THE LORD OF THE RINGS — BBC Radio adaptation — “One audiobook to rule them all !”
Welcome. This will be a review of THE LORD OF THE RINGS.
I´m not talking about Peter Jackson´s movies or writing about the original novels. Still, I want to present to you the almost forgotten and fantastic BBC Radio Adaptation produced back in 1981, more than forty years ago.
It’s a great take on the original story, which still remains one of the best audiobooks you can ever buy or listen to. If not the best ever!
And it´s mine; it´s my precious !…ssss.
By the way, the cover you see above is the modern cover for this product.
It was re-released again because of the movie´s success, and so, to my knowledge, that is the current look for the CD box cover. I don´t know what the interior package looks like.
The other photos you see illustrating this article are my own, taken from my very own purchase, and they represent the version that was available some years ago on Amazon UK (you can still find this version through Amazon sellers if you want to). That version was presented in a box containing a really excellent hardcover book with all the CDs in it, a small booklet with plenty of notes about the making of it, and also a map of Middle Earth.
Yes, it´s The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien, but in a radio-dramatized version with a vast cast, and it´s hard to describe in words something that can only be truly experienced by sound. After its initial radio broadcast in England, it became available on cassette for a while until it was first released on CD around 1999.
I first listened to this incredible radio play about twenty years ago when I bought the CD box from Amazon UK, attracted by some reviews, but I was not expecting this at all! In fact, this radio production’s quality rivals Peter Jackson’s work but in audio form.
It got me hooked on audiobooks since then, and since then, I´ve been searching for something that could top it, but to this day, nothing ever came close to it.
Ready to return to Middle Earth?
If you´ve checked out the DVD extras in Peter Jackson´s Lord of the Rings movie adaptations, you probably didn´t notice a guy called Brian Sibley. He was there for more than one reason, and among them is because he´s the person behind the first ever great adaptation of Tolkien´s novel. Precisely the BBC Radio dramatization of The Lord of the Rings, which Peter Jackson also used to help plan the initial structure of the movies and so, if you´ve never heard about the radio version of this story, you can see there´s much more to it than it seems at first.
The radio version of The Lord of the Rings is about 12 hours long (more or less the same as the new Peter Jackson movies altogether) and immediately got a place of honor on my bookshelf next to the printed traditional Lord of the Rings novels.
In fact, it still surprises me that although the BBC Radio adaptation is popular among people who love audiobooks, it´s not very well known outside that circle of fans.
Although it´s not strictly part of the official Peter Jackson movie versions of Lord of the Rings merchandise, for obvious reasons, it surely deserves to have a place in the heart and bookshelves of everybody who loved the movies or read the books. So, I hope this text now will contribute to spreading the word about this incredible alternative to DVDs or the books themselves.
If you like books on tape or are curious about them and never listened to one, this is the first one you should get. Trust me.
It´s as good as the movies are in all aspects, and even if you don´t like Fantasy but enjoy good acting, you´ll be amazed at the quality of this audio production.
AS GOOD AS THE MOVIES IF NOT EVEN BETTER!
It has a massive cast of perfect voices and great editing, and to top everything, there´s an incredible music soundtrack that you won´t forget, and it’s as cinematic as the music from the movies.
At this point, I still don´t know which of the two I like best yet.
Also, the BBC radio adaptation differs from the movies because it´s more faithful to the books. There are a few chapters left out of the movies, and the ending is the original one written in the novel by Tolkien with the original structure, which is also different from the ending in the movies. So, if you haven´t read the books and only saw Peter Jackson´s adaptation, you´ll enjoy discovering how the actual ending of the books was done. It´s all here in the BBC radio version.
The only thing left is, once again, the strange chapter about Tom Bombadil for those who know what I´m talking about. This radio version also left that one out for obvious reasons that all Tolkien book fans understand.
There´s so much to tell about this work, but at the same time, i don´t want to spoil the joy of discovery, so let me see…I can start by speaking about the voice cast.
It´s brilliant! You don´t need to know more.
Actually…If you love the Lord of the Rings movies, you´ll recognize many of the characters just by listening to them in this radio version. Although this audio production was created around 1981, you´ll be amazed at the similarity between some of the voice acting here and the actual voices of the actors that Peter Jackson cast for the modern movie versions.
You´ll feel right at home; sometimes, if you close your eyes, it almost feels like you´re listening to an alternative movie cut.
Middle-Earth Dejà-vu…
Gandalf´s voice (Michael Hordern) is almost the same as in the modern movie versions; the same goes for Frodo and Sam, and some other characters too, which demonstrates how influential this radio version was for making the movies more than twenty years later.
Ian Holm, who in the movies now plays Bilbo Baggins in the audiobook, plays Frodo Baggins instead, and it´s brilliant. It´s almost like you´re listening to Elijah Wood creating the same character nowadays. It´s really peculiar.
And wait until you get to ear Gollum!
Before the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy came out, I lent this audiobook to my friends. After listening to it, they went around the streets screaming, “Precioussssss ! My preciousssss !” long before the ordinary person had ever heard of the movies, so you can imagine the reactions.
EVERYBODY LOVES GOLLUM !
The actor who plays Gollum in the BBC radio version is the same one who created the interpretation of the character in the infamous Ralph Basky animated movie of the 70s. It’s the same one where Andy Serkis based his performance, as discussed in the movie extras.
There´s almost no difference between the voice acting in this audiobook and the magnificent work that Andy Serkis did for the movies. It´s like a continuation of a brilliant performance shared by two actors, Peter Woodthorpe and Serkis.
If you loved Gollum in the movies and don´t know this audio book, prepare for a surprise. You´ll love it!
HOBBITS, POEMS, AND MIDDLE EARTH SONGS.
I don´t want to continue writing a giant text here as I have plenty to say about this fantastic Lord of the Rings audio book, so let me summarize the remaining brilliant features of this production.
If you loved Tolkien´s poems from the original books and you missed them in the movies, you´ll absolutely adore what Brian Sibley has done with some of those bits. Many Hobbit and Middle Earth songs are put to music and sung during the story, and contrary to what would be expected, they don´t sound corny at all. In fact, the songs fit just right into the narrative, and you´ll be entirely fascinated by the power of sound to carry you into a fantasy world.
The music soundtrack is beautiful overall; best of all, you can have it on an isolated CD with the 13 CD set.
A DIFFERENT VIEW
As an adaptation, it´s as good (or bad, depending on the views) as the movie was. Some bits are missing from the novels, some events changed around (exactly like in the movies), and like I said, the Tom Bombadil episode is also absent, but nothing can detract this work from being an incredible masterpiece of voice acting and storytelling, that you must buy today.
The only thing I don´t like at all is how the first episode begins with Gollum being captured by the Orcs. It sounds weird (the orcs sound too British and polite), and starting the story in the middle can confuse those who don´t know the books. I think it was a terrible choice to begin this magnificent work in this way.
But don´t worry, once we get to the Shire about five minutes into the episode, you´ll start to love it and be totally hooked! Trust me.
A funny trivia about the project was that Michael Horden, who plays Gandalf, did it without even liking the book or understanding it, as it was known then that he only did it for the money and as a job opportunity. If it was like that and his Gandalf is absolutely incredible, how would it come out if Horden actually liked Fantasy novels? His performance in this audiobook is just pure Tolkien, and you can find much of Horden´s Gandalf in McKellen´s work later in the movies themselves.
Get the correct version — the BBC one.
Ensure you listen to the BBC RADIO Dramatization with Ian Holm starring as Frodo.
There are two radio adaptations out there.
The BBC and the American one.
Make sure you´re getting the BBC one first.
There´s another radio play adapting the Lord of the Rings, but don´t get that one before you listen to the BBC one. Please!
The other is known as the National Public Radio Version, and it´s the American one, much inferior to the BBC English one for many reasons, which I´ll detail in another specific review in the future.
Beware, then. Get the right radio play, the (English) BBC Radio version, not the National Radio Play (American) one.
And for now, this is what I wanted to say.
If you have never listened to an audiobook radio dramatization before and love Tolkien, start with the BBC — The Lord of the Rings, directed by Brian Sibley.
