Which Foundation recording should you buy?
William Hope reads the novel in full. Also on sale with Foundation in its title is the BBC's 1973 radio serial of the whole trilogy: plays, adapted and edited for time, with this book as only the opening part.
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Isaac Asimov · 2 Audible UK recordings compared
Short answer
William Hope: complete, solo, and he reads the other Foundation books on Audible UK as well, so the series stays in one voice. "The Foundation Trilogy (Dramatized)" is a different thing: a radio serial with Geoffrey Beevers, Lee Montague and Julian Glover, with Patrick Tull and Mike Stott credited for the adaptation. Its description is candid. It lists changes from the written trilogy, says a section of this book called "Traders" has been removed entirely, and notes that it is a historical broadcast recording produced by the BBC in 1973, with the sound quality of its time. Hear it as a period piece after the book, not instead of it.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Hope Our pick | 8 hrs 56 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. Hope reads the rest of the Foundation books too. |
| Geoffrey Beevers, Lee Montague, Julian Glover, Dinsdale Landen, Maurice Denham and a cast | 7 hrs 49 mins | BBC radio dramatisation, three-book collection | A radio serial of the whole trilogy, not a reading of this book. Its description says it was produced by the BBC in 1973, edited for time throughout, and that the "Traders" section of Foundation was removed. One running time covers the trilogy. |