Just in time for Christmas, WDR has a special gift for Lord of the Rings fans: 4 hours of an almost forgotten fantasy adventure are now available to listen to in the audio library.
Younger fans of The Lord of the Rings sometimes find it hard to believe that before Peter Jackson’s cinema trilogy, others had already taken on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy. Thanks to WDR, the ARD audio library has the proof today: A four-hour audio drama The Hobbit takes fans there to Middle-earth.
21 years before the Lord of the Rings films: stream 8 episodes of the fantasy epic for free
In 8 episodes you can hear the dangerous and touching journey of Bilbo Baggins (Horst Bollmann), Gandalf (Bernhard Minetti) and their dwarf friends to the Lonely Mountain, where they encounter the nefarious dragon Smaug (Benno Kusche).
Watch the trailer for Peter Jackson’s first The Hobbit film here:
The four hours of fantasy adventure are available exclusively in the ARD audio library until January 24. The German radio play dates from 1980 and was directed by Heinz Dieter Köhler and Christoph Pragua.
Stream The Hobbit now as a radio play podcast in the ARD Audiothek
For more information on the cast or an overview of the most important characters, visit the WDR website. The radio play adaptation followed just a few years after the animated The Lord of the Rings film from 1978.
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