This adaptation of The Lord of the Rings is much more faithful to the novels than Peter Jackson's trilogy and it lasts 13 hours!

News culture This adaptation of The Lord of the Rings is much more faithful to the novels than Peter Jackson's trilogy and it lasts 13 hours!

No, it's not the animated version by Ralph Bakshi in 1978. The animated film which adapted the first two novels of JRR Tolkien's trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring et The Two Towersdid not at all convince the press and spectators. But in 1981, it was the BBC which launched into a new format to transcribe, as closely as possible to reality, the adventures of Frodo Baggins. It then produces The Lord Of The Rings: The Complete Trilogy.

Acheter The Lord Of The Rings: The Complete Trilogy

Sound episodes

To adapt the novels, the BBC decided to take an atypical direction. She opted for the radio format, a very popular medium at the time. Production began in 1980 and was completed in less than a year. The audio series was then broadcast in 26 episodes over six months on the BBC radio channel in 1981. It lasts in total more than 13 hours and thus beats the 11 and a half hours of the long versions of Peter Jackson's trilogy. The sound fiction is a detailed representation of the original saga. It keeps the original dialogues and some poetic fragments of the work.

To embody the characters, The Lord Of The Rings: The Complete Trilogy relied on rather well-known names. We recognize the voice of Ian Holm who plays Frodo and who played Bilbo in Peter Jackson's films. Bill Nighy, actor of Love Actually and Pirates of the Caribbean, lends his voice to Sam, our hero's sidekick. There are also two actors who participated in the animated version of Bakshi two years earlier: Michael Graham Cox and Peter Woodthorpe, in the roles of Boromir and Gollum respectively.

Not necessarily an original idea

The Lord Of The Rings: The Complete Trilogy has succeeded in its bet concerning the sound format. But the BBC had already tried to launch into shorter content in 1955 but the version did not win over listeners at all. In the United States, National Public Radio also tried it in 1979, but numerous inconsistencies damaged its reputation. A German adaptation also saw the light of day in 1992 but it was mocked by fans due to some incorrect pronunciations.