Captain Bayley's Heir Review

Heirloom Audio Productions brings another G.A. Henty novel to life with Captain Bayley's Heir! We were so excited to review another audio drama from Heirloom Audio because the last two we reviewed were amazing and became a favorite family activity immediately. This year we are studying American history and this particular story fits right in with our studies. Bonus!!


The people at Heirloom Audio Productions have done a marvelous job of bringing history alive in a way that highlights Christian virtues and always has a Christian worldview in their audio dramas. Beric the Briton is over two hours of an audio adventure for children ages 6+, so the whole family can enjoy the adventure together! With a cast that includes John Rhys-Davies, Brian Cox, Jade Williams, Ian Porter, Finty Williams, David Shaw-Parker, and more, the quality of the drama is like no other.

What is a radio drama? 

A radio drama is what is sounds like. It is an adventure on CD. You listen to the dialogue and narration with sound effects, beautiful music, and ambiance. It turned our living room into a time machine and the kids were transported The kids made the pictures in their minds as they listened. Because there isn't a video component, they had to use their imaginations and it engaged them into active listening. They didn't make much of a peep while they were listening to the story, so it clearly had them enraptured. The only time theu made a noise was when they were play fighting along with the story. But, who is to blame them? We had previously reviewed The Dragon and the Raven and well as Beric the Briton and loved the adventures. This time our adventure was taking us to the Wild West!

Here is a synopsis of the story, written by my ten-year-old son, Sebastian:

The story starts off in England where Frank is accused of stealing ten pounds from the school principal. He runs away to America to prove his innocence. In America he tries to find gold in the Wild West. He meets a few friends and saves the life of a fellow gold hunter. He is attacked by Indians and he fends them off fiercely. He makes it to the place he needs to go. My favorite scene was the battle between the Indians and everyone else. I liked to act it out and I had fun acting out the battles with my siblings. Overall it was a very good audio book. I would recommend this book for kids 7-16. This story taught me that anything is possible.

Here are thoughts on the audio book by my seven-year-old daughter, Kaelyn:

I liked the story. My favorite part of the story was probably when the cowboys helped Frank by helping Frank shoot the Indians. There was one girl in the story and I liked her. I played as her sometimes. I learned that life can be difficult sometimes but to try to not be so frustrated or sad or any kind of bad thing. Just pray to God that we won't have to always fight.

My favorite part was listening to Amazing Grace being sung by the cast. Along with two and a half hours of an amazing audio drama, I was also given access to a study guide, which included Read Along Script, Chapter Quiz, and Thinking Further questions from the Live the Adventure Club site.

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