Saruman than in their equivalent books, and he appears in several scenes that are not depicted in Tolkien's work. In the films, Saruman is depicted presenting himself outright as a servant of Sauron. Smith and Matthews suggest that Saruman's role is built up as a substitute for Sauron—the story's main antagonist—who never appears directly in the book. Jackson confirms this view in the commentary to the DVD. They also suggest that having secured veteran British horror actor Christopher Lee to play Saruman, it made sense to make greater use of his star status. Despite this increased role in the first two
The Lord of the Rings reader surveys. In the 2003 "Big Read" survey conducted in Britain by the BBC, "The Lord of the Rings" was found to be the "Nation's best-loved book". In similar 2004 polls both Germany and Australia also found "The Lord of the Rings" to be their favourite book. In a 1999 poll of Amazon.com customers, "The Lord of the Rings" was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium". "The Lord of the Rings" was awarded the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award in 2009. Although "The Lord of the Rings" was published in the 1950s, Tolkien insisted that the One