Well this really was a surprise. I popped into my kitchen to make a cuppa last night. The radio was on, tuned to Radio 4, and I hear the announcer say it's time for Book At Bedtime from the author Arthur Conan Doyle and followed up by revealing it's the Sherlock Holmes story The Valley of Fear read by Ian McKellen.
It's abridged by Neville Teller (!) as 10 episodes. I'll be adding the episodes to the linked Onedrive folder over the next two weeks.
Onedrive The Valley of Fear Book at Bedtime
The Valley of Fear
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime
10 episodes, approx. 13 minutes each
November 10-14 and 17-21, 2014
Reader ..... Sir Ian McKellen
Abridger ..... Neville Teller
Producer ..... Gemma McMullan
The Valley of Fear, the last of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, ranks among Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's best work. The mystery begins with a coded warning of imminent danger, drawing the illustrious Sherlock Holmes and the faithful Dr. Watson to a secluded English country home. A trail of bewildering clues leads to sleuthing in the finest Holmesian tradition and the gripping backstory of a cult that terrorized a valley in the American West.
Replies
Thank you Jake
Thanks for this, Jake! Not the greatest (that's "The Hound of the Baskervilles") but by far the best of the four Long Stories.
Roger
mon dieu,
as much as I enjoyed the tone of mckellen's voice, i was disappointed that the story was slaughtered, perhaps they had moriarty edit it for the beeb!
merci beaucoup monsieur jake!
Many thanks for this, Jake. I completely missed it! Should be a good job, if Neville Teller's the abridger, though like Bob, I do wonder how they can do it justice given the time restrictions!
Steve: iPlayer now offers almost all BBC shows for thirty days, so you haven't missed any of this yet. :>)
I did listen to the first part. It is HEAVILY abridged, but I'm a completist, so I'll probably snag it anyway. :>)
Thanks for the info, Bob!
AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! The Beeb abridgers strike again! They are going to take VALL and shrink it to 130 minutes (or
less)?
That's about ONE THIRD of its true length. These people would turn Gone With the Wind into "Departing Soon on a Slight Breeze"
I wish that they'd limit their Book at Bedtime and Book of the Week to the latest bodice ripper where neither length nor style are important.
I had a search yesterday to see if there might be an unabridged audiobook version as well but couldn't find anything.
I haven't seen the abridger's, Neville Teller, name in some time. An old BBC hand. 78 years young this year.
Here's a picture of Ian McKellen in "Mr Holmes" garb, the film version of A Slight Trick of the Mind due next year.
Very exciting! Good ears, Jake! Thanks.
Thanks for post missed it on radio