Which Northern Lights recording should you buy?
Philip Pullman's own reading with a full cast, Ruth Wilson's solo reading, a BBC radio play sold singly and in a box set — and a Nora Roberts novel with the identical title in the same results.
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Philip Pullman · 4 Audible UK recordings compared
Short answer
Philip Pullman with the full cast: the author narrates and actors take the voices, the listing calls it "the classic recording", and the same production carries on through The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. Ruth Wilson's solo reading is complete too, and newer; her listing calls her the star of the BBC television series, and her readings of the other books in the trilogy are on sale as well, so choose her if you would rather have a single voice. The BBC Radio 4 edition with Terence Stamp is a play, and Audible's listing data marks it abridged; The Complete BBC Radio Collection holds the plays of the whole trilogy in one listing. And check the author before you buy: Nora Roberts's Northern Lights, a novel about a police chief in a small Alaskan town, has exactly the same title.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philip Pullman and a full cast Our pick | 11 hrs 55 mins | Unabridged, full cast | The whole book, with the author narrating and a cast taking the voices. Its listing calls it "the classic recording". |
| Ruth Wilson | 13 hrs 16 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo; the newer recording. Same title and same subtitle line as the Pullman edition, so the narrator is what tells them apart. |
| Terence Stamp, Emma Fielding, Bill Paterson, Kenneth Cranham, Ray Fearon and a full cast | 2 hrs 26 mins | BBC full-cast dramatisation | A BBC Radio 4 play, listed as "His Dark Materials Part 1: Northern Lights". Its description calls it a dramatisation, and Audible's listing data marks it abridged. |
| Terence Stamp, Bill Paterson, Kenneth Cranham, Adrian Scarborough and a full cast | 7 hrs 45 mins | BBC full-cast dramatisation, three-book collection | The BBC radio plays of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass in one listing, with bonus material. One running time covers all of it, so it is no guide to this book. |
| Gary Littman | 15 hrs 5 mins | Different book, same title | NOT Philip Pullman. Nora Roberts's Northern Lights, a different novel with the same title, in the same search results. |