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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 the age of men. The last struggle of the old order is to ensure that the One Ring of power made by the elves’ great foe, Sauron, is destroyed, even ... Read review
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The old that is strong does not wither
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 ... ...last struggle of the old 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.
Before Peter Jackson’s remarkable film trilogy, if you didn’t want 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 the age of men. The last struggle of the old 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 wizard Gandalf, Frodo sets off on an epic quest to destroy the ring, accompanied by his faithful servant, the gardener Sam, little knowing all that awaits them. Their quest is drawn into a titanic battle of good and evil involving lands throughout the whole of Middle Earth. They receive help from unlikely quarters.
The Lord of the Rings is an epic tale, that is not a Christian allegory like the Narnia chronicles, nor a political work like Animal Farm. Yet, the story has such breadth and depth and richness of the tale, that it holds the reader enthralled throughout.
WHAT YOU GET WITH THE CDs The dramatisation was originally broadcast in 26 half hour episodes. My edition has 13 CDs, each ending on a dramatic crescendo. In addition, in the black cloth and cardboard case came a disc with Stephen Oliver’s music and a fold-up A5 map of Middle Earth. The edition that you can buy now comes in 3 4-disc sets, to match the Peter Jackson film trilogy, with the music added on to the third disc and some new opening and closing narration on the various sets.
HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM THE BOOKS AND FILMS? As with the films, there are whole passages of the books which have not been included. Most notably, there is no Old Forest, Tom Bombadil and Barrow Downs episode. However, unlike the films, there is no significant change to the books to achieve dramatic effect. You have Glorfindel meeting the hobbits after Weathertop not Arwen, who is the somewhat peripheral character one finds in the books. Even better, Eomer, Treebeard and above all Faramir are portrayed faithfully, with none of Jackson’s character assassination.
Other tiresome changes made by the films which are not repeated are the warg attack on the way to Helm’s Deep and the dismissal of Sam by Frodo on the stairs of Cirith Ungol.
WHAT DO I PARTICULARLY LIKE? i) It is often said that the great thing about radio compared with film is that the pictures are better. Certainly, the from the initial clarinet note rising, swirling like pipe smoke, overtaken by the insistent strings conveying a purposeful march, I am transported immediately into Middle Earth. The narrator, Gerard Murphy, has an authoritative yet calm voice which sets the scene in an unfussy way.
ii) The cast is top rate. These are just some of the names:
Gandalf – Sir Michael Horden (who inter alia was the voice of Paddington Bear when I was growing up) Frodo – Ian Holm (he played Bilbo in the films, but I remember from Chariots of Fire) Aragorn - Robert Stephen (a stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare company) Bilbo – John le Mesurier (Sergeant Wilson from Dad’s Army) Sam – Bill Nighy (Love Actually) Celeborn – Simon Cadell (Hi-de-hi!) Denethor – Peter Vaughan (Genial Harry Grout from Porridge) Butterbur – James Grout (Morse’s boss, Chief Superintendent Strange)
But for me the star is Gollum, played by Peter Woodthorpe (Max the pathologist from Morse). While Andy Serkis received deserved plaudits for his Gollum in the film, some of that is due to the CGI. Woodthorpe however conveys all the twisted emotions with nothing other than his voice.
iii) The faithfulness to the books is paramount. I have repeated read the books (and in more than one language), so it is a joy to see no liberties taken with the text. Even the songs that appear, ‘Gil-galad was an elven king’, ‘The road goes ever on and on’ are done in such a way that they meld perfectly into the narrative.
iv) The ending is really powerful in its simplicity. This is true of both the books and the film, but there is something particularly powerful in this version, as the final credits music brings the epic tale to an end.
v) It is the perfect accompaniment to a long journey. I have worn out a set of tapes, nearly worn out the CDs and now it is on my iPod, transporting me to Middle Earth as I drive up and down the motorway network. It is more animated than a straight reading, with plenty of music, and thanks to the masterly dramatisations of Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell, it is beautifully paced, allowing a sense of mourning for Boromir without losing the sense of urgency to escape the Nazgul and Orcs.
OVERALL At a cheapest price currently of £54.99 from Play.com, this requires a not inconsiderable outlay. However, for me, there have been very few better investments in listening entertainment.
If you only know the films, not the books, there are parts of the dramatisations that will be a big surprise to you, but to those who have read the books, this should come across as a faithful dramatisation that is full of humour, humanity and with nothing essential missing.
lobourse 04.07.2007 (04.07.2007)
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Review of The Lord Of The Rings: BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation (Audio Book) - J.R.R. Tolkien
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 ...
Bryn_Pearson 18.01.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Lord Of The Rings: BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation (Audio Book) - J.R.R. Tolkien
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 ...
Excelle 01.09.2001 (02.09.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Lord Of The Rings: BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation (Audio Book) - J.R.R. Tolkien
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
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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!
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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 ...
dave27 12.12.2001 (13.12.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Lord Of The Rings: BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation (Audio Book) - J.R.R. Tolkien
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 ...
camuk84 31.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Lord Of The Rings: BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation (Audio Book) - J.R.R. Tolkien
Advantages: The chance of a lifetime. Disadvantages: none whatsoever.
...at his finest !!! The Cast held me spellbound for the entire time. Listening to Ian Holm as Frodo was outstanding. I lay in my bed, eyes closed, imagination running wild and free over the terrain, I found myself transported to Middle Earth, and could feel the magic of it all.The feeling of hearing the voices and trying to put faces to them was a task on its own, but they told the story so well, I felt I was there. The music was well placed, and the ... ...instead of struggling to hold the books up in bed, I could lay and relax, and just listen. Thank you for taking the time to read my experience of a true masterpiece xx I am updating this review on the advice of several members, which was well-placed, as this is my first review. The cast of characters were as follows.
Frodo Baggins : Ian Holm
Gandalf : Micael Hordern
Aragorn : Robert Stephens
Gollum : Peter Woodthorpe
Bilbo Baggins : John Le ...
Aussieme1106 07.07.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Lord Of The Rings: BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation (Audio Book) - J.R.R. Tolkien
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