The Lord Of The Rings: BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation (Audio Book) - J.R.R. Tolkien

Advantages: True to a fantastic story, excellent actors, great music
Disadvantages: Finding time to listen, might surprise those who only know the film

...to plough your way through the mighty tomes that make up J.R.R.Tolkein’s ‘Lord of the Rings’, the only option available was the BBC Radio 4 radio adaptation, which was first broadcast in 1981. Fortunately, this is one of the finest pieces of radio drama ever made, with a host of star names playing the roles. VERY QUICK PLOT OVERVIEW The second age of middle earth is drawing to an end, which marks the passing of the age of elves and the coming of ...
...order is to ensure that the One Ring of power made by the elves’ great foe, Sauron, is destroyed, even if this ensures the doom of the elves. Unfortunately, destroying this ring is not an easy task, but it falls to Frodo to carry it out. Frodo is a hobbit – hobbits are small, men-like creatures, who live living in rural tranquillity, enjoy smoking a pipe and have an enormous appetite for mushrooms. Encouraged and frightened in equal measure by the ... Read review

Advantages: Good adaptation with some great actors
Disadvantages: Remembering to tune in. Not very well promoted.

Back in 1981, the BBC undertook a particularly challenging project: To bring Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings" to the listening masses. This is a huge piece of work, spanning 13 hours of listening time. If you missed it first time round, tapes and cds of the recording are availble - Amazan has the cds for about fifty eight pounds. Better still however is the news that radio Four are running the series again (You've missed the first two, but there ...
...can hear the classic serialisation at 2.30pm every Saturday, in hour long blocks. ( 92-95 longwave or 198 fm) Well worth catching if you can. Radio Four has a website devoted to the series, with message boards, competions, photos of the original cast, a full cast list and lots of useful information. Visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/lordoftherings/ to have a look for yourself. If you don't know about the original books, I'm not even going to try ... Read review

Advantages: Brings the book to life, excellent detail and music
Disadvantages: Songs can grate a bit, and pricey

...is what I found with the Tolkien classic 'The Lord Of The Rings'. But now can you imagine the same book, but in a fully radio-dramatised form? All your imaginings brought to life before your very eyes, um, ears? - The roots of obsession My love of 'The Lord Of The Rings' unsurprisingly started with me reading the book. Sure, it took me an age to do it, but I was so totally enthralled by the whole thing that I just kept reading and reading until ...
...could find, I came to the radio dramatisation. I'd heard bits of it before, and loved it, but I'd never actually listened to it all the way through. My father, a fellow Tolkien lover, had recorded the BBC's adaptation when it was first aired on Radio 4, and I decided it was time to listen all the way through. I was amazed. This version captured everything I'd ever known about the book, and more, and it's a testament to its quality that I've listened ... Read review

Advantages: A brilliant, brilliant story
Disadvantages: Absolutely none

...opinion is off topic. The full opinion has now been moved to the right section under Books. Sorry for any misunderstanding and I will edit this opinion to make it more relevant shortly - Thankyou ************************* This is a magnificent opinion Dave but.... It's in the section for audio books and as such is meant to be about the BBC dramatisation. The BBC dramatisation is a fantastic piece of work in it's own right and can be purchased ...
...Dave, if it's moved to the right section then it is more than worthy of a VH, I feel bad rating low, but this is my reason! ************************* The whole Harry Potter phenomenon, the worldwide thirst for stories, heroes and the merchandising that goes with it, is firmly rooted in a deep seated need that lives in all of us, eating away at our entire being. In the boring, humdrum mundanity of our normal existence there is little mystery, exciting ... Read review

Advantages: It's a superb story told Superbly with a huge cast.
Disadvantages: It's expencive and rare, but it's worth paying alot for and searching alot for

The title is normally something i would say about a film especially as this "The Lord Of The Rings" and "The Hobbit" (which I would love to write a review on except that the site doesn't include it) are the only 2 stories I have on tape. However I have to say that this isn't as good as the book it just doesn't have the detail. But that’s all I can say negatively about it, I'm very confident it is better then the up and coming film will be, ...
...and they really get all the characters spot on as far as I'm concerned. It's split up into 13 parts each of which is on a separate tape, and each tape lasts for an Hour. This obviously means 13 hours of story which is extremely difficult for anyone to listen to all at once. However if you were to get this then i can assure you you would do it at some point. Once you put it on it really is very difficult to not keep listening. I sometimes take it ... Read review