1974 The Hobbit (Nicol Williamson)

Release Date: 1974
Readers: Nicol Williamson
Language: English
Translator: n/a
Organisation: Demetriou
ISBN: Release history to follow
Duration: 3 hours 36 minutes
Unabridged: No
Country: UK
Licenced: Yes
Formats: Vinyl, Cassette

A Demetriou Production recorded in 1974 with the actor Nicol Williamson reading a highly abridged version adapted and directed by Harry Usill. It had originally been planned as as 6 vinyl LP discs but it was considered too expensive to be attractive to buyers, so was reduced down to 4.

The original vinyl box set, released by Argo Records, comes in both white and black boxes however the contents are identical in each. 4 LPs and a large booklet.

Williamson is perhaps best known to fans of heroic fantasy for his much loved and applauded portrayal of Merlin in John Boorman’s 1981 Excalibur. Boorman had in 1970 been offered the chance to direct a Lord of the Rings film adaptation. Boorman and collaborator Rospo Pallenberg developed a single-film, condensed screenplay, but United Artists deemed the ambitious, costly, and “bizarre” project too risky and declined to produce it. So he returned to the Arthurian legend and reused much of the conceptual work.