Bathurst to narrate Goodbye Mr Chips for Hodder

A new unabridged audiobook of James Hilton’s Goodbye Mr Chips (Hodder & Stoughton) will be narrated by actor Robert Bathurst.

Bathurst is known for his roles in "Downton Abbey", "Toast of London" and "Cold Feet". He won Best Male Narrator in 2020 at the Audies, annual awards given by the American Audio Publishers Association, for his performance of Louise Penny’s 14th Inspector Gamache novel Kingdom of the Blind (Sphere).

The first UK edition of Goodbye Mr Chips was published by Hodder in 1934 and has been adapted many times for radio, stage, TV and cinema. A 1969 production starred Peter O’Toole as the titular Mr Chips and more recently an ITV version featured Martin Clunes and a young Henry Cavill. The book has never been out of print and has sold more than 2.6 million copies, according to the publisher.

"Goodbye Mr Chips is a true classic that’s been part of the Hodder catalogue for the best part of a century", said audio publisher Dominic Gribben. "It’s fantastic to now have such a brilliantly-narrated definitive audio edition on the Hodder list."

The new edition will be available from all major online audiobook outlets on 8th February.