SHIRE GENIUS
AS WE AWAIT THE NEW BILLION DOLLAR LORD OF THE RINGS TV SERIES, PAUL COLE GETS INTO GOOD HOBBITS IN NEW ZEALAND
THERE and back again. It’s every traveller’s tale but immortalised in the journal of Bilbo Baggins, the humble Hobbit hero of the new The Lord Of The Rings saga.
“It’s a dangerous business, going out of your door,” he used to say. “You step into the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to…”
Filming recently finished on Amazon’s upcoming Lord Of The Rings TV series, set in the Second Age of Middle-earth before the events of Peter Jackson’s movies.
Shooting of the show was disrupted with a Covid-enforced break in New Zealand and, at an estimated billion dollars, it will be the most expensive TV series ever made. The series does not have a release date yet.
But, as I discovered a few years ago, you can live the adventure for real at bucketlist attractions inspired by the Tolkien movie adaptations, although travel to New Zealand from the UK is currently off limits.
During a three-week stay in the country, I called in at Bilbo’s home, tried on his magical Mithril armour and followed in his hairy footsteps at locations made famous in the movies.
First stop, and top of any selfrespecting list, is Hobbiton itself. The film set, sited on a family farm near Matamata on North Island, is the No 1 Lord Of The Rings attraction anywhere in the world.
When Peter Jackson was searching for his Shire in 1986, he ordered photo flights across the country and chanced upon the 1,200-acre farmlands owned by the Alexander family, who lived there with thousands of sheep and cattle.
Set decorator Alan Lee commented that the location’s hills “looked as though Hobbits had already begun excavations”, and Jackson’s agents opened negotiations with the family, not telling them what they were filming.
It was only later that they were told the truth, and sworn to secrecy as work started on transforming parts of the farm ready for shooting, using heavy equipment brought in by the Army.
The work included creating the facades for 37 Hobbit holes, gardens and hedges, a mill and bridge, an inn and a 29-ton artificial oak above Bilbo’s Bag End home. The set itself would become home for 400 members of cast, crew and visitors each day during shooting.
Jackson wrote: “I knew Hobbiton needed to be warm, comfortable and feel lived in. By letting the weeds grow through the cracks and establishing hedges and little gardens a year before filming, we ended up with an incredibly real place, not just a film set”
The set used for the Lord Of The Rings films, however wasn’t built to last, and much of it was torn down after filming. But in 2010, Hobbiton was rebuilt in a more permanent fashion – for The Hobbit trilogy.
As a result Jackson was able to shoot all the new Shire scenes in just 12 weeks, while the set, by now a growing tourist attraction, was closed to the public. Such is the location that it cannot be seen from surrounding roads.
Upon arrival at The Shire’s Rest – a visitor centre and cafe – you board a small minibus to be driven into the farmland, and to the edge of the Hobbiton set. From here on in, it’s a guided walking tour filled with wonder.
Highlights of the two-hour tour include Bagshot Row, the Green Dragon inn, and Bag End, one of 44 hobbit holes now on view although it’s only possible to set foot inside a few of them, and there’s nothing to be seen anyway.
The interior of Bag End, if you’re wondering, was shot in a studio in Wellington. But the interior of The Green Dragon is all you’d hope for as you sip a pint of ale and munch on pork pie and chutney.
The Hobbit holes are set along a meandering path and our guide, Mike, explains which were used for which scenes in the movies, revealing all manner of backstage gossip and secrets along the way.
Apparently, Peter Jackson didn’t like the look of the sheep so they shipped in a different flock for filming, and he had fruit on the trees replaced by plums because that’s what they are in the books. Then there were the leaves that were entirely the wrong colour and had to be replaced.
Mike reveals that the classic scene in which Gandalf bangs his head in Bag End was completely unscripted and happened by accident – but Jackson loved it so they kept it in.
And the scene in which Merry and Pippin set off Gandalf’s fireworks earlier at Bilbo’s party resulted in real-life shrieks and screams because nobody expected them to go off just when they did.
Among the best Hobbit Holes are Bag End and the yellow-doored home where Sam settles down with Rosie at the end of the original trilogy.
There are clothes hanging on washing lines; fruit filling a carelessly forgotten basket; a beekeeper’s hat and gloves… it’s as if the inhabitants have all just nipped down to the Party Field and dropped what they were doing.
It is throughly immersive but here’s a tip. Head there early in the morning, during lunchtime or late afternoon to avoid the crowds. The quest for endless selfies by some can lead to a degree of frustration.
■ Next week – Paul Cole visits Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop