Gulliver’s Travels on TV and Radio

The original book was written by Jonathan Swift in 1726, and it has been adapted for television and radio several times. Below are a list of the different versions of Gulliver’s Travels broadcast on TV and Radio both in the UK and around the World.

In 1968, The Adventures of Gulliver was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. In this animated series, a young Gary Gulliver searches the land of Lilliput for his missing father.

in 1979, Gulliver’s Travels was made into an animated cartoon in Australia and was shown on Famous Classic Tales on CBS. The cartoon starred Ross Martin as the voice of Lemuel Gulliver and it features two voyages.

In 1981, Gulliver’s Travels was made into radio drama consisting of 4 episodes transmitted from 4.10.1981 to 25.10.1981 on BBC Radio 3. The show starred voices from Frank Finlay, William Rushton, Miriam Margolyes, Spike Milligan, Percy Edwards and Margot Boyd.

In 1982, Gulliver in Lilliput, was a live-action television miniseries, and shows Gulliver’s trip to Lilliput. The miniseries starred Frank Finlay and Elisabeth Sladen and the production was faithful to the original written by Swift. It was produced by the BBC in the UK.

In 1996, one of the more famous versions of Gulliver’s Travels was a television miniseries starring Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. This version is considered to be the closest adaptation of the original. In this version Dr. Gulliver returns to his family from a long absense, the mini-series shifts between the present where he is telling the story of his travels, and flashbacks of his travels. This adaptation features all four voyages, but does not feature such original features such as Gulliver returning home after each voyage, and leaving out the original children from the book.

In 2007, the Masque Youth Theatre in Northampton performed a theatrical adaptation of all four of Gulliver’s Travels. This version was dramatised by Brian Wright and the music was written by David Stoll.