In all the threads I have read about the Film version of The Lord of the Rings I have never seen any mention of other adaptations. There have been a few, of these far and away the best is then BBC radio play version also available on CD: BBC LoTR CD
Quote: Contains The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King. Undertaking the adaptation of Tolkien’s best-known work was an enormous task, but with its first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 8 March 1981 this magical dramatisation became an instant classic. Ian Holm stars as Frodo, Michael Hordern as Gandalf and Robert Stephens as Aragorn in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantastic tale of Middle Earth.
I have always loved this version, at 13+ hours it is long but remains very faithful to the book - more so that the film although interestingly some of the same things are left out of the plot. In addition to reading the book a couple of times I have listened to this version several times over.
Ian Holm managed to get into both versions, the BBC version as Frodo and the movie as Bilbo.
I think this adaptation is quite wonderful - do any of you feel the same?
It is wonderful…indeed, I would think that the movies almost pale in comparison, if you close your eyes while listening and have an overactive imagination.
My wife, rather ex-wife, and I listened to it several times while we were dating. I doubt I’d be able to listen to it in the same way again
I have the entire thing on tape, and then converted to mp3 so I could take it into a new era. I used to listen to an episode every night before going to sleep: for YEARS.
There are certainly some things that seem silly or offputting (like the extremely irritating eagle/castrati song at the end), to newbies, but they are few and far between, and the whole is really really phenomenal.
All credit to Andi Serkis for a fantastic job done, but this is my favourite Gollum. I love this adaptation. My only complaint is that Aragorn sounds like Alan Rickman doing Snape/Nottingham.
This version features many excelent actors who are well known in the UK at least. Sadly, some of them are no longer with us.
It is a shame that this version is so very expensive. My copy came in a really neat black box containing a book of a dozen or so CDs. These seem to be writable CDs and date from a time when these were expensive so that and the nice packaging may acount for the high price.
The current price in about 80 pounds sterling - about US$120. At that price it will probably be more expensive than the DVD version of the film trilogy - when it come out. I think that the Beeb is missing a trick. I wish they would republish this version at a much lower price.
You listened to the whole thing in one day! Wow. Actually, I would maintain that this version is better than the audio book - I guess that is a personal thing.
I didn’t say it was a replacement for the book. But if I’m bored and have nothing to do and feel like immersing myself in Tolkien, I can listen to the entire radioplay in a few hours, as opposed to a month or so for a full read, which is not a light undertaking. It’s heavy reading, and takes some effort.
