Books: Spoken word

Christina Hardyment
Saturday 29 November 1997 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Many audio dramatisations are premiered on the air, a happy synergy which bolsters profits and makes higher quality possible. One of the most exciting of recent productions is Mutiny on the Bounty (Mr Punch, 160mins, pounds 9.99), which tells the story from a variety of points of view and is as crisply cut as a screenplay. Starring Oliver Reed as an intelligent as well as menacing Captain Bligh, it won the 1997 Talkies Award for dramatisation.

The daisy-fresh voice of Emily Mortimer as Natasha and the rich rasp of Leo McKern as Kutuzov are only the most outstanding of a whole bouquet of good performances in War and Peace (BBC, 9hrs 15mins, pounds 30.99). Excellent special effects and a haunting theme tune make it compulsive listening, although there is only room for the crudest presentation of Tolstoy's big ideas.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in