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About the Author J R R Tolkien:
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973) is best known as the author of The Hobbit and its sequel The Lord of the Rings. He was a professor of Anglo-Saxon language at Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and of English language and literature, also at Oxford, from 1945 to 1959. He was a strongly committed Roman Catholic. Tolkien was a close friend of C. S. Lewis, with whom he shared membership in the literary discussion group the Inklings.
In addition to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's published fiction includes The Silmarillion and other posthumously published books about what he called a legendarium, a fictional mythology of the remote past of Earth, called Arda, and Middle-earth (from middangeard, the lands inhabitable by Men) in particular. Most of these works were compiled from Tolkien's notes by his son Christopher Tolkien. The enduring popularity and influence of Tolkien's works have established him as the "father of the modern high fantasy genre". Tolkien's other published fiction includes adaptations of stories originally told to his children and not directly related to the legendarium.
About the BBC Radio Series of Lord of the Rings:
from Wikipedia : In 1981 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 version in 1955 and 1956, of which no recordings are known to have survived.
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.
Broadcast history
Each of the original 26 episodes received two broadcasts per week - standard practice for many BBC radio serials even today. The first broadcast of Episode 2 was blacked out across a large part of south east England because of a transmitter failure (a very rare occurrence even then).
The series was also broadcast in the US 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, 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), rearranging some scenes for dramatic impact and adding linking narration and music cues.
The re-edited version was released on both cassette tape and CD sets which also included the soundtrack album
Cast and Credits of Lord of the Rings BBC Radio Series
* Narrator: Gerard Murphy
* Frodo Baggins: Ian Holm
* Gandalf the Grey: Michael Hordern
* Aragorn (Strider): Robert Stephens
* Sam Gamgee: William Nighy
* Farmer Maggot: John Bott
* Barliman Butterbur: James Grout
* Galadriel: Marian Diamond
* Celeborn: Simon Cadell
* Boromir: Michael Graham Cox
* Arwen Evenstar: Sonia Fraser
* Gimli: Douglas Livingstone
* Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry): Richard O'Callaghan
* Peregrin Took (Pippin): John McAndrew
* Legolas: David Collings
* Saruman the White: Peter Howell
* Elrond: Hugh Dickson
* Bilbo Baggins: John Le Mesurier
* Gollum: Peter Woodthorpe
* Théoden: Jack May
* Gríma Wormtongue: Paul Brooke
* Éowyn: Elin Jenkins
* Éomer: Anthony Hyde
* Faramir: Andrew Seear
* Treebeard: Stephen Thorne
* Denethor: Peter Vaughan
* Glorfindel: John Webb
* Gamling: Patrick Barr
* Céorl: Michael McStay
* Hama: Michael Spice
* Lord of the Nazgûl: Philip Voss
* The Mouth of Sauron: John Rye
* Shelob: BBC Radiophonic Workshop
* Dramatisation: Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell
* Music: Stephen Oliver
* Radiophonic sound: Elizabeth Parker
* Produced and directed by Jane Morgan and Penny Leicester
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien - BBC - Audio Book CDs
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