Truly one of the most legendary villains in film history, Darth Vader is the epitome of evil. He is the character over the years we’ve all loved to hate. But from his early beginnings as Anakin Skywalker to his rise to become Darth Lord of the Sith, he’s had many actors play him.
Starting with the voice of Darth Vader in all the films, James Earl Jones is the most memorable. Even though he’s never physically seen in any of the films, his deep sinister tone has thrilled audiences for more than 30 years. Still working at 79, he most recently was seen on House on TV, is in the stage adaptation of Driving Miss Daisy. He also has a film coming out in 2012.
Back in 1981, National Public Radio (NPR) Playhouse featured radio dramas that relied on good acting, sound effects and musical scores to tell their stories. Some of these were science fiction, but the most notable was Star Wars in 1981 and Empire Strikes Back in 1983. The films were adapted to extended episodes (13 and 10 respectively). Return of the Jedi was to be made as well, but NPR’s rocky relationship with their government benefactor at the time shelved the series. It would be 13 years before NPR would return to finish the original trilogy with a 6 part series that reunited cast and crew.
As you can imagine, having the freedom of a nine hour running time gave writers plenty of opportunity to go into some back story that had to be cut from the films to avoid going over length.
For instance, Luke’s skyhopper sits damaged in the corner of A New Hope. In the radio drama, we get to experience the race and find out how it got that way. Other extended scenes include Jabba and Han’s rocky relationship, the politics having a Death Star can cause, and even Luke telling his friends that he’d seen the battle raging above the planet, to his friend’s disbelief.
Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi had similar extended scenes. Episode V featured a pre-opening attack on a rebel convoy and an argument between Han and Luke while stuck in the tundra of Hoth as well as others. Episode VI contained more on Luke’s creation of a new light saber, and a sub story about a dancer for Jabba the Hutt that becomes Mara Jade in the books.
And while they were able to pick up a few original cast members such as Mark Hamill (Luke), Billy Dee Williams (Lando) and Anthony Daniels (C3PO), sorely missing were some of our favorites like James Earl Jones, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford (who presumably was already committed to the first Indiana Jones). The trouble with recasting iconic characters is that people have trouble relating to the new voices, especially in a radio drama where that is all you have to go on.
The biggest and most obvious cast change was James Earl Jones as Darth Vader. They looked for an actor who was Shakespearean in nature and had the deep voice required for the role. Brock Peters fit that bill, having a very similar career and vocal styling to Jones. Unfortunately, what they really needed was an impressionist. No matter how well Peters played the part, it wasn’t Vader and that hurt the adaptation in my opinion.
Other creative casting included John Lithgow (Third Rock from the Sun) as Yoda, Ed Begley Jr. as Boba Fett, and David Ackroyd as Wedge Antilles. It’s hard to imagine Lithgow playing Yoda. Was Frank Oz really that busy?
The dramas are available for purchase through outlets like Amazon.com and would make great gifts for fans interested in the extended stories of the original trilogy.
