The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisation

By: Richard O'Callaghan, J. R. R. Tolkien

Narrated by: Peter Woodthorpe, Robert Stephens, Michael Hordern, Bill Nighy, John McAndrew, David Collings, Douglas Livingstone, Full Cast

Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

With its first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on March 8th, 1981, this dramatised tale of Middle Earth became an instant global classic. It boasts a truly outstanding cast including Ian Holm (as Frodo), Sir Michael Hordern (as Gandalf), Robert Stephens (as Aragorn), Bill Nighy (as Sam Gamgee) and John Le Mesurier (as Bilbo). Brian Sibley's famous adaptation has been divided into three corresponding parts, with newly recorded beginning and end narration by Ian Holm, who now stars as Bilbo in the feature films based on The Lord of the Rings. Part One, The Fellowship of the Ring, introduces us to Frodo Baggins. With his uncle Bilbo having mysteriously disappeared, Frodo finds himself in possession of a simple gold ring that has great and evil power. It is the Ruling Ring, taken long ago from the Dark Lord, Sauron, who now seeks to possess it again. Frodo must do everything he can to prevent this, and with the help of Gandalf the wizard and a band of loyal companions he begins a perilous journey across Middle-earth. Sauron's Black Riders are on their trail as they travel to Rivendell, attempt to cross the snow-swept Misty Mountains and, in desperation, enter the terrifying Mines of Moria.

©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd trading as BBC Studios (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd trading as BBC Studios

At last, for young kids

My 8 yr-old has bugged me about LoTR, the movies (too scary) and books (high school reading level). Enter the BBC radio plays: an abridged version of the books, chock full of adventure enhanced by the full cast, music, and effects. We listened to all three in the series.

Great Reading

I enjoyed the dramatized reading. It gave me additional insights as to how someone may interpret the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien.

loved it

i loved it and could not stop listning .
I just to short time finishing it

Great Dramatised, Poor Sound Quality

The music and voice actors were excellent and the story was well read. However, the sound quality was much like a group of people on stage with one microphone in the center... Very hard to hear while driving, some parts very loud while some sound very distant. Otherwise a very good version!

Really great listening.

Loved the voices that told the story. The songs in it was great. You will want to hear this is you are a fan of the movies and b9oks. So different but just as great!

Not a reading of the book

I guess I can't read and didn't realize that this was a dramatized production of the story and basically was like listening to the movie. It was performed well but I wanted the actual book.

very engaging reading!

only critique is that the title of this audiobook is misleading by not including the fact that this is abridged.

Good Introduction

If you're new to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this BBC dramatization is an excellent introduction. While some events did get dropped, on the whole, the BBC stayed faithful to the core of the story.

To use an analogy, I'd compare this to stopping somewhere for a quick bite on your way home from work. But if you have time after work for a full dinner, the unabridged narration by Rob Inglis is the best.

Both of these versions have their place, and you can't go wrong with either one.

It is a dangerous business going out your door...

Professor Tolkien's famous trilogy begins not only where The Hobbit left off, but far back to a time before the coming of Smaug in Eribor. Only character missing is Tom Bombadil, but I don't mind.

love this version

I listen a lot and read a lot og tolkiens work and this version was great