The Hobbit The Battle of The Five

Howard Shore, who scored the first two movies in the Hobbit series, as well as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, provides the original soundtrack to the Peter Jackson film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

The Dwarves of Erebor have reclaimed the vast wealth of their homeland, but now must face the consequences of having unleashed the terrifying Dragon, Smaug, upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town. As he succumbs to dragon-sickness, the King Under the Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield, sacrifices friendship and honor in his search fo the legendary Arkenstone. Unable to help Thorin see reason, Bilbo is driven to make a desperate and dangerous choice, not knowing that even greater perils lie ahead. An ancient enemy has returned to Middle-earth. Sauron, the Dark Lord, has sent forth legions of Orcs ina stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain. As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide - unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends as five great armies go to war.

One of the most prolific and influential film composers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Germany's Hans Zimmer began his music career in London, producing and playing synths for a variety of new wave and punk bands in the early 1980s. After founding a recording studio with film scorer Stanley Myers, their work on films such as 1985's My Beautiful Laundrette fused the traditional orchestral aesthetic of film composition with state-of-the-art electronics and proved influential on countless soundtracks to follow.

Paul Murton sets off downstream to explore five rivers over six programmes from source to sea.