Which Mansfield Park recording should you buy?
The complete readings of Mansfield Park that we list run 14 hrs 26 mins to 18 hrs 41 mins. The short listings beside them are BBC Radio 4 plays, each with its own cast, and an abridgement by the reader of a complete edition.
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Short answer
Juliet Stevenson: complete and solo, from Naxos, the reader we pick for Emma, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey as well. Frances Barber, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Fenella Woolgar and the other complete readings in the table run 14 hrs 26 mins to 18 hrs 41 mins; choose on voice. Stevenson's name is also on a Naxos abridgement of this book, so check the runtime. The other short listings are BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations from different productions — one has Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant in its cast — and Audible's catalogue marks each of them unabridged. They are plays, not the novel.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juliet Stevenson Our pick | 16 hrs 50 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo, from Naxos. The same reader has a Naxos abridgement under the same title, below. |
| Frances Barber | 14 hrs 45 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo, from Audible Studios. |
| Pippa Bennett-Warner | 15 hrs 29 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo, the Penguin Classics edition. |
| Fenella Woolgar | 17 hrs 44 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Alison Larkin | 17 hrs 53 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Johanna Ward | 16 hrs 46 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Wanda McCaddon | 14 hrs 26 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Anna Bentinck | 18 hrs 41 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Mary Jane Wells | 15 hrs 43 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. Listed as the AmazonClassics Edition. |
| Flo Gibson | 15 hrs 59 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant and a full cast | 2 hrs 18 mins | BBC full-cast dramatisation | A radio play, subtitled "A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation", although Audible's catalogue marks it unabridged. |
| Amanda Root, Hannah Gordon, Michael Williams and a full cast | 2 hrs 47 mins | BBC full-cast dramatisation | A different BBC Radio 4 production, also a play and also marked unabridged. |
| Lydia Wilson, Bryan Dick, Tom Mothersdale and a full cast | 1 hr 53 mins | BBC full-cast dramatisation | Another BBC Radio 4 production with its own cast; a play, marked unabridged. |
| Juliet Stevenson | 3 hrs 56 mins | Abridged | ABRIDGED: the same reader and publisher as the complete pick. |