Lovely piece from 2021 by Brian Sibley about the cover to the 7th March 1981 issue of Radio Times. Sibley writes about the illustration, Eric Fraser, and his acquistion of the original artwork. Much like Jimmy Coulty's stunning 1976 poster illustration for the novel, Sibley's BBC dramatisation which was originally aired between March and August 1981 had a tremendous impact on me. (I was in my final year of primary school and remember listening to the eighth episode suring a school trip in April aboard a barge drinking hot chocolate.). Eric Fraser's illustration is another visual that shaped the way I imagine Middle Earth which is very different from the Peter Jackson movies and the dreadful Amazon tv series.
I guess then that there are four major influences on how I imagine Tolkien's world:
The novel itself. (Particularly Pauline Baynes’ cover design for the first single-volume edition of LotR published in 1968.)
Jimmy Cauty’s 1976 poster.
The Ralph Bakshi 1978 animated version (poster by Tom Jung).
BBC Radio 4 dramatisation in 1981 scripted by Brian Sibley. (Radio Times illustrations by Eric Fraser).
Here's the actual Radio Times cover (from Sibley's blog):