Martin Freeman: Utterly Perfect in this New TV Spot for The Hobbit

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There’s less than a month to go until Peter Jackson’s epic Hobbit trilogy arrives in theaters with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  As the movie marketing machine ramps up, Hobbit mania is surely going to engulf us all – there may be a couple of new arrivals around the office here, as part of the countdown to this important day – so there will be no shortage of new promotional footage, interviews and other goodies to flail over in the coming days.

Like this new TV spot, for example. This new scene snippet not only provides a handy window into the film’s plot for those who are unfamiliar with the Hobbit story, but gives us our best look at Sherlock star Martin Freeman’s performance as Bilbo Baggins to date. Spoiler: He is perfect.

No, really he is perfect. This TV ad may only be thirty seconds long, but it’s more than enough to convince most die-hard Tolkien aficionados that director Jackson was quite right to rearrange the entirety of the Hobbit production schedule to get Freeman in this part (they had to build three months off for Freeman into the shoot because the actor had to go film Sherlock Series 2).

He’s so perfect, it’s almost okay that The Hobbit is probably also a big reason Sherlock Series 3 is taking so long to get made.  (The Hobbit has been one of my favorite books since I was a kid; Freeman is basically everything I pictured Bilbo being in my head. Sorry, Ian Holm, you’re fantastic too – just not this fantastic.)

In case you need more Hobbit goodness – you can find even more TV spots here, here, here, here and here.  And if you’re a local, a bit of exciting news – it’s confirmed: the Smithsonian will be showing The Hobbit at the Airbus Smithsonian IMAX theater from December 21st


Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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