Tales from the Perilous Realm
Four BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisations
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Tales from the Perilous Realm
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Narrated by:
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full cast
About this listen
Four BBC radio dramatisations starring Michael Hordern as Tolkien - plus a special archive compilation exploring Tolkien's life and work.
The tales in this collection all reflect an aspect of what Tolkien himself called 'the perilous realm of Faerie'. Adapted for radio by Brian Sibley, co-writer of the acclaimed BBC radio production of The Lord of the Rings, they are rich in myth, magic and adventure. Among the supporting cast are Brian Blessed, Nigel Planer, Sorcha Cusack, Paul Copley and James Grout.
In 'Farmer Giles of Ham', having accidentally shot a giant, Farmer Giles' brave reputation is tested by Chrysophylax the dragon. In 'Smith of Wootton Major', a young boy eats a piece of cake containing a silver star, and is granted access to the magical land of Fäerie. 'Leaf by Niggle' is a thought-provoking allegory of the creative process, and 'The Adventures of Tom Bombadil' features Tom and the Hobbits in scenes from The Lord of the Rings which were not included in the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation.
Also included is 'J R R Tolkien: An Audio Portrait', in which Brian Sibley draws together interviews from radio and television programmes featuring the author himself, his original publisher Rayner Unwin, his biographer Humphrey Carpenter and many others, to relate the story of both Tolkien the man and the worlds he created.
©2017 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2017 BBC Studios Distribution LtdListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Tales from the Perilous Realm
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- andy
- 23-04-21
Stella cast in this wonderful adaptation.
Tales from the perilous realm is everything you expect it's going to be from Magnificent Brian sibley.Superb adaptation of this lesser known piece. stories are in depth and curious ,with reference to days of gandalf and the shire in Adventures of tom bombadill to the .show stopper that is Farmer giles of ham voiced by the great Brian blessed..All the stories are excellent and the voice work is superb Sir Micheal hordern as gandalf is a utter delight with nigel planer ,Brian blessed etc etc. Well worth a listen..
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nigel
- 03-12-17
A book of three parts
A book of three parts; the first three stories remind me of 1980s Jackanory, but with multiple voices - stories for children.
Farmer Giles of Ham, (55 minutes)
Smith of Wootton Major, (33 minutes)
Leaf by Niggle, (34 minutes)
The fourth chapter is taken from Lord of the Rings, a scene which wasn’t included in either the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation or Peter Jackson’s films. It is okay, but can understand why it was omitted as doesn’t really add anything to the LOR story.
The Adventures of Bombadil, (54 minutes)
And lastly my favorite part, a documentary about JRR Tolkien.
JRR Tolkien: An Audio Portrait, (1hr, 50minutes)
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21 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Estell Elessar
- 24-01-22
Beautiful and engrossing
The short stories were good and presented well however what is worth more than its weight in gold is the Tom Bombadil chapter Narrated by Brian Sibley. it felt like the episode we never got and always wanted from the BBC dramatisation. the last two chapters were an audio biopic on The Professor including interviews with him, this was a lovely surprise! would reccomend for any Tolkien or literature fan for the last two chapters alone.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 16-11-20
Awsome
Its story with the hobbits, Tom Bombadil and the interviews after, all worth it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Culwen
- 03-02-20
Not quite what I expected but nice nonetheless
It feels like a mishmash. At first you will listen to the two tales which themselves don’t amaze me. Then you will hear the start of the story of Lord of the Rings. Which felt like it cut short. Then you get some haphazardly assembled comments about the author, which is nice but not what I expected.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Shelfseeker
- 16-11-20
Worth buying for Tolkien completists
I didn't really enjoy the very dated dramatisations of Tolkien's minor works, but in any case I bought this BBC-produced audiobook for the final two chapters. These comprise a turn-of-the-century radio documentary written and presented by Brian Sibley, whom most will recognise as one of the adaptors of the BBC radio drama version of LoTR. It's interesting, and irritating, to listen to the pre-Jackson conventional literary establishment perspective on Tolkien's fiction. Prof John Carey is especially infuriating in his assessment, that I'm sure he thought was even-handed, referring to the aspects of LoTR that, in his eyes, make it a book for children rather than adults. It's a familiar opinion, and a superficial one, concentrating as it does on the most superficial aspects of the book. Anyone who has read Prof Verlyn Flieger's superlative critical works on Tolkien's fiction, as well as Prof Tom Shippey's books of course, will recognise just how mistaken this kind of analysis really is. It's a great pity that Flieger was not interviewed here, though her work on the Silmarillion and LoTR was very well-known by this time. Shippey gets a couple of brief slots, but isn't given the chance really to expand on his defence. Leaving all that aside, it was good to hear short interview clips from some of Tolkien's colleagues and friends, whom I've only ever read about, e.g. his secretary, Joy Hill, who was appointed by Allen & Unwin in the 1960s to handle his fan mail. Best of all were the interview clips with Tolkien himself, most of which date from the 60s. Turn up the volume and concentrate hard!
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2 people found this helpful