British actor Sir Ian McKellen had no sooner arrived in Wellington than he was dropping hints about a possible return. Sir Ian, who plays the wizard Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, touched down yesterday afternoon, just hours after fellow stars Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Billy Boyd (Pippin) arrived at Wellington International Airport. [More]

He is a long way from the United States, but Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen feels right at home in Wellington, and he has the photographs to prove it. More than 150 of his photographs are hanging at Massey University’s Great Hall in Wellington for an exhibition opening this weekend. Another collection of his Wellington photographs opens at City Gallery on Saturday. [More]

At last our four heroes come back to their beloved Shire. One evening they reach the Brandywine Bridge wet and tired, but to their dismay they are denied entrance. The Shire is no longer the place they left behind. Shirriffs guard the gates and uphold new unreasonable laws, ugly buildings sprout everywhere, and there are evil Men in the Shire who are using the Hobbits as slaves. And all orders seem to come from Bag End, from the mysterious Sharkey.[More]

At last our four heroes come back to their beloved Shire. One evening they reach the Brandywine Bridge wet and tired, but to their dismay they are denied entrance. The Shire is no longer the place they left behind. Shirriffs guard the gates and uphold new unreasonable laws, ugly buildings sprout everywhere, and there are evil Men in the Shire who are using the Hobbits as slaves. And all orders seem to come from Bag End, from the mysterious Sharkey.[More]

At last our four heroes come back to their beloved Shire. One evening they reach the Brandywine Bridge wet and tired, but to their dismay they are denied entrance. The Shire is no longer the place they left behind. Shirriffs guard the gates and uphold new unreasonable laws, ugly buildings sprout everywhere, and there are evil Men in the Shire who are using the Hobbits as slaves. And all orders seem to come from Bag End, from the mysterious Sharkey.

How do the four travellers set about organising the resistance against the ruffians? How is Frodo’s reaction to the state of the Shire different from the others, and what is Frodo’s part in the scouring of the Shire? In what ways do Frodo, Sam , Merry and Pippin show how much they have developed on their travels?

We shall also look at possible inspirations for ‘the scouring of the Shire’, and compare Saruman and Frodo at their last encounter. Join us in #thehalloffire as we take a look at The Scouring of the Shire – Chapter VIII of the Return of the King.

Times:
Saturday Chat:
5:30pm ET (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]

Sunday Chat:
7:00 pm (19:00) CET
[also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]

ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian East Coast

Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at
halloffire@theonering.net

FINAL RUNNING TIME: 3 HRS 20 MIN 49 SEC

TOTAL # REELS: 10

REEL BY REEL FOOTAGE:
1) 1764+10
2) 1887+11
3) 1869+01
4) 1966+07
5) 1961+10
6) 1839+03
7) 1903+11
8) 1170+08
9) 1743+05
10) 1967+06

TOTAL FOOTAGE: 18073+08

SOUND FORMAT: SR, Surround EX, SDDS, DTS

ASPECT RATIO: 2.40 S (C)

Please note that for any territory requiring an Intermission, per the Director, the break should take place at the end of Reel 4 when Theoden says to Éowyn “And no more despair” and then come back in on Reel 5 – on ride up to paths of the dead.