'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - The Radio Drama' Episode Review: 'The Coming Storm'

"I'd sooner kiss a Wookiee!" (C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

The Coming Storm

Cast:

• Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) 
• Princess Leia Organa (Ann Sachs)
• Han Solo (Perry King)
• See Threepio (Anthony Daniels)
• Artoo Detoo 
• Chewbacca
• General Carlist Rieekan (Merwin Goldsmith)
• Deck Officer (Ron Frazier)
• Sentry
• Narrator (Ken Hiller)

Announcer: OPENING CREDITS.

Music: Opening theme.

Narrator: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there came a time of revolution, when Rebels united to challenge a tyrannical Empire. Now, it is a dark time for the Rebellion. 

Sound: Hoth winds.

Narrator: The freedom fighters have established a base inside the ice caverns on the frozen planet Hoth. Luke Skywalker, patrolling the Hoth wasteland for Imperial probe droids, has been injured by a savage wampa ice beast. Wandering in a delirium, nearly at the end of his endurance, he has seen the image of his Jedi instructor, and been told that he must seek further training. But Obi-Wan Kenobi's ghostly figure has faded from sight, leaving Luke alone to face the terrible Hoth blizzard. 

SCENE 2-1  HOTH EXTERIOR

Sound: Luke trudging, with Hoth winds under. 

Luke: (BREATHING HARD) Ben! Ben, come back!

Sound: Luke falls.

Luke: (GRUNTS WITH PAIN OF IMPACT) Where are you? . . . Did I . . . did I just imagine you? Getting so hard to see. . . . So cold. Dagobah. Dagobah. Was that what you said, Ben? Yoda - have to try to find Yoda. . . Yes. Yes. . . So tired. . . so cold. 

Sound: Hoth winds fade. 

"Yes. Yes...So tired...so cold." (C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

The Coming Storm is the second episode of National Public Radio's (NPR) 10-part radio adaptation of director Irvin Kershner's Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. It was written by the late novelist Brian Daley (Han Solo at Star's End) and directed by John Madden, an acclaimed British director who has worked on stage plays ("Wings"), films (Shakespeare in Love, Captain Corelli's Mandolin) and radio dramas, including NPR's 13-part adaptation of George Lucas's Star Wars. 

The episode begins where Freedom's Winter left off, shortly after Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) close encounter of the worst kind with a wampa ice creature that killed his tauntaun mount and took the young Rebel commander to its cave lair. Luke uses the Force - and his father's lightsaber - to escape from the wampa, but the fierce, cold Hoth winds and snow prove too daunting an obstacle for young Skywalker as he tries to return to Echo Base. Tired, alone and delirious, Luke collapses, but not before he sees the spectral image of his slain mentor, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Bernard Behrens).

Ben: Listen carefully, Luke. There is not much time. You must go to the Dagobah system.

Luke: Dagobah - Dagobah system. Ben . . . I don't understand. . . .

Ben: There you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me.

Daley - clearly inspired by the radio serials of the Thirties and Forties - picks up the narrative thread where he left off; when we next meet Luke, he's cold, exhausted, and wondering if the image of Ben was real...or if he imagined it. 

As Luke drifts off into unconsciousness, Daley whisks the audience to the Rebel command center in Echo Base. There, General Carlist Rieekan (Merwin Goldsmith) informs Princess Leia Organa (Ann Sachs) that sensors indicate there is something out there that wasn't there before.

"An energy source. The monitors said it seemed to be moving and transmitting as well." (C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) 

Scene 2-2  REBEL COMMAND CENTER 

Sound: Rebel command center up. 

Leia: What was it you wanted, General Rieekan? 

Rieekan: We had a signal on the sensors a few minutes ago, Princess Leia. But it's gone now; reception is getting worse in this storm.

Leia: A life-form?

Rieekan: An energy source. The monitors said it seemed to be moving and transmitting as well. 

Leia: Could it have been distortion? Or equipment malfunction? 

Rieekan: The monitors only had it on their scopes for a moment - then they lost it. They could have been wrong. 

Leia: Well, we should make sure. Perhaps we should send out a patrol?

Rieekan: Our snowspeeders still aren't ready, and sending people out in this storm on tauntauns would cost us lives. 

Leia: What do you recommend?

Rieekan: Solo and Skywalker are due back soon. They're the best men we have out there. When they return, we seal the shield doors and keep a close watch on the sensors, to see if whatever it was shows up again.

Leia: If it does?

Rieekan: Well, it will depend on when and where it does. There's not a great deal that we can do with night coming on.

Leia: I suppose that's true. 

"A death mark is not an easy thing to live with." (C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

As if summoned by the very mention of his name, Han Solo (Perry King) joins Rieekan and Leia to inform them that all the sensors are now in place and that he hasn't seen any signs of life "except some old wampa kills."  Rieekan is pleased with Solo's report, but notices that the captain of the Millennium Falcon looks "done in."

Han: Yeah, it's gettin' pretty frosty out there. But at least you'll know if somebody comes sniffin' around lookin' for this base.

Leia: We hope. 

Rieekan: Has Commander Skywalker reported in yet?

Han: No. He's checking out a meteorite that hit near him, up at the top of the ridge line. He'll be back any time now. 

As in the film, there's a discussion about how all the meteor activity in the system makes it difficult to spot approaching ships. Then, Han drops a bombshell: he and Chewbacca, his Wookiee co-pilot, are making arrangements to leave; they can't stay with the Rebellion any longer. 

Leia: Han!

Rieekan: I'm very sorry to hear that, Captain. We've come to rely on you both, and on the Millennium Falcon. 

Han: As you know, there's a price on my head. If I don't pay Jabba the Hutt what I owe him, I'm a dead man.

Rieekan: Yes, I know. A death mark is not an easy thing to live with. 

The Coming Storm depicts - albeit with several twists made necessary by the conventions of the radio serial - the fan-favorite scene in the Echo Base corridor in which Leia tries to convince Han to stay with the Rebellion without admitting that she has feelings for him. Han - everyone's favorite scoundrel - knows better. He irks the Princess by dismissing her claims that she only thinks he is a natural leader and an asset to the Rebel Alliance.

Han: Uh, uh. We both know I'm talking about. How come it's so hard for you to admit it?

Leia: Han. . . 

Han: Huh? Huh?

Leia: Has anyone ever mentioned anything to you about your ego problem?

Han: Hah? C'mon! You look so pretty when you're blushing!

Leia: You're imagining things.

Han: Am I, Leia? Then why'd you call me back? 'Fraid I was gonna leave without giving you a good-bye kiss?

Leia: I'd sooner kiss a Wookiee!

The Coming Storm also has expanded sequences starring our main heroes, including:

• Han and Chewbacca's heated discussion about the last minute repairs to the Falcon
• See Threepio and Artoo Detoo's ongoing argument about the unfortunate mishap with the heater in Princess Leia's quarters
• Han learns that Luke has not checked in yet and rides off on a tauntaun into the stormy Hoth dusk to find him
• Han rescues Luke - using the young Rebel's lightsaber in the process - and spends a long, cold night with his injured friend in an Alliance-issued shelter

(C) 198b0 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

My Take

It is not an easy task to adapt a successful movie - especially one that is known for its striking visuals, exotic (and alien) locations, and special effects - like Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.  Nevertheless, in The Coming Storm, author Brian Daley takes material from one medium (film) to another (radio) and makes it look easy.  

Brian Daley (1947-1996)

Daley was already a successful science fiction novelist (The Doomfarers of Coramonde, The Han Solo Trilogy) when Carol Titleman, then a Lucasfilm vice president, hired him in 1980 to adapt Star Wars (aka Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope) into a 13-part radio drama for NPR. To everyone's pleasant surprise, Star Wars: The Radio Drama was a spectacular success, and in 1982 Daley got the green light to write a 10-part follow-on series based on The Empire Strikes Back. 

Like the other episodes in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - The Radio Drama, The Coming Storm showcases Daley's many talents as a storyteller.

The late author (he died of cancer in 1996 just as the recording sessions for the radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi were nearing completion) did a good job with the characterizations, particularly Perry King's wonderful portrayal of Han Solo and Ann Sachs' equally impressive rendition of Princess Leia. I like the way that he uses the characters' dialog to describe the action as naturally as possible without making it seem too radio-like.

Daley sticks to many techniques used in radio dramas, including "wild lines" and adding small bits of trivial dialog to keep a character in the scene. As he wrote in the 1994 paperback of the Original Radio Drama Script for the first Star Wars series:

[M]ovies and TV can show you who's present even if they're not speaking, but that's a tougher proposition on radio.

Director John Madden, who is best known for his Academy Award-winning film Shakespeare in Love, had considerable experience as a radio director for the British Broadcasting Corporation. He gets great performances from the cast, including lead actor Mark Hamill, who originally played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars Trilogy and is reprising the role in the current Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.