In 1981 BBC Radio 4 produced a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo installments.

In 1981 BBC Radio 4 produced a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo installments. The novel had previously been adapted as a 12-part BBC Radio adaptation in 1955 and 1956 (of which no recordings are known to have survived), and a 1979 production by The Mind's Eye for National Public Radio in the USA.

Like the novel on which it is based, The Lord of the Rings is the story of an epic struggle between the Dark Lord Sauron of Mordor, the primary villain of the work, and an alliance of heroes who join forces to save the world from falling under his shadow.

The script by Brian Sibley[1] and Michael Bakewell attempts to be as faithful as possible to the original novel, but there are some errors and alterations. They include:

At one point, Minas Anor and Minas Tirith are referred to as though they were separate cities, but Minas Anor is actually the original name for Minas Tirith. This was when Gandalf and Pippin were discussing the palantír whilst en route to Minas Tirith.
The radio serial omits the sequence in the book in which the hobbits visit Tom Bombadil.
Gandalf refers to the Balrog of Moria as a servant of Sauron. In the novel, the Balrog was originally a servant of Sauron's former master Morgoth, but was freed from any kind of service and fled into the earth upon Morgoth's defeat during the War of Wrath in The Silmarillion. In fact Balrogs and Sauron are of the same order, the Maiar.
Isengard is referred to as a "fair city", "circular" and "filled with fair trees" which Saruman brought to ruin with the exception of the singular great tower/citadel of Orthanc in the center. In Tolkien's writings there has never been an actual city called Isengard, only the lush greenery and the Tower of Orthanc which together are called Isengard.
The story includes an arc where Wormtongue is waylaid by the Ringwraiths. This only appears in Unfinished Tales, not The Lord of the Rings.
In the final episode, Bilbo's Last Song, a Tolkien poem which does not appear in the novel is used to flesh out the sequence at the Grey Havens.

Main cast
Anthony Jackson - The Tale Bearer
Paul Daneman - Bilbo
Francis de Wolff - Smaug
John Justin - Thorin
Heron Carvic - Gandalf
Leonard Fenton - Elvenking
John Pullen - Elrond
Wolfe Morris - Gollum
Duncan McIntyre - Bombur
Lockwood West - Dwalin
Peter Pratt - Balin
Alexander John - Dori
Peter Williams - Bard the Bowman
Denis McCarthy - Great Goblin

Narrator (UK version): Gerard Murphy
Narrator (American version): Tammy Grimes
Frodo Baggins: Ian Holm[6]
Gandalf the Grey/Gandalf the White: Michael Hordern
Aragorn (Strider): Robert Stephens
Sam Gamgee: Bill Nighy (credited as William Nighy)
Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry): Richard O'Callaghan
Peregrin Took (Pippin): John McAndrew
Legolas: David Collings
Gimli: Douglas Livingstone
Boromir: Michael Graham Cox
Galadriel: Marian Diamond
Celeborn: Simon Cadell
Arwen Evenstar: Sonia Fraser
Saruman the White: Peter Howell
Elrond: Hugh Dickson
Bilbo Baggins: John Le Mesurier
Gollum/Sméagol: Peter Woodthorpe
Théoden: Jack May
Gríma Wormtongue: Paul Brooke
Éowyn: Elin Jenkins
Éomer: Anthony Hyde
Faramir: Andrew Seear
Treebeard: Stephen Thorne
Denethor: Peter Vaughan
Lord of the Nazgûl: Philip Voss
The Mouth of Sauron: John Rye
Glorfindel/An Elf lord of the house of Elrond half-elven : John Webb
Haldir/Nazgûl/Nob/Minstrel: Haydn Wood
Gamling: Patrick Barr