The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Dramatised)

By: J. R. R. Tolkien

Narrated by: Ian Holm, Michael Hordern, Robert Stephens, full cast

Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

The second instalment of Tolkien's epic tale, adapted from the original BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation. Having fled the Shire in their escape from Sauron's Dark Riders, Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring have journeyed to Rivendell and beyond. Their mission is to reach the Mountain of Fire in Mordor, where the Ruling Ring can be destroyed, but already their campaign is in jeopardy. Gandalf has fallen into an abyss, and Boromir has fatally succumbed to the power of the Ring. The others are besieged by an army of orcs - save for Frodo and Sam, whose journey down the River Anduin is being watched by a dark and shadowy figure.... 

Widely regarded as a broadcasting classic, the BBC Radio dramatisation of 'The Lord of the Rings' stars Ian Holm, Michael Hordern, Robert Stephens, John Le Mesurier and Peter Woodthorpe.

©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd trading as BBC Studios (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd trading as BBC Studios

flies through the book

A wonderful dramatization, but confusing if you aren't very familiar with the book. Mostly dialogue, it gleans over the descriptions and details of place and time. nonetheless it captures a literary feel and language that do the novels justice, often when the movies do not.

The quality continues.

As I said I wasn't made aware of the BBC's dramatization of Lord of the Rings until 2001, twenty years after its initial release. And even then I wasn't aware of the anniversary edition which added the opening and closing narrations by Frodo. But as I said it was a much better version than the NPR Playhouse version. Granted I do still somewhat enjoy that one, but after hearing this one I must conclude that it' is far superior. And of course it's far better than the films, as good as those admittedly were.
One thing I like about this version is that it stays more or less true to the characters as described in the book, which the films didn't always do.. A notable example is Treebeard. In the NPR playhouse version he was voiced by Tom Luce with a rather annoying echo effect added. Needless to say it made hm sound rather campy. In the films he was hostile towards the Hobbits at first and made them aware of Gandalf's survival long before they learned of it in the book. Here, actor Steven Thorn gives him a commanding yet somewat mischievous quality that I always did perceive in the character. And the Ents have a cool marching song which I'm sure was in the novel but here is excellently presented.
In short I don't think I stopped listening to this any longer than was absolutely necessary, such as for meal and bathroom breaks. But then back to it I went. And now that Audible has them I can carry them with me on my IPod anytime, which should come in useful particularly for long trips in the car. And tense or scary parts of the story really come off as tense or scary here, which is definitely a good thing! Excellent music and SFX combined with an excellent cast bring this tale fabulously to life. It's definitely worth the credits or the money.

Great job

Absolutely love this set, One of my favorite series done with amazing narrators, Excellent purchase

Classic Story Well Dramatized

What made the experience of listening to The Lord Of The Rings the most enjoyable?

Had these on tape. Decided to upgrade to digital audio on my players. Reminds me of when I read these as a teenager. Still one of the best stories ever written.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sam. In the middle book of the trilogy you learn the value of Sam and his strength. Like Bean was to Ender, Sam is to Frodo.

Have you listened to any of the narrators???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Well produced ensemble cast. Easy to listen and understand who is talking. Very high production value.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Just relax and enjoy an amazing book.

NOT THE BOOK!

they shortened a 17hr book into a 4hour audio play. absolutely do not recommend. get the one narrated by Inglis.

Hard to follow / Story Great tho

The fight scenes are incredibly hard to follow, just a bunch of grunts and screams, and then the fight is over, very hard to figure out what’s even going on. As well as many of the characters have semi generic voices, making it hard to understand who is actually speaking.

it's a pity it's the only version available.

Naturally, the performance itself is good, but if I wanted a dramatised, abridged version of the book I'd have listened to the movie with my eyes closed. it's just a pity that there's no other version available, like for the first book, which was much more enjoyable and easier to listen to without the sound effects.

Brilliant for light listening

Once again I enjoyed listening to The Two Towers in dramatization. I think the story is always so much more enriched when the different characters are spoken by different people.
If you want heaps of detail to the story line then don't buy this, there is only so much detail that can be added while incorperating sound effects and music. But overall I found that it contained enough plot line to get the major gist of the story without being waffly and boring to listen to. I really love the LOTR trilogy over the full book anyway. The book, (though I'm sure is amazing once you get into it) is very waffly at the start and I could not read it, so having this to listen to gave me the chance to picture the whole Tolkein world with very little effort.
This Is great to have in the car to listen to on long, and otherwise boring, journeys.

Great way to pass a few hours!!

I love these books and the dramatization is goos too. I would have love to have heard so much more from the Battle of Helms Deep but, still great none the less. Still a bit cheesy in spots but still great.

Sorrow

A full butchering of a beatific work of art. My heart breaks to Tolkien. The readings were not great by every actor and the story was destroyed.

Classic

Still the best version, terrific cast, and faithful to the original book and storyline it has stood the test of time since first broadcast

2nd best book

Its the 2nd best book in the world the hole wide world I mean it

Gollum steals the show.

In a similar fashion to the first part of this production the cast is spot on. However, as the review suggests the character of Gollum is absolutley spot on.

As the ring gets closer and closet to Mordor a sense of foreboding begins to creep up in the production. Frodo becomes more and more closeted and begins to become more Gollum-ish every time we encounter him. Meanwhile, attentions turn to Rohan and Gondor as the rest of the company try to seal their fates.

The mixing of the speech compared to the music is still rather off but the actual dramatization is first class. Sam's actor does a fine job too.

A very enjoyable listen. Fractionally better than the first part, though it isn't by much, is it precious?

Superb dramitisation!

Captivating, enchanting and petriyfng. Wonderful voices who bring the characters to life - myy preciousssss

my favourite listen

all 3 volumes of this title are the best listen ever
it keep me coming back time after time
I've been listening to this production since it was released on cassette tape back in the 80's
it's class

Amazing best book ive listend to for a long time

My favourite part was when Aragorn , Legolas and Gimli go into the haunted mountain and the dead are following them

Fantasy at it's best

I listened to these on Radio 4 when they were first broadcast, and was delighted to be able to get the original recordings from Audible.

A must listen

brilliantly put together just a timeless classic.
the added music works together with the story so well.

An experience!

Alot of interesting voice acting. Gollum gets to have nice characterization and range to have fun and the sense of scale is apparent throughout.

wonderful

I adored all three books. But it's a bit annoying that you have to buy it in 3 separate sections - using 3 credits! but it's worth it.