When this series was first broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981, it generated the largest response in the network's history: 50,000 letters and phone calls in a single week, an audience of 750,000 per episode, and a subsequent 40-percent jump in NPR listenership. This landmark production, perhaps the most ambitious radio project ever attempted, began when "Star Wars" creator George Lucas donated the story rights to an NPR affiliate. Writer Brian Daley adapted the film's highly visual script to the special demands and unique possibilities of radio, creating a more richly textured tale with greater emphasis on character development. Director John Madden guided a splendid cast—including Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels, reprising their film roles as Luke Skywalker and the persnickety robot See Threepio—through an intense 10-day dialogue recording session. Then came months of painstaking work for virtuoso sound engineer Tom Voegeli, whose brilliant blending of the actors' voices, the music, and hundreds of sound effects takes this intergalactic adventure into a realm of imagination that is beyond the reach of cinema.

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK MOVIE FOLLOWED REBELS AND THE EMPIRE THROUGH A STRUGGLE THAT CROSSED THE GALAXY. BUT THE NPR DRAMATIZATION WILL REVEAL SCENES THE MOVIE NEVER SHOWED YOU.... The Imperials discover the planetary probe evidence that leads them to the Rebel base Luke Skywalker and Han Solo await rescue in an emergency shelter on the frozen surface of Hoth Han Solo and his first mate, Chewbacca, fix the Falcon—and demolish each other's egos Luke encounters a medical droid that could match C-3PO for politesse anytime The Rebel control room on Hoth during the desperate battle against the Imperial Walkers Luke's last-minute rendezvous with his attack wing on the surface of Hoth—without his flyer Inside Yoda's cave on Luke's first morning of training in the mysterious ways of the Jedi The ten episodes of this original radio dramatization script contain exciting new scenes and extra information on the events of the second installment in the acclaimed Star Wars series, which has become part of our modern mythology. And behind-the-scenes details of the dramatization process itself come to light in an informative introduction by the script's author, Brian Daley—-who wrote the episodes, then reworked scenes on the spot in the recording studio, creating the National Public Radio dramatization broadcast on stations nationwide. The story of The Empire Strikes Back comes to life again in these original scripts—this time with more background, more scenes—more Star Wars!

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, there came a time of revolution when Rebels united to challenge a tyrannical Empire. Experience the epic scope and power of the classic movie, Return of the Jedi, in this six-episode radio production. (3 hours)