[Mithalwen]

Thanks for this link ...... I have loved this version since I heard it's second broadcast just after I first read LOTR - I managed to buy it a couple of years ago having worn out my tape of the music!!! Bilbo's last song and A Elbereth Gilthoniel I love especially .... Only thing that grates is Aragorn particularly in the early scenes - I think Viggo is much better at showing that Aragorn could be perceived as a dangerous outlaw......

However the main strength is surely the Frodo / Sam combination which I think is superb and so much better than in the film... Ian Holm is surely a latter day hobbit... and Bill Nighy who is having a amazing surge in his career at the moment (Bafta for Love Actually,I capture the castle, Shaun of the Dead, just about everything on Britiush T V) seems much more resourceful and feisty and closer to the book.....

Sir Michael Hordern (Gandalf) as well as Shakespeare was probnably best known for being the voice of Paddington Bear.

Peter Woodthorpe was a police pathologist in the early "Inspector Morse"

Peter Vaughn "Denethor" seemed to specialise in sinister characters "Bleak House" and "Porridge"

Richard O'Callaghan made 2 Carry On films - strange but true...

David Collings (Legolas) had a few, usually minor film roles Delius, 39 Steps, and is seen occasionally on TV but is still heard frequently on Radio 4 drama,,,his voice is so distinctive...... However he has acheived cult fame as the voice of "Monkey"

Several of the surviving minor chars / regular extras also crop up on Radio 4 on a regular basis.

The non-cast singers have all had successful carreers - David James (counter tenor) as a member of the Hilliard Ensemble who collaborated with Jan Gaberek of Officium (Amazing stuff)

The treble Matthew Vine is now coming to the fore as a tenor .....adult voices not maturiong till mid thirties!) whereeas Oz Clarke the baritone is now best known as a TV wine expert....!!!!

Sadly the composer Stephen Oliver died from AIDS in 1990 - Oz Clarke sang at his funeral.