Thanks, Matt, for a great chat! I really enjoyed our time together. :)

I just finished my homework, and I'm gonna listen to this to reward myself. :)

I was 15 and religiously recorded every episode each week. Many thanks.

I cannot get over this interview style. As far as I can tell, you're taking modern methods of interview (yelling at the guest, cutting them off, cramming the interview into a fixed time) and you do THE EXACT OPPOSITE. All I can say is thank you. Your grace, your interest, and willingness to let your guests say what they want, it draws out so much more than a journalist could. Again, thank you. Listening to a passionate person talk about their passion makes for amazing content.

This radio drama was my first introduction to LOTR when I was 7 and got me hooked.

I listened to the R4 drama repeatedly growing up, I am so looking forward to this!

This is the most British interview I've seen in years. I'm a Brit stuck living abroad and am terribly homesick. This is what pubs exist for, and what I spent several decades experiencing. People knowing how to spin a yarn, and how to entertain the people they're with. The art of company.

That was 40 years ago? I feel so old. But seriously, That was amazing. I was 12 and I loved it. Thank you so much!

Love Sam singing "Gil Galad was an elven king..."😍 Thank you so much for posting this interview 🤩

For once I cant wait for my nightshift to start tonight to listen to this in peace 😀♥️

I’ve not sat and enjoyed three hours this much since first watching the extended Two Towers movie! I love the way you just let the man talk, Matt- excellent and considered journalism 😇

Listening on Saturday afternoons to the 13 part re-run in 1982 is what brought me to Tolkien, and remains one of my fondest memories.

For me, Brian's BBC adaptation of LOTR is my favourite production TV, film or radio of all-time. A marvellous cast, great pacing, everything just fits in together perfectly and I always listen to it at least once a year. Well done Matt for a great interview and letting Brian tell his story, it could have been double the time and I would have loved carrying on listening to it. Perhaps we can get Bill Nighy on for his memories!!!

That story with Christopher Lee not recognizing him is priceless! "We don't live together you know" xD

I absolutely adore the 1981 BBC radio version and grew up listening to this. My younger sister is called Arwen after the series and novels, after my parents were listening to it at the time. Still think some of the casting had never been bettered. Fantastic interview and great news for you to have thsi interview on your channel.

"...in my imagination...places exist as a personal kind of reality..." Well said. I still remember feeling a kind of almost phisical pain because Middle Earth was not real back then after seeing the movies and I was 15+ 😀 I still wish it was now almost 20 years later ♥️

As much as I love the Jackson films, the BBC radio drama will always be my favorite adaptation of Tolkien’s text. That came the closest to capturing the feeling of reading the book. Great interview!

My Dad and I have listened to this Lord of the Rings countless times since he first bought me the tapes for my 11th birthday, more than 20 years ago. We still dig them out and enjoy with a whisky together when we see each other. I can only say thank you to everyone involved, for a lovely masterpiece and some special memories that go with it. Dear Brian et al, thank you very much indeed for making something I have cherished.

Im stunned by this Interview. Really. Most insightful voyage into Tolkien and the amazing Brian Sibley, whose radio series absolutely nailed the very spirit of LOTR. Kudos, Brian, for taking your generous time to pass the torch, so to speak, Sir, to the next generation of Readers. Your early 80's LOTR radio broadcasts via BBC and later 'Cassette Tape' version I checked out from my local library here in Savannah. Georgia, sustained me across many a mile during my long drives from east coast us to calif. By that time I had read the LOTR as many times as my hero, Duane Allman. With gratitude for posting this Legacy interview with a true Tolkien fan and sub-creator, Brian Sibley.

Cracking interview. What a guy Mr Sibley is - so generous, forthcoming and very clearly passionate.

In 1993, my friends dad, knowing me to be a huge Lord of the Rings fan, let me borrow his cassette tape box set of the radio play when I was twelve years old. I cannot articulate the joy this play brought me. I'd never imagined anything like it. I listened to it over and over again before giving it back. Then begged my parents for my own copy, which I duly got for my next birthday! 28 years later I still listen to it a few times a year.

Still, to my mind, the finest adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. I loved the Jackson movies, but the BBC series stayed faithful to the books [with the omission of Bombadil] and a lot of the dialogue was cited word for word. It had the advantage of not imposing a visual interpretation of Middle Earth, so the listeners got to retain their own imaginings. Another fabulous interview, up there with JRD.

“You’ve got a little hobbit over there” is such a darn polite and heart-warming and overall wonderful way of acknowledging somebody’s crying baby - I’m so stealing that ✨😁

What an incredibly generous and gracious interview. You could have made four or five videos out of all this content. It’s always a pleasure to listen to Brian and his stories. A big part of my Tolkien world growing up, and still to this day as I find myself continually drawn back to that wonderful adaptation. Pleased I kept hold of both my cassette and cd versions, because as handy as Audible is, you can’t beat the physical media versions with all the artwork.

:O !!!!!! You dont know how excited I am to watch this interview. I literally listen to that BBC production EVERY day and have done for years. Its like an old friend to me now. The work that Brian Sibley did with that amazing cast(!!!) I will always be grateful for. Thank you Brian, and thank you NOTR for doing this..! Means so much

I just now noticed how long this interview is. . Bravo to both of ya

This guy sounds like a voice actor, he can speak forever no interruption, its insane. He talks about everything effortlessly, this guy doesn't even get many questions in, wild episode to watch baked, its like asmr

Brian Sibley, you have a wonderful voice and are a brilliant story teller with a rich history and many interesting friends and events in said history which add to your credibility and provides a sense of nostalgia of how things used to be done in the industry. I would one day love to meet you, since i live in Kent too I hope it could be a possibility, maybe at some event which we would both attend?

Having been a long term fan of the BBC radio drama, I tuned in with ‘what on earth could be said about the radio drama that would take 3 hours?’. And three hours later, I have my answer. Hearty thanks to both yourself and to Brian S; informative, entertaining and wonderful from beginning to end. Time to take the CD box set down from the shelf and listen once again. 👍

I have a personal connection to the BBC adaptation of LOTR, as my uncle; Christopher Scott is in it. He played The Black Rider, who utters the famous words ‘Shire. Baggins’, as well as Beregond.

This was excellent. Good job. Love the BBC Radio Drama.

Only three hours could have listened for another 3. 😀

I'm of course watching this late, but something I love about your interviews is your patience. You ask something and you let the person talk until they come full stop. You never interrupt them. It's gold. We get such wonderful stories and insights. Also, every interview I've ever watched you do, you are smiling from ear to ear like 95% of the time. Thank you for these.

When Brian expressed his admiration for Leaf by Niggle and Smith of Wootton Major, I felt so, so pleased. Those are two of my favourite stories ever told.

Thank you gentlemen.

I wasn't aware of the 1981 radio adaptation growing up. When I first got to listen to it in my 30s, I instantly regretted not having a copy of it as a kid, as it is so brilliantly done. I listen to it at least once every couple of months.

@Brian Sibley thank you so much for your passion and openness in this interview! It was such a pleasure to listen to. Despite your status in global Tolkiendom you just feel like ‘one of us’ - an enthusiastic and devoted fan! I am not old enough to have experienced your Radio Play when it was first made, but my mother had the box set on audio cassette and it was my first introduction to the Lord of the Rings, I listened to it for years, hours upon hours on end. Similar to you I have always struggled as a reader, and have always been ‘a listener’. Your production made the experience, and the magic, of Tolkien not only accessible but possible. Such a pleasure to listen to this, and thank you Matt for hosting 🌋⛰👑💍🧝‍♂️🧝‍♀️🧙‍♂️👨‍🌾🐎🐴❤️

This has inspired me to dig out my old audio tapes. Sadly I have nothing to play them on anymore! Thanks for the interview you look joyful listening to these wonderful stories and too Brian for granting an audience with the NotR and us Nerdlings.

I listened to that broadcast on the radio 40 years ago. My memory is that it was marvelous.

Thanks for this inverview. The audio adaptation is what's gotten me into radio drama. I have the CD boxset and listen to it at least once a year. No shade McKellan's way, but Michael Horden's my Gandalf.

Words cannot express how thankful I am to listen to this story. It's something I think Tolkien wished for more than anything for people from far and near to connect over such a lovely and well written tale.

The LOTR bbc dramatization is an absolute treasure. Thank you so much for this interview!!

So wonderful to hear this story. I've had the complete radio play for decades. It resides on a flash drive in my car today.

Superb interview-3 hrs of rolling entertainment.

Brian would be an elven scribe at Elrond's court, who helped Bilbo bring The Red Book to life!

What a wonderful - conversation? - interview. I remember making sure I was in my room every Sunday lunchtime 40 years ago to press the buttons on my radio-cassette recorder for the next episode! How good to hear the discussion about the music in the BBC adaptation. I loved the ballad for the Pelennor Fields and the beautiful violin which captured the countryside of the Shire on a warm day. I still remember the ride of the Rohirrim into the East - "hoofbeats afar sank into silence". Wonderful! Thank you so much both of you.

I love this interview! I bought the audible audio books of the 3 bbc lotr broadcast. I love them so much, thanks, Brian.

What an absolutely brilliant interview! Brian Sibley is a treasure, and your gentle questioning and, in general, unintrusive presence allowed him the floor to say whatever he wished. He had such a great raft of tales and experiences. That three hours seems like a minuscule portion of the stories that he could convey, if given the time. Thank you for the interview and thank you to Mr. Sibley for allowing us a brief glimpse to his life experiences. The BBC audio play was something I listened to decades ago shortly after it was released and remains a wonderful memory. I’m so glad it was produced!

I am so grateful to Sibley and co. for the radio adaptation. It captures something of the essence and 'feel' of the books that no other version has managed to do. Butterburr is just note-perfect and Nighy's Sam is so alike the Sam i first encountered in Danish translation as a 10 year old. The melancholic tug of the Gil-Galad ballad is just wonderful. I also concur with Tolkien scholar Christina Scull that it is a "masterly adaptation", which stayed faithful to Tolkien's story, presented most of the characters "as he depicted them", and especially "caught the spirit of the books". Scull felt that her "happiness with the BBC production made [her] even less happy with Jackson['s films] than I might have been without it", disliking the films' additional material, violence, and "the weakening of almost all the characters". My sentiments to a T. In her view, the BBC dramatisation presented "the characters I [met] in the book", whereas the film version did not."

Having commented through listening to this superb interview, can I just take a moment to say thank you so much to you both. My husband and I have long ago worn out our original cassette box set, then the Cd box set. Now it’s a digital copy. We have re listened to it more times than any other film/entertainment of any description. It will remain our comfort blanket on winters nights,a shared love for over 33 years of marriage and friendship.

This interview was a great source of wonder- I remember listening to the first airing on BBC Radio 4, I was hooked. I was later sent the box tape set by my brother. I also had no idea that The Hobbit was nearly not P Jackson’s work. Furthermore thanks for mentioning why Bombadil was omitted- totally makes sense now. As much as I quite like the films , I always felt, understandably, that they omitted certain key elements of Tolkien’s message such as sitting around a fire, gregarious moments, walks in the woods and hearty breakfasts... However, that’s not going to sell at the box office is it. Two major disappointments with the films are , the Shire itself, to me personally it lacks the ‘hamlet England’ look- and looks a bit like Telly Tubby Land. Also the Prancing Pony lacks the look and atmosphere of a welcoming inn. This was salient to the book and well captured by Brian in his adaptation. I say this as much of my childhood was spent around various family homes in Essex that were often over 500 years old with villages and pubs to match.

What a fabulous interview. Brian is so generous with his time and memories.

The man behind the greatest Lord of the Rings adaptation known to man. I really should listen to it again, maybe I'll start tonight.

This is wonderful! Brian is a delight!

Listened to this on a cross country trip from Seattle to Richmond. Great production , actors etc. thank you!

2:55:46 “So all of these things are just fed out of these discoveries and joys of my early youth.”. And that is, in my opinion, the secret to greatness … to follow one’s joy! This was a wonderful chat! Thank you both so very much!

Could listen to Brian talk all day. Especially being British, so many names and reference he brings up just fantastic stuff.

The BBC audio LOTR and the movies make the perfect companion pieces to each other. Both used their respected medium (radio and cinema) to maximum effect. Both are excellent!!!

Matt, I finally finished this. Have been watching it in parts as I went about life lately. This was utterly fascinating! What a joy it was to listen to him discuss how the dramatization came to be, the marvelous tales of Christopher Lee, his perspective on the movies and being there and so much more. Magical. Thank you.

This is amazing

How did I just now see this?!? What an honor to meet with Brian Sibley. I absolutely LOVE the BBC production! I bought it on CD back in the day, and now own it digitally too

BBC's The Lord of the Rings (1981) is the most incredible audiobook I ever listened to in my life. I got it in a fantastic CD box set twenty years ago and ive listened to it more times than i can remember. Im an illustrator and i have dozens and dozens and dozens of fantasy artwork created while i was listening to this Sibley´s work. An absolute masterpiece. The acting was incredible and the soundtrack was just beautiful. Now...Im going to listen to it again. :)

My father was in the US Air Force when I was a kid. We were stationed in Mildenhall England in '81. I remember sitting next to the radio every week listening to the show. Wonderful memories.

How wonderful, going to listen to this in full tomorrow. I literally have no idea how many times I’ve listened to this series, one of the most formative bits of media in my life. Thank you for putting this together!

A truly delightful interview!

This is a fantastic interview. The radio dramatisation was my first introduction To Tolkien, my father had recorded them onto cassette when they first aired and I wore the tapes out listening to them continuously. And eventually I went on to read the books when I was around 10 or 11 years old. And even when I read the books now it’s still the voices of the radio version that I hear in my head. Brian is a wonderful and insightful person and I would love to meet him myself one day.

I can not describe how much joy this brings me. Love love love this interview ♥️🙏

I just discovered your channel and this interview of 2 years ago. To me it's like being a fly on the wall just listening to a man and his memories. Excellent !

The Gollum in this version is absolutely insane as well as the Gimli and the Gandolf and the Frodo and everyone! and especially Aragorn.

What an absolute treat, great to hear the story of the BBC adaptation. I was 11or 12 when I first heard it, and recorded it from R4 on Sunday lunchtimes. I listened to it over and over, it was such an inspired choice of cast, and it will always be the definitive version for me. I'm nearly 50 now, and have gone through various sets of the adaptation over the years, and still regularly listen to it. Thanks for the memories, time to dig it out again I think 🙂

For those wanting to experience Peter Cushing's film work, you can't go far wrong seeking out: Dracula (1958) (aka The Horror of Dracula), The Curse of Frankenstein, Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (in which he plays Osric), Dr. Who and the Daleks, Star Wars, Tales from the Crypt, and BBC TV's 1954 version of George Orwell's 1984.

Thank you for this! I adore the BBC radio production and listen to it every night - truly. Sir Robert Stephens will always be Aragorn to me!

I got a cassette collection of the BBC series when it was first released (the UK version -- special ordered to the U.S. -- it had a cool illustration of Gandalf and the Balrog facing off on the bridge)... It was a Christmas gift; and it was the best Christmas of my childhood. I listened to it again and again... It was SOOOOOO AMAZINGl. I always get excited when I encounter the likes of Ian Holm, Gerard Murphy, Michael Hordern, Robert Stephens, and Bill.Nighy... Whenever I hear those voices, it brings me right back to my childhood bedroom when I first heard it.

Yay another interview , been a while !

This was utterly fantastic. I very much enjoyed listening to anecdotes regarding my favourite lotr cast and indeed favourite presentation.. the beeb radio version. Peter Woodthorpe forever!!!

I discovered the Radio adaptation last year. I've read the book maybe 10 times, enjoyed the films and the Bakshi animation but I think the BBC version is probably the best adaptation of the books. It's also clear that this interview is almost as epic as the book!

Wow, I finally get to see an interview with the man who helped shaped my childhood. I remember painting Warhammer miniatures whilst listening to the BBC LOTR on audiotape...perfect Sunday afternoon for me.

What a great interview! What a lovley and polite person. You both made my Sunday :) Greeting from Germany

Once again Matt, thank you so much for this amazing content. You never let us down.

My family was given the full tape recording set in the early 80s. I listened to it many many times over the years. Incredibly well performed from what must have been a very challenging edit. Sibley is quite talented. His work on this project let me know something of what a creative mind could do. I know if didn't originate TLOTR but he made it accessible to an audience who were busy running about with other matters underway. Thank you. The good works I do now were influenced back then.

Thank you so much for bringing all these wonderful and interesting people with all their (and your!) great insights and experiences closer to us!

Can’t believe I listened for the full 3 hours that’s insane. The stories of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are by far my favourite part, especially since we will never see their like again.

No need to interview, Just press the start button and listen, a hidden jewel of an interview that probably only KZfaq would have the space for, great job.

Fantastic interview- I read the Lord of the Rings when j was 11 and 2 years later the BBC radio dramatisation was aired - to say it made a huge impact on me would be an understatement- I remember recording it on a Sunday lunchtime on my dad's old clunky huge cassette player and doing a second recoding on a Wednesday night! I spent all my teenage years listening to those old cassettes. I taught myself calligraphy from Tolkiens maps and saved up to replace my falling to buts paperback with 3 hardback volumes followed by the Silmarillion, the Hobbit and anything else by Tolkien. I wrote my own poetry (badly!) and refused to study anything other at university than English Literature purely because all i wanted to do was read!! in my 30s I treated myself to the BBC dramatisation on cd and now at 54 I still listen to them. For me this radio version is the definitive Lord of the Rings - I have trouble remembering things I did yesterday but I know every single word of every episode and as for the songs and the musical score - nothing comes close to their excellence. The films are amazing but nothing will ever equal the BBC radio version. It takes me back to a time of being a very happy only child, sitting in my bedroom with my beloved cat Timmy on my lap with nothing more to worry about than the cassette tape getting snarled up and not recording the precious episodes!! Thank you Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell and everyone else concerned for creating something epic that has given me a lifetime of pleasure that never dates and is as fresh today as it was in 1981 - and I love every single song but if I had to choose ..... Bill Nighy as Sam singing 'Gil Galad was an Elven King' still brings tears to my eyes. Thank you so much ✨️

Fantastic interview. Thanks to both of you.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you for such a great interview. Brian Sibley is a true gent!

Of all the actors, Peter Woodthorpe to me was the best in his character. Although when I was reading the trilogy to my daughter and I got to "Fool of Took!" I couldn't resist to try my best Michael Hordern :-)

I absolutely loved this interview. His adaptation is my absolute favorite of any medium. What really endeared me to him was hearing him say they The Once and Future King was his favorite book and how it had such a big impact on him. That has been my favorite book for about 20 years now and I’ve gone back to reread I believe 5 times so I was super thrilled to learn of his radio adaptation of T.H.White’s masterpiece. By the way- I’ve listened to it and it does not disappoint. I couldn’t tell for sure but it looked as though Matt had not read it and I hope that he along with many others was inspired to read what I consider one of literature ‘s Crown Jewels. Let’s put it this way- if I had to choose a handful of books to be launched on a satellite into space ( just think Carl Sagan and the music records they sent with Voyager) then I would have to pick Once and Future King/ LOTR ( of course) One Hundred Years of Solitude/ and For Whom the Bell Tolls. I couldn’t include Dune because I wouldn’t be able to send just the first one and would have to pick the first four ( after God Emperor they just drop off in quality sadly) so I would just pick those 4 to represent humanity. Perhaps the gospel of John could be snuck in there too. Anyway I hope that Matt has listened to Sibley’s adaption which is very good considering that it’s a book that certainly doesn’t lend itself to any kind of adaptation and would be as daunting as LOTR in my opinion- this is not due solely to the length of the book but the highly unorthodox telling of the story. One Hundred Years of Solitude is another that seems very difficult ( in that book’s case, downright impossible) to adapt in ANY WAY that wouldn’t butcher the original work

An excellent interview, very skilfully conducted if I may say so. Thank you very much. I have one regret however, and that is the absence here of an account from Brian Sibley of Stephen Oliver's wonderful musical score for the series. Sadly, Stephen died 11 years after he wrote it aged just 42.

Matt, I have only come across your channel recently, but as a fellow Tolkien nerd, I'm so glad that I did! This is a great interview - I love the radio adaptation - so great to hear Brian Sibley talk about it and other Tolkien matters. I look forward to your future podcasts - keep up the good work - great stuff! Respect from the UK

Mr. Sibley looks great! I'm off to find the radio drama now. :-)

Peter Cushing indeed is infamous for being the kindest, most gentle, generous, and non egotistical of people...if you can be infamous for lovely modesty. Though he lived very quietly in Whitstable, the town was keenly aware of, and proud of, him.

These interviews are superb 😊

Fantastic conversation. I still have copies of Mr Sibley's LOTR Movie Guides from nearly twenty years ago. He has so many great memories!

I normally find zoom interviews frustrating but this was excellent. Brian Sibley seems very willing to talk, and your occasional prompt is all that's needed. Well done for sitting back and letting him show us what an 'all round wit and raconteur' he is, without feeling the need to take control. And thank you for sharing so much in one lump - I've been enjoying it for days.

Awesome interview. I first heard Brian's adaptation of LOTR in the early 80`s after first reading the books and found it an inspiration. Loved the details he gives about the world of middle earth as well as his experiences with working with people connected with the stories and in films generally. His stories about Peter Cushing sound so real and I`ve never seen anyone have a bad word for Mr Cushing.

The BBC radio adaptation of the LOTR is absolutely fantastic. One of the best things ever done.

I had such a great time listening to his stories. 👍👍👍 I myself have never listened to the radio drama. So I will do now, for sure😁 The very first piece of LotR anything that I owned was his behind-the-scenes/tie-in book for the first movie. Got it 2 days after I watched the movie. Still have it and flip through it every now and then~ interesting to get to know the person that the name on that book belongs to. Thank you for another great interview😁👍

Now that I have finished the whole video all I can say is thank you. Three hours just flew by.

Yes we were the generation you taped from Radio shows. I think this radio show really ignited a fire in Tolkien interest in the UK and beyond!!