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BBC Rerunning Radio Lord of the Rings

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the capture-the-streams-baby dept.

Motor writes "I'm not sure if I'm doing the BBC website a favour by mentioning this, but BBC Radio 4 is, from Saturday the 5th of January, running their excellent radio serialisation of The Lord of the Rings in thirteen, one hour weekly episodes. I'm not sure how much load the streaming system can handle though :)" Make a note of it, and save 'em. The LotR radio show is very acclaimed.

3 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Superior Radio Dramatisation by Gumshoe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I bought the box set of the LotR radio play many years ago and
    have enjoyed it many times. One of the landmark radio
    dramatisations featuring a superb cast: Ian Holm as Frodo (who
    played Bilbo in the Jackson movie); Sir Michael Horden as
    Gandalf; John LeMesseurier as Bilbo; and Robert Stephens as
    Aragorn. It also features Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum, who
    incidentally also played that character in the animated movie.

    A matter of opinion of course, but I consider it a superior
    adaptation than the recent film. While Jackson's effort is very,
    very good, it (through necessity) betrays the book in many ways
    resulting in a superficial version of the story. The BBC
    dramatisation on the other hand, leaves the subtleties of the
    story intact, resulting in a more rounded experience. The only
    ommission of note is the absence, as usual, of Tom Bombadil.

    If you have never heard a radio play, do yourself a favour and
    have a listen to this.

    1. Re:Superior Radio Dramatisation by Gumshoe · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is a great movie but no movie maker can possibly examine every
      nuance of the book. It hasn't "made a mess" of it, and betray is
      perhaps too harsh a word, but watching the movie and reading the
      book are two different experiences. Listening to the radio play
      offers another.

      If you can imagine the book as a three-dimensional object, the
      film takes a two-dimensional view of the story, the radio play a
      different two-dimensional view. However, IMO, the latter's
      interpretation captures the more important elements of the book.
      In other words, the experience offered by the written word is
      more similar to that of the radio play than of the film.

      This isn't meant as a critique of either work.

  2. PAY your licence fee ? by johnjones · · Score: 3, Insightful

    did you go to a U.K. post office and pay for this ?

    alot of the people here did not why should we the british have to put up with the U.S. using the bandwidth that 'I' payed for !

    oh and if a record company see's the bbc broadcasting their music for free so that people dont buy their music from the shops they just wont let the BBC play it

    regards

    john jones