The Hobbit is a 1968 BBC Radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 children's fantasy novel of the same name.
The series was adapted by Michael Kilgarriff in eight episodes for BBC Radio 4 broadcast in the autumn of 1969. Music was written by David Cain. Paul Daneman played the titular role of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. It was produced by John Powell. The recording has been described as a classic.
Contents
Plot
The radio series follows the plot of the original novel (revised 1951 version) closely, except for the addition of The Tale Bearer, a narrator whose account of the story is often interrupted and embellished by the protagonist Bilbo Baggins in the role of secondary narrator.
Bilbo is approached by the wizard Gandalf to undertake a dangerous adventure, and despite his initial reluctance he soon finds himself accompanying Thorin Oakenshield and his party of dwarves on a long and difficult quest to recover the dwarves' treasure from Smaug the dragon. On the way, he encounters trolls, goblins and giant spiders, and finds a magic ring with the power of invisibility.
Production
The show's production was complicated by the inclusion of multiple sound effects (often inserted live while recording the actors' performances), songs from the novel, and special sounds and electronic voice treatments for the non-human characters created by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Reception
The scholar of English literature Nick Groom writes that the 1968 radio series, "deemed a 'classic'", was repeated in that year and broadcast again in 1991. He comments that the dialogue works both dramatically and in conveying the story's details. He finds the performance of Gollum (by Wolfe Morris) "impressively affective". Groom suggests that the discussion between Bilbo and Gollum "about being eaten" influenced the actor Martin Freeman's approach to the same scene in Peter Jackson's 2012 film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Groom describes the accents used in the radio series as "strangely accented", noting such pronunciations as "Gandalv" and "Gondoleen".
Audio release
The original master tapes for the series were wiped in the 1970s. The BBC recovered the series from a domestic off-air tape recording.
There have been several home audio releases of the series on cassette and CD. The 1997 CD release includes a bonus CD containing 9¼ minutes of additional music in stereo, which was taken from BBC records REC 91S [LP] David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London play music by David Cain recorded in 1971. The artwork (illustrations and map) are by J. R. R. Tolkien. The tracks include:
Opening and Bilbo's Theme (1:58)
Elves' Dances (1:38)
Bilbo's Lullaby (2:10)
Fanfare and Dance in Esgaroth (3:31)
The 1997 set contains a "Personal Memoir" by the series producer John Powell.
Cast and credits
The cast and crew are as follows:
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
Additional voices
Peter Baldwin – Galion, Glóin
David Brierly – Fíli
John Bryning – Master of Laketown
Wilfred Carter – Ori
Nicholas Edmett – Kíli
Greta Gouriet – Spider
Brian Haines – Bert, Bifur, Dáin II Ironfoot
Betty Hardy – Spider
Denys Hawthorne – Beorn
Hayden Jones – Elf Guard, Elves, Goblins
Hilda Kriseman – Spider
Rolf Lefebvre – Óin
Victor Lucas – Bill
Denis McCarthy – Bofur, Great Goblin
Ian Thompson – Herald of Laketown
Anthony Viccars – Nori
Marjorie Westbury – Thrush
John Wyse – Roäc
Crew
Music composed by David Cain
Music performed by David Munrow with The Early Music Consort
Special sound effects and voice treatments by David Cain and Dick Mills, BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Produced by John Powell