BBC R4 1968 – J.R.R Tolkien THE HOBBIT
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This is a repost of my original Hobbit post. This post is much better and in Stereo
The Hobbit or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title 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 and produced by John Powell in eight half-hour episodes for BBC Radio 4.
Episode.................................Air Date
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1. An Unexpected Party..................Sep 29, 1968
2. Out of the Frying-pan into the Fire..Oct 6, 1968
3. Riddles in the Dark..................Oct 13, 1968
4. Strange Lodgings.....................Oct 20, 1968
5. Barrels out of Bond..................Oct 27, 1968
6. A Warm Welcome.......................Nov 3, 1968
7 The Gathering of the Clouds...........Nov 10, 1968
8. The Clouds Burst.....................Nov 17, 1968
PLOT
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The radio series follows the plot of the original novel (revised 1951 version) very 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, a stay-at-home hobbit, 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, encountering trolls, goblins, Gollum (acquiring a
magic ring near Gollum's cave), wargs, eagles, giant spiders, elves and
men along the way. In the process Bilbo is transformed from a clumsy,
timid and rather comic figure into a dignified and occasionally heroic
everyman.
CAST AND CREDITS
Actor...................Role....................Actor....................Role
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Glóin, Galion...............Peter Baldwin.......Óin......................Rolf Lefebvre
Fíli, Elf Guard.............David Brierly.......Bill.....................Victor Lucas
The Master of Esgaroth......John Bryning........Bofur, Great Goblin......Denis McCarthy
Ori.........................Wilfrid Carter......Bombur, Elves, Goblins...Duncan McIntyre
Gandalf.....................Heron Carvic........Gollum...................Wolfe Morris
Bilbo Baggins...............Paul Daneman........Balin....................Peter Pratt
Kíli........................Nicholas Edmett.....Elrond...................John Pullen
The Elvenking...............Leonard Fenton......Herald of Esgaroth.......Ian Thompson
Bifur, Bert, Dáin Ironfoot..Brian Haines........Nori.....................Antony Viccars
Spider......................Betty Hardy.........Dwalin...................Lockwood West
Spider......................Hilda Kriseman......Spider, Thrush...........Marjorie Westbury
Beorn.......................Denys Hawthorne.....Bard.....................Peter Williams
The Tale Bearer.............Anthony Jackson.....Smaug, Tom...............Francis de Wolff
Thorin Oakenshield..........John Justin.........Roäc.....................John Wyse
WIPING AND RECOVERY
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The original master tapes for the series seem to have been wiped in the 1970s. The reason is not clear, although it was
rumoured to be due to a dispute with the Tolkien estate (if so, the subsequent recovery and commercial issue of the series
proves that the dispute was resolved).
The BBC eventually recovered the series from a domestic off-air FM recording, apparently comprising 90- and 60-minute
compilations edited together from the original episodes. The sound quality of these recordings is clear and legible, though
it is noticeably inferior to a studio-quality recording and exhibits prominent tape hiss.
For broadcast and home audio purposes the BBC re-edited these compilations back into half-hour episodes, adding a brief
snatch of the theme tune at the beginning and end of each. The title The Hobbit is spoken only at the beginning of the first
episode and there are no opening or closing credits.
----------File Information-------------
Source: BBC R4 1968
Type: MPEG1.0 Layer 3 – 128k – 44 khz – Joint Stereo 1
File Size: 195 MB
Length: 3 ½ hours approx
Replies
Been a while, glad to be back! Thank you so very much for this!......Larry
Welcome back Larry!!!!! ------------ R
Welcome back larry!
;-)
Agreed Elaine!
Hope all is groovy Rick!
Waves to Thomas/Luke!
Thank you Rick, I never get tired of listening to this story....................................Elaine
Thank you! :)
THANK YOU!!!
Dying to hear this!
;-)