The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)
Encyclopedia
In 1981 the UK radio station BBC Radio 4
broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien
's The Lord of the Rings
in 26 half-hour stereo
instalments. This followed a previous 12-part BBC Radio adaptation
in 1955 and 1956, of which no recordings are known to have survived, and a 1979 recording
by National Public Radio in the USA.
Like the novel
on which it is based, The Lord of the Rings is the story of an epic struggle against the Dark Lord Sauron
of Mordor
, the primary villain of the work, who created a Ruling Ring
to control the nineteen Rings of Power
, and an alliance of heroes who join forces to save the world from falling under his shadow.
on Sundays from 12 Noon to 12:30pm. Each episode was repeated on the following Wednesday from 10:30pm to 11:00pm. The first broadcast of Episode 2 was blacked out across a large part of southeast England because of a transmitter failure (a very rare occurrence even then).
The series was also broadcast in Canada on CBC
AM in the summer of 1982. In the US it was on NPR with a new synopsis preceding each episode, narrated by Tammy Grimes
. It was also aired in Australia
.
A soundtrack album featuring a completely re-recorded and in some cases expanded, suite of Stephen Oliver's music was released in 1981.
The 26-part series was subsequently edited into 13 hour-long episodes broadcast from 17 July to 9 October 1982, restoring some dialogue originally cut for timing (since each hour-long episode is actually around 57 minutes, as opposed to 54 minutes for two half-hour episodes with overlaps and extra credits removed), rearranging some scenes for dramatic impact and adding linking narration and music cues. Even so, a small amount of material was also lost, notably a minute long scene featuring Gandalf and Pippin on Shadowfax discussing the beacon fires of Gondor. This material was not restored to the 2002 re-edited CD version.
The re-edited version was released on both cassette tape and CD sets which also included the soundtrack album
(noticeably taken from a vinyl
copy). Incidentally, episode 8 of the series, The Voice of Saruman was labelled as The Voice of Sauron on the cassette & CD box sets.
and Michael Bakewell
attempts to be as faithful as possible to the original novel, but there are some errors and alterations. They include:
(Gollum
/Sméagol) and Michael Graham Cox
(Boromir
) played roles they had already played in Ralph Bakshi
's animated version.
Ian Holm
, who played Frodo Baggins
in the radio serial, went on to play Bilbo Baggins
in Peter Jackson
's movie trilogy. (Bilbo was played by John Le Mesurier
in the radio serial.)
, The Two Towers
and The Return of the King
).
This version omitted the original episode divisions, and included a new opening and closing narration for the first two sets, and an opening narration only for the last, written by Sibley and performed by Ian Holm as Frodo Baggins - Frodo's narrations deal with his efforts to write his historical account of the War of the Ring in the Red Book, as well as his own personal reflections and musings on the story's events.
The re-edited version also included some additional music cues, which had to be taken from the soundtrack album because the original master tapes for the series music had been lost.
The soundtrack, now digitally remastered, was also included with The Return of the King set, with a demo of John Le Mesurier singing Bilbo's Last Song
included as a bonus track.
The 13-episode series was also rerun
on Radio 4 in 2002.
The series has not been heard on the digital BBC archive station BBC 7
, despite frequent requests, reportedly because of copyright
issues.
and Earthsearch 2 at the same time: Sean Arnold
, Kathryn Hurlbutt, Haydn Wood, Sonia Fraser and Gordon Reid
had principal roles, while roles in individual episodes were played by Alexander John, John McAndrew, Michael Spice
, Pauline Letts, John Bott and Graham Faulkner
.
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
in 26 half-hour stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
instalments. This followed a previous 12-part BBC Radio adaptation
The Lord of the Rings (1955 radio series)
During 1955 and 1956, a condensed radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings was broadcast in twelve episodes on BBC Radio's the Third Programme. These radio broadcasts were among the first dramatisations of The Lord of the Rings, a book by J. R. R. Tolkien, the final volume of which, The Return...
in 1955 and 1956, of which no recordings are known to have survived, and a 1979 recording
The Lord of the Rings (1979 radio series)
In 1979 the US National Public Radio broadcast a radio dramatization of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It was produced by The Mind's Eye and has since been made available by several different companies....
by National Public Radio in the USA.
Like the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
on which it is based, The Lord of the Rings is the story of an epic struggle against the Dark Lord Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
of Mordor
Mordor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Mordor or Morhdorh was the dwelling place of Sauron, in the southeast of northwestern Middle-earth to the East of Anduin, the great river. Orodruin, a volcano in Mordor, was the destination of the Fellowship of the Ring in the quest to...
, the primary villain of the work, who created a Ruling Ring
One Ring
The One Ring is a fictional artifact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy novels. It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit , as a magic ring of invisibility. The sequel The Lord of the Rings describes its powers as being more encompassing than...
to control the nineteen Rings of Power
Rings of Power
The Rings of Power in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium are magical rings created by Sauron or by the Elves of Eregion under Sauron's tutelage...
, and an alliance of heroes who join forces to save the world from falling under his shadow.
Broadcast history
The serial was originally broadcast from 8 March to 30 August 1981 on BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
on Sundays from 12 Noon to 12:30pm. Each episode was repeated on the following Wednesday from 10:30pm to 11:00pm. The first broadcast of Episode 2 was blacked out across a large part of southeast England because of a transmitter failure (a very rare occurrence even then).
The series was also broadcast in Canada on CBC
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
AM in the summer of 1982. In the US it was on NPR with a new synopsis preceding each episode, narrated by Tammy Grimes
Tammy Grimes
-Early life:Grimes was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the daughter of Eola Willard , a naturalist and spiritualist, and Nicholas Luther Grimes, an innkeeper, country-club manager, and farmer. She attended high school at the then-all girls school, Beaver Country Day School, in Chestnut Hill,...
. It was also aired in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
A soundtrack album featuring a completely re-recorded and in some cases expanded, suite of Stephen Oliver's music was released in 1981.
The 26-part series was subsequently edited into 13 hour-long episodes broadcast from 17 July to 9 October 1982, restoring some dialogue originally cut for timing (since each hour-long episode is actually around 57 minutes, as opposed to 54 minutes for two half-hour episodes with overlaps and extra credits removed), rearranging some scenes for dramatic impact and adding linking narration and music cues. Even so, a small amount of material was also lost, notably a minute long scene featuring Gandalf and Pippin on Shadowfax discussing the beacon fires of Gondor. This material was not restored to the 2002 re-edited CD version.
The re-edited version was released on both cassette tape and CD sets which also included the soundtrack album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
(noticeably taken from a vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
copy). Incidentally, episode 8 of the series, The Voice of Saruman was labelled as The Voice of Sauron on the cassette & CD box sets.
Discrepancies
The script by Brian SibleyBrian Sibley
Brian Sibley is an English writer. He is author of over 100 hours of radio drama and has written and presented hundreds of radio documentaries, features and weekly programmes.- Early life :...
and Michael Bakewell
Michael Bakewell
Michael Bakewell is a British television producer. He is best known for his work during the 1960s, when he was the first Head of Plays at the BBC after Sydney Newman divided the drama department into separate series, serials and plays divisions in 1963...
attempts to be as faithful as possible to the original novel, but there are some errors and alterations. They include:
- At one point, Minas Anor and Minas TirithMinas TirithMinas Tirith , originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age...
are referred to as though they were separate cities; Minas Anor is the original name for Minas Tirith. This was when Gandalf and Pippin were discussing the palantírPalantírA palantír is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír...
whilst en route to Minas Tirith. - The radio serial omits the sequence in the book in which the hobbits visit Tom BombadilTom BombadilTom Bombadil is a supporting character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in Tolkien's high fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, published in 1954 and 1955. In the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo Baggins and company meet Bombadil in the Old Forest...
. This sequence was also excised from Ralph BakshiRalph BakshiRalph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...
's 1978 animated adaptation and Peter JacksonPeter JacksonSir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
film version. It was omitted by Jackson as he claimed it contributed nothing to the long-range narrative of the story. However, the scene was dramatised, in a similar style but with different actors, in a later series of Tolkien radio adaptations by Sibley entitled The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (a title otherwise only loosely connected with the book of the same nameThe Adventures of Tom BombadilThe Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a collection of poetry written by J. R. R. Tolkien and published in 1962. The book contains 16 poems, only two of which deal with Tom Bombadil, a character who is most famous for his encounter with Frodo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring...
). - The sub-plot which (in the book The Fellowship of the Ring) explained how Merry, Pippin and Sam knew about the Ring and the journey to Mordor was somewhat edited for the radio dramatisation, in which Gandalf arrives at the Shire one evening, and explains to Frodo the following morning about the Ring. This is overheard by Sam, who is gardening outside the window. Gandalf catches him at it, and so he and Frodo threaten punishment if he breathes a word to anyone, and that he should travel with Frodo to Mordor. Later in the story, when Merry and Pippin are explaining to Frodo how they know so much, they reveal that Sam was the source of the information, but the information "dried up" after Gandalf caught him. In the book, it is explained that there was a lot of investigation going on prior to Gandalf's return to the Shire. This was omitted from the radio production, so the impression is given that prior to Gandalf's return, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin knew nothing of the significance of the Ring. Gandalf's explanation was heard by Frodo and Sam, but not by Merry and Pippin. Yet Merry and Pippin knew about it all, despite the fact that they stated that Sam had stopped giving them information after Gandalf caught him eavesdropping.
- Gandalf refers to the Balrog of Moria as a servant of Sauron.
- The story includes an arc where Wormtongue is waylaid by the Ringwraiths: this only appears in Unfinished TalesUnfinished TalesUnfinished Tales 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.Unlike The Silmarillion, for which the narrative fragments were modified to connect into a consistent and...
, not the novel. - In the final episode, Bilbo's Last SongBilbo's Last Song"Bilbo's Last Song" is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was given by Tolkien as a gift to his secretary Joy Hill in 1966. After Tolkien's death in 1973 Hill showed the poem to Donald Swann, who liked the poem so much that he set it to music and included it in the second edition of The Road Goes Ever...
, a Tolkien poem which does not appear in the novel, is used to flesh out the sequence at the havens.
Links to other The Lord of the Rings productions
Peter WoodthorpePeter Woodthorpe
Peter Woodthorpe was an English film, television and voice actor who is best known for supplying the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of The Lord of the Rings and BBC's 1981 radio serial...
(Gollum
Gollum
Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was introduced in the author's fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings....
/Sméagol) and Michael Graham Cox
Michael Graham Cox
Michael Graham Cox was an English actor who voiced Boromir in the 1978 movie The Lord of the Rings, as well as voicing Boromir in the 1981 BBC radio series The Lord of the Rings. He also voiced Bigwig in the feature film Watership Down.Michael had a minor role in Richard Attenborough's A Bridge...
(Boromir
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 , and is mentioned in the last volume, The Return of the King....
) played roles they had already played in Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...
's animated version.
Ian Holm
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
, who played Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
in the radio serial, went on to play Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...
in Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
's movie trilogy. (Bilbo was played by John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...
in the radio serial.)
Re-release in 2002
In 2002, following the success of Jackson's movies, the BBC reissued the series in three sets corresponding to the three original volumes (The Fellowship of the RingThe 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 takes place in the fictional universe Middle-earth. It was originally published on July 29, 1954 in the United Kingdom...
, The Two Towers
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 The Return of the King
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.-Title:...
).
This version omitted the original episode divisions, and included a new opening and closing narration for the first two sets, and an opening narration only for the last, written by Sibley and performed by Ian Holm as Frodo Baggins - Frodo's narrations deal with his efforts to write his historical account of the War of the Ring in the Red Book, as well as his own personal reflections and musings on the story's events.
The re-edited version also included some additional music cues, which had to be taken from the soundtrack album because the original master tapes for the series music had been lost.
The soundtrack, now digitally remastered, was also included with The Return of the King set, with a demo of John Le Mesurier singing Bilbo's Last Song
Bilbo's Last Song
"Bilbo's Last Song" is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was given by Tolkien as a gift to his secretary Joy Hill in 1966. After Tolkien's death in 1973 Hill showed the poem to Donald Swann, who liked the poem so much that he set it to music and included it in the second edition of The Road Goes Ever...
included as a bonus track.
The 13-episode series was also rerun
Rerun
A rerun or repeat is a re-airing of an episode of a radio or television broadcast. The invention of the rerun is generally credited to Desi Arnaz. There are two types of reruns—those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Reruns can also be, as the...
on Radio 4 in 2002.
The series has not been heard on the digital BBC archive station BBC 7
BBC 7
BBC Radio 4 Extra, formerly known as BBC 7 and BBC Radio 7, is a British digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and children's programming nationally 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcasting outlet for the BBC's archive of spoken-word entertainment...
, despite frequent requests, reportedly because of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
issues.
Cast and credits
*Narrator: Gerard Murphy- Frodo BagginsFrodo BagginsFrodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
: Ian HolmIan HolmSir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear... - Gandalf the Grey/Gandalf the WhiteGandalfGandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
: Michael HordernMichael HordernSir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:... - AragornAragornAragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
(Strider): Robert StephensRobert StephensSir Robert Stephens was a leading English actor in the early years of England's Royal National Theatre.-Early life and career:... - Sam Gamgee: William NighyBill NighyWilliam Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
- Meriadoc BrandybuckMeriadoc BrandybuckMeriadoc Brandybuck, usually referred to as Merry, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings....
(Merry): Richard O'CallaghanRichard O'CallaghanRichard O'Callaghan is an English film, stage and television character actor.Born on 7 March 1940, he is the son of actors Patricia Hayes and Valentine Brooke whose stage name was Valentine Rooke. As a boy actor he was known as Richard Brooke. He has led a versatile career in film, stage and... - Peregrin TookPeregrin TookPeregrin Took, more commonly known as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Pippin is introduced as a Hobbit who plays a major role as one of the companions of Frodo Baggins, in his quest to destroy the One Ring.Peregrin was the only son of...
(Pippin): John McAndrew - Legolas: David CollingsDavid CollingsDavid Collings is a British actor. He has played many different roles on various television programmes, including the leading dramatic role in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in 1964....
- GimliGimli (Middle-earth)Gimli is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured in The Lord of the Rings. A Dwarf warrior, he is the son of Glóin ....
: Douglas Livingstone - BoromirBoromirBoromir is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings , and is mentioned in the last volume, The Return of the King....
: Michael Graham CoxMichael Graham CoxMichael Graham Cox was an English actor who voiced Boromir in the 1978 movie The Lord of the Rings, as well as voicing Boromir in the 1981 BBC radio series The Lord of the Rings. He also voiced Bigwig in the feature film Watership Down.Michael had a minor role in Richard Attenborough's A Bridge... - GaladrielGaladrielGaladriel is a character created by J.R.R. Tolkien, appearing in his Middle-earth legendarium. She appears in The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales....
: Marian Diamond - CelebornCelebornCeleborn is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Lord of the Rings as the Elven husband of Galadriel, Lord of the Galadhrim; and co-ruler along with Galadriel of Lothlórien. He was the father of Celebrían — the wife of Elrond — and thus the...
: Simon CadellSimon CadellSimon John Cadell was an English actor.Born in London, he was the grandson of the Scottish character actor Jean Cadell, the brother of the actress Selina Cadell, and the cousin of the actor Guy Siner. He was educated at Bedales School at Petersfield where his close friends included Gyles... - Arwen Evenstar: Sonia Fraser
- Saruman the WhiteSarumanSaruman the White is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the tale, but later on aims at gaining...
: Peter HowellPeter Howell (actor)Peter Howell is a British actor.A regular in 1950s television hospital drama series Emergency Ward 10, he has made guest appearances in The Avengers, The Prisoner, and Doctor Who. He played the prison governor in the 1979 film Scum. He played Saruman in the 1981 BBC Radio production of The Lord of... - ElrondElrondElrond Half-elven is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is introduced in The Hobbit, and plays a supporting role in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.-Character overview:...
: Hugh Dickson - Bilbo BagginsBilbo BagginsBilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...
: John Le MesurierJohn Le MesurierJohn Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:... - Gollum/SméagolGollumGollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was introduced in the author's fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings....
: Peter WoodthorpePeter WoodthorpePeter Woodthorpe was an English film, television and voice actor who is best known for supplying the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of The Lord of the Rings and BBC's 1981 radio serial... - ThéodenThéodenThéoden is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings. He appears as a major supporting character in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.-Appearances:...
: Jack MayJack MayJack May was an English actor. Born in Henley-on-Thames, he was educated at Forest School, Walthamstow and after war service with the Royal Indian Navy in India was offered a place at RADA, but he instead went to Merton College, Oxford... - Gríma Wormtongue: Paul BrookePaul BrookePaul Brooke is an English actor of film, television, and radio. He is the father of actor Tom Brooke.He and Ernie Fosselius played Malakili the Rancor Keeper in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He played British Conservative politician Ian Gow in the 2004 BBC series The Alan Clark Diaries...
- ÉowynÉowynÉowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:...
: Elin Jenkins - ÉomerÉomerÉomer is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the second and third volumes of Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings....
: Anthony Hyde - FaramirFaramirIn J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, Faramir is a fictional character appearing in The Lord of the Rings. He is introduced as the younger brother of Boromir of the Fellowship of the Ring and second son of Denethor II, the Steward of the realm of Gondor...
: Andrew Seear - TreebeardTreebeardTreebeard is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The eldest of the species of Ents, he is said to live in the ancient Forest of Fangorn and stands fourteen feet in height and is tree-like in appearance, with leafy hair and a rigid structure. Fangorn Forest...
: Stephen ThorneStephen ThorneStephen Thorne is a British actor of radio, film, stage and television.He trained at the and after a time in weekly rep. he played several seasons with the Old Vic Company and the RSC in Stratford and London including a tour to Russia... - DenethorDenethorDenethor II of the House of Húrin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Return of the King, which is the third and final part of his novel The Lord of the Rings. In the novel, he is the 26th and penultimate ruling Steward of Gondor....
: Peter VaughanPeter VaughanPeter Vaughan is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions. He has worked extensively on the stage, becoming known for roles such as police inspectors, Soviet agents and similar parts... - Lord of the NazgûlWitch-king of AngmarThe Witch-king of Angmar, also known as the Lord of the Nazgûl and the Black Captain among other names, is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. In Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, he is the chief of the Nazgûl , the chief servants...
: Philip VossPhilip VossPhilip Voss is an English stage, radio, film and television actor. He has played small roles since the 1960s, but more notable ones include roles in such as the 1964 Doctor Who serial, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, the 1981 Lord of the Rings radio series, Indian Summer, an RSC 1996... - The Mouth of Sauron: John Rye
- GlorfindelGlorfindelIn the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Glorfindel is a name used twice for an Elf appearing in the tales of Middle-earth. He is introduced in various material relating to the First Age of Middle-earth, including The Silmarillion. The second instance is for a character of The Lord of the Rings, which...
/A Hobbit: John Webb - Haldir/NazgûlNazgûlThe Nazgûl are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium...
/Nob/MinstrelMinstrelA minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...
: Haydn Wood - GamlingGamlingIn J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Gamling is a Man of Rohan. He appears in The Two Towers, the second volume of The Lord of the Rings. An older man , he was from the Westfold....
: Patrick BarrPatrick BarrPatrick David Barr was a British film and television actor.Born in Akola, India, Patrick Barr went from stage to screen with The Merry Men of Sherwood . He spent the 1930s playing various beneficent authority figures and "reliable friend" types... - Ceorl: Michael McStay
- Háma/A NazgûlNazgûlThe Nazgûl are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium...
: Michael SpiceMichael SpiceMichael Spice was an English character actor on British television.He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of two classic Doctor Who villains opposite Fourth Doctor Tom Baker: the voice of Morbius in The Brain of Morbius ; and Magnus Greel in The Talons of Weng-Chiang .He made a number of... - ÉothainÉothainÉothain is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium who appears in his book, The Lord of the Rings.He was a member of Éomer’s éored that had overrun the Orcs who had captured Merry and Pippin, and later encountered Aragorn and his companions on the wide fields of Rohan...
/Otho Sackville-Baggins/Ruffian: John Livesy - HalbaradHalbaradHalbarad is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.Halbarad was a Ranger of the North. He was the second in command of the Dúnedain behind Aragorn and also the leader of the Grey Company. Halbarad was among the Rangers who guarded the Shire. He said of the Hobbits "A...
: Martin Reed - Beregond/The Black RiderNazgûlThe Nazgûl are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium...
/Guard: Christopher Scott - Ioreth: Pauline Letts
- Gwaihir: Alexander John
- Radagast the Brown: Donald Gee
- Gaffer Gamgee: John Church
- Ted Sandyman/Snaga: Gordon ReidGordon Reid (actor)James Gordon Reid was a Scottish actor.Reid was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Educated at the former Hamilton Academy he then trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graduating in 1962 with the Silver Medal for Acting.His extensive acting credits included the chemist...
- Rosie Cotton: Kathryn Hurlbutt
- Daddy Twofoot: Leonard FentonLeonard FentonLeonard Fenton is a British actor, best known for his role as Dr. Harold Legg in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders.-Early life:...
- Farmer MaggotFarmer MaggotFarmer Maggot is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth universe, introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring. He lived on a farm called Bamfurlong in the Marish region of the Eastfarthing of the Shire...
/Ruffian: John Bott - Lobelia Sackville-Baggins: Diana Bishop
- Farmer Cotton: Alan Dudley
- Proudfoot/OrcOrc (Middle-earth)In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Orcs or Orks are a race of creatures who are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings — Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman...
: Sean ArnoldSean ArnoldSean Arnold is an English actor.He is best-known for his roles as Mr Llewelyn inGrange Hill in the 1970s and 1980s, and as Barney Crozier in the 1980s BBC television series Bergerac.... - Elanor Gamgee: Harry Holm
- Barliman ButterburBarliman ButterburBarliman Butterbur is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings.Butterbur was the owner of the Inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree. He was a fat, bald Man, but as Bree was inhabited by both "Big Folk" and "Little Folk", i.e. hobbits, he had two hobbit employees:...
: James GroutJames GroutJames Grout is an English actor of radio and television.Grout was born in London, the son of Beatrice Anne and William Grout... - Uglúk: Brian Haines
- Shagrat: Christopher FairbankChristopher FairbankChristopher Fairbank is an English actor best known for his role as Albert Arthur Moxey in the hit comedy-drama series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.-Career:...
- Gorbag: David Sinclair
- DéagolDéagolDéagol is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. His story is related in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of three volumes comprising Tolkien's most famous novel, The Lord of the Rings, in the chapter "The Shadow of the Past"....
/Bill FernyBill FernyBill Ferny is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.Ferny lived in Bree near the end of the Third Age. He spied on Frodo there, and was witnessed by Meriadoc Brandybuck relaying details of the hobbits' adventures at the Prancing Pony to one of the Nazgûl.After the...
/Orc Captain: Graham FaulknerGraham FaulknerGraham Faulkner is a British former actor.His first and greatest role was as Francis of Assisi in Franco Zeffirelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon . After that, he virtually retired from acting. He played a small number of very minor roles, but has not been involved in film or television since 1984... - ShelobShelobShelob is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She appears at the end of the fourth book, second volume , of The Lord of the Rings.-Literature:...
: Jenny Lee, BBC Radiophonic WorkshopBBC Radiophonic WorkshopThe BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware... - Singer (Dream Voice/Bilbo's Last Song): Matthew Vine
- Singer (The Bard): Oz ClarkeOz ClarkeRobert "Oz" Clarke is a British wine writer, television presenter and broadcaster.-Biography:Clarke’s parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He was brought up near Canterbury with a brother and a sister. Clarke became a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral and subsequently won a choral...
- Singer (The Eagle/Voice of Lothlórien): David James
- Dramatisation: Brian SibleyBrian SibleyBrian Sibley is an English writer. He is author of over 100 hours of radio drama and has written and presented hundreds of radio documentaries, features and weekly programmes.- Early life :...
and Michael BakewellMichael BakewellMichael Bakewell is a British television producer. He is best known for his work during the 1960s, when he was the first Head of Plays at the BBC after Sydney Newman divided the drama department into separate series, serials and plays divisions in 1963... - Music: Stephen Oliver
- Radiophonic sound: Elizabeth Parker
- Produced and directed by Jane Morgan and Penny Leicester
Episode list
| Episode | Title | First broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Long Awaited Party | 8 March 1981 |
| 2 | The Shadow Of The Past | 15 March 1981 |
| 3 | The Black Riders | 22 March 1981 |
| 4 | Trouble At The Prancing Pony | 29 March 1981 |
| 5 | The Knife In The Dark | 5 April 1981 |
| 6 | The Council Of Elrond | 12 April 1981 |
| 7 | The Fellowship Of The Ring | 19 April 1981 |
| 8 | The Mines Of Moria | 26 April 1981 |
| 9 | The Mirror Of Galadriel | 3 May 1981 |
| 10 | The Breaking Of The Fellowship | 10 May 1981 |
| 11 | The Riders Of Rohan | 17 May 1981 |
| 12 | Treebeard Of Fangorn | 24 May 1981 |
| 13 | The King Of The Golden Hall | 31 May 1981 |
| 14 | Helm's Deep | 7 June 1981 |
| 15 | The Voice Of Saruman | 14 June 1981 |
| 16 | The Black Gate Is Closed | 21 June 1981 |
| 17 | The Window On The West | 28 June 1981 |
| 18 | Minas Tirith | 5 July 1981 |
| 19 | Shelob's Lair | 12 July 1981 |
| 20 | The Siege Of Gondor | 19 July 1981 |
| 21 | The Battle Of Pelennor Fields | 26 July 1981 |
| 22 | The Houses Of Healing | 2 August 1981 |
| 23 | Mount Doom | 9 August 1981 |
| 24 | The Return Of The King | 16 August 1981 |
| 25 | Homeward Bound | 23 August 1981 |
| 26 | The Grey Havens | 30 August 1981 |
Trivia
Many of the cast members of this production were also recording the science-fiction series EarthsearchEarthsearch
Earthsearch: A Ten-Part Adventure Serial in Time and Space science fiction radio series written by James Follett. It consists of ten half-hour episodes broadcast. It was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between January and March 1981. There is also a novelisation by Follett of the same name...
and Earthsearch 2 at the same time: Sean Arnold
Sean Arnold
Sean Arnold is an English actor.He is best-known for his roles as Mr Llewelyn inGrange Hill in the 1970s and 1980s, and as Barney Crozier in the 1980s BBC television series Bergerac....
, Kathryn Hurlbutt, Haydn Wood, Sonia Fraser and Gordon Reid
Gordon Reid (actor)
James Gordon Reid was a Scottish actor.Reid was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Educated at the former Hamilton Academy he then trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graduating in 1962 with the Silver Medal for Acting.His extensive acting credits included the chemist...
had principal roles, while roles in individual episodes were played by Alexander John, John McAndrew, Michael Spice
Michael Spice
Michael Spice was an English character actor on British television.He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of two classic Doctor Who villains opposite Fourth Doctor Tom Baker: the voice of Morbius in The Brain of Morbius ; and Magnus Greel in The Talons of Weng-Chiang .He made a number of...
, Pauline Letts, John Bott and Graham Faulkner
Graham Faulkner
Graham Faulkner is a British former actor.His first and greatest role was as Francis of Assisi in Franco Zeffirelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon . After that, he virtually retired from acting. He played a small number of very minor roles, but has not been involved in film or television since 1984...
.