Return of the Jedi_ The Original Radio Drama

Return of the Jedi was a six-part radio adaptation of the original film, Return of the Jedi produced in 1996 and broadcast on National Public Radio in the US.

It is the third series of the expanded radio dramatization of the original Star Wars trilogy. The first two radio series, Star Wars (1981) and The Empire Strikes Back (1983), were produced and broadcast by National Public Radio as part of NPR Playhouse.

Return of the Jedi was made by HighBridge Audio, the company that had released the first two series on tape and CD. It used many of the original radio cast, though Joshua Fardon took over as Luke Skywalker and Arye Gross took the role of Lando Calrissian. Ed Begley, Jr. was the voice of Boba Fett and Ed Asner, speaking only in grunts, guest-starred as Jabba the Hutt. Scriptwriter Brian Daley died before the series went to air.

The series was made with the full cooperation of George Lucas, who donated the rights and allowed the use of sound effects and music from the films. They are part of Star Wars canon within its Expanded Universe.

Because the Return of the Jedi audio drama was released thirteen years after the film it was based on, it gave Daley the opportunity to incorporate multiple references to the Expanded Universe that had been established up to that point, such as Mara Jade appearing as Arica in Jabba's Palace from Tales from Jabba's Palace, and a number of references to material appearing in the Shadows of the Empire novel. There is an extra scene with Luke building a lightsaber in Obi-Wan's old dwelling on Tatooine. There is another brief scene added where Fett and Solo exchange words in Jabba's dungeon.