I’ve been listening to the Big Finish free except from their audio classic The Invisible Man starring the late John Hurt last night.  The excerpt is the first 20 minutes of the full 2-hour release that’s due out in February.

THE INVISIBLE MAN

I’m more familiar with various televised versions and movies of The Invisible Man than I am of the book, although I understand that both the Claude Rains 1933 film and the six-part BBC1 adaptation from 1984 are fairly faithful to the source material.

The Big Finish version plays along very similar lines to those two versions.  The main difference is in the title character who, in the other versions, was far more mysterious, and short of temper, than the John Hurt version.  In this version, the title character is very patient with his hosts and very accommodating.  He only loses his temper when their constant prying and curiosity gets the better of them and they poke their nose into places they shouldn’t be.

It’s difficult to imagine in this version just where the drama and suspense actually is, as I’m not sure you’d continue with the story after just listening to the first 20 minutes.

The excerpt does pick up towards the end as, now short on money, a robbery takes place, enacted by a mysterious – possibly “invisible” – assailant.  Unless you already know the story, however, you may find it a little slow and lacking in excitement.

I shan’t be buying the full version just yet, but will look out for it when it comes down to sale prices.