The Hobbit (Dramatised)

By: J. R. R. Tolkien

Narrated by: Paul Daneman, Anthony Jackson, Heron Carvic

Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The radio dramatisation of The Hobbit became a classic when it was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1968 and it continues to delight today.

Tolkien's famous saga, the prelude to the Lord of the Rings, has all the ingredients of fantasy and adventure: dwarves, elves, goblins and trolls, a fearsome dragon, a great wizard, a perilous quest, and a dramatic climax. At the centre is the unsuspecting hero Bilbo Baggins, a home-loving unambitious Hobbit who is suddenly thrust into the biggest, indeed the only adventure of his life.

©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd trading as BBC Studios (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd trading as BBC Studios

Great book, hard to hear

The music was louder than the voices, so there were many times that we missed the story.

omg

I loved this. I was honestly surprised with how amazing this recording is! The music and sound effects take you to middle earth. You can get lost in this easily. Loved it.

amazing

Listening to this version of "The Hobbit" really does give you a sense of how people read, and or thought about "The Hobbit" during the time it was recorded. It not only is interesting as a historical must-have for any LOTR fan, but they do a really upstanding job dramatizing it. This is the kind of thing I will keep on my external hard-drive no matter how many computers I go through.

Classic 1968 drama worth hearing

The pros: funny. The sometimes tepid interaction between Bilbo and the narrator is worth a laugh. Well done: The action scenes were quite good for 1968 drama. I was entertained for sure and I will keep this one.
The cons: Sometimes it didn't take itself seriously enough, and some of the characters had, um, interesting voices and name pronunciations. Gand-Alf for Gandalf and Toreen for Thorin, and Gollum too was said funny if I remember right now. Those kept knocking me out of the story.
Conclusion: Better than not, a worthy addition to one's library. After listening to this, or even before, grab the audio dramatized sets of the Lord of the Rings dramas, also here on Audible. Those get nothing less than five stars for me.

Perfect

A very accurate dramatization of The Hobbit! I've never seen the movie, but I doubt it's this accurate. This is more accurate to the book than the Harry Potter movies are to the books!

Enjoyed Listening to this one

It was a little hard to listen to the overlapping dialogues at time and I had to download a PDF copy of the book to follow, but apart from that I enjoyed listening to this one.
Love the background score.

Perfomance spoils the fantastic story

I read the Hobbit many, many times many, many years ago. I wanted to listen to it again at the gym before the movie comes out. However, this is the BBC radio version--which might be nice to hear in a different setting--but it's hard to listen to while exercising (or driving). (The background noises, sound effects, and acted nature of this version are distracting.) I would have preferred an actual reading of the book rather than a recording of a radio dramatization of the story.

Classic hugely enjoyable version forTolkien's fans

Love all J. R. R. Tolkien novels, found this verion very intersting. Hugely enjoyable. Classic.

The Best Version

Would you consider the audio edition of The Hobbit (Dramatised) to be better than the print version?

Without doubt. Hearing the music is good reason. The sound design is also fantastic.

What other book might you compare The Hobbit (Dramatised) to and why?

Anything else that is a radio play such as Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

There's a depth to the audio due to the actors speaking over each other.

Could be better

What did you love best about The Hobbit (Dramatised)?

The adaptation for this dramatization is great, the writing is very well and captures the details of the book while keeping an entertaining pace

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hobbit (Dramatised)?

I enjoy the music though some of it is repetitive, and I enjoy Bilbo joining in conversation with the Narrator.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I am a HUGE fan of the BBC Dramatization of LOTR with Ian Holm as Frodo. That dramatization is perfection in my opinion, highly recommended!

So this was a let down to me because it isn't as good as that adaptation, it is a bit unfair to score this poorly based on that, but I had my expectations high.

Some of the voices really annoyed me too. All the main characters I got used to though. I do like Bilbo's voice a lot, Thorin and Gandalf

Any additional comments?

If you are expecting it to be just like the BBC LOTR then you will be disappointed. However I do not regret purchasing this version! Happy 75 years to this story. One of the greatest stories ever told as far as I am concerned.