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- Lord of the Rings: The 1981 BBC Radio Adaptation - Audiobook Version
Lord of the Rings: The 1981 BBC Radio Adaptation - Audiobook Version
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Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1981
Original Running Time:
741
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
716
Time Cut:
26
Time Added:
1
Additional Links:
Brief Synopsis:
The amazing 1981 BBC Radio-4 13-part adaptation of The Lord of the Rings edited into one long 12-hour "audiobook" version, for convenient iTunes listening.
Intention:
The 1981 BBC Radio-4 adaptation of The Lord of the Rings has been one of my favourite things since as far back as I can remember. I had it on crackly home-made cassette (in a box I made with a childish Gandalf painting), then on the pristine 2011 CD remaster. I must have listened to it 2-3 times every year, so that's got to be at least 100 times (or 50+ solid days of my life). But those have always been in the 13-episode/56-minute format from when the series was re-broadcast in 1982, the original 1981 broadcast was actually 26-episodes of 23-minutes.
I was curious to recreate that forgotten 26-episode version (for completeness and to offer a new way of listening) but as I was preparing the sources, I realised it would be more fun to do the opposite, an unbroken single episode edit, in an "audiobook" style. Since creating this version I've listened to it a couple of times and I love the new experience of going on the journey with Frodo and Sam, uninterrupted, all the way to Mordor and back again.
I was curious to recreate that forgotten 26-episode version (for completeness and to offer a new way of listening) but as I was preparing the sources, I realised it would be more fun to do the opposite, an unbroken single episode edit, in an "audiobook" style. Since creating this version I've listened to it a couple of times and I love the new experience of going on the journey with Frodo and Sam, uninterrupted, all the way to Mordor and back again.
Other Sources:
- The 2011 BBC 19-CD Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit boxset.
- The Soundtrack CD included with the set.
- The Soundtrack CD included with the set.
Special Thanks:
Thanks to my dad for recording the 1982 broadcast onto reel-to-reel tape not long after I was born, then transferring it to cassette tape so I could listen to it repeatedly when I was old enough.
Release Information:
Digital
Special Features
- 1 GB mp3
Editing Details:
All references to this being a multi-episode series are removed, all episodes have been edited into one long narrative and all 13 closing credits sequences have been edited into one unifying closing sequence at the end. AI tools were invaluable in completely removing the music from all the credits sequences, so they could be cut up at will and re-scored.
Cuts and Additions:
00.01.40 - Removed mention of this being "in 13 episodes". Split vocals/music and remixed it.
00.01.50 - Removed Ep1 specific introduction voice-over and extended music to bridge the gap.
00.54.45 - Extended fade up created from the sound of Gwaihir's wings.
01.48.18 - There are two performances of Merry's dialogue as he returns to The Prancing Pony. I went with the one that opens Ep3, as I thought it was marginally better.
02.43.11 - There are two performances of Frodo's dialogue as he volunteers to be the ring-bearer. I went with the one that closes Ep3, as I thought it was a far superior performance of the lines.
03.35.46 - A simple edit between Ep4 & Ep5 at a point during Gandalf's speech on the Bridge of Khazad-dum, since both versions seem to be identical.
04.28.54 - Blended together Boromir blowing his horn, with Aragorn hearing it. I had to loose a few seconds of Orc cries and horn blowing to get a smooth transition.
05.23.25 - Blended in the coda from the 'Shadowfax' theme from the soundtrack CD, to extended the music into Pippin and Merry talking about Ents.
06.16.48 - Left in a section of music from the end of Ep7, after Gandalf arrives at Helm's Deep, to have a pause before the battle has been won at the start of Ep8.
07.11.21 - There are two performances of Faramir's first lines of dialogue. The one from the end of Ep8 was better but it had noticeably quieter waterfall soundFX under it than at the start of Ep9. So I extended/looped the soundFX and mixed it under the Ep8 dialogue.
08.08.05 - Left in a section of the music just after the 'Forth Rode The King' song from the end of Ep9, and extended/looped into under Pippin's talk with Gandalf from Ep10.
09.05.01 - Mixed the end of Frodo's rant about the ring from Ep11, with the start of it from Ep10.
09.59.57 - Looped up some of the water sound from Gandalf's speech at the end of Ep11, to make a smooth transition into Frodo and Sam in Mordor at the start of Ep12.
10.55.52 - Looped up some soundFX to smoothly transition between Ep12 & Ep13.
11.51.54 - Used AI to strip out the music from all 13 credits sequences and then cut them up (and re-arranged according to the Fellowship, Gondor, Rohan etc) to make one complete credits, including all actors and crew members (hope I didn't miss anybody). Re-scored with an edit I made of parts of track-1 (the main theme) from the soundtrack CD. It's roughly twice the length of the normal credits music but it begins and ends in a similar way. Edited out references to this being a series, or having individual episodes.
Original Length: 12 hours, 21 minutes
Fanedit Length: 11 hours, 56 minutes
Removed: 26 minutes
Added: 1 minute
00.01.50 - Removed Ep1 specific introduction voice-over and extended music to bridge the gap.
00.54.45 - Extended fade up created from the sound of Gwaihir's wings.
01.48.18 - There are two performances of Merry's dialogue as he returns to The Prancing Pony. I went with the one that opens Ep3, as I thought it was marginally better.
02.43.11 - There are two performances of Frodo's dialogue as he volunteers to be the ring-bearer. I went with the one that closes Ep3, as I thought it was a far superior performance of the lines.
03.35.46 - A simple edit between Ep4 & Ep5 at a point during Gandalf's speech on the Bridge of Khazad-dum, since both versions seem to be identical.
04.28.54 - Blended together Boromir blowing his horn, with Aragorn hearing it. I had to loose a few seconds of Orc cries and horn blowing to get a smooth transition.
05.23.25 - Blended in the coda from the 'Shadowfax' theme from the soundtrack CD, to extended the music into Pippin and Merry talking about Ents.
06.16.48 - Left in a section of music from the end of Ep7, after Gandalf arrives at Helm's Deep, to have a pause before the battle has been won at the start of Ep8.
07.11.21 - There are two performances of Faramir's first lines of dialogue. The one from the end of Ep8 was better but it had noticeably quieter waterfall soundFX under it than at the start of Ep9. So I extended/looped the soundFX and mixed it under the Ep8 dialogue.
08.08.05 - Left in a section of the music just after the 'Forth Rode The King' song from the end of Ep9, and extended/looped into under Pippin's talk with Gandalf from Ep10.
09.05.01 - Mixed the end of Frodo's rant about the ring from Ep11, with the start of it from Ep10.
09.59.57 - Looped up some of the water sound from Gandalf's speech at the end of Ep11, to make a smooth transition into Frodo and Sam in Mordor at the start of Ep12.
10.55.52 - Looped up some soundFX to smoothly transition between Ep12 & Ep13.
11.51.54 - Used AI to strip out the music from all 13 credits sequences and then cut them up (and re-arranged according to the Fellowship, Gondor, Rohan etc) to make one complete credits, including all actors and crew members (hope I didn't miss anybody). Re-scored with an edit I made of parts of track-1 (the main theme) from the soundtrack CD. It's roughly twice the length of the normal credits music but it begins and ends in a similar way. Edited out references to this being a series, or having individual episodes.
Original Length: 12 hours, 21 minutes
Fanedit Length: 11 hours, 56 minutes
Removed: 26 minutes
Added: 1 minute
Poster by TM2YC (based on the original Radio Times magazine cover)
iTunes art by TM2YC (based on the original Radio Times magazine cover)
User reviews
1 review
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0(1)
Audio Editing
10.0(1)
Visual Editing
10.0(1)
Narrative
10.0(1)
Enjoyment
10.0(1)
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
I'm now 2 hours into listening to this audio edit, and it feels amazing. It really adds that childlike feeling when listening to the tape and hearing background sound effects that highlight a particular scene. I will for sure let my kids listen to this one day as part of their early childhood. Thank you for the amazing work TM2YC. I will post a full review again when I listen to it to the end, I was just so impressed that I had to review before finishing :)
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
F