This BBC adaptation was absolutely amazing. I remember being glued to the radio when it came out, and then saved all my money to buy it on 13 cassettes for about £50 back in 1983/1984 (a lot of money then).

The characterisation was absolutely briliant. Gandalf will always be from this series, (although the Gollum was not as good as Nicol Williamson's Gollum from the Hobbit).

Wonderful

Still the best adaptation of the Lord of the Rings ever made.

Ovviamente un capolavoro. Ho amato i fantasy grazie a questo libro

★★★★½ - it was great / masterpiece

The classic BBC dramatization of The Lord of the Rings was just as good as I expected it to be. It was produced in the 80s and thus had an older feel to it, but I found that fitting—thus, it naturally adapted the books more closely than something like Peter Jackson’s trilogy, simply due to the fact that long action sequences often sounded muddled and chaotic. The slower, quieter moments of dialogue between characters is really where this shined for me.

The voice acting was good all around, but I especially loved the performances by the actors portraying Gandalf and each of the Hobbits. I was also surprised at just how much influence Peter Jackson clearly took from this adaptation—there are things in the movies that are almost 1:1, including jokes between characters and overall style of characterization.

There were scenes across all three parts of this story that were absolutely incredible, and it was a joy to hear a new, fresh adaptation of them. And I’m so glad that The Scouring of the Shire was included here. One of my favorite parts that I need to mention are the musical motifs sprinkled throughout. They elevated the entire thing, and in my opinion, solidified this version of the story as timeless and classic, just like the books and movies.

Overall, to me this was a brand-new version of the greatest story ever told. Of course I was going to love it! I put off listening to it for years until I felt finally ready to give it a go, and I’m so glad that I did.

When I first checked this out, many years ago now, I was bitterly disappointed. At the time I was --and I still am!-- searching for an audiobook reading the actual books, word for word, as Tolkien wrote them. However, now that I have watched the movies by Peter Jackson many times, I am ready to appreciate an alternate dramatic adaptation. The BBC has cloven closer to the plot, the poetry, the spirit and characters of Tolkien's masterpiece than the Kiwi director and his talented sidekicks. I believe I will enjoy this BBC production--I must say that the sound effects do remind me of the silliness of the Goon Show! But other than that, this production highlights the many small delights of Hobbits, Woody End, and the wizards that the spectacular and spectacle-addicted medium of film have scorned. I am delighted.

Nisssse ssssingerss and actorsesss, yes, yesss, preshhhiouss, exsssept when they goesss from whissssperss to ssscreamses in one sssingle ssecond.

It's canonical for a reason and there's nothing I could say that would add to what's already been said many times over. (Except, for the love all that's holy: AVOID THE FILMS!)
The Trilogy and The Silmarillion ruined all other fantasy for me.

Until I read John Crowley.

Phenomenal adaptation, a joy to listen to. Really cool to see how much the BBC voice acting influenced the movies.

I really enjoyed this audio for the most part. I did skim through a lot of Frodo’s parts towards the ending, but I kinda do that in the movie as well so it’s not really the audio’s fault. It was pretty well done; although, not a reading of the book as I originally thought. It was a drama that did not entirely follow the original storyline, but it worked for the most part.

The start of it all.

4.7 out of 5. I listened to this on Spotify. This BBC Radio Drama is absolutely glorious. What a brilliant adaptation. Much like the Peter Jackson movie, the storyline is amended so it tells the story as per the timeline, which makes for a better narrative. Certain characters are cast much better than in the film. For example, Eowyn and her battle with Lord of the Nazgûl is superbly brought to life, and her character is given much more depth in this radio drama than in the film. Also, one of the disappointments of the film for me was that the Shire was left untouched by the war and the fate of Saruman was not addressed. It is dealt with very well here. Some aspects of the story are left out, for example Tom Bombadil (no loss in my view). Casting of characters is also top notch. Bill Nighy as Sam, John LeMesurier as Bilbo. And Ian Holmes as Frodo. In a nice hat-tip, Peter Jackson cast Ian Holmes as Bilbo in the LOTR films.

As with the book, the radio version will give your imagination free rein again.

Really great dramatization. The cast and production did a wonderful work bringing this story to life.