Lord of the Rings adaptations, Radio Dramas, etc..

Hello everyone!

I would like to raise an issue for debate, but I'm not sure which forum is should go under, so I'll just drop it here for the time being.

I was just perusing old polls at theonering.net, and one of the questions asked prior to the new big budget films, which was the best adaptation of Tolkien's works. Possible answers include most of the adaptations in non-print (of which I am aware, there may, of course, be others) whether they be radio dramas, films, made for t.v. movies or audiobooks. Some items are left out, of course.

At any rate the Mind's Eye radio dramas rank near the bottom of the list, which disturbs me. I am very biased towards these productions as they were some of the earliest exposure I had to the Lord of the Rings and have listened to them more times than I can possibly count. At any rate, I was curious as to what others thought of them. I have always thought that they were wonderfully adapted, produced and acted. And, although there are problems here and there, overall, I have found them to be my favorite of all the adaptations. Even the BBC radio dramas don't quite measure up in my opinion, even though they are also quite good. One of the most difficult parts about adapting for radio, at least from a listener's perspective, is deciding what to narrate and what to have the actors say, and I feel that the Mind's Eye production did a much finer job with this than the BBC radio drama. The Mind's Eye performance *is* distinctly Americanised in some way that's difficult to explain (other than the fact that they axed many of the songs), which might be where the problems arise. Also some of the actor's voices take some getting used to.

Who knows! Maybe I'm just brainwashed from many years of listening, but I would dearly like to hear other people's opinions on this.

I'd also like to throw in a plug for the Recorded Books Inc., unabridged audiobooks versions of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, which I feel is also a fantastic production for those of us with long commutes and were not listed on the theonering.net poll.

Thanks for listening!