The Star Wars Radio Dramas: Brian Daley and the Serialization That Saved NPR
A long time ago in a radio station far, far away (actually, it was only in 1981), Star Wars hit NPR airwaves as a radio drama. Adapted by sci-fi author Brian Daley, this launched what would become a new, expanded audio-only way to experience the Original Trilogy (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi) full of new dialogue, scenarios, and performances. In the Star Wars Radio Dramas: Brian Daley and the Serialization That Saved NPR, Maria Jose Tenuto and John Tenuto deftly cover not only the challenges of adapting a blockbuster film trilogy full of special effects into an audio-only stereo format, but also the importance of Brian Daley whose wise adaptation made the Star Wars Radio Dramas a capstone in a bold career cut too short.
Weaving its way through through challenges both creative and financial each entry faced (the Episode IV-VI adaptations had 13, 10, and 6 episodes, respectively), the Tenutos do a great job giving readers a deep dive into the material while being entertaining about it at the same time. New interviews bring the nitty-gritty details to life that might surprise some (why did it take 13 years for the Return of the Jedi radio drama to come out?).
At the heart of it all is the hard work of Brian Daley (not the original writer selected for the project) who revised scripts even while in ill in the hospital. An especially moving moment of the book is when the main cast of Return of the Jedi Radio Drama record a meta “Get Well” message in character for Brian (C-3PO bitches to R2-D2 “I think [Brian] did an excellent job, but, well, I think he gave you far too many lines!” ); sadly, he passed before he got to hear it.
Now that audio entertainment is on the rise in the United States again thanks to the surge of serialized fiction podcasts and Audible Originals, one wonders if we may see Star Wars Radio Dramas of the rest of the films sometime in the future. Until that day (here’s hoping!), Maria Jose and John Tenuto’s book The Star Wars Radio Dramas: Brian Daley and the Serialization That Saved NPR is a worthy chronicle and companion to the best audio version of the Original Star Wars Trilogy.
The Star Wars Radio Dramas: Brian Daley and the Serialization That Saved NPR is available for purchase in paperback and on Kindle.