Star Wars - The Original Radio Drama

By George Lucas, Brian Daley

Subjects: American Science fiction plays, American Radio plays

Description: Star Wars is a 13-part (6½ hour) radio serial first broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981. It was adapted by Brian Daley from the original film, and directed by John Madden, with music by John Williams and sound design for Lucasfilm by Ben Burtt. The series fleshes out the storyline by adding a great deal of backstory that had probably been created but not used by Lucas. Examples include: Princess Leia obtaining the Death Star schematics and her initial encounter with Darth Vader; 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; the skyhopper race that results in Luke's vehicle being damaged (seen in the movie in the background of his Tatooine garage); and Vader's interrogation of Princess Leia (a controversial scene for its intensity). The episodes were entitled: "A Wind To Shake The Stars" "Points Of Origin" "Black Knight, White Princess, And Pawns" "While Giants Mark Time" "Jedi That Was, Jedi To Be" "The Millennium Falcon Deal" "The Han Solo Solution" "Death Star's Transit" "Rogues, Rebels And Robots" "The Luke Skywalker Initiative" "The Jedi Nexus" "The Case For Rebellion" "Force And Counter Force"