Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Bilbury Chronicles

  • The Young Country Doctor, Book 1
  • By: Vernon Coleman
  • Narrated by: Rory Barnett
  • Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (23 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Bilbury Chronicles

By: Vernon Coleman
Narrated by: Rory Barnett
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

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.

Summary

Bilbury Chronicles is the first of a series of books describing the adventures (and misadventures) of a young doctor who enters general practice as an assistant to an elderly and rather eccentric doctor in Devon, England.

When he arrives in Bilbury, a small village on the edge of Exmoor, the young doctor doesn't realize how much he has to learn. But he soon finds the extent of his ignorance when he meets his patients. There is Anne Thwaites, who gives birth in the middle of a field and local rogue Thumper Robinson, who knows a good many tricks that aren't in any textbooks. And there is Mike Trickle, a TV show host, who causes great excitement when he buys a house in the village.

The young doctor's employer is elderly Dr. Brownlow, who lives in a house that looks like a castle, drives an old Rolls Royce, and patches his stethoscope with a bicycle inner tube repair kit. The local pub, the Duck and Puddle, is run by Frank, the inebriate landlord, and the village shop is run by Peter, who also drives the local taxi, delivers the mail, and acts as the local undertaker. There is Miss Johnson, the receptionist with a look that can curdle milk; Mrs Wilson, the buxom district nurse, and Len, her husband, who is the local policeman with an embarrassing secret. And there is Patsy.

©1992 Vernon Coleman (P)2019 Tantor
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

At the Captain's Table cover art
An Irish Country Doctor cover art
The Tobacco Girls cover art
A Seaside Practice cover art
The School at the Top of the Dale cover art
The Book-Lovers' Retreat cover art
Out of the Woods but not Over the Hill cover art
Hattie Goes to Hollywood cover art
Some Particular Evil cover art
Hopes and Fears cover art
The Silver Ladies Do Lunch cover art
What the Flock! cover art
The School Inspector Calls! cover art
The Killings at Badger’s Drift cover art
Love & Dr. Devon cover art
Mr Gandy's Grand Tour cover art

What listeners say about Bilbury Chronicles

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    18
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    18
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

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

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An old favourite

I read all the Bilbury books many years ago and loved them . So it was lovely to find them on Audio and get to discover, yet again, this charming village and characters from a gentler and simpler time in which I grew up. I cannot recommend it enough although I found the narrator less engaging.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Great story

Such a lovely, easy listening story. The narrator is very easy to listen to and you very quickly fall in love with Bilbury and the characters.
Highly recommend

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
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent setting and characters

I have greatly enjoyed hearing about the beautiful North Devon countryside. Excellently read. Wonderful characters. Reminds me a little of the Herriot books. I am left wanting to read the next book in the series.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Not cheesy

Good normal characters, and unpredictable unlike most other village story books. Good narration and a good story.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Another great find!

It was free in plus catalog and I was a bit apprehensive… just hate starting a book and struggle through it or abandon it half way through. This, however, was a great found. It was funny and sad but also heart warming story. Highly recommended

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Heartbeat with a stethoscope.

Tales of a doctors first practice in a quaint village. The book is very easy listening although the stories range from humorous to tragic.
I've added the second volume to my book list.

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
    1 out of 5 stars

Not a nice book

I love the books of Miss Read and James Herriot and I thought that the Bilbury books would be equally charming; I was wrong. The characters are two-dimensional and many of the incidents in the story are unpleasant, distasteful. This book has no charm at all. I stuck with it until one of the characters said something blasphemous and then I gave up on it. I will not read/listen to any more books by this author.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!