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Post by John Green on Mar 12, 2022 16:37:40 GMT
www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/12/hoard-of-the-rings-lost-scripts-for-bbc-tolkien-drama-discovered"Decades before Peter Jackson directed his epic adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien was involved with the first ever dramatisation of his trilogy, but its significance was not realised in the 1950s and the BBC’s audio recordings are believed to have been destroyed. Now an Oxford academic has delved into the BBC archives and discovered the original scripts for the two series of 12 radio episodes broadcast in 1955 and 1956, to the excitement of fellow scholars. Tolkien’s fantasy masterpiece was dramatised by producer Terence Tiller, whose scribbled markings on the manuscript no doubt reflect his detailed discussions with the author in correspondence and meetings. Among the typed pages is a sheet in Tolkien’s hand, with red crossings-out, showing his own reworking of a scene."
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Post by John Wall on Mar 12, 2022 17:44:23 GMT
Unless their are rights issues - and there may be - this is an excellent opportunity for a remake imho 👍
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RWels
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Post by RWels on Mar 12, 2022 18:03:04 GMT
www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/12/hoard-of-the-rings-lost-scripts-for-bbc-tolkien-drama-discovered"Decades before Peter Jackson directed his epic adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien was involved with the first ever dramatisation of his trilogy, but its significance was not realised in the 1950s and the BBC’s audio recordings are believed to have been destroyed. Now an Oxford academic has delved into the BBC archives and discovered the original scripts for the two series of 12 radio episodes broadcast in 1955 and 1956, to the excitement of fellow scholars. Tolkien’s fantasy masterpiece was dramatised by producer Terence Tiller, whose scribbled markings on the manuscript no doubt reflect his detailed discussions with the author in correspondence and meetings. Among the typed pages is a sheet in Tolkien’s hand, with red crossings-out, showing his own reworking of a scene." This probably means it was at the Written Archives, for anyone who requested it.  Unless their are rights issues - and there may be - this is an excellent opportunity for a remake imho 👍 You mean like they did in 1981...?  And it doesn't even contain questionable dialogue like "let's hunt some orcs". |
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Post by John Wall on Mar 12, 2022 18:21:42 GMT
I’m very familiar with the 1981 version. I heard it first time and have it on discs. That came about by the BBC acquiring the radio rights. Although scripts from the 1950s now exist I’m unsure if they could be remade - but this is about the best place I can think of to find out 👍
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RWels
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Posts: 2,861
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Post by RWels on Mar 12, 2022 18:50:39 GMT
I’m very familiar with the 1981 version. I heard it first time and have it on discs. That came about by the BBC acquiring the radio rights. Although scripts from the 1950s now exist I’m unsure if they could be remade - but this is about the best place I can think of to find out 👍 On the bright side, it would not require much money and radio is less influenced by completely different technology. One wonders if really absolutely no-one kept any recording. JRRT had a reel to reel machine himself, and some of his own recordings have been issued on cassette and no doubt on other media too. |
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Post by John Wall on Mar 12, 2022 19:39:09 GMT
I’m very familiar with the 1981 version. I heard it first time and have it on discs. That came about by the BBC acquiring the radio rights. Although scripts from the 1950s now exist I’m unsure if they could be remade - but this is about the best place I can think of to find out 👍 On the bright side, it would not require much money and radio is less influenced by completely different technology. One wonders if really absolutely no-one kept any recording. JRRT had a reel to reel machine himself, and some of his own recordings have been issued on cassette and no doubt on other media too. My understanding is that they were “dramatised readings” and Tolkien is said to have described it as a “sillification”. Recreation shouldn’t be too difficult, I’d certainly be interested in hearing it. |
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Post by John Green on Mar 12, 2022 20:19:28 GMT
A bit of an introduction to the topic on Talking of Books 30/10/1955: Arthur Calder-Marshall This week he talks about ' The Lord of the Rings ' by J. R. R. Tolkien , of which Part 3, ' The Return of the King,' has just been published. Reader: Carleton Hobbs. genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/12a2c7d8f449424f9d4225e7fa610dae |
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RWels
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Post by RWels on Mar 12, 2022 20:36:51 GMT
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Post by Ed Brown on Aug 17, 2022 9:57:42 GMT
Tolkien sold the film rights in 1970, but of course that did not include the radio rights.
However, because the BBC famously reached an agreement about the radio rights with Tolkien's heirs, following his death in 1973, in the late 1970s the BBC broadcast an authentic and well-remembered radio adaptation of the novels, which was later released on cassette and on CD.
Having made a highly regarded radio adaptation already, it's difficult to see what motive the BBC could now have for a further radio adaptation, even if a potential script for such a project exists. In the 1950s the situation was different, but once the 1970s radio adaptation had been made there was no reason to revisit the less-ambitious 1950s script, for a broadcast which the BBC actually deemed not worth preserving, hence did not archive.
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Post by Natalie Sinead on Aug 20, 2022 8:43:23 GMT
Quietly wonders if anyone here remembers the temporal perspective. The 1970s is 50 years ago. "Highly regarded" adaption? Even to a thirty five year old who was born in 1987?
Okay...
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RWels
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Post by RWels on Aug 20, 2022 9:20:47 GMT
Quietly wonders if anyone here remembers the temporal perspective. The 1970s is 50 years ago. "Highly regarded" adaption? Even to a thirty five year old who was born in 1987? Okay... Not sure what you are trying to say. The Radio Drama is from 1981. I'm not sure how exactly it should have aged badly. Tastes can differ but: - It's audio so there are no special effects, hairstyles, etc. that are hopelessly out of date. - It's a fantasy story so it cannot lose topicality or become less contemporary anymore than the book. We might as well say, the book is oudated. (Its language is positively medieval. What was this Tolkien guy reading, the Beowulf?) So, yes, it is, even if many people won't have heard of it. I regarded it so highly in the 1990s that I bought the boxset with cassettes from my pocket money, even though I had already heared it via copies. Quite useless now. And I'm not even a radio/audio book person at all. Sure, there were some slight differences to the book. But on the other hand, at no point did Aragorn say "let's hunt some orc", and Sauron wasn't portrayed as a sodding lighthouse. So there's that. |
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Post by George D on Sept 20, 2022 13:40:53 GMT
im not sure what natalie is trying to say..
im getting the opinion that she doesnt regard highly things before her birth in 1987 but dont wish to put words in her mouth.
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Post by Natalie Sinead on Sept 21, 2022 8:29:52 GMT
I'm just saying that a lot of people seem to act as if Worzel Gummidge or Thatcher's Britain etc. are a lot more recent than they actually are.
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Post by George D on Sept 28, 2022 2:31:49 GMT
I'm just saying that a lot of people seem to act as if Worzel Gummidge or Thatcher's Britain etc. are a lot more recent than they actually are. A lot of people judge old as before their life. And we're a bunch of old people;) We tend to think that our youth was only a few years ago yet those younger think it could be several generations. As we get older, a decade becomes a much smaller percentage of our lives. When my father was young, ww1 was only 15 years ago. He remembers the horse drawn carts, the ice man coming around and life without phones, tv, and computers. Fortunately we have film and recordings where we can experience life 100 years ago.. When i was a kid i used to watch 1930s films and serials and cartoons and it became a part of my childhood.... except i saw them on tv;) |
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Post by Richard Marple on Sept 28, 2022 20:54:54 GMT
I keep forgetting how much time has passed since the Millennium, & I've actually had more of my life in the 21st Century!
In the 1980s my parents used to talk about things from 20 years before & often it would seem a part of history, but now I can recall things from nearly twice as far back & they sometimes don't feel too old!
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