Which Return of Sherlock Holmes recording should you buy?
The third Holmes story collection. The complete readings we list run 9 hrs 59 mins to 12 hrs 59 mins; beside them are the BBC radio plays, and a set of volumes by one reader that does not add up to the whole book.
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Arthur Conan Doyle · 9 Audible UK recordings compared
Short answer
Derek Jacobi: complete and solo, and our pick for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, so the stories stay in one voice. Simon Prebble, Stephen Thorne, Jonathan Keeble and the other complete readings in the table run 9 hrs 59 mins to 12 hrs 59 mins; choose on voice. Worth knowing: the edition with Clive Merrison and Michael Williams is the BBC's dramatisation, plays rather than readings, though the listing says unabridged. And David Timson's reading is sold in separately numbered volumes, the last of them titled as selections, so buying them does not get you the whole book.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Jacobi Our pick | 12 hrs 5 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. Jacobi also reads The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. |
| Simon Prebble | 11 hrs 21 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Stephen Thorne | 11 hrs 26 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Jonathan Keeble | 10 hrs 22 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Stephen Scalon | 12 hrs 59 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Ralph Cosham | 9 hrs 59 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| David McCallion | 10 hrs 14 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Ben Werling, Kevin Theis and Sara Nichols | 10 hrs 38 mins | Unabridged | Complete, shared between several readers. |
| Clive Merrison, Michael Williams and a full cast | 8 hrs 45 mins | BBC full-cast dramatisation | The BBC Radio 4 plays: its description refers to a fully dramatised BBC production, although the listing says unabridged. |
