Starting points

In 1977/78 the BBC ran a series of programmes on Rev Francis Kilvert, with Timothy Davies in the role of Kilvert.

Timothy Davies seemed to be perfectly cast, playing Kilvert with enthusiastic innocence and a huge impressive beard.

I had not come across Kilvert before, and did not even know the name. But the bucolic charm of the series was utterly captivating, and I found myself hooked and wanting to know more.

This was the Penguin selection of the diaries which was published in 1977 to accompany the series. Note the magnificent beard:

Timothy Davies made the role so much his own that it is hard to even imagine another actor playing Kilvert. He appeared at Kilvert's centenary celebrations in 1979, reading from the diaries. His readings are sensitive and intelligent, and very un-actorly. His definitive readings appeared in 1980:

Yes, it looks familiar, doesn't it ?

I love these readings: the gentle wonder, the joyous approach to living, the naivety, the social observation. They are a real joy, and a very good introduction to the real thing: the diaries themselves.