The Lord of the Rings (1955 radio series)

During 1955 and 1956, a condensed radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings was broadcast in twelve episodes on BBC Radio's the Third Programme. These radio broadcasts were the first dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings, a book by J. R. R. Tolkien, the final volume of which, The Return of the King, had been published in October 1955. Since the BBC did not generally keep long-term archives of its productions at that time, no copies of the adaptation are known to have survived.

The first part of the story, The Fellowship of the Ring, was broadcast in six episodes in 1955. The final two volumes, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were covered in six episodes broadcast in 1956. Both series of broadcasts were adapted and produced by Terence Tiller, who corresponded with Tolkien for advice concerning the second series. This was the only adaptation out of several released which Tolkien lived to see, as he died in 1973.

Radio was the dominant broadcast medium in the United Kingdom at the time, and the broadcasts helped to publicise the books. The broadcasts were discussed on the BBC programme The Critics, and discussion of the broadcasts brought them to the attention of a Mr Sam Gamgee, who subsequently wrote to Tolkien to ask about the origin of the name of the character Sam Gamgee.

The cast included the actor Norman Shelley, who played the parts of Gandalf and Tom Bombadil. The author's opinion on these broadcasts was revealed in several letters he wrote, which were posthumously published in 1981 in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien.

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