The Complete Barchester Chronicles

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisation

By: Anthony Trollope

Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Amanda Root, Anna Massey, Brenda Blethyn, David Haig, Eleanor Bron, Emma Fielding, full cast, Kenneth Cranham, Leo McKern, Rosemary Leach, Simon Russell Beale

Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

The acclaimed BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Anthony Trollope's gently satirical tales of provincial life

One of the most respected, successful chroniclers of nineteenth-century life, Anthony Trollope is still widely read and much-loved today. The Barchester Chronicles - witty moral comedies with a wonderful range of characters - are among his most popular tales.

The first in the series, The Warden, finds Rev. Harding forced to question the moral basis of the life he is leading; and in the sequel, Barchester Towers, the Reverend is now plain Mr Harding, bound up in a tale of intrigue, hypocrisy and ambition that will delight the listener.

Dr Thorne is a gripping drama of wealth and wedlock; while Framley Parsonage tells the story of a naive, ambitious young clergyman whose unwise associations bring him to the brink of ruin. The Small House at Allington explores the power of devotion, in the form of Lily Dale’s love for self-seeking Adolphus Crosbie.

Finally, The Last Chronicle of Barset sees the most popular characters from Trollope’s earlier novels, including the Proudies, Lily, Mr Harding and Archdeacon Grantly, reunited in a moving tale of honesty triumphing over hypocrisy.

Nearly twenty hours of ironic, witty and wonderfully written drama is contained in this collection. With a star cast including Brenda Blethyn, Eleanor Bron, Kenneth Cranham, Anna Massey, Leo McKern, Simon Russell Beale, Amanda Root, Alex Jennings, David Haig, Rosemary Leach and Emma Fielding, it is guaranteed to appeal to all fans of Trollope’s comic masterpieces.

©2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd

Love gained. Love lost. Love endured.

This dramatization was full of emotional ups and downs: of love lost, gained and endured. Fortunes created and lost: of power enhanced and dissipated.

Who would have thought I'd like this?

I never read Trollope, although I have read most of his contemporaries. He just never seemed very interesting - and the idea of books about church politics - in the 19th century - in England!, well, it didn't seem appealing. But the BBC always does good work and I was desperate for a good read.
Eureka! This is a wonderful set of 'dramatisations' - the characters voices are well differentiated and the story is engorssing. If you like Dickens or Eliot - I think you'll like this.

The best audio production you’ll ever hear

These people became my friends. Trollops moral sensibility and emotional range is unsurpassed. How does he understand women the way he does? He remains one of the literary wonders of the world. The actors’ characterization, interpretation, humor and vigor are absolutely the best.

When the BBC was good.

Books are better, of course. Sweet, though.
Try THE EUSTICE DIAMONDS by Trollope, too. Unabridged audiobook, choose reader well.

Excellent!

If you like Jane Austen and are looking for something funny and engaging, I think you may enjoy this. The dramatisation works very well and the actors are uniformly excellent.

Lovely stroll back in time

This beautiful tale is a great example of simple story telling at its best. Great characters, great meandering plot twists, the only reason I didn’t give it 5 Stars is that it didn’t have a happy ending for all characters that should have had happy endings. One character in particular went off the rails a bit, but a nice story nonetheless.

One the Best I’ve ever listened to!

Beautifully reminiscent of old-time radio drama—this was just the best. I love Trollope and this production is just delicious. The music is beautiful and I loved the sound effects—geese, birds, horses’ hooves clopping. Wonderful. The actors, every single one, were terrific. I hope they enjoyed performing this production as I did listening to it.

Perfection

This simply could not be improved upon. The acting, music, pace, story - all are perfectly presented.

The complete Barchester Chronicles

As I love the TV adaption of the Chronicles of Barchester I looked forward to listening to this audiobook. I didn't realise the TV show just covered the first part of these chronicles. The fact that I was familiar with the story made the first Chronicle more enjoyable - I loved it. Now I plan to listen to them all again as I think the more familiar one becomes with the story the more one can follow the many characters.

Life never changes..

The narrators and actors were very good. I could not believe I was riveted by the story. I am now looking for more Trolope. Excellent story teller