors provided the voices of the characters were great, but when it finished I felt rather unsatisfied and that I had missed out on certain elements.

For the next book in the series, The Amber Spyglass, I made sure I chose the version that was narrated by Philip Pullman himself together with an excellent cast of voice actors. This book lasted around 18 hours and was stunningly good!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!