Philippa (cont.): … and that’s what we were wanting to honour there, and that was the moment to do it.

Peter: I always loved this scene in the book where Frodo wakes up and finds that Gandalf is beside his bed, and we experimented with different ideas of whether or not we know how Gandalf escaped, because obviously the last time we saw Gandalf, he was imprisoned on top of the tower, so, you know, to see him here is a little bit of a shock; but we thought we should do what Tolkien did in the book, which was to basically have him turn up as a surprise, and then to explain how he got there. Of course, in the book, Tolkien does a lot more, because we don’t even know that Gandalf was imprisoned, even, at this point in the book, and we find out the whole story later; so we, sort of, split the different [?]. (beat) [Flashback to Gandalf and Saruman atop Orthanc] This was a scene that was shot after Christopher had had an accident with his hand: he’d actually badly smashed up one of his fingers in a hotel room door slamming shut on his left hand, and so, if you look at this stuff, Christopher’s left hand is always down by his side. He’s holding a staff with one hand because he couldn’t actually hold it with his damaged hand. (beat) Gwaihir the Eagle, which is another great image from the book. I always wondered… I don’t –. Does Tolkien ever explain why they don’t just get Gwaihir back and fly to the Crack of Doom and drop the Ring in the Crack of Doom from the… sort of, using the eagle?

Philippa: Yes he does.

Peter: Oh, does he?