Louise Jury writes: Some 260,000 people are expected to see the new ‘Lord of the Rings’ exhibition – but critics say it is further evidence of dumbing down. Devotees of The Lord of the Rings will think they have died and gone to Middle Earth. From today, hundreds of props, costumes and gadgetry from the epic production of the J R R Tolkien trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson, go on display in a £750,000 show in London. What critics were asking yesterday was how this Victorian spirit of intellectual improvement could be reconciled with a self-conscious blockbuster exhibition based on a fantasy movie already seen by a global audience of millions? [More]