John Wyndham has 6 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 11 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 32 ratings. The most-rated is The Day of the Triffids.
The Day of the Triffids
Summary
Bill Masen wakes up one morning in his hospital bed. His eyes are completely bandaged after an eye operation so he is unable to see. He immediately notices how still and quiet everything is. Having taken off his bandages, he discovers that both inside the hospital and out, the majority of the population (who watched a display of startlingly bright comets in the night sky the previous evening) have all gone blind, and realises that there is a terrifying new enemy for humankind to contend with. This is his thrilling, chilling and enthralling story.... When Bill Masen leaves hospital and goes into the centre of London, he finds that looting is rife as people are grabbing anything from the shelves of shops that they think they might find useful - mainly food. While surveying the scene he comes across an attractive young woman who also wasn't blinded, Josella. Together they return in her car to her parents' home, only to discover everyone at the house has been murdered by the Triffids. The Triffids are walking plants which carry a vicious and lethal sting. Bill used to have one in his back garden, but far from being completely harmless they have now developed and are threatening to take over the world. They are also strongly linked to the mysterious comet shower. Bill has an advantage over other surviors in that his job had involved him researching the Triffids. In fact, it was a Triffid sting that was one of the reasons he had been in hospital on the night of the comets, and this incident saved him from blindness. Together, Josella and Bill, whose bond to each other is growing, join a group of people, many of whom are blind but some of whom can see, with plans to head into the country...and their true struggle begins.
©1951 CSA Word (P)2009 CSA Word
Chocky
Summary
Matthew is a normal 11-year-old boy living with his parents and little sister in Surrey. He's too old and sensible to have an imaginary friend really. Yet when Matthew's parents keep finding him talking and arguing with a strange presence whom Matthew calls Chocky, that's what they believe it must be…at first. But Chocky is oddly sinister, and keeps asking Matthew all sorts of complicated questions about the world and making him behave in unusual and erratic ways. Then Matthew suddenly does something heroic, well beyond his capabilities; the media become interested and the interest in Matthew widens. His parents refer him to a psychologist. Who is Chocky? And what could he or she want with their son?
©1968 John Wyndham (P)2013 Canongate Books Ltd
The Kraken Wakes
Summary
Journalist Mike Watson and his wife, Phyllis, trace it back to the strange showering lights they noticed on the final day of their honeymoon cruise; lights which appeared to land and disappear into the water. Reports mount of similar sightings all over the world. Governments embark on missions to investigate the sea, but ships disappear and diving crews never return to the surface. Something deep in the ocean does not want to be disturbed. The Kraken Wakes is a tale of humanity’s efforts to resist alien invasion, narrated by Mike who unfolds the story as experienced by the couple - from the earliest signs of trouble, to the conflict between the sea-dwelling creatures and the human world. John Wyndham’s classic science-fiction masterpiece is powerfully brought to life in this unabridged production. His other titles - The Midwich Cuckoos and The Day Of the Triffids - are also published as audiobooks by CSA Word.
©1953 CSA Word (P)2011 CSA Word
John Wyndham: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
Summary
Bill Nighy, Barbara Shelley and Peter Sallis are among the cast in six classic BBC Radio dramatisations of stories by one of Britain's most popular science fiction authors. 'The Day of the Triffids', first broadcast in 1968, is set in a world in which most people have been left blind after a meteor shower, and lethal carnivorous triffids are roaming the land. 'The Kraken Wakes', dramatised for radio in 1998, is a gripping story of monsters from the deep, alien invasion and ecological disaster. 'The Chrysalids', first broadcast in 1981, explores the dangers of being different, while the 1989 adaptation of short story 'Survival' focuses on the lengths people will go to in order to survive. 'The Midwich Cuckoos', broadcast in 2003, is a disturbing tale of a village sealed off from the world for a day and subsequently taken over by terrifying inhuman children. Dramatised for radio in 1998, 'Chocky' is a chilling tale of a boy who appears to be communicating with an invisible friend. Also included is 'Beware the Stare!', a half-hour radio documentary looking at 'The Midwich Cuckoos' in print and on screen. Note: These are the BBC Transcription versions of The Day of the Triffids, prepared for sale to overseas territories. At the time, 12 minutes of material was deleted from these episodes to bring down the running time. However, these deleted scenes have been recovered and are included as bonus extra content at the end of the final episode.
©2017 BBC Worldwide Ltd. (P)2017 BBC Worldwide Ltd.
The Kraken Wakes (Dramatised)
Summary
John Wyndham's classic tale of monsters from the deep, alien invasion, and ecological disaster comes alive in this full-cast BBC radio dramatisation.
At first, the fireballs seemed to be nothing more than a dazzling display of lights in the sky, plunging into the deepest oceans and disappearing without trace. But when ships started sinking inexplicably and the sea-lanes became impassable, it seemed that the world was facing a threat of unprecedented proportions.
©1998, 2007 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)1998, 2007 BBC Audiobooks Ltd
Classic Radio Sci-Fi
Summary
When young Matthew starts talking to himself, and introduces his invisible friend, Chocky, to the family, his parents decide it's just a phase he is going through. But when Matthew starts explaining binary maths and anti-gravity propulsion, they begin to worry. Is Chocky really just the product of an over-inactive imagination, or something more? Based on a novel by John Wyndham, this full-cast radio drama was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
©1953, 1968 John Wyndham; 2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd