Star Wars (radio)

The thirteen-part radio adaptation of the original Star Wars film is known as Star Wars. This was the first of the Star Wars radio dramatizations that adapted the original trilogy for radio. It was brought to life in 1981 by National Public Radio as a segment of their program, NPR Playhouse. The concept of adapting Star Wars for radio was the brainchild of Richard Toscan, who also served as executive producer. George Lucas fully cooperated in the series' creation, granting rights and permitting the utilization of sound effects and music sourced from the movies. Brian Daley took on the task of transforming the film into a radio script, while John Madden guided the voice actors, and Tom Voegeli skillfully blended the dialogue, sound effects, and musical score. Due to scheduling conflicts, most of the actors from the film were unable to reprise their roles (for instance, Harrison Ford was busy with Raiders of the Lost Ark), but Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels did return to voice Luke Skywalker and C-3PO, respectively. Following the success of the Star Wars radio adaptation, two additional radio dramas were created: The Empire Strikes Back (1983) and Return of the Jedi (1996). HighBridge Audio released recordings of all three radio dramas.

Synopsis

The radio drama mirrors the narrative of the movie A New Hope, recounting the tale of Princess Leia's capture by Darth Vader, the unforeseen engagement of Luke Skywalker with the Rebellion against the Empire, the subsequent rescue of the princess, and the ultimate annihilation of the Death Star. The story is tailored for the auditory experience of radio. Supplementary dialogue elaborates on actions that are visually represented in the films. Radio, unlike cinema, allows for a more leisurely narrative pace, which enabled Daley to dedicate time to fleshing out characters and delving into events that occurred before the initial film.

The initial pair of episodes - "A Wind to Shake the Stars" and "Points of Origin" - are comprised entirely of original content, while episode three - "Black Knight, White Princess, and Pawns" - commences with fresh material before transitioning into an adaptation of the movie's opening sequence. The Star Wars radio drama introduced several characters and concepts that would later be referenced in Legends stories, including a skyhopper race through Beggar's Canyon, the Subjugation of Ralltiir, and the Battle of Toprawa. Furthermore, it enriches scenes that are only alluded to in the film. As an illustration, A New Hope depicts Threepio and Artoo emerging from a locked door within Mos Eisley; the radio drama elucidates their entry into the building by portraying them as employees of a fictional maintenance company. In another noteworthy instance, while the film suggests Vader's torture of Leia, the radio episode "Death Star's Transit" explicitly portrays it.

Development

Conception

NPR was seeking methods to broaden its audience reach. Faced with financial difficulties, the network feared even deeper budget cuts in the future, especially since public broadcasting was among the areas targeted for reduction by presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. Frank Mankiewicz, the president of NPR, held the belief that reviving radio drama could attract new listeners. Toscan, a theater professor at the University of Southern California, had previously produced dramas on KUSC, an NPR-affiliated station managed by the university, for the NPR Playhouse program; he credits one of his students with suggesting the idea of producing a Star Wars adaptation. Toscan thought this could "create a scandal" - something attention-grabbing and outrageous. Star Wars, renowned for its extravagant visual effects, might have seemed unadaptable to radio. However, it also boasted a rich, innovative, and recognizable sound design and musical score that were well-suited for a radio adaptation.

KUSC's connection to the university facilitated gaining the support of George Lucas, an alumnus. He ceded the movie's rights, along with access to its music and sound library, for a mere dollar. An agreement was established to secure backing and additional funding from the BBC. Initially, an experienced BBC radio scriptwriter was contracted to pen the script. However, Carol Titelman, the Lucasfilm director who was assigned to co-executive produce the drama alongside Toscan, felt that the initial draft suffered from the writer's unfamiliarity with Star Wars. Consequently, she enlisted Brian Daley, who, despite lacking radio experience, possessed extensive Star Wars writing credentials, having authored The Han Solo Trilogy. This contributed to the collapse of the agreement with the BBC, which subsequently withdrew its support. Toscan's role then became ensuring that Daley's script adhered to a radio-appropriate approach, utilizing dialogue and sound to compensate for the film's visual elements.

Production

Daley dedicated his time between December 1979 and March 1980 in North Hollywood to writing the script. John Madden was appointed as the director in May of that year. Concurrently, Mel Sahr oversaw the casting of voice actors. Recording commenced in late June at Westlake Audio Studios in Los Angeles.

Sound design

A key strength of radio lies in its ability to engage listeners' imaginations, prompting them to create their own mental visuals. The drama achieves success through auditory associations with the movies, leveraging the subliminal power of John Williams's incidental music, Ben Burtt's sound design, and, of course, the voices of the leading actors from the big screen, Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels. Director John Madden remarked, "Anyone who has experienced radio drama can attest to the fact that a play you hear will (remain) in your mind—even twelve years later, you'll remember it vividly. And the reason for this vivid recollection is that you've actively participated... it lives in your imagination."

In Minnesota, Tom Voegeli dedicated extensive hours to blending the recorded dialogue with Burtt's effects and Williams's musical score. Employing reel-to-reel audio tape and pre-digital tools, such as a razor blade, Voegli could spend hours mixing only a few minutes of runtime.

Promotion

NPR initiated a comprehensive campaign to promote the radio series. The tagline was, "You may think you've seen the movie; wait 'til you hear it!" NPR commissioned an original poster designed by Celia Strain, depicting C-3PO donning headphones while standing before an old-fashioned microphone, thereby connecting imagery from the film with elements from the golden age of radio drama. The series was inaugurated at a special event held at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. The series' launch was deemed a resounding triumph, establishing new benchmarks for total NPR listeners, young listeners, and engagement through calls and letters.

Release

Broadcasts

The inaugural episode, A Wind to Shake the Stars, was initially aired on March 2, 1981, and subsequently broadcast weekly on Mondays for a total duration of thirteen weeks, concluding on May 25. Certain local NPR affiliate stations opted to broadcast the episodes on different days of the week. A half-hour documentary program, The Making of Star Wars For Radio: A Fable For the Mind's Eye, was initially broadcast in February to promote the forthcoming series; some stations chose to air it the week following the final episode instead.

Recordings

All three series were made available on cassette and CD in the US by HighBridge Audio; the original version retained NPR's cuts. In 1996, HighBridge released a Collector's Limited Edition of the entire radio trilogy that restored the removed dialogue.

In October 2013, HighBridge Audio unveiled two limited-edition, mp3 Collector's Volumes: Star Wars: A New Hope - The Original Radio Drama, "Light Side" and "Dark Side." Each volume includes the original Star Wars: A New Hope radio drama, an exclusive trading card from Topps, and rare audio content and interviews from the making of the radio drama.

Script

In 1994, the entire radio script was published as a book titled Star Wars: The National Public Radio Dramatization. Brian Daley's introduction to the book recounted aspects of the drama's production. The script of the first episode, "A Wind to Shake the Stars," was republished in an article of the same name in Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 2 together with illustrations and an interview with Daley.

Canonicity and continuity

Any radio scenes not appearing in the original film are considered part of the Legends continuity, with numerous references in other Legends stories. The 1999 one-shot comic book "Luke Skywalker's Walkabout" depicts a story that Luke tells about his childhood in the radio episode "Jedi that Was, Jedi to Be." The 2003 two-part comic arc Princess... Warrior adapts a portion of the episode "Points of Origin". The 2013 trading card set Star Wars Illustrated: A New Hope depicts many scenes from the drama that were not in the film.

Some elements from the radio drama have been incorporated into Star Wars canon. Elements from Luke and Leia's backstories are retold in the 2015 novel The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy. Artoo-Detoo's sabotage of R5-D4 was first introduced in the radio episode "While Giants Mark Time" and features in the canon story "The Red One," written from R5's perspective. The story "Verge of Greatness" incorporates a subplot from the radio drama centering on Admiral Motti and Grand Moff Tarkin, using some of the exact dialogue from the radio episodes "Death Star's Transit" and "Force and Counterforce." Both of these stories were published in the 2017 anthology From a Certain Point of View.

Episodes

Media

Editions

Credits

Cover gallery

Sources

Notes and references

External links

Appearances