The Peter Jackson movies have reinvigorated interest in Tolkein's work. A special announcing the same aired on BBC Two from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The other novels in the top five list were Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling.

750,000 votes have been received for The Big Read Top 21. Of the 21 novels in competition The Lord of the Rings received 23 per cent of the votes. Pride and Prejudice and His Dark Materials received 18.1 per cent and 8.4 per cent respectively.

BBC Two Controller Jane Root was quoted in an official release saying, "Our ambition for The Big Read was to excite people of all ages about a wide variety of literature from favourite children's books to classic reads to fantasy novels. Over the past year, hundreds of schools and many thousands of students throughout the UK have taken part in Big Read activities and we're delighted that we're able to reward their enthusiasm with this unique donation.

"Sending one free copy of The Lord of the Rings to all secondary schools means every young person in the country will have access to the book which the British people have claimed as their best-loved novel of all time. We hope that through their engagement with this one book, many young people will discover the magic of fiction, and go on to be life-long lovers of literature."