Who Narrated The Famous Five Audiobooks In Recent Editions?

For reference, I looked through my list of available audiobooks and checked a few online stores for recent single-voice versions of The Famous Five by Enid Blyton. Recently published audiobooks seem to be narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt.

There are other versions of these audiobooks, with other narrators, and also full-cast dramatizations, made by the BBC and other studios. Different publishers will have different versions. So, for example, you might be looking for a clean, character-driven audiobook or perhaps something more theatrical. It’s worth previewing a sample of the version you’re interested in as there’s such a wide variety of readers of audiobooks and you can listen to a sample of most before you buy them on most platforms.

I tend to like things recommended to me by friends in a quick and practical way. Recent audiobooks of ‘The Famous Five’ have Julian Rhind-Tutt listed as the narrator on most of the modern editions I have come across (digitally spoken).

Not all editions of The Famous Five are the same and there are numerous older readings by other voices, as well as full-cast BBC drama versions where a single reader has been substituted by a cast of actors. Worth listening to a sample first if you have particular expectations of tone and/or pace. Big difference.

Even to this day I get rather excited at the thought of all the fun adventures that Five go on for their holidays in KnabBài House and on their various picnics. When looking for audiobooks recently, it was great to see that most of the recent single narrator versions of Blyton’s children’s classic The Famous Five are read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.

Most of the Famous Five books have been reissued in recent years, with different narrators in many of them. You may also find full-cast BBC dramatisations of some of them. Often the older or alternative versions are read by well-known British narrators who have read Blyton before. You can check the edition notes on Audible, Penguin or HarperCollins to see who has read it in recent versions. I tend to play the first clip to see if the reader’s tone is as I’d hoped – be it old-style or modern.

I’m rather choosy when it comes to narrators, often finding that some make me feel as though I’m sitting around a campfire, whilst others mean I’m adjusting the speed on my phone within the first few minutes. Therefore, for me, comparison shopping between editions of a book is crucial. For example, recent releases of ‘The Famous Five’ have been narrated by the affable and modern-voiced Julian Rhind-Tutt. He effectively voice characterizes all the children.

Edition provenance of a book is important here. Some recent editions of Famous Five stories have single narrators commissioned by the publisher to read new versions of the books. Other editions, especially those broadcast on radio, are full-cast adaptations of the books, almost like a continuous drama. Other editions, even printed ones, may have been read by a different narrator in a previous edition – even in an earlier print edition of the same book. So, if you want to experience The Famous Five on audiobook, check the publisher (Penguin, HarperCollins, Audible Originals, BBC etc.) and the reader for your copy. I sample the first 10 minutes of an audiobook and then know whether I will listen to the whole book or not. The 21 books in the series will need some sampling to find the right versions for me.