In the fourth of five special episodes to celebrate this podcast's 300th episode, focused on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, and we're diving deep into the epic finale of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King.

The Return of the King had a monumental impact on the film industry, and epic box office success, raking in over $1.1 billion worldwide. The film swept the Academy Awards, winning all 11 nominations, including Best Picture, a feat shared only with Titanic and Ben-Hur.

But it's not all awards and box office records; it's an incredible journey of characters we love, breathtaking visual effects, and the unforgettable musical score by Howard Shore, which has left an indelible mark on cinema. This episode also goes into the incredible work by Weta Workshop on the rest of the visual effects, plus the award-winning hair, make-up and prosthetics.

Peter Jackson proved unfilmable material was not only filmable, but that he could create a cinematic trilogy masterpiece with an inimitable legacy, that even he himself couldn't match again, but I’ll come back to that next episode.

This episode is Part 3 of a three-part story, as well as Part 4 of a five-part group of episodes. You probably should take a listen to the previous episode(s), if you haven't!

I would love to hear your thoughts on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [Part 4 of 5]

Verbal Diorama is now an award-winning podcast! Best Movie Podcast in the inaugural Ear Worthy Independent Podcast Awards and was nominated for the Earworm Award at the 2025 Golden Lobes.

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ABOUT VERBAL DIORAMA

Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em | Captivate Affiliate Link

Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song. Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe. Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!) Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio

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