The Lord of the Rings: The Trilogy: The Complete Collection Of The Classic BBC Radio Production (BBC Radio Collection)
Widely is regarded as a broadcasting classic, the 1981 BBC Radio dramatization of The Lord of the Rings stars Ian Holm, Michael Hordern, Robert Stephens, John Le Mesurier, and Peter Woodthorpe. This box set contains all three parts of the epic tale—The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him the Rings of Power—the means by which he will be able to rule the world. All he lacks in his plan for domination is the Ruling Ring, which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Frodo Baggins. . . Brian Sibley, one of the original dramatists, has written new opening and closing narration for the character of Frodo, played by Ian Holm. This collection also includes a bonus CD featuring Stephen Oliver's complete musical score, and a demo version of "Bilbo's Last Song."
13 CDs. 13 hrs 15 mins.
Reviews (43)
Even better than I remember from decades ago.
I bought this dramatization decades ago on cassette. Cassettes were getting brittle, so I found this on sale and got it for Christmas. I love the new intros and outros that bookend the production. Great product!
A striking adaptation
My greatest enjoyment of this trilogy has come from the reading of the original books, which I did many times as a boy, and perhaps twice as a man. I also liked the movie cycle, which I saw once in a theater and perhaps two other times on DVD. This radio play was, to me, considerably more engaging and imaginative than the movie cycle. Its power derives from effective use of basic ingredients like spoken voice, sounds, music and silence. I do like the spectacular visuals in the movies, but I shall probably return more often to this radio play than to the movies. A great companion on the commuter bus and train, when perhaps at the end of the day I may not feel like reading. A sentimental element - the Frodo here is wonderfully played by Ian Holm, who appeared some 20 years later as Bilbo in the movies. I have not heard the later edition of this radio play, so my comments pertain only to this product in its own right. BTW this edition is in the collection of several public libraries in my region, which are not exceptional in other respects, so it is probably widely available for free listening.
A long-awaited box set! (BBC Audio Dramatisation)
I've lusted after this BBC audio dramatisation for years and years and years. I grew up listening to tape recordings of it from the radio broadcast (wish I could get all of my old radio favourites on CD! - such a shame). I may be biased but this is hands down one of my favourite radio dramatisations of all time. I think the characterisations are fantastic, the sound effects are convincing and the story is adapted really well. A star-studded cast - Michael Hordern, Ian Holm, Bill Nighy, Robert Stephens, John Le Mesurier and the wonderful Peter Woodthorpe in my opinion is the greatest Gollum ever (you can't listen to this version and not see where Andy Serkis got his inspiration from)- favourite scene and quote - The Stairs of Cirith Ungol: "Gates Openses" - still sends shivers up my spine! All of this back in the day painted images in my mind that the movies, whilst brilliant adaptions in their own right, only touched on! Brilliant to listen to on those long cold winter nights. So thrilled to own this at last. Awesome love it love it love it!
This is it - the First full version to appear on radio.
This is the CD collection of the wonderful BBC Radio adaptation of the Lord of the Rings. I remember tuning in every week to listen to the next installment, and wishing that they were longer! I loved it then; I loved it when it became available on cassettes and I love it now on CD. I first read Lord of the Rings as I entered my teens. Then I struggled with the pronuciation of the names and the Sindarian quotes. But I read it, re-read it and continue to re-read it to this day more than 40 years down the road. These books are rightly famous and this radio epic has achieved its own status. It was the 'First'. The characterisation was wonderful then and even managed to enter the wonderful triology by Peter Jackson in the person of Ian Holm. Of necessity this, like the films that followed, was an 'abridged' version. Hardly surprising given the length of the books. The pictures are, of course, better on radio than on any screen and I found myself enjoying anew the tale as told by the Beeb. Long may they continue to turn out drama of this quality!
Forget the films
I do not use the title of this review lightly being an admirer of the films of Peter Jackson (sadly my memory of the animated film is beyond me). However this adaptation is the best one, almost as good as reading the books. Almost but not quite as no adaptation will ever match the books. Yes it is abridged but so are all adaptations.I have listened to it twice so far and it has improved each time. At first listening the voices of the narrator and Stider/ Aragorn grated on my but I am growing to like them. Other than those minor gripes I have no complaints at all about this and would recommend it to all.
Amazing "The Lord of the Rings" dramatisation
A memorable BBC radio dramatisation. A superb cast. I remember, while listening to it some years ago, I was impressed because I perceived its consistency with JRR Tolkien masterpiece. In all the media adaptations I know of, I regard this radio drama by BBC really faithful to the spirit of the book, and that's the main point!
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The...
I first heard this in the 1980's, when it was broadcast on Radio 4, and I really enjoyed it. I bought the casettes when they came out, and thought it was time to upgrade to the CDs. The casettes followed the same format as the Radio series I listened to in the 80's, 13 one hour episodes. Whereas the CDs are continuous renditions over each of the three books (4 one hour CDs per book). I prefered the one hour episodes, as it is easier to find time for listening to a one hour episode rather than a four hour book. This is a very minor issue, for me, and doesn't distract from the story. Some people have complained about the accents (compared with the films), but being audio and not visual, it is more important to be heard properly. I thought they were excellent, especially Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum! The story is also far truer to the book than the films, so I think if you have only seen the films and are expecting something similar, you mat be disappointed.
Just love it, good listening.
I recorded the original BBC radio series when it was first broadcast. Since then my son listened to it countless times as he was growing up, those were the days when we had brilliant radio & tv. Since then the tapes have become very worn so now I have the cd set and am so happy with it! We usually listen to a few episodes at a time over breakfast, a very good start to the day!
I remember the original BBC broadcasts and have enjoyed being transported back to my teenage years
I remember the original BBC broadcasts and have enjoyed being transported back to my teenage years. The imagination is such a powerful thing and voices don't reveal the fact that the speaker is in their 70s, rather older than the character being portrayed. Film can never be that good. Really glad I bought this set.
The original and the best
This new BBC product is simply excellent - as superlative a recording as I remembered it to be on Radio Four all those years ago. The casting, the dramatisation of the story, the general production values are all wonderful - and essentially true to the book. I agree with previous reviewers that it helps the narrative roll along not to have it broken into its original thirteen episodes, each with recitation of cast members: the decision instead to streamline by dividing it along the lines of the original trilogy is very pleasing. I think the new Ian Holm voiceover was, on balance, probably an unnecessary addition - but it certainly doesn't detract in any real way from what is a wonderful listening experience. Highly recommended.
Comments
Post a Comment