A delightful adaptation, though I never quite got used to the voices, coming from the later BBC dramatization of the Lord of the Rings and the much more recent film adaptations. It feels much older for sure, but there's a charm to that, too. ( )

Classic story, decent adaptation. Thumbs up from me. ( )

Well done! This version (The Hobbit - Dramatised - by the BBC) is like listening to a movie or play, not really reading from a book. The only problem I have is the conversation sometimes were hard to hear because the music was just as loud. ( )

I've read The Hobbit but when I saw that it was available as an audiobook with a full cast from the BBC I couldn't resist it. I'm pretty sure that parts were left out but the essence of the story remains. Lots of fun to listen to this short version.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit living in Bag End and enjoying his quiet life. Then a band of dwarves and Gandalf the sorcerer descends on him and they recruit him to go with them to the Lonely Mountain, the ancestral home of the dwarves, which is being held by a dragon named Smaug. There is a huge treasure trove in the mountain and Bilbo is promised a one-fourteenth share of it. Off they go into the wilderness. Many adventures ensue the most famous of which is Bilbo's encounter with Gollum, a goblin who promises to show Bilbo out of the underground labyrinth if Bilbo can answer all his riddles. Bilbo does so but when Gollum reneges he puts on the mysterious ring he found which confers invisibility. Bilbo helps the dwarves many times on their journey to the Lonely Mountain and he negotiates a settlement between the Lake People and the dwarves when the Lake People come to claim some of the treasure for killing Smaug. Eventually the adventure concludes and Bilbo reaches his comfortable home again.

It's a great work to either read or listen; especially with a child along for the ride. ( )

Abridged 1968 BBC dramatisation of The Hobbit.

The BBC abridged dramatisation unfortunately doesn't deliver, as it doesn't get the tone or the voices right.