In 1981,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

produced a dramatisation of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'' in 26 half-hour

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

instalments. The novel had previously been adapted as a 12-part BBC Radio adaptation in 1955 and 1956 (of which no recordings are known to have survived), and a 1979 production by The Mind's Eye for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

in the USA. Like the novel on which it is based, the radio series tells the story of an epic struggle between the Dark Lord

Sauron Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middl ...

Mordor In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, Mordor (pronounced ; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is the realm and base of the evil Sauron. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and to t ...

, the primary villain of the work, and an alliance of heroes who join forces to save the world from falling under his shadow.

The script by Brian Sibley and

Michael Bakewell Michael Bakewell (born 1931) is a British television producer. Bakewell was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire in England. He is best known for his work during the 1960s, when he was the first Head of Plays at the BBC, after Sydney Newman divid ...

attempts to be as faithful as possible to the original novel. The radio serial however omits the sequence in the book in which the hobbits visit

Tom Bombadil Tom Bombadil is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Tolkien's legendarium, legendarium. He first appeared in print in a 1934 poem called "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil", which also included ''The Lord of the Rings'' characters Goldberry (Tom's wi ...

. The narrative includes an arc where Wormtongue is waylaid by the Ringwraiths, as narrated in ''

Unfinished Tales ''Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth'' is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980. Many of the tale ...

''. In the final episode, ''

Bilbo's Last Song ''Bilbo's Last Song'' (at the Grey Havens) is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien, written as a pendant to his fantasy ''The Lord of the Rings''. It was first published in a Dutch translation in 1973, subsequently appearing in English on posters in 1974 ...

'', a Tolkien poem which does not appear in the novel, is used to flesh out the sequence at the Grey Havens. Scull, Christina and Hammond, Wayne G.: ''

The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide ''The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide'' is a 2006 reference book by the husband and wife team of Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. It provides a detailed chronology of Tolkien's life in volume 1, and a reader's guide in volume 2. The s ...

'', 2nd edition;

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

, 2017; Vol. 2, pp. 17–18Smith, Ian D. (ed.):
Microphones in Middle Earth
'; 1982 ::: *1.4–1.8 on

omitted

Broadcasts and recordings

The serial was first broadcast from 8 March to 30 August 1981 on

on Sundays from 12 noon to 12:30pm; each episode was repeated on the following Wednesday from 10:30pm to 11:00pm. A soundtrack album featuring a re-recorded and in some cases expanded suite of Stephen Oliver's music was released in 1981. The 26-part series was edited into 13 hour-long episodes broadcast from 17 July to 9 October 1982, restoring some dialogue originally cut for timing. In 2002, following the success of

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

's ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, the BBC reissued its radio series in three sets (audiobooks) corresponding to the three original volumes (''

The Fellowship of the Ring ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by ''The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the fiction ...

'', ''

The Two Towers ''The Two Towers'' is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is preceded by ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and followed by ''The Return of the King''. Title and publication ''The Lord of the ...

'' and ''

The Return of the King ''The Return of the King'' is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', following ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and ''The Two Towers''. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, whi ...

''). This version omitted the original episode divisions, and included new opening and closing monologues for the first two sets, and an opening monologue only for the last, written by Sibley and performed by Ian Holm as Frodo Baggins. The soundtrack with Stephen Oliver's music, digitally remastered, was included with ''The Return of the King'' set, with a demo of John Le Mesurier singing ''

'' as a bonus track.

Analysis

Sibley thought the casting of

Ian Holm Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, ...

as Frodo "simply inspired", his performance "of unswerving determination, tempered always with humour and vulnerability." He felt that

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, May 2009, accessed 22 July 2015 was ...

managed to "become" Gandalf, "by intuition or some other theatrical magic ... by turn wise, stern and compassionate, a force for good, a constant light in an ever-darkening storm." As for

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation co ...

's Bilbo, the comic actor who had played

Sergeant Wilson Sergeant Arthur Wilson is a fictional British Home Guard, Home Guard platoon sergeant and Bank teller, bank chief clerk, first portrayed by John Le Mesurier in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. Background Wilson was born in 1887, and ...

in ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

'' gave the part "a weary melancholy". The scholar of humanities Brian Rosebury sets out criteria for adapting a complex work like ''The Lord of the Rings''. The adaptation, he writes, must not simply use characters and names to relabel some existing formula, or rewrite the story into a generic style; it must retain as much as possible of the original when translating the narrative into a drama; it must keep the presentation fresh, avoid repetition, and retain plausibility; and it must especially retain the coherent feeling of a

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is t ...

under threat, along with the book's momentum, coherence, moral conviction, and subtlety. Rosebury states that a radio production is "fundamentally hampered" by not being able to "suggest the physical and cultural presence of Middle-earth", other than through the limited medium of sound effects. In his view, the few passages of narration in the production "give tantalising glimpses of olkien'sbreadth of vision which fades painfully as the studio-bound dialogues resume." He finds the dialogue well delivered by the actors, admiring especially

Peter Woodthorpe Peter Woodthorpe (25 September 1931 – 13 August 2004) was an English actor who supplied the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of ''The Lord of the Rings'' and BBC's 1981 radio serial. He also provided the voice of Pigsy in the cul ...

's "fine

Gollum Gollum is a fictional Tolkien's monsters, character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 Fantasy (genre), fantasy novel ''The Hobbit'', and became important in its sequel, ''The Lord of the Rings''. Gol ...

", and the

abridgement An abridgement (or abridgment) is a condensing or reduction of a book or other creative work into a shorter form while maintaining the unity of the source. The abridgement can be true to the original work in terms of mood and tone, capturing the ...

skilful though subtly flattening Tolkien's text "in the direction of an adventure story." The version's strength, Rosebury writes, is in its rather faithful and almost complete rendering of the book's events, though as in Ralph Bakshi's animation and Peter Jackson's film version, without

. The Tolkien scholar

Christina Scull Christina Scull (born 6 March 1942 in Bristol, England) is a British researcher and writer best known for her books about the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Biography Christina Scull was born in Bristol and was educated at the Redmaids' High Scho ...

thought it a "masterly adaptation", that stayed faithful to Tolkien's story, presented most of the characters "as he depicted them", and especially "caught the spirit of the books". She found the handling of the

Battle of the Pelennor Fields In J. R. R. Tolkien's novel ''The Lord of the Rings'', the Battle of the Pelennor Fields () was the defence of the city of Minas Tirith by the forces of Gondor and the cavalry of its ally Rohan, against the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron from ...

with

alliterative verse In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of ...

"a brilliant idea", and praised Gerard Murphy's narration. Comparing the production with Peter Jackson's interpretation, she felt that her "happiness with the BBC production made ereven less happy with Jackson than I might have been without it", disliking the films' additional material, violence, and "the weakening of almost all the characters". In her view, the BBC dramatisation presented "the characters I meet in the book", whereas the film version did not.

(

/Sméagol) and

Michael Graham Cox Michael Graham Cox (6 January 1938 – 30 April 1995) was an English actor. Career Born at Wolverhampton, and educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School, Cox moved to London after graduating in Music with German from Bristol University in ...

(

Boromir Boromir is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in the first two volumes of ''The Lord of the Rings'' (''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and ''The Two Towers''), and is mentioned in the last volume, ''The Return of ...

) had previously voiced the same roles in Bakshi's film.

, who voiced

Frodo Baggins Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, and one of the protagonists in ''The Lord of the Rings''. Frodo is a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins, described familiarly as "u ...

in the radio serial, went on to play

Bilbo Baggins Bilbo Baggins is the title character and protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', a supporting character in ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of many of Tolkien's Middle-eart ...

's movie trilogy.

Cast and credits

''The Lord of the Rings'' was dramatised for radio by Sibley and

. The music was composed by Stephen Oliver. Oliver, Stephen. ''Music from the BBC Radio Dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings'';

BBC Records BBC Records was a division of the BBC founded in 1967 to commercially exploit the corporation's output for radio and television for both educational and domestic use. The division was known as BBC Radio Enterprises (1967–1970), BBC Records ( ...

; LP REH 415 Radiophonic sound was provided by Elizabeth Parker. The series was produced and directed by Jane Morgan and Penny Leicester. The cast for the production was: * Narrator (UK version): Gerard Murphy * Narrator (American version):

Tammy Grimes Tammy Lee Grimes (January 30, 1934 – October 30, 2016) was an American film and stage actress. Grimes won two Tony Awards in her career, the first for originating the role of Molly Tobin in the musical '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' and the ...

* Gandalf the Grey/Gandalf the White:

Aragorn Aragorn is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of Arno ...

(Strider):

Robert Stephens Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was a leading English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. He was one of the most respected actors of his generation and was at one time regarded as the natur ...

Sam Gamgee Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy, The Illuminatu ...

(credited as William Nighy) *

Meriadoc Brandybuck Meriadoc Brandybuck, usually called Merry, is a Hobbit, a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured throughout his most famous work, ''The Lord of the Rings''. Merry is described as one of the closest friends ...

(Merry):

Richard O'Callaghan Richard O'Callaghan (born Richard Brooke, 7 March 1940, London) is an English film, stage and television character actor. He is the son of actors Patricia Hayes and Valentine Brooke, whose stage name was Valentine Rooke. As a boy actor he was ...

Peregrin Took Peregrin Took, commonly known simply as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is closely tied with his friend and cousin, Merry Brandybuck, and the two are together during most of th ...

(Pippin): John McAndrew *

Legolas Legolas (pronounced ) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm and one of the nine members of the Fellowship who set out to destroy the One Ring. He and the Dwarf Gimli ...

David Collings David Collings (4 June 1940 – 23 March 2020) was an English actor. In an extensive career he appeared in many roles on stage, television, film and radio, as well as various audio books, voiceovers, concert readings and other work. He garnered ...

* Gimli: Douglas Livingstone *

Galadriel Galadriel (IPA: Help:IPA, �aˈladri.ɛl is a Character (arts), character created by J. R. R. Tolkien in his Middle-earth writings. She appears in ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion'', and ''Unfinished Tales''. She ...

: Marian Diamond *

Celeborn Galadriel (IPA: Help:IPA, �aˈladri.ɛl is a Character (arts), character created by J. R. R. Tolkien in his Middle-earth writings. She appears in ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion'', and ''Unfinished Tales''. She ...

Simon Cadell Simon John Cadell (19 July 1950 – 6 March 1996) was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of Jeffrey Fairbrother in the first five series of the BBC situation comedy ''Hi-de-Hi!''. Early life Born in London, he was the son of theatr ...

Arwen Evenstar Arwen Undómiel is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She appears in the novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. Arwen is one of the half-elven who lived during the Third Age; her father was Elrond half-elven, lord ...

: Sonia Fraser *

Saruman the White Saruman, also called Saruman the White, is a fictional character of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is leader of the Wizard (Middle-earth), Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Vala (M ...

: Peter Howell *

Elrond Elrond Half-elven is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Both of his parents, Eärendil and Elwing, were half-elven, having both Men and Elves as ancestors. He is the bearer of the elven-ring Vilya, the Ring ...

: Hugh Dickson *

* Gollum/Sméagol:

Théoden Théoden is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, ''The Lord of the Rings''. The King of Rohan (Middle-earth), Rohan and Lord of the Mark or of the Riddermark, names used by the Rohirrim for their land, he appears as a suppor ...

Jack May Jack Wynne May (23 April 1922 – 19 September 1997) was an English actor. Early life and education May was born in 1922 in Henley-on-Thames, and was educated at Forest School in Walthamstow. After war service with the Royal Indian Navy in Bri ...

Gríma Wormtongue Gríma, called (the) Wormtongue, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He serves as the secondary antagonist of ''The Two Towers'' and a minor antagonist in ''The Return of the King'', and his role is expand ...

Paul Brooke Paul Brooke (born 22 November 1944) is a retired English actor of film, television and radio. He made his film debut in 1972 in the Hammer film '' Straight on till Morning'', followed by performances in '' For Your Eyes Only'' (1981), ''Return o ...

Éowyn Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and '' ...

: Elin Jenkins *

Éomer Éomer is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. He appears in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as a leader of the Riders of Rohan who serve as cavalry to the army of Gondor, fighting against Mordor. The name Éomer, meaning "Hor ...

: Anthony Hyde *

Faramir Faramir is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is introduced as the younger brother of Boromir of the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of the Ring and second son of Denethor, the Stewards o ...

: Andrew Seear *

Treebeard Treebeard, or ''Fangorn'' in Sindarin, is a tree-giant character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is an Ent and is said by Gandalf to be "the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth.", boo ...

Stephen Thorne Stephen John Thorne (2 March 1935 – 26 May 2019) was a British actor of radio, film, stage, and television. He was best known for his regular BBC Radio 4 work and audiobook recordings, and for his portrayals of several ''Doctor Who'' villains ...

Denethor Denethor II, son of Ecthelion II, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He was the 26th ruling Steward of Gondor, committing suicide in the besieged city of Minas Tirith during the Battle of the Pelennor ...

Peter Vaughan Peter Vaughan (born Peter Ewart Ohm; 4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016) was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage. He is perhaps best known ...

Lord of the Nazgûl Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

Philip Voss Philip James Voss (20 August 1936 – 13 November 2020) was a British stage, radio, film and television actor. Early life Voss was born in Leicester, the elder son of James Voss, a pharmacist, and his wife, Viola (née Walmsley). He had a yo ...

* The Mouth of Sauron: John Rye *

Glorfindel Glorfindel () is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is a member of the Noldor, one of the three groups of the Calaquendi or High Elves. The character and his name, which means " blond" or "golden-haired", ...

/An Elf lord of the house of Elrond half-elven : John Webb * Haldir/

Nazgûl The Nazgûl (from Black Speech , "ring", and , "wraith, spirit"), introduced as Black Riders and also called Ringwraiths, Dark Riders, the Nine Riders, or simply the Nine, are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. They were ...

Nob , also known by the name NoB, is a Japanese singer. He is the former lead singer of the band Make-Up and a Project.R member. Overview With Make-Up, he recorded several songs for the anime ''Saint Seiya'', including the first opening song " ...

Minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who ...

: Haydn Wood * Gamling:

Patrick Barr Patrick David Barr (13 February 1908 – 29 August 1985) was an English actor. In his career spanning over half a century, he appeared in about 144 films and television series. Biography Born in Akola, British India in 1908, Barr was educate ...

* Ceorl: Michael McStay * Háma/A

: Michael Spice * Éothain/Otho Sackville-Baggins/Ruffian: John Livesy * Halbarad: Martyn Read * Beregond/

The Black Rider ''The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets'' is a self-billed "musical fable" in the avant-garde tradition created through the collaboration of theatre director Robert Wilson, musician Tom Waits, and writer William S. Burroughs. Wil ...

/Guard: Christopher Scott * Ioreth: Pauline Letts *

Gwaihir In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, the Eagles or Great Eagles, "The Council of Elrond", "Of the Ruin of Doriath" were immense birds that were sapient and could speak. The Great Eagles resembled actual eagles, but were much larger. Thorondor is s ...

: Alexander John * Radagast the Brown: Donald Gee * Gaffer Gamgee: John Church * Ted Sandyman/Snaga: Gordon Reid * Rosie Cotton: Kathryn Hurlbutt * Daddy Twofoot:

Leonard Fenton Leonard Fenton (''né'' Finestein; 29 April 1926 – 29 January 2022) was a British actor, director and painter, best known for his role as Dr. Harold Legg in ''EastEnders''. Early life Fenton was born Leonard FinesteinFarmer Maggot ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 c ...

/Ruffian: John Bott * Lobelia Sackville-Baggins: Diana Bishop * Farmer Cotton: Alan Dudley * Proudfoot/

Orc An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially '' The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugl ...

Sean Arnold Sean Arnold (30 January 1941 – 15 April 2020) was an English actor. For his role as Harry Fisher in the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'', he was nominated for Villain of the Year at the 2005 British Soap Awards. Arnold was born in January 1941 i ...

* Elanor Gamgee: Harry Holm * Barliman Butterbur:

James Grout James David Grout (22 October 1927 – 24 June 2012) was an English actor of radio and television. Early life Grout was born in London, the son of Beatrice Anne and William Grout. He trained to be an actor at RADA. Career His BBC Radio 4 appear ...

* Uglúk: Brian Haines * Shagrat:

Christopher Fairbank Christopher Fairbank (born 4 October 1953) is an English film, stage and television actor. Career In 2010, he appeared as a detective in ''Five Daughters'', and as Alfred "Freddie" Lennon in the biopic ''Lennon Naked ''Lennon Naked'' is ...

* Gorbag: David Sinclair *

Déagol Gollum is a fictional Tolkien's monsters, character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 Fantasy (genre), fantasy novel ''The Hobbit'', and became important in its sequel, ''The Lord of the Rings''. Gol ...

/ Bill Ferny/Orc Captain:

Graham Faulkner Graham Faulkner (born 26 September 1947 in London, UK) is a former British actor. His first and best known role was as Francis of Assisi in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Brother Sun, Sister Moon'' (1972). After that, he virtually retired from actin ...

Shelob Shelob is a fictional demon in the form of a giant spider from J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Her lair lies in Cirith Ungol ("the pass of the spider") leading into Mordor. The creature Gollum deliberately leads the Hobbit protago ...

: Jenny Lee,

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...

* Singer (Dream Voice/Bilbo's Last Song): Matthew Vine * Singer (The Bard):

Oz Clarke Robert Owen Clarke (born 1949), known as Oz Clarke, is a British wine writer, actor, television presenter and broadcaster. Early life Clarke's parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He is of Irish descent and was brought up Roman ...

* Singer (

The Eagle The eagle is a large bird of prey. Eagle or The Eagle may also refer to: Places England * Eagle, Lincolnshire, a village United States * Eagle, Alaska, a city * Eagle Village, Alaska, a census-designated place * Eagle, Colorado, a statut ...

/Voice of

Lothlórien In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Lothlórien or Lórien is the fairest realm of the Elves remaining in Middle-earth during the Third Age. It is ruled by Galadriel and Celeborn from their city of tree-houses at Caras Galadhon. The wood-elves ...

): David James

References

External links

Description and episode list

Archive.org recordings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord of the Rings, The Radio programmes based on Middle-earth 1981 radio dramas Fantasy radio programs BBC Radio 4 programmes Works based on The Lord of the Rings

Contents

Broadcasts and recordings

Analysis

Cast and credits

References

External links