Here’s how to watch Josh Gad’s Lord of the Rings cast reunion on YouTube

The cast of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy are to reunite virtually during lockdown, thanks to Josh Gad’s online chat series, Reunited Apart. The virtual Lord of the Rings reunion is the fourth to be arranged by Frozen star, Josh Gad, using the video chat platform Zoom, for his new web series that aims to raise money for coronavirus-related charities. This comes after Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis, who plays hobbit in The Lord of the Rings, made headlines this month for an online charity live reading of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel, The Hobbit. Who will appear in the episode? The upcoming special will feature members of the original cast, from director Peter Jackson’s critically acclaimed trilogy of films released between 2001 and 2003. The films were an adaptation of Tolkien’s fantasy novels of the same name. Gad has released a trailer for the upcoming episode which reveals the episode will feature Elijah Wood who held the main role of hobbit Frodo Baggins. It will also include Sean Astin who played Samwise Gamgee, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan who had the roles of Pippin and Merry, Orlando Bloom and Liv Tyler who were cast as the elves Legolas and Arwen. Finally, Sir Ian McKellen, who played the iconic role of Gandalf the Grey will join the reunion. However the list doesn't end there, for the brains behind the cinematic adaptation, director Peter Jackson will also make an appearance alongside actors Andy Serkis, Karl Urban, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, Mirando Otto and Sean Bean. How can I watch it? The episode, titled Return of the Kings, will premiere on Sunday 31 May at 5PM UK time and can be found on Gad’s Youtube Channel. In the preview for the show, Gad is seen persuading Astin, who also appeared in Gad’s prior episode reuniting the cast of The Goonies, to invite the rest of the Lord of the Rings cast, saying: "You fought off an army of Orcs multiple times, escaped from the clutches of the Uruk-hai, wounded the demon spider Shelob, ran away from Gollum all to destroy the most powerful ring in the world. “How hard can a f***ing phone call to Elijah Wood be?" Seconds later, Elijiah Wood joins the chat, followed by the rest of the cast who all swiftly appear one by one. The preview teases fans with McKellen and Wood acting out iconic moments from the film series. What other virtual reunions have happened on the show? Gad’s new Youtube channel, specifically created to entertain people during lockdown, has so far amassed 127K subscribers, with some videos reaching 2.4 million views. Previous episodes have seen Gad reunite the cast of much-loved films such as Back To The Future, The Goonies, and Splash. What has the response been online? Gad and Elijah Wood posted the episode preview to their Twitter accounts on Wednesday (27 May) much to the delight of their fans, and fans of the film trilogy: One user replied that they had been unable to contain their excitement, writing: “Whaaaaaaaaat?!?! Ohhh my goodness!!!! So very excited, I just squealed at work!” While others admitted to getting rather emotional at the news: The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the largest movie franchises of all time, having generated a combined box office revenue of almost $3 billion (£2.5b) as well as winning 17 Academy Awards between The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.