Andy Serkis, renowned for portraying the role of Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings, is slated to narrate a new audiobook series of the legendary J.R.R. Tolkien novels.

“Walking back into Middle-Earth over 20 years after my first life-changing adventure there and experiencing it all over again — this time for many weeks alone in a sound booth — has brought in equal measures of pure joy, sheer madness, immense pleasure, and a level of psychological and physical fatigue I have never quite experienced the like of before,” Serkis said in a statement.

“Having now completed the quest and been ‘there and back again… again,’ I realise what a phenomenal privilege it has been to have had the opportunity to read this sublime work once more.

“My only hope, now, is that I have done it justice, and that the listening experience conveys the power and beauty of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece.”

During the first coronavirus lockdown, Serkis raised an impressive £280,000 by reading The Hobbit in one sitting as part of a charity readathon. It took the actor just under 11 hours to finish the book, and he was watched by more than 650,000 people. The money raised will be split evenly between NHS Charities Together and children’s charity Best Beginnings, of which Serkis is an ambassador.

Pre-orders for the three new audiobooks are available now here, here and here.