In the space of about 54 minutes, with a generous helping of the original dialogue recordings, sound effects and music from the movie itself, Star Wars is retold with narrator Roscoe Lee Browne narrating the more visual parts of the action.
LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green
In the latest installment of the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Luke and his fellow Rebels are on the run from the Empire following the destruction of the Death Star. With Ben Kenobi gone, Luke has nowhere to turn for more Jedi training, until he sees an apparition of Ben on the ice planet Hoth, instructing him to seek out Dagobah and Yoda, the last of the Jedi Masters. Leia and Han, in the meantime, escape an Imperial attack on Hoth and, after a near-suicidal dash through an asteroid belt in the Millennium Falcon, seek help from Han’s old friend (and fellow scoundrel) Lando Calrissian. Luke goes to Dagobah, meets Yoda and begins his training, finding that the path to becoming a Jedi Knight is anything but easy. When Luke uses the Force and sees a vision of Leia and Han in trouble, he leaves Yoda to help his friends, unaware that Darth Vader is waiting for all of them.
LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green
On the distant desert planet of Tatooine, far from either the Galactic Empire or the Rebellion, Luke Skywalker lives the simple existence of a moisture farmer, toiling away on his Uncle Owen’s farm and trying to fit in with his friends at Anchorhead. Ever since his friend Biggs left to join the Imperial Academy, Luke’s been a bit of an outcast, and he doesn’t win many friends by beating the local bully in a high-speed canyon race. While working on the farm, Luke spots a fierce firefight in orbit of Tatooine, and tries to tell his friends about it, but as usual they blow him off. Biggs returns for a visit, and once they’re away from the others, Biggs tells Luke of a momentous decision – despite having graduated from the Imperial Academy, Biggs plans to jump ship on his first assignment and join the Rebellion.
written by Brian Daley
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsCast: Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Ann Sachs (Princess Leia Organa), Perry King (Han Solo), Bernard “Bunny” Behrens (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Brock Peters (Lord Darth Vader), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Keene Curtis (Grand Moff Tarkin), John Considine (Lord Tion), Stephen Elliott (Prestor), David Ackroyd (Captain Antilles), Adam Arkin (Fixer), Kale Brown (Biggs), David Clennon (Motti), Anne Gerety (Aunt Beru), Thomas Hill (Uncle Owen), David Paymer (Deak), Joel Brooks (Heater), John Dukakis (Rebel), Stephanie Steele (Cammie), Phillip Kellard (Customer #2)
Supporting Cast: James Blendick, Clyde Burton, Bruce French, David Alan Grier, Jerry Hardin, John Harkins, Meschach Taylor, Marc Vahanian, John Welsh, Kent Williams
The Tantive IV, a diplomatic ship from Alderaan, is forced to land on Ralltiir by an Imperial blockade. Princess Leia Organa is outraged, but bluffs her way past the Imperials, even using a keen knowledge of Imperial regulations to set Lord Tion, an Imperial officer, against Darth Vader, who has just arrived to crush a rebel uprising. Leia returns to Alderaan, where her father, Bail Organa, sympathizes with the rebellion but doesn’t wish to take up arms. Unfortunately, Lord Tion follows Leia to Alderaan, taken enough with her to propose marriage (with a side offer of Imperial protection for Alderaan), but the meeting turns sour when Tion learns that Leia and her father have not only sympathized with the rebels, but have aided them. In an ensuing struggle, Tion takes a fatal tumble from a balcony in the royal palace, and Bail realizes that Alderaan can no longer escape involvement in intergalactic affairs. He sends Leia, once again in the Tantive IV, to the planet Toprawa to steal the plans for a top-secret Imperial superweapon mentioned by Tion before his death.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
The Tantive IV makes a sudden stop in Imperial space, and two droids – astromech droid R2-D2 and interpreter C-3PO – are assigned to perform an important task for Princess Leia: R2-D2 is to act as if performing extravehicular repairs on the ship’s hull, though he’s actually receiving a secret rebel transmission containing detailed plans of the Empire’s top-secret Death Star project. Leia’s next stop is to present those plans – and a plea to come out of retirement – to General Obi-Wan Kenobi, a veteran of the Clone Wars living in seclusion on the planet Tatooine. But before the Tantive IV can make its escape, an Imperial Star Destroyer gives chase, bringing the ship to a halt. A platoon of stormtroopers, with Darth Vader behind them, boards the Tantive IV, killing most of the crew in the process. Desperate to keep the Death Star plans from being found in the ship’s computer, Leia hides them in R2-D2’s memory and instructs him to abandon ship in an escape pod. C-3PO, trying to dissuade the little droid from following those orders, winds up in the escape pod with him – and then finds himself on the surface of Tatooine. But aboard the Tantive IV, Princess Leia cannot escape capture – and interrogation by Vader.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
On Tatooine, Threepio and Artoo bicker over the smaller droid’s constant chatter about an important mission, and Threepio finally leaves Artoo to his fate and wanders aimlessly through the desert. But the droids aren’t alone – Imperial troops have tracked the escape pod to the planet and have guessed that one or both droids are carrying the stolen Death Star plans. Threepio seeks refuge in a ground-roving transport – but is then picked up by Jawas to be resold as salvaged goods. Threepio gives away Artoo’s position to the Jawas, who pick him up as well. The Jawas take their scaveneged droids and equipment to auction off at the nearest settlement, a moisture farm belonging to Owen Lars. Artoo takes the liberty of sabotaging the only other mechanic droid – an R5 unit – to ensure that he’ll be freed from the Jawas and can then continue looking for General Kenobi. Owen buys both Artoo and Threepio and then entrusts them to Luke for cleaning and repairs before they begin working on the farm. During cleaning, Luke inadvertently triggers a holographic plea for help from Leia, recorded in Artoo’s memory, and Artoo protests that the message is meant for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke suspects that a local hermit named Ben Kenobi may have some connection – but while Luke reports his suspicions to Owen, Artoo slips away from the Lars farm to continue his quest.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
Notes: Luke says that Uncle Owen once “ran Ben Kenobi off our property,” and later Owen warns Luke away from “talking to strangers about our family,” a couple of fascinating foreshadowing footnotes. Since the scripts for the Star Wars radio drama were written after the premiere of The Empire Strikes Back, more concrete hints could be dropped about the fate of Luke’s father.
Luke and Threepio leave just before dawn to track down R2-D2. They find the little droid, but quickly come under attack from Tusken Raiders. Luke escapes being killed only when a howling sound scares the Tuskens away – a sound made by Ben Kenobi, who admits that he was once Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ben takes Luke back to his secluded home, helps him repair damage Threepio received during the fight with the Tusken Raiders, and presents Luke with something that belonged to his father: a Jedi lightsaber. When Artoo replays Leia’s message for Ben, the old Jedi resolves to make the trip to Alderaan to help the rebels, but when he asks Luke to join him, Luke is more worried about his uncle’s reaction. But as he gives Ben a lift to Anchorhead to find a ship for the journey, Luke sees the first evidence that the Empire’s search for the missing droids is getting too close to home.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
With his aunt and uncle dead at the hands of the Empire, Luke accompanies Ben Kenobi to Mos Eisley Spaceport, a disreputable place where Ben hopes to find a ship to Alderaan. A space pilot points Ben in the direction of a huge Wookiee, Chewbacca, who serves as the co-pilot on the Millennium Falcon, a Corellian freighter. Ben is introduced to Han Solo, a cocky space pilot who quickly clears his schedule when Ben promises a small fortune in exchange for a ride to Alderaan. After the deal is closed, Ben and Luke go back into hiding until Solo is ready for liftoff – and Imperial stormtroopers close in on Mos Eisley in their hunt for the droids. But they’re not the only ones being hunted, as a bounty hunter named Greedo is on the trail of Han Solo.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
Luke and Ben sell Luke’s landspeeder to pay for their passage to Alderaan, while Han and Chewbacca prepare the Millennium Falcon for liftoff. Han’s urgency is now doubled after doing away with Greedo, he’ll be a higher profile target for Jabba the Hutt’s thugs, and Han is most worried about an expert bounty hunter named Heater. Just as Luke, Ben and the droids arrive for liftoff, Imperial troops raid the Falcon’s docking bay and open fire. Han and his passengers blast into space, narrowly evading Imperial Star Destroyers and slipping into hyperspace.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer arrives at the Death Star, where the mere sight of the massive battle station causes Princess Leia to say its name – proving to the Sith Lord that she knew of the top-secret weapon’s existence. When a subsequent interrogation session proves fruitless, Grand Moff Tarkin suggests forcing Leia to divulge what she knows by threatening something dear to her, and sets the Death Star on a course for Alderaan. Even when Leia gives Vader and Tarkin a location where they will supposedly find the rebels, the Death Star opens fire on Alderaan anyway, obliterating the planet completely.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
En route to Alderaan in the Millennium Falcon, Ben begins Luke’s training in the ways of the Force, starting with basic lightsaber technique and awareness of the Force. Despite Han’s teasing, Luke practices until he’s able to fend off the attacks of a remote drone while blinded by the blast shield of a flight helmet. But this small victory is short lived as Ben senses something terrible, a cataclysmic disruption of the Force. When the Falcon comes out of hyperspace, Han finds he’s arrived not at Alderaan, but in a dense asteroid field – and despite the fact that the ship has arrived at the right coordinates, there’s no planet to be found. A lone Imperial TIE fighter appears, and Han gives chase – unaware that the pursuit will lead him into the jaws of the Death Star itself.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
Ben, Luke, Han, Chewbacca and the droids hide themselves in the Millennium Falcon’s concealed smuggling compartments – and amazingly, they survive, despite Threepio’s built-in disinclination to stop talking, which nearly gives them away. Through the Force, Ben Kenobi senses a presence aboard the Death Star, and insists that he must go on alone to face it and to disrupt the tractor beam that would end any escape attempts. He leaves Luke, Han, Chewie and the droids to cool their heels in a secure area, but when R2-D2 plugs into the Death Star’s computers and locates Princess Leia on board, Luke changes the plan. After some cajoling, Han and Chewbacca accompany him on a daring raid of the Death Star’s detention block, freeing the Princess – and then plunging into more trouble in a makeshift escape into a trash compactor.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
C-3PO and R2-D2 talk their way out of Imperial capture and try to find a safe place to plug into the Death Star and avert certain doom for Luke and the others. Meanwhile, just as Ben Kenobi has sensed his presence, Darth Vader has sensed Ben’s – and sets out to meet him face-to-face. Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie manage to escape death in the trash compactor, but immediately encounter stormtroopers while they try to return to the Falcon. What they don’t know is that a duel looms ahead which will rob Luke of his mentor, but give him a chance to escape with Leia.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
The Millennium Falcon arrives at the Rebel base on the fourth moon of Yavin – a base which now has mere hours to prepare for an attack by the Death Star. Luke, still mourning Ben’s death, volunteers for a Rebel attack on the huge space station – something Han feels is a suicide mission, especially given Luke’s lack of combat flying experience. For his part, Han intends to cash in his many favors and get out of the Yavin system before the Empire starts destroying planets, and his bluntness startles his newfound comrades. Luke tries to explain that the Empire will clamp down on all trade, legal or otherwise, but Han is sure that he and Chewie can survive, and after reaping his reward, blasts off for safer havens.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
As the Rebels launch their foolhardy attack on the Death Star, Admiral Motti tries to convince Grand Moff Tarkin that, as the space station’s commander, he holds enough power to challenge even the Emperor – and despite a warning that Motti’s suggestion is treasonous, Tarkin seems emboldened by the idea, enough that he declines the option of readying his personal escape craft. Vader personally leads the Imperial TIE fighter pilots to take on the approaching Rebel force ship-to-ship. The Empire’s crack pilots whittle the Rebels down to just a handful of ships. It will take only one Rebel fighter to reach the target ventilation shaft, fire a computer-guided torpedo into it, and destroy the Death Star – and before he knows it, Luke Skywalker is that sole Rebel, and Darth Vader makes it his personal mission to eliminate him.
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John WilliamsSee the first episode for cast information.
