BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, is the world's largest broadcasting corporation. As such, the company, and especially BBC Radio, have had a major influence on the adaptation of Tolkien's works.

BBC Radio Drama

The BBC Repertory Company, was founded in 1940. Early stars included Norman Shelley and Carleton Hobbs, who have played Watson and Holmes in over nintey radio dramas.

The "Rep" kept an ensemble cast of 30 to 35 actors, up until the mid-1980's. This cast included young theatre talent, such as Anthony Daniels and William Nighy, and was sometimes expanded with popular names.

This section of the BBC is now called the National Radio Company or NRC, and has been awarded many times.

Programs

• January 14, 1938: An unspecified program on BBC Radio, where Tolkien gave a talk on Anglo-Saxon Verse.
• December 3, 1954: The broadcast of the radio play of The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm's Son, on the BBC Third Programme.
• 1955-1956: The first adaptation of The Lord of the Rings is aired on BBC Radio.
• March 30, 1968: BBC Television airs the documentary Tolkien in Oxford.
• September-November 1968: The BBC's radio adaptation of The Hobbit is aired.
• 1978: Though shot in Spain, Ralph Bakshi recorded the voices of his The Lord of the Rings with several actors from the NRC.
• October, 1979: The popular children's show Jackanory airs ten episodes on The Hobbit.
• 1981: The famous second radio series of The Lord of the Rings is aired.
• 1992: The 6-episode radio series Tales from the Perilous Realm is aired.
• 2013: Lewis and Tolkien: The Lost Road.
• November 15, 2014: War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme

External links

• Official website
• Wikipedia profile