Which Kidnapped recording should you buy?
The complete readings of Kidnapped that we list run 7 hrs 17 mins to 9 hrs 58 mins. The short listings are a brief abridgement and BBC radio plays, one of which also covers the sequel, Catriona.
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Short answer
David Rintoul: complete and solo. Nicholas Rowe, Steven Crossley, Frederick Davidson and the other complete readings in the table run 7 hrs 17 mins to 9 hrs 58 mins; choose on voice. The BBC Radio 4 play with Owen Whitelaw and David Hayman is a dramatisation, and so is the longer BBC listing with Gerda Stevenson and David Rintoul, which holds Kidnapped and Catriona together: Rintoul's name is on it as well as on the complete reading, so check which you are buying. James Macpherson's recording is a short abridgement.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Rintoul Our pick | 7 hrs 46 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. Rintoul is also in the cast of the BBC Kidnapped and Catriona, below. |
| Nicholas Rowe | 7 hrs 17 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Steven Crossley | 8 hrs 15 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Frederick Davidson | 7 hrs 20 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Kieron Elliott | 9 hrs 7 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Geoffrey Giuliano and The Circle | 8 hrs 6 mins | Unabridged | Complete. Credited to Geoffrey Giuliano and The Circle. |
| Mark F. Smith | 8 hrs 8 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| B. J. Harrison | 7 hrs 31 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Lois Chimimba | 9 hrs 58 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo, with an introduction. |
| Michael Ward | 7 hrs 27 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Owen Whitelaw, Michael Nardone, David Hayman and a cast | 1 hr 52 mins | BBC full-cast dramatisation | A BBC Radio 4 play, although the listing says unabridged. |
| Gerda Stevenson, David Rintoul, Paul Young and a cast | 8 hrs 58 mins | BBC full-cast dramatisation, two-book collection | BBC radio plays of Kidnapped and its sequel Catriona in one listing, so the running time is no guide to this book. Marked unabridged. |
| James Macpherson | 1 hr 9 mins | Abridged | Abridged, at 16% of the shortest complete reading here. |