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The J.R.R. Tolkien Collection
Experience Tolkien's best-known works in a whole new light! These full-cast dramatizations of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Tales form the Perilous Realm feature specially-composed music, outstanding casts, and brilliant behind-the-scenes writers, directors, engineers, and musicians. Each of these lavish recordings was broadcast to rave reviews on BBC Radio. Tolkien fans will appreciate the addition of J.R.R. Tolkien: An Audio Portrait. Presented by Brain Sibley, who dramatized many of Tolkien's works for the BBC, it is a compilation of radio and TV archive material featuring interviews with Tolkien, his relatives, and his colleagues, and in which he talks about The Lord of the Rings, his other works, life as an academic, correspondence received from fans, and his views on the 20th century.
21 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 2009
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About the author
Brian Sibley
99 books99 followersBrian Sibley is an English writer, broadcaster, and award-winning dramatist.
The author of over 100 hours of radio drama and hundreds of documentaries and features for the BBC, he is best known for his acclaimed 1981 radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, co-written with Michael Bakewell, as well as dramatizations of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels, and Richard Adams’s Watership Down.
Sibley has also written numerous original plays for radio, presented popular BBC programmes including Kaleidoscope and Talking Pictures, and produced documentaries on figures ranging from Lewis Carroll and Ray Bradbury to Julie Andrews and Walt Disney.
His contributions to broadcasting have earned him accolades such as the Sony Radio Award and the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Adaptation.
In print, Sibley is the author of many acclaimed film “making of” books, including Harry Potter: Film Wizardry, The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy, and Peter Jackson: A Filmmaker’s Journey, as well as companion volumes for The Hobbit films, The Golden Compass, and Disney classics. His literary works range from Shadowlands to children’s books like The Frightful Food Feud and Osric the Extraordinary Owl, with stories appearing in official Winnie-the-Pooh collections.
A noted Disney historian, Sibley has contributed essays to The Walt Disney Film Archives and recorded DVD commentaries for classic films. He is the editor of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Númenor, winner of the Tolkien Society’s Best Book award in 2023.
Sibley has served as President and Chair of The Lewis Carroll Society and is an honorary member of The Magic Circle, the Tolkien Society, and The Children’s Books History Society.
The author of over 100 hours of radio drama and hundreds of documentaries and features for the BBC, he is best known for his acclaimed 1981 radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, co-written with Michael Bakewell, as well as dramatizations of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels, and Richard Adams’s Watership Down.
Sibley has also written numerous original plays for radio, presented popular BBC programmes including Kaleidoscope and Talking Pictures, and produced documentaries on figures ranging from Lewis Carroll and Ray Bradbury to Julie Andrews and Walt Disney.
His contributions to broadcasting have earned him accolades such as the Sony Radio Award and the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Adaptation.
In print, Sibley is the author of many acclaimed film “making of” books, including Harry Potter: Film Wizardry, The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy, and Peter Jackson: A Filmmaker’s Journey, as well as companion volumes for The Hobbit films, The Golden Compass, and Disney classics. His literary works range from Shadowlands to children’s books like The Frightful Food Feud and Osric the Extraordinary Owl, with stories appearing in official Winnie-the-Pooh collections.
A noted Disney historian, Sibley has contributed essays to The Walt Disney Film Archives and recorded DVD commentaries for classic films. He is the editor of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Númenor, winner of the Tolkien Society’s Best Book award in 2023.
Sibley has served as President and Chair of The Lewis Carroll Society and is an honorary member of The Magic Circle, the Tolkien Society, and The Children’s Books History Society.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 13, 2014
The BBC audio drama of The Lord of the Rings was a late Christmas present from a friend. As a listener to A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast my friend undoubtedly knew how timely this gift is. LOTR will be the topic of discussion in February on the podcast.
Having read the book fairly recently, I have been thumbing through it, making notes. It is a pleasure to listen to the audio drama as a memory jogger and also, of course, for the pleasure of the performances and story.
I've just begun listening so this may not be the last word on this topic...
UPDATE - QUITTING
I enjoyed the audio quality but can't force myself to listen further because the presentation reorders the story according to timeline, rather than to the author's original presentation. This happens repeatedly in the beginning and annoys me so much that there is no point in continuing. Just to give one example, while Frodo is waiting for Gandalf before leaving The Shire, we are cut away into what is actually happening to Gandalf at that point. There is value in the continual wondering along with Frodo whether Gandalf is going to show up any minute. This audiodrama ruins that. BOOOO!!!!
Having read the book fairly recently, I have been thumbing through it, making notes. It is a pleasure to listen to the audio drama as a memory jogger and also, of course, for the pleasure of the performances and story.
I've just begun listening so this may not be the last word on this topic...
UPDATE - QUITTING
I enjoyed the audio quality but can't force myself to listen further because the presentation reorders the story according to timeline, rather than to the author's original presentation. This happens repeatedly in the beginning and annoys me so much that there is no point in continuing. Just to give one example, while Frodo is waiting for Gandalf before leaving The Shire, we are cut away into what is actually happening to Gandalf at that point. There is value in the continual wondering along with Frodo whether Gandalf is going to show up any minute. This audiodrama ruins that. BOOOO!!!!
Displaying 1 of 1 review