The best audio drama audiobooks for beginners: where to start
If you've never finished a audio drama audiobook, start with one that already won. Every title below took the Audie Award in the audio drama category — broadly loved, superbly narrated, the audiobook industry's own pick for the best audio drama production of its year. They are the safest first credits: hard to switch off, and hard to regret. The most recent winner is George Orwell's 1984 by George Orwell, adapted by Joe White (2025).
Oliver Twist| Audiobook | Author | Narrator(s) | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Orwell's 1984 | George Orwell, adapted by Joe White | Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2025) |
| Third Eye | Felicia Day | Felicia Day, Neil Gaiman, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2024) |
| Pipeline | Dominique Morisseau | Sophina Brown, Eugene Byrd, Demetrius Grosse, Sharon Lawrence, X Mayo, Uyoata Udi, Karen Malina White | Audie Audio Drama (2023) |
| Sherlock Holmes: The Seamstress of Peckham Rye | Jonathan Barnes | Nicholas Briggs, Richard Earl, Lucy Briggs-Owen, India Fisher, James Joyce, Anjella MacKintosh, Glen McCready, Mark Elstob | Audie Audio Drama (2022) |
| Doctor Who: Stranded (Series 1) | Matt Fitton, David K. Barnes, Lisa McMullin, John Dorney | Paul McGann, Nicola Walker, Hattie Morahan, Rebecca Root, Tom Price, Tom Baker | Audie Audio Drama (2021) |
| Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes | Tony Kushner | Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, Susan Brown, Denise Gough, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2020) |
| The Martian Invasion of Earth | H. G. Wells, adapted by Nicholas Briggs | Richard Armitage, Lucy Briggs-Owen | Audie Audio Drama (2019) |
| Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi | Paul McCusker | Joseph Timms, Owen Teale, Geoffrey Palmer, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2018) |
| In the Embers | Brian Price, Jerry Stearns | Robin Miles, Edwin Strout, Dean Johnson, Jacquie Maddix, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2017) |
| The Jungle Book: The Mowgli Stories | Rudyard Kipling, adapted by Bev Doyle, Richard Kurti | Bill Bailey, Richard E. Grant, Colin Salmon, Tim McInnerny, Bernard Cribbins, Celia Imrie, Martin Shaw | Audie Audio Drama (2016) |
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by David Pichette, R. Hamilton Wright | Geoffrey Arend, Wilson Bethel, Seamus Dever, Sarah Drew, Henri Lubatti, James Marsters, Christopher Neame, Moira Quirk, Darren Richardson | Audie Audio Drama (2015) |
| Oliver Twist | Charles Dickens, adapted by Paul McCusker | Joe Holgate, Henry Goodman, Lee Boardman, Geoffrey Palmer, Roy Hudd, Finty Williams, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2014) |
| Swordspoint | Ellen Kushner | Ellen Kushner, Dion Graham, Katherine Kellgren, Robert Fass, Nick Sullivan, Simon Jones, Sam Guncler, Anne Bobby | Audie Audio Drama (2013) |
| The Arthur Miller Collection | Arthur Miller | full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2012) |
| Saint Joan | George Bernard Shaw | Amy Irving, Edward Herrmann, Kristoffer Tabori, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2011) |
| The Word of Promise | Carl Amari | Michael York, Richard Dreyfuss, Gary Sinise, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2010) |
| The Odyssey | Homer, dramatized by Simon Armitage | Tim McInnerny, Amanda Redman, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2009) |
| Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls | Yuri Rasovsky | Phil Proctor, Simon Templeman, Moira Quirk, Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres, Robertson Dean, W. Morgan Sheppard | Audie Audio Drama (2008) |
| The Life of Jesus: Dramatic Eyewitness Accounts from the Luke Reports | Paul McCusker | full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2007) |
| The Sherlock Holmes Theatre | Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by William Gillette, Yuri Rasovsky | Martin Jarvis, Kristoffer Tabori, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2006) |
| Buddha Boy | Kathe Koja | Spencer Murphy, full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2005) |
| The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare | William Shakespeare | full cast | Audie Audio Drama (2004) |
| The Guys | Anne Nelson | Swoosie Kurtz, Bill Irwin | Audie Audio Drama (2003) |
| Agnes of God | John Pielmeier | Barbara Bain, Emily Bergl, Harriet Harris | Audie Audio Drama (2001) |
| A Prairie Home Companion: 25th Anniversary | Garrison Keillor | Garrison Keillor | Audie Audio Drama (2000) |
| The Road to Mecca | Athol Fugard | Julie Harris, Amy Irving, Harris Yulin | Audie Audio Drama (1999) |
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Frequently asked questions
Which audio drama audiobook should I start with?
Start with a recent Audie Audio Drama winner such as "George Orwell's 1984" by George Orwell, adapted by Joe White (2025). Award winners are the safest first listens because they are judged on narration as much as story, so the performance carries you through.
Are these good for someone new to audiobooks?
Yes. Every audiobook here won the Audie Award, the audiobook industry's own award — they are broadly loved and exceptionally well narrated, which is exactly what makes a first audiobook easy to finish.
How do I listen for free?
A free 30-day Audible Premium Plus trial includes one credit. You can use it on any audio drama audiobook on this page and keep it permanently, even if you cancel before the trial ends.
More audio drama guides: every Audie-winning audio drama audiobook · audio drama audiobooks for long drives · full-cast audio drama audiobooks · all listening guides · best audiobooks by award.