Rating: 
Summary: A superb dramatisation on CD at last !
Review: I bought the audio-cassette edition of this years ago, before the days of CD and online shopping, and I've long been hoping that it would one day be released on CD. It really is a magnificent achievement - the thought, planning, respect and sheer professionalism that have gone into creating this is simply remarkable. What a contrast to the execrable Mind's Eye edition ! The BBC version is not a complete reading of the book, but rather a (judiciously) abridged and compact dramatisation. Having said that, it's still very long. It's like listening to a really good, long (13 hours!) film of LOTR with your eyes closed. The atmosphere and feeling of the book has been captured wonderfully, with great, stirring performances from internationally-known and respected actors like Ian Holm, Michael Horden and Robert Stephens. The music and songs are haunting and dramatic, and the sound effects are so authentic that you really feel like you're there with the Company on its quest to destroy the ring. Even the packaging is of the highest quality, another thing the people that made the Mind's Eye version should take note of. The CDs come in a very nicely designed box with artwork, maps, and other information. Quite a few people have been asking which CD edition to buy - if you want an amateurish, cartoon-style version this isn't for you. If, however, you are looking for excitement, intelligence, humour, a sense of wonder, and faithfulness to the spirit of Tolkien's masterpiece, then the BBC edition shouldn't disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent radio adaptation
Review: A few minor quibbles aside, this BBC radio presentation (in thirteen one-hour episodes) is a magnificent adaptation of Tolkien's masterpiece. The cast is superb; interestingly, it features prominent connections to both film versions of the story. Ian Holm, who plays Bilbo in Peter Jackson's films, makes a fine Frodo, only occasionally betraying the fact that he is perhaps a little too old for the role. Meanwhile, Peter Woodthorpe builds interestingly on the conception of Gollum that he first presented in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version. Woodthorpe's characterization is wonderfully effective, giving full expression to the pathos, the menace, and the humor of this extraordinary and complex character. The pivotal roles of Gandalf and Aragorn are both brilliantly - one might even say definitively - played by Royal Shakespeareans Michael Hordern and Robert Stephens. Their performances could scarcely be bettered. William Nighy, an actor who, on the evidence of his work here, deserves to be far better known in this country, is excellent as Samwise, nicely delineating the character's growth from a simple gardener into a truly heroic figure. The other hobbits are also very well played. Further standouts in what is truly a first-rate cast include Peter Howell as Saruman, David Collings as Legolas, Andrew Seear as Faramir, Jack May as Theoden, and Peter Vaughan as Denethor. Brian Sibley's adaptation of Tolkien's masterpiece is as good as any we are ever likely to encounter. With the exception of the the Old Forest/Tom Bombadil/Barrow-Downs loop (which, let's be honest, is not likely to be missed too keenly), all of the major plot threads are preserved. Better still, Sibley and his co-writers have presented the tale largely in Tolkien's own words, taking much of the dialogue and narration verbatim from the books. In a few places, especially early on, Sibley does deviate from Tolkien's text - not by changing the story, but rather by staging scenes which are only hinted at in the books. Not surprisingly, these are among the production's weaker moments. The Ringwraiths, in particular, suffer from their extra scenes; the dialogue (and, in some cases, the voices of the actors playing them) makes them rather too solidly human, and they lose some of the spectral menace that Tolkien sustained so beautifully by keeping them mainly in the shadows. But these brief additions are nearly all confined to the first two episodes, and do not detract much from the overall impact of even these installments. After Episode Two, nearly every scene comes directly from Tolkien. Apart from a handful of misjudged moments, everything comes off quite splendidly, and overall the adaptation is really as good as anyone could have wished. Among its many delights, perhaps the most unexpected of all is that the destruction of the Ring takes place around halfway through Episode Twelve - leaving fully an episode and a half for Tolkien's long and very satisfying denouement. Stephen Oliver's music is lovely and effective, and there are some particularly fine settings of Tolkien's own poetry. The sound effects are generally fairly good, though they could have been used less sparingly in places; however, this economy allows the marvelous cast to come through that much more clearly, so it is difficult to object. On the whole, this is an intelligent, exciting, and superbly acted dramatization of "The Lord of the Rings." It is unquestionably a must-have for all Tolkien fans. One final word of warning, however: please do not confuse this brilliant BBC adaptation with the abominable American version produced by The Mind's Eye. The latter adaptation, which was apparently aimed at developmentally challenged toddlers, is to be avoided at all costs.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Audio Experience
Review: The BBC dramatization of the Lord of the Rings is quite a different experience from the recent motion pictures. If you know what to expect, this 13-CD BBC version is quite good. It is closer to the books, probably because it is a little longer than the movie trilogy and is focused on the story-telling and therefore spoken words, many of them from the original books. The BBC version again skips the Old Woods/ Willow-man/ Bombadil/ Barrow Wight material (as did the first film), but otherwise is more complete, and its adherence to Tolkien's original plot is fairly tight. The actor who portrays gollum did an excellent job with his speech mannerisms. Indeed all the actors did an excellent job. The BBC radio version also includes more of the songs and poetry in the original books. In a few places the choral music seemed a little old-fashioned or stuffy (for me) and hard to clearly understand, but the harmonies seemed generally appropriate for the songs being sung. The sound effects are simple but effective. A few of them were a little disappointing to the modern ear. An example is the lack of any battle sounds at Helm's Deep, only a few spoken exchanges and narrator summaries. (They could have at least rounded up a few metal objects to bang together a little more!) The journey home, scouring of the Shire and Grey Havens wrap-up after Mount Doom takes up an entire episode, which was a pleasant surprise since they did not skimp on even this part of the story. I was sad when the last CD was finished, just as when finishing a good book. If you are a Tolkien fan, and are looking for an experience of Tolkien's words and story that is closer to the original books than the recent films, this is an excellent listening experience. It would also be a good warm-up for someone who wants to experience the original version, but to whom the books appear a little daunting due to their length. By the way, don't be confused by the reviews on this page. Most of them seem to refer to other (print) editions, not to the BBC radio version, oddly enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Great,But " Unabridged'?
Review: I have been a fan Of The Lord Of The Rings for 25 years( I read the Hobbit and Trilogy 3 times in College and re-read it all again last year when I heard about the movies, I also have the box set that sells here (price)) and this is my first audio book of any type. This is a BBC dramitization( this is what is "UNABRIDGED") not a word for word reading of the novels. After getting use to listening to the dramatic acting style involved in this I found it very enjoyable. It does not contain everthing in the trilogy. It does, I here the movies coming out do also, leave out Tom Bombadil and the Barrowdowns section and other smaller parts of the books.I did have a good time listening to it. I took almost two weeks, primarily in the car driving to work and around town and it looks good on the bookcase. Ian Holm doesn't read it, he plays Frodo. It will be interesting to see how he plays Bilbo differently in the movies. There are another dozen or so main actors in it and a narrator.
Rating:
Summary: BBC Production is Superb!!!
Review: I'm writing this review because all of the reviews currently listed under this item refer to the books and not to the Radio Dramatisation. I'm assuming that anyone interested in this production is already familiar with either the books or the film of Fellowship of the Ring. Firstly, this is a superb production and is far superior to the Minds Eye production which you may have seen in a wooden presentation case. Although the presentation of this product could have been more attractive (and was in it's initial CD incarnation) it is still a "must have" item for any Tolkien fan. The cast is comprised of some of the BBC's finest actors including Ian Holm, John LeMesurier, Michael Hordern and Robert Stephenson. Ian Holm is particularly brilliant in his tortured and beautifully realised descent into despair. The production values are second to none and in some ways surpass the Peter Jackson film simply by allowing your imagination to fill in all the details. Peter Woodthorpe is stunning as Gollum\Smeagol and sets a very steep challenge for Andy Serkis to rise to in the forthcoming Two Towers movie. Naturally, this is an adaptation and as such is abridged, but the only notable omissions are Bombadil, The Old Forest and the Barrow Wights. Some of the music may not be to all tastes (I personally dislike the Eagles proclamation of Saurons defeat) but all of it is beautifully orchestrated and delivered. Highlights for me would be William Nighy as Sam singing a part of the fall of Gil-Galad and his song in the tower of Minas Morgul. Gimli's recitation of "In Moria, In Khazad Dum" has wonderful emotion and resonance and Bilbo's last song is a beautiful and heartbreaking accompaniment to the scene at the Grey Havens. Miranda Richardson's Galadriel has great power and she handles the temptation of the ring masterfully. Likewise Eowyn's challenge to the Lord of the Nazgul is amazingly powerful. The main problem in a radio production is in finding a natural way to describe visual scenes without clumsy "Look Frodo, It's a big walking tree..." lines. This is handled very well for the most part particularly in the Battle of Helms Deep. Brian Sibley's decision to use the Minstrel of Gondor to tell the tale of the Battle of Pelennor Field is less successful but I found that after the first sitting I started to quite enjoy the effect. I hope this short review has been enough to convince you that this is a very worthy addition to any collection and I hope that it appears in the correct section when you look for reviews of the Radio Play. As a side note, although it is good, the BBC production of the Hobbit does not reach the heights that this production does, primarily due to poor choice of music style and a less than charismatic Gandalf.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Audio Adaptation of Tolkien's Classic
Review: I admit it. I'm a Tolkien addict. I've read the LOTR books at least 4 times, seen all the Peter Jackson films, and I have listened to this radio adaptation more times than I can count. In fact, as good as the films are (and they are, for the most part, very good) this radio version is in many ways superior. True enough, it lacks the stunning visuals of Jackson's films, but this leaves listeners free to imagine the fantastic creatures and landscapes of Middle Earth for themselves--to create theater for the mind. One of the many strengths of this production is its extended running time--13 1-hour episodes for the radio series versus three 3-hour movies. This allows for greater character development and, more importantly, greater fidelity to what Tolkien actually wrote. The producers rearrange, compress, and eliminate certain events to make for a smoother narrative flow on radio, but they do not omit anything essential to the plot and, unlike Jackson, they DO NOT add anything to the book. Jackson adds an extended bloody battle with Wargs and a dream sequence to "The Two Towers" that are not in the original. As a result, he has to change the ending of the film, and, in my opinion, lessens its emotional impact. The producers of the radio version wisely avoid this kind of tinkering. The producers of the radio version use more of Tolkien's original dialogue, which has a much higher and more exalted sound to it than most of Jackson's phrases. Ian Holm's radio Frodo is much more robust than Elijah Wood's film version, seeming to discover a nobility and courage that not even he knew he had. Wood's responses to crises for Frodo seem to be limited to screaming, passing out, and falling on his backside. The radio version treats Merry (Richard O'Callaghan) and Pippin (John McAndrew) with the respect and affection they deserve, rather than simply using them for comic relief, as Jackson seems to do. Other standout cast members in the radio production include William Nighy as Sam and Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum, both superior to Sean Astin and Andy Serkis, their film counterparts. Michael Hordern gives Ian McKellen a run for his money as the radio voice of Gandalf. Only Robert Stephens, the radio voice of Aragorn, comes up short compared to the movie's Viggo Mortensen. Unlike the movie's conflicted and self-doubting Aragorn, Tolkien and the radio version portray Strider as absolutely sure of his identity and destiny, and give him an air of supreme self-confidence. Unfortunately in Stephens's performance, what is meant to sound like regal self-assurance and a kingly air of command come out dangerously close to pomposity and arrogance. Mortensen's more restrained, quiet Aragorn who rises to greatness as a result of his trials, is a welcome improvement. In short, if you want a real Tolkien experience, read the books, listen to this audio version, and see the movies, in that order. You can listen to the audio version while doing the dishes or driving to work. Doing those things while reading the book or watching the movie could be dangerous :-).
Rating: 
Summary: a Herculean task, somewhat disappointing
Review: I would first like to say that it was a wonderful idea for the BBC to make a radio production out of LOTR, and to hire a cast of well-respected actors to get the job done. This collection earns a star for even coming into being. Unfortunately, the task of bringing out one of the greatest stories of our age carries high expectations with it, and judged by those expectations, the BBC Radio LOTR falls short.
It's a joy to hear the whole story told with much less concern for time and compression than usual-- as 13 hours of total CD length suggest. The previous best LOTR effort in any medium, Ralph Bakshi's movie, stopped halfway through the story at 2 and a half hours, which any fan of LOTR knows is woefully inadequate. A great casting move was snatching Peter Woodthorpe, the voice of Gollum in Bakshi's film, to play the same role here. Woodthorpe is superior to Andy Serkis (Gollum in Peter Jackson's LOTR films)in his tortured characterization of the Ring's greatest slave. Elements of backstory are nicely woven into the tale, like Gollum's capture by Sauron's agents in Mordor. The sound production is also well done-- the listener gets a definite sense of what is going on in the foreground as opposed to the background, for example, and the strings in the score add a welcome mournful element to the progression of the story. The tale itself is of course excellent-- it's difficult to truly fail to be at all entertaining when your task is to retell the Lord of the Rings.
But I have many criticisms to consider-- ones that make the BBC LOTR a 2 star effort beyond its foundations. For one, it may be 13 hours, but this is still spare compared with how long it takes to read the story aloud from the book. (over 100 hours as far as I can tell through experience) This is forgivable in a medium like film, which demands that people sit and pay attention for hours on end at one sitting, but is tough to excuse in a radio show that consists of one hour installments. Why not tell the whole thing, simply broken into more 'episodes'? I don't understand this aversion to doing it right-- Lord of the Rings has a large and rabid enough following that any effort to tell the story in more detail is one of the few sure successes in show business. This edition omits the Barrow Wights, Tom Bombadil, and a few other notable, important events for absolutely no good reason.
The flow of the story also has problems. One of the greatest elements of the Lord of the Rings series is Tolkien's beautiful descriptive language. Every region of Middle Earth is brought to life in amazing fashion as you read. The makers of this edition inexplicably saw fit to keep text narrative to a minimum, and leave the description to stilted and awkward lines spouted by the characters. Example: "As I lie here, I realize that these orc arrows have paid me for my treachery." This is doubly bad, because one of the few weak points in the books is the dialogue, which can get heavy-handed and too grandiose. Therefore, the BBC has removed a great asset and saddled a weaker aspect of the story with even greater clumsiness.
The dialogue is a problem in general. I expected more from these actors, who all seem to be overdoing their lines. Perhaps they feel out of place without cameras able to capture their mannerisms, but in any case they try to make up for the lack of visual element by overacting. Many of the lines, even simple back-and-forth between the characters, are read like grand and important pronouncements from a scroll. Although the times are dangerous and the task of destroying the Ring is the greatest of their age, I don't think Tolkien thought of these characters as heroic automatons cognizant of the fact that their every word is important for future generations. It would have been much more convincing and enjoyable if these actors had read the characters as real people doing the best they can under very tough circumstances. There is no sense of the pressure on them, of their longing for simple contentment, of real pain or joy that a listener could identify with. It's all sterile, booming proclamations-- like something out of the Iliad. Try to imagine any of these characters waking up with a hangover and wondering what's for breakfast: you won't be able to. Even the excellent Woodthorpe, who gave a measured performance in Bakshi's LOTR, hams up the snivelling and gibbering of Gollum a bit. No matter what fame LOTR has risen to, it is first and foremost a story--not every line has to be played like another piece of a grand and timeless composition.
Gandalf is particularly disappointing. One of the most entertaining aspects of his character in the books is his world-weary and cranky edge. He is down to earth in a way that makes him the wisest of his Order and his other important colleagues, yet here he especially is prone to making every line a grave intonation, and to read as if he is a prophet of pity and doom. The listener is left to wonder: how did such a solemn and unapproachable sage befriend these ale-swilling and relaxed hobbits? Aside from these flaws, several of the minor voice characterizations are simply awful-- the orcs, for example, sound like groups of drunken English barflies, rather than the twisted and vicious psychopaths that they are.
Diehard Tolkien fans will undoubtedly want this as a piece of their collection, but personally I hope someday we receive a better effort at a radio reading.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: Very nice. The best radio-drama I've ever listened to, topping even the immortal Star Wars Radio Trilogy. Once again, this is a RADIO-DRAMA, NOT an unabridged reading, so don't be a moron and blast this set cause it wasn't what you expected.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrendous Piece of Work
Review: This was most definately the worst thing I have ever purchased in my life. First of all when buying it understand that it is abridged,(not the actual words of the book). Second it is a dramatization and lightly follows the storyline and misses many key plots. The voices are mechanical and don't fit the characters at all. Sometimes during playback the voices sound far away. I tried it on different CD players and it all sounded the same. I have been under the understanding that the BBC created quality dramatizations, but this was as I said, horrendous. If you want to actually be entertained buy the UNABRIDGED version narrated by Rob Ingles. They are more expensive but they will be worth your money.
Rating:
Summary: Compliments the Films, Books Wonderfully!!!
Review: If you've seen the magnificent film trilogy by Peter Jackson and enjoyed it, then try this 13 hour radio dramatization on for size. While the film draws much of it's beauty from visuals and epic battle scenes, this dramatization draws ALL of it's beauty from Tolkien's prose. The acting in this version is even better than the outstanding acting of the films. Regardless of whether you loved or hated the films, this radio play IS NOT TO BE MISSED!! It's a very different(and in some ways, better) vision of Tolkien's masterwork than what was seen onscreen.
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