Howl's Moving Castle : BBC Radio 4 Audio Drama

In the land of Ingary, Sophie Hatter is resigning herself to an uninteresting life working in a hat shop, when a castle appears above the town of Market Chipping and refuses to stay still.

Visiting the shop one day, the dreaded Witch of the Waste transforms Sophie into an old crone. Setting off into the countryside to seek her fortune, Sophie soon runs into the sinister moving castle. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls.

First published in 1986, Howl's Moving Castle’s reputation has grown over time to become recognised as a fantasy classic and, in 2004, it was adapted as an Oscar-nominated animated film by Studio Ghibli.

Cast:
Narrator: Robert Bathurst
Old Sophie: Julia McKenzie
Howl: Iwan Rheon
Michael: Angus Imrie
Calcifer: Dan Starkey
Miss Angorian: Gwyneth Keyworth
The Witch of the Waste: Pippa Bennett-Warner
Young Sophie: Dakota Blue-Richards
Neil: Gerran Howell

Written by Robert Valentine
Based upon the novel by Diana Wynne Jones
Sound Design: Richard Fox
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Directed by Simon Barnard

A Bafflegab production for BBC Radio 4

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I do not own any content in this video, I'm just uploading it for fellow HMC fans or anyone who missed/wants to (re)listen to this production. Apologies for the cut off at the end, I can't seem to save this video properly without it cutting off like that.

[LuciThomasHardylover-qxts]

Less than a minute in and it's already so much easier to listen to than the 6 hour+ abridged version we just tried! 😂 A real actor who can act with their voice alone, with inflection and variety. A joy to hear, without the constant straining and effort of someone just reading the book flat!

[maia_ce]

omgggg calcifer's hints throughout got me laughing like sophie was so unaware

[esthernavarrete]

I love how they adapted book howls charm, i think they should've dobbled down on his welsh accent tho, i find it very unic of the character( i also like Welsh accent very much for some reason).His and Sophie's bickering with each other will always be my favorite part of the book, something that they kind of took away in the movie. I also love how they changed many many things from the book but managed to keep the best lines, like "may all your bacon burn" or the "gray mouse" or calcifers final line. I will hold this audio drama close to my heart just like the movie for being good enough adaptations of my favourite book ever.

[swain-Ixtv]

young sophie's voice sounds so lovely aaaa she sounds similar to the english dub of the film

[Arzamol]

33:02 This scene made me pause to check when the book was set. It came out in the 1980s and I guess it was set in more or less "modern times" because Howl's nephew was playing a computer game. Took me by surprise. The movie had me thinking it was set way earlier than that, 1920s at the latest, judging off the cars.

I looked up the same moment in the books, and it kinda seems like he was playing a text-based RPG.

[swain-Ixtv]

why is jt that i find myself simping for howl no matter what the adaptation is. his charm is too strong

[Hailey-imev]

I love Howl's Moving Castle because of the May Day scene, i was born on May Day :)

[hestia_or_adhdsteph]

Oh my god howls and and the way sophie said "liar" at the end ahhh theyre so howl singing in a touch sad we didnt get calcifers 'sosban fach' or the rest of the 'we ought to live happily ever after' exchange but also its all so and

[feyfyre]

oh my god, thank you SO much for uploading this— my mum told me about the radio play originally bc she knows I love the book & film, and even though I saved it on the app, it left WAY too quickly and I never got the chance to listen. I scanned YouTube up and down at the time, and nothing.
Tonight, I remembered it and told mum my woes about it, and she asks the classic mum question, “have you looked for it on YouTube?” Lo and behold, this was the first result, where I couldn’t find ANYTHING beforehand. props to you for bringing me this magical little wtf moment, and for sharing this adaptation!!

[null]

I have been listening to this to put myself to sleep for a month.

[swain-Ixtv]

if howl calls me a little gray mouse id melt into a puddle

[ummmhithere]

The guitar strums when we first meet Howl are killing meeee

[JDHDoveton]

Thanks for uploading. Like this version a lot, really stripped down. Feel like I can tell it's adapted by a man because though because all of the family are cut out, and we lose Sophie's jealous moodiness which is gloriously petty and very relatable :) I miss Sophie's inner thoughts too. But nice version nonetheless.

[LX]

I couldn't forget the voice of Ramsay Bolton (Game of Thrones) even if I wanted to. Iwan Rheon is an excellent actor indeed. Thank you for posting this for everyone to listen. Greetings from Bulgaria 🇧🇬

[bostonpikachu]

I listen to this EVERY NIGHT to sleep. If this ever gets taken down like the Hobbit one I listened to I don't know what I will do! Thank you for helping thousands sleep 😊

[kasperzhan]

Just found out this existed and was a little bummed when I can't find it on radio 4. So delighted that I found it here! Thanks for uploading this! (Also your channel name haha it's so cute

[leahrice]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS!! I found out about this a few months ago and spent like an hour searching for it because this is my favorite book and I was SO sad I couldn’t find it anywhere! I’m SO EXCITED TO LISTEN TO THIS!! YOURE MY HERO

[Charely]

The actors on this radio drama are absolutely amazing. I haven't listened to many audio dramas in a while so it was wonderful to hear such a perfectly produced story.

My only issue was that the love between Sophie and Howl seemed to just spring up at the end, but I understand you can't fit in the story.

[sanikagodbole]

This is such a lovely adaptation, even though they have cut out a lot of parts from the book. Absolutely love the different voices and the sound design. Thank you for uploading this!!!

[lisaconnolly]

Love this so comfy 😍 especially love the casts voices just brilliant