Star Wars (radio)

NPR Star Wars Radio Series promotional poster

An expanded radio dramatization of the original Star Wars trilogy was produced in 1981, 1983, and 1996. The first two radio series, based on Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, were produced and broadcast by National Public Radio as part of NPR Playhouse. A dramatization of Return of the Jedi was produced by most of the same team and also broadcast on NPR.

The radio serials were made with the full cooperation of George Lucas, who, in exchange for a dollar each, sold the rights to KUSC-FM, the public radio affiliate at his alma mater, the University of Southern California. Lucas also permitted the use of original sound effects and music from the films.

Prior to new rules applied when Disney purchased the rights to Star Wars, the adaptations for radio were considered part of the official Star Wars canon. Disney subsequently relegated all previous Expanded Universe to "Legends", i.e. non-canon, status. Prior to this, George Lucas considered the radio adaptations as valid as the films except insofar as they might directly contradict them.

Star Wars: The New Hope

Star Wars: The New Hope is a 13-part (5 hour, 57 minute) radio serial first broadcast on National Public Radio on March 9, 1981. It was adapted by Brian Daley from the 1977 film, and directed by John Madden, with music by John Williams and sound design for Lucasfilm by Ben Burtt.

The program expands the storyline by adding a great deal of backstory and restoration of scenes cut from the final edit of the film. For example, the drama include Princess Leia's acquisition of the Death Star schematics, Luke Skywalker using his binoculars to observe the movie's opening battle and trying to convince his friends at Tosche Station of what he saw, a skyhopper race that results in Luke's vehicle being damaged (seen in the movie in the background of his Tatooine garage), Han Solo's encounter with Jabba the Hutt's agent, "Heater", Vader's interrogation of Princess Leia; and Admiral Motti's attempts to convince Grand Moff Tarkin to leverage the Death Star as a political tool.

Episode titles:

  1. "A Wind to Shake the Stars"
  2. "Points of Origin"
  3. "Black Knight, White Princess, and Pawns"
  4. "While Giants Mark Time"
  5. "Jedi that Was, Jedi To Be"
  6. "The Millennium Falcon Deal"
  7. "The Han Solo Solution"
  8. "Death Star's Transit"
  9. "Rogues, Rebels and Robots"
  10. "The Luke Skywalker Initiative"
  11. "The Jedi Nexus"
  12. "The Case for Rebellion"
  13. "Force and Counter Force"

Cast

Many of the actors involved in the movie were unavailable to reprise their roles. Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels returned to reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker and C-3PO, respectively.

The supporting cast included James Blendick, Clyde Burton, Bruce French, David Alan Grier, Jerry Hardin, John Harkins, Scott Jacoby, Meshach Taylor, Marc Vahanian, John Welsh, and Kent Williams. Ken Hiller provides the narration.

It was recorded in 1981 at Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood, California.[1]

When the series was re-issued on NPR several years later, it was retitled The New Hope (as opposed to the official alternate title, A New Hope), keeping in line with the subtitles of the episodes of the original trilogy films.

The Empire Strikes Back

The success of the first series led to a 10-part, four hour 15 minute series based on the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back, again written by Daley and directed by Madden. The series debuted on NPR on February 14, 1983.

Like the preceding series, The Empire Strikes Back expands on the movie's story and incorporates new scenes such an Imperial attack on a Rebel convoy taking place before the film's original opening scene and a tense conversation between Solo and Skywalker when the two are stranded in the Hoth wastelands.

National Public Radio's promoted the series in part by getting Craig Claiborne to create his version of Yoda's rootleaf stew recipe, which the Jedi Master serves Luke in the hut on Dagobah. The recipe ran in magazines and newspapers across the country.[2]

Episode titles:

  1. "Freedom's Winter"
  2. "The Coming Storm"
  3. "A Question of Survival"
  4. "Fire and Ice"
  5. "The Millennium Falcon Pursuit"
  6. "Way of the Jedi"
  7. "New Allies, New Enemies"
  8. "Dark Lord's Fury"
  9. "Gambler's Choice"
  10. "The Clash of Lightsabers"

Cast

Billy Dee Williams reprised Lando Calrissian, and John Lithgow played Yoda at the same time Madden was directing Lithgow in the play Beyond Therapy. Hamill and Daniels returned to voice Skywalker and C-3PO.

The supporting cast again included David Alan Grier and also included Sam McMurray, Steven Markle, Stephen D. Newman, John Pielmeier, Geoffrey Pierson, Gary Tacon, and Jerry Zaks. Ken Hiller provides the narration.

It was recorded in 1982 at A&R Studios, New York City.[3]

Return of the Jedi

NPR's plans for a Return of the Jedi radio serial were put on hold when federal funding for NPR was dramatically reduced.[4] However, NPR was never the producer of the radio series nor was it ever granted the rights to produce the radio adaptions nor did NPR fund any of the radio productions. Plans for a "Jedi" radio adaptation fell apart in the 1980s due to a disagreement (believed to be financial) between KUSC, Los Angeles (the producer of the two previous radio adaptations and to whom the rights were granted for production) and Lucasfilm. NPR was granted limited rights to air the two previous radio series because KUSC, Los Angeles provided the radio adaptations to NPR as part of NPR's National Program Service that allows any NPR member station rights to air the series as part of the annual dues already paid (rather than the 3rd party Extended Program Service where KUSC could have charged each station a fee for rights to air cutting out NPR). It was not until 1996 that a six-part adaptation of Return of the Jedi was made by Highbridge Audio, the company that had released the first two series on tape and CD.

Like the preceding series, Return of the Jedi expanded its story by incorporating new scenes. One depicts Luke Skywalker's constructing a new lightsaber for himself. The audio drama also introduces a dancer calling herself Arica in Jabba the Hutt's palace with the intention of later revealing "Arica" as in fact the Star Wars Expanded Universe character of Luke Skywalker's future wife Mara Jade. Jade was established to have been present there in Timothy Zahn trilogy of novels beginning with Heir to the Empire.

The audio play's adapter Brian Daley died only hours after recording had concluded; "additional material" was contributed by John Whitman, who introduced changes required for continuity with the newly developed plan for the prequels, as well as changes identified by the director and cast. The series was dedicated to the memory of Brian Daley.

The show's cast recorded a special get well message for Daley after the author left the studio, unaware that he would never hear it. The message is included as part of the collector's edition box set.

Episode titles:

  1. "Tatooine Haunts"
  2. "Fast Friends"
  3. "Prophecies And Destinies"
  4. "Pattern And Web"
  5. "So Turns A Galaxy, So Turns A Wheel"
  6. "Blood Of A Jedi"

Cast

The adaptation used many of the original radio cast, though Joshua Fardon took over as Luke and Arye Gross replaced Billy Dee Williams as Lando. Ed Begley, Jr. was the voice of Boba Fett and Edward Asner, speaking only in Huttese, voiced Jabba the Hutt. The only actor who starred in all the feature films as well as all three radio dramas was Anthony Daniels.

The supporting cast included Rick Hall, Andrew Hawkes, Sherman Howard, Karl Johnson, John Kapelos, Ron Le Paz, Joe Liss, Paul Mercier, Steven Petrarca, Jonathan Penner, Gil Segel, Nia Vardalos and Ron West. Ken Hiller provides the narration.

Other broadcasts and releases

Existing radio promos, deleted scenes, and additional music tracks are available which originated on previous releases of this collection and in the NPR broadcast versions.

International broadcasts and releases

BBC Radio 1 broadcast the series in the UK but cut a key scene in the final episode to fit the time slot.

All three series have been released on cassette tape, CD and as digital downloads and the scripts have been published as books.

References

  1. ↑ Daley, Brian. Star Wars : The Original Radio Drama, Mass-market paperback/Titan Books Ltd., 1995, p. 7.
  2. ↑ "Yoda's Incredible Herb Stew". Retrieved 2015-02-06.
  3. ↑ Daley, Brian. Empire Strikes Back: The Original Radio Drama, Mass-market paperback/Titan Books Ltd., 1995, p. 3.
  4. ↑ "Official website of Brian Daley".

External links

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