1972 Farmer Giles of Ham (Geoffrey Banks)

Release Date: 1972.12.27
Reader: Geoffrey Banks
Language: English
Writer: Bertha Lonsdale
Organisation: BBC Radio 4
ISBN: n/a
Duration: ~55 minutes
Unabridged: n/a
Country: UK
Licenced: Yes
Formats: Broadcast only

One of the few professional audio treatments of Tolkien’s works produced during his lifetime (Tolkien passed away just nine months after this broadcast). Produced at the BBC North studios in Manchester by Herbert Smith and broadcast in two parts. The abridged script was written by Bertha Lonsdale. 4D Special was a dedicated Christmas-period strand. In 1972, this series featured a variety of literary adaptations designed to fill the mid-morning gap for children home on school holidays.

Geoffrey Banks (1921–2008): A regular of British radio and theatre, particularly in the North of England. He had a long history with BBC Manchester, often reading for Story Time and Woman’s Hour.

Bertha Lonsdale was a prolific BBC writer and abridger based in Yorkshire. Her script focused on the comedic timing of the dialogue, especially the exchanges between Giles, his dog Garm, and the giant. Due to the short running time, Lonsdale had to trim some of the more dense philological jokes and mock-historical footnotes that Tolkien included in the text.

Sadly there are no known recordings of this series as the BBC did not usually retain recordings at this time and no off-air recordings are known to exist.