The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection

Six BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisations

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: David Tennant, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julie McKenzie

Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels. Jane Austen is one of the finest writers in the English language, and this volume includes all six of her classic novels. 

Mansfield Park: on a quest to find a position in society, Fanny Price goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle. 

Northanger Abbey: young, naïve Catherine Morland receives an invitation to stay at the isolated Gothic mansion Northanger Abbey. 

Sense and Sensibility: forced to leave their family home after their father's death, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood try to forge a new life at Barton Cottage. 

Pride and Prejudice: Mrs Bennet is determined to get her five daughters married well, so when the wealthy Mr Bingley and his friend, Mr Darcy, move into the neighbourhood, her hopes are raised.... 

Emma: Emma Woodhouse declares she will never marry, but she is determined to find a match for her friend, Harriet. 

Persuasion: eight years ago, Anne Elliot rejected a marriage proposal from a handsome but poor naval officer. Now her former love has returned.... 

With an all-star cast including David Tennant, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julia McKenzie, Jenny Agutter, Toby Jones, Eve Best and Juliet Stevenson, these BBC radio adaptations are full of humour, romance, love lost and love regained. Duration: approx. 14 hours 30 mins. 

Full chapter listing: 

• Chapters 1-10: Mansfield Park 
• Chapters 11-13: Northanger Abbey 
• Chapters 14 and 15: Sense and Sensibility 
• Chapters 16-18: Pride and Prejudice 
• Chapters 19 and 20: Emma 
• Chapters 21-23: Persuasion 

©2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Superb acting, but beware of audio idiosyncracies!

This audio collection is comprised of the six major Austen novels, abridged and performed by a full cast of exceptional professional performers, including some very famous ones. You should note that the cover art does not list "Emma" among the works performed, but it's in there. These were produced by the BBC, which might make you jump to the conclusion that the audio quality is as superior as the acting, but that would be a mistake. The audio magicians do create the illusions that the characters actually are strolling through gardens, or riding horses, or disporting themselves in ballrooms. But the audio levels are inconsistent. At one moment General Tilney is berating poor Eleanor at full volume, then before you can say "Northanger," Eleanor is apologizing to Catherine sotto voce and you can barely hear her. This sort of thing happens at various times in each of the novels. There is a lot of whispering! I listened to them seated in a fairly quiet room, and frequently had to rewind to hear soft sounds. I imagined it would be very difficult to catch all the dialog if I were listening in a car on a road trip, or walking with earbuds on a windy day. I think background noise would obliterate subtleties of production. Just thought you should know in advance.

Another thing..... the editing is not consistent in transforming these performances from radio to audiobook format. Mansfield Park is presented without attribution to (famous) actors or the writer who adapted it. A few other novels have some passing mention of the cast, while at the very end of the line, "Persuasion" has the cast listed at the beginning AND the end of each episode. This was not a big deal, just seemed sort of slapdash. I guess I would have expected more meticulous attention to detail from the BBC.

Even with the idiosyncrasies of production, these performances were totally worth it, and even though I've read all Miss Austen's novels in print and in audio, I'll cherish these versions too.

An Amazing Cast in Each Story

Who was your favorite character and why?

I think a lot of the titular characters stand out. But my real answer is everyone plays their part - Austen didn't create many one dimensional characters. And through her creations I think it created a seamless transition between book to play.

Any additional comments?

The stories are timeless and sometimes I like a good dramatisation over the actual book itself. The case is exceptional - pretty sure most having gone to drama school or come from the theater. Just feels like it could be a TV production and I'm down with that!

Just excerpts

These aren't the full books. They are not even abridged versions. They are only small excerpts. Some of them are quite jarring, like Sense and Sensibility, which begins in the middle of the book, when the Dashwoods leave for Devonshire. If you're looking for the whole stories, this is not what you want.

Faulty download

It's brillaint, except chapters 6 and 7 are identical, as are 8 and 9, so the Mansfield Park story is unlistenable. Please fix these chapters and I'll happily upgrade my rating.

Technical issues and misleading description.

Some chapters were duplicated (technical issue). Top billed voice talent did not perform all of the stories. Not all stories had the same production value. If you already own any of these books on their own, I would not recommend purchasing this one.

Great way to listen to Austen's works!

I have always loved Jane Austen's stories, but I never read all of her books. This was a great way to listen to her stories and stay engaged the whole time. I didn't want to stop listening and only pressed pause when I had to (like for sleeping, but I ended up staying up past midnight the first day to finish Emma). The voices were all spot on for the characters. I really enjoyed this performance a lot!

Not As Represented; Recording Problems

David Tennant and Benedict Cumberbatch were only in the first story, Mansfield Park, which was very disappointing. The Sense and Sensability recordings were scrambled across the recording set rather than being in chronological order which was really annoying, and the dialog in all of the stories was modernized to the point of being ridiculous. Mansfield Park was good and Northanger Abbey was fine, but the rest were just not that great. I ended up returning this one. If you really must have the Tennant/Cumberbatch recording, save your money and purchase the stand alone recording which is also available on Audible.

Worth it

I was a bit nervous to buy this bundle of books after reading negative reviews that said that the quality between the performances varied. However I found all 6 performances to be excellent and all thoroughly enjoyable.

Sadly, there was no Cumberbatch Darcy

I love Jane Austen and I'm a Benedict Cumberbatch fan as well so I was really excited about this series. But Cumberbatch only performs in Mansfield Park (my least favorite novel of Austen's). Overall, the acting was good and I thought that the rewrite kept the integrity of the story. Just don't get your hopes up to hear Benedict Cumberbatch as Mr. Darcy.

Excellent Dramatization

I was a bit leery about whether or not I actually wanted to purchase this due to the negative reviews being so vehement - however, I'm very much glad that I ignored them and went ahead to buy it. The voices were actually very well done (though I was disappointed in Mr. Knightly, but I'm particularly fond of him), and the only thing that I didn't like was the very dramatic crying, and the heavy breathing - but, that could be a personal annoyance. It is a dramatization, perhaps the more dramatic the better.
If you are teetering on whether or not you should buy this, then just know that you won't regret it. It might not be exactly what you expected, but it is pleasantly surprising.

Really good

... But not equal to actually reading the books. If you can spare the credits buying each unabridged book would be better. That said these are radio plays so not entirely comparable, the performances are excellent and the gist of each book was accurate and it was thoroughly entertaining.

Poor scripts - good performances - mixed bag

Although the performances were mostly good and the casting generally appropriate, I found it hard to suffer through the scripts they were working from. I would suggest that if you are very familiar with the books, you might also react with irritation to some very spurious tampering with sequencing and dialogue (even allowing for the obvious necessity for scriptwriters to tamper in order to shorten and still retain clarify, etc). However, if you simply enjoy a well presented romance dramatisation and aren't familiar with the texts, or simply not as pedantic as I am, then you'll probably find a lot to enjoy in this set.

Some adaptations better than others

I enjoyed these overall. The performances were good by and large, but some of the adaptations were better than others. Mansfield Park was probably the best but I have to say that the adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was terrible. It completely lost the beautiful language of the book and even left out some of the most iconic lines, especially in the famous proposal scene. It was disappointing, but the others were good.

Disappointing

I have listened to all of Jane Austen's audiobooks over the years (and read them all for myself), so just for a change I thought I'd like to listen to them dramatised.

But although I persevered, I couldn't enjoy these productions. There was just too much 'dramatic' over-the-top shrieking and screeching from the more excitable characters.

And I'm one of those people who like to know which actors are performing, but for some of the stories there was no cast or production list at all.

A good listen

What made the experience of listening to The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection the most enjoyable?

I know the books very well and enjoy hearing them adapted as radio plays

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

I liked some of the performances more than others. The stories are so familiar that I
have an idea as to how the character should sound and this was not always to my liking

Any additional comments?

This is a really good listen, not just for one time but I can see myself listening regularly. Jane Austen is always a comfort.

Beautifully adapted and performed

Storytelling at its best. Top quality acting. True to the novels. Funny and moving simultaneously.

Disappointing abridgements of some wonderful books

The only abridgement that captures the spirit of Austen is Mansfield Park. This is also the one with Tennant and Cumberbatch. The rest I listened to mainly because I am addicted to Austen...

Austen lover

I love anything Austen and this was a lovely complication to hear while I drove around the UK. I will be listening over and over again

Very disappointing

Was really looking forward to this but was very let down. The scripts have been edited as such that even the most famous lines, which every Austen fan knows were not included. I know scipt editors have to make cuts but surely not at the expense of the story.

A lovely easy to listen to drama

Whether you're an avid reader of Jane Austen or new to her stories these dramatisations are a perfect way to loose yourself into her world.