Return of the Jedi (radio)

Return of the Jedi is a six-part radio adaptation of VI, the third of the Star Wars radio dramatizations adapting the original trilogy. The drama was produced by HighBridge Audio, the company that had released the first two series on tape and CD, in association with Tom Voegeli Productions and NPR's L.A. Theatre Works. It was broadcast on National Public Radio in the US over six weeks in late 1996.

The drama came more than a decade after the first two radio series, Star Wars (1981) and The Empire Strikes Back (1983). Federal funding cuts had made it impossible for NPR to produce the third installment of the trilogy, but strong sales for recordings of the first two dramas convinced HighBridge to produce a new radio adaptation. Once again Lucasfilm donated the rights and allowed the use of the film's sound effects and John Williams' musical score. Most of the cast and crew from the first two dramas were able to return, with the notable exception of Star Wars film actors Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams, whose roles had to be recast. The script was the final project for veteran Star Wars writer Brian Daley, who died the day that recording wrapped up. As with the other radio dramas, Return of the Jedi adds new scenes and dialogue to material adapted from the film, including multiple references to the growing Star Wars Expanded Universe.

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