BBC

The BBC has been doing radio drama for 70 years and is still going strong. Unlike American audiences, the British have not tired of the listening experience; perhaps they have fewer choices of TV channels, but they do have the opportunity to hear some of the best produced radio in the world. Here, as with other archives whose series expand to every genre, I have decided to limit myself to only one in order that I might still hope to maintain a life of some kind. This is the only archive for which I am including dates (years only), since there is a vast difference in the fidelity and character of a production done in the 30's as opposed to the 90's. Shows vary quite a bit in length, so I have also noted each production's playing time as well.

Currently this archive contains plotlines for 81 shows

WEBMASTER RECOMMENDS:
An Alternative to Suicide; Hunter's Moon/The Babylon Run; Fatherland; Leviathan 99; We Can Remember it For You Wholesale

10 Light Years Away (197?) 30 min
Genre: Aliens
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A rather confused retelling of the Noah's Ark story, this time set on an alien planet facing destruction from an incoming asteroid.

2025 (1998) 2 hrs
Genre: Dystopian Future
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

Outlawed by a fearful public, bio-engineering becomes a black market commodity, the arena of organized crime, underhanded multi-national corporations, and the desperately terminally ill.

Reviews:
A complex plot, with multiple layers of story and characters interwoven in a scheme to secretly engineer genetic experiments on an old woman with terminal sickle cell anemia. A little slow-moving, but there is a lot of depth here - all the characters have a history and strong, well-defined personalities. You get the feeling this computerized, 'cyberpunk' future society has a lot of depth to it as well. My only complaint was that it wasn't long enough - there is enough raw material here for a whole series. -- Webmaster

Kind of slow and hard to maintain one's attention span, but despite that had a nice edge to it. - Bruce Fisher

A Fall of Moondust (1981) 1 hr 30 m
Genre: SF
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

A passenger cruise across the Moon's Sea of Tranquility goes horribly wrong when the cruise liner falls into a sinkhole and is buried beneath the dust. Based on the book by Arthur C. Clarke.

This production was cut into several parts and re-aired on the CBC anthology series Nightfall.

Aliens in the Mind (1977) 3 hrs
Genre: SF
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A six-part serial about two doctors who uncover a colony of mental mutants on a remote island in the Hebrides. There seems to be a conspiracy underfoot, and it must be stopped before the mutants can undermine the government - or is it already too late? Stars Vincent Price and Peter Cushing.

Reviews:
With the talents of Vincent Price and Peter Cushing this just couldn’t go wrong. The story of the sinister sect on a remote Scottish island involves murder, kidnapping, world domination and the end of life as we know it! The plot is unusual and quite good, could have been written better but is saved by the talents of the stars. -Tom Robinson

Alpha 1 hr
Genre: Super Science
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A computer so all-knowing seems to have an independent life of its own.

see also 'Colossus: The Forbin Project' (Miscellaneous Shows), 'ALICE' & 'Deadly Darling Dolores' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater)

Reviews:
This gem has become my favorite sentient AI story since I first saw 'Colossus: The Forbin Project'. Though these two stories are hardly similar, they are in the same vein, and one I particularly enjoy. I tend to like AI stories that pose a few simple direct moral/philosophical questions within a sort of timeless setting or classic set up. The more timely, or perhaps trendy, set ups and settings found in many recent AI stories go for specific, usually special case questions with lots of window dressing (and much of it already behind the curve and cliched), which often leaves me somewhat bored, overfed and feeling uninvolved. I'm generalizing of course but I was happy to discover that Alpha does the former type of story very well. I won't spoil the tale but it does contain religious elements that some might find controversial. Myself, I appreciated that because the story makes you think a little, and in this case, these elements form the perfect darkness to counterpoint the light in the story. An ultimate con and pro argument with questions of life, both AI and human, and existence in the balance.
The acting is first rate; the performances of the two principals are superb. The tone of the script and the pacing are just right. This one works and nestles into an hour perfectly. Alpha is a good choice for a gateway AI science fiction story, yet it is intelligent enough for those already steeped in the subgenre. -RC

An Alternative to Suicide (1980) 1 hr 30 m
Genre: Space Exploration
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

A low-grade technician, psychologically programmed to service aboard a deepspace explorer ship, is sent back to Earth by the 'Company' for rehab following an accident. As part of his corporate 'vacation', he is introduced to a woman altered to resemble a former lover, and when the two fall in love, he begins to question his assigned lifestyle and pursue his ultimate potential-- with serious consequences for the Company. Story by Steve Gallagher.

The April Witch (1991) 20 m
Genre: Occult
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A teenage witch inhabits the body of a young woman in order to experience falling in love. Story by Ray Bradbury, from the BBC anthology series Golden Apples of the Sun.

A Sound of Thunder (1991) 20 m
Genre: Time Travel
Availability for Listening Booth: N

Classic Bradbury tale of a safari in time back to the Cretaceous to hunt a Tyrannosaurus Rex. From the BBC anthology series Golden Apples of the Sun.

Versions of this story also appeared on SF 68, Bradbury 13, and as 'An Imbalance of Species' on Future Tense.

See also 'A Gun for Dinosaur' and 'Project Mastodon' (both from X Minus One)

The Babylon Run -see 'The Steve Gallagher Trilogy'

The Burning of the Grass (1970) 1 hr 30 m
Genre: Aliens
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A survey team from Earth arrives on an alien world, seeking mineral rights from the primitive natives in exchange for all the wonderful technological marvels of mankind. The locals, however, appear to be anything but impressed by the offer.

Reviews:
Dull and talky. The story could have been told in a 30 minute format, and might have been better off for it. You'll have it all figured out in the first ten minutes, and spend the rest of the show waiting impatiently for the characters to catch up, wondering why they are so addle-brained. The aliens didn't seem very alien, their society possessed no unique personality, and the moral behind the story is hardly anything new. --Webmaster

The Caves of Steel (1989) 1 hr 30 m
Genre: Dystopian Future/ Robots
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

In an overcrowded New York of the future, a homicide detective and his android partner must overcome social prejudice against robots to investigate the murder of an eminent roboticist, an obvious target of a ring of anti-technology terrorists. Story by Isaac Asimov.

See the CD cover art for this show HERE

Reviews:
A very faithful portrayal of Asimov's book that achieves a lot in its 1.5 hours and conveys the appropriate mood of the original story. Ed Bishop as Bailey was a pleasant surprise and he carries the character well. The use of a heavily upper-crusted British accent for Daneel Olivaw was an interesting touch though I believe a neutral accent may have been better. It was a pity that there was insufficient time for the Bailey-Olivaw relationship to build a little more. Overall full marks. - Anthony Fenlon

Childhood's End (1997) 2 hrs
Genre: Aliens
Availability for Listening Booth: N

Arthur C. Clarke's poignant SF classic about humankind's first contact, when a super-race calling themselves the Overlords arrive and rid the world of strife and suffering. Not everybody thinks a life without struggle is a good idea, and the Overlords' motives come into question when they refuse to show themselves and children all over the world begin to disappear...

Several different versions were produced by the BBC; a 5-part version was also produced for the CBC's Vanishing Point.

The Chimes of Midnight
Genre: Occult
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

A professor of cosmology purchases a very unusual clock which confirms his theories about the anthropic nature of Time in a most unfortunate manner.

From the series Fear on Four

Chimera (1985) 1 hr 30 m
Genre: Horror/ Creatures
Availability for Listening Booth: N

Genetic experiments at a lab in the English countryside produce an evolutionary throwback, a quasi-human creature which escapes and goes on a killing spree. Story by Steve Gallagher.

Chocky (1967) 1 hr
Genre: Horror
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A couple become concerned over their young son's increasing fixation with 'Chocky', his invisible friend. At first it seems a harmless diversion for him, but then Chocky starts to develop a serious attitude problem...

The Chosen (1981) 30 m
Genre: Dystopian Future
Availability for Listening Booth: N

In a distant future faced with impending social upheaval and collapse, a supercomputer makes an unusual selection from the thousands of cryogenically frozen individuals from the 20th century to be revived-- an unremarkable young woman who is apparently the world's only hope for survival.

Closed Planet (1962) 1 hr
Genre: Space Exploration
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A crippled starship is compelled to make landfall on a remote colony world, where the locals refuse to allow the crew to disembark except under the strictest control. What terrible secret are they hiding?

Corona (2002) 30 min
Genre: SF
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A blinded space dock worker sent to hospital is befriended by a super-intelligent nine year old girl who can read minds and wants nothing more than to die. Story by Samuel R. Delaney.

Produced for the short series Chillers.

Deep Station Emerald (1996) 2 hrs
Genre: SF
Availability for Listening Booth: N

The crew of a research base on the ocean floor discovers a source of cold fusion, the solution to all the world's energy problems. Elation turns to terror, however, when a series of 'accidents' causes several deaths, and a strange virus which mutates DNA is loosed--- obviously, someone on board is a killer.....

Reviews:
A whodunit which comes across much like an Alistair Maclean thriller. Tense, gripping, with excellent writing, acting, and sound effects. Beyond the idea of an undersea habitat, there is very little here that is particularly futuristic. The most unusual aspect of the story involves a manmade virus which mutates its victims into psychopathic quasi-humans, a plot device which seemed unnecessary-- the story could easily have been told without it. Nevertheless, I found it suspenseful, engaging, and well-plotted. If you're a fan of the film 'The Abyss' , you'll likely enjoy this one. -- Webmaster.

Delta Sly Honey (2002) 30 min
Genre: Ghosts
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

A mousey Army private in the Vietnam War, victimized by a sadistic Sergeant (is there another kind?) and assigned to corpse removal, is on the edge of a Section 8. His only solace is in broadcasting sympathetic messages on the radio to those killed in the fighting, whom he collectively refers to by the call sign of Delta Sly Honey . A harmless release - until Delta Sly Honey returns his call......

Broadcast on the series Chillers.

Reviews:
A tense and macabre descent into the supernatural played against the backdrop of helicopters overhead and 60's rock music. Well-acted, though I thought the dead soldiers' voices and good-ol'-boy accents seemed a little too earthbound. Nevertheless, it should hold your rapt attention to the last. - Webmaster

The Doppelganger Machine (1974) 1 hr
Genre: Alternate History
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A 1933 mail flight from France to England flies into a fogbank and emerges into an alternate timeline 40 years into the future, where a defeated Britain is a mere puppet state of Nazi Europe. Not surprisingly, the crew and passengers quickly arouse the curiosity and suspicion of the fascist authorities.

The Duneroller (1961) 1 hr
Genre: Aliens
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A meteor crashing into Lake Michigan 300 years ago means trouble for a modern-day group of entomologists engaged in field studies on the sand dunes of the lake's more remote shores. A dormant alien life form awakens and it's scattered pieces are murdering people as they attempt to reassemble.

Earthsearch (1980) 5 hrs (in 10 30 min episodes)
Genre: Space Exploration
Availability for Listening Booth: N

Returning to Earth after an extended journey in deep space, the generation starship Challenger is disturbed to find that while only110 years have passed on the ship, a million years have passed in the Solar System. The crew of 4 - the only survivors of the great meteoroid strike that wiped out most of the crew - find that the
Earth has vanished and the Moon is now in the Earth's orbit. Guided by discoveries there, they set out to search for the Earth. They find evidence of an earlier transit of the planet Paradise, which the crew had intended to colonize before the Great Strike, but the Starship's control computers, Angels 1
and 2, have their own agenda for the Challenger's crew. Story by James Follett.

Reviews:
Listened to this some time back so can’t remember all the details, but I did enjoy it. The plot is full of cliff-hangers and you are never really sure if the four humans will survive. The concept is not that new in science fiction terms but it is very well executed with the sinister ‘angels’ manipulating the humans. Might listen to it again soon as I’ve also got Earthsearch II now. -Tom Robinson

Earthsearch II (1982) 5 hrs (in 10 30 min episodes)
Genre: Space Exploration
Availability for Listening Booth: N

The Angels return to Paradise, and use the resources of the Starship to terraform it's climate, sending a great flood to drive the ship's crew off the planet by drowning all the land masses. Back on the ship the crew are forced to resume the search for Earth. The Angels use reprogrammed service androids to force the crew to
obey. But someone is broadcasting transmissions designed to destroy organic freewill computers. The Angels seek to control the crew's children, to build a 4th generation crew that will be completely subservient.

Fatherland (1997) 2hrs
Genre: Alternate History
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

What if the Third Reich survived World War II? It is 1964, and the Greater German Reich is looking to end its Cold War with the United States by inviting President Joseph Kennedy to a summit on the eve of Hitler's 75th birthday. But when the body of a high-ranking Reichsminister is dragged from a lake, a homicide detective in the Berlin Kriminalpolizei discovers clues to a conspiracy with global implications. Based on the novel by Robert Harris.

Reviews:
The concept of what the world might be like with the Third Reich still around holds a horrific fascination about it, and the world of 'Fatherland' comes across as disturbingly plausible. Harris' Greater German Reich is made even more believable by the meticulous attention to detail and multiple layers of sound (rain, windshield wipers, passing trains) and, most notably, the ubiquitous radio broadcasts of propaganda, Kultur, and German classical music in the background -- just what one might expect in such a narcissistic State. The musical cues are particularly effective, artfully employed only to punctuate key moments. It helps to have read the book-- an unacquainted listener might find themselves confused at times. The leading actor sounded a bit young for the role of a hero in his forties, and all the Germans speak with pronounced English accents, but don't let that deter you. 'Fatherland' is one of the best productions this listener has ever heard. --Webmaster

The Fog Horn (1991) 20 m
Genre: SF
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

Classic story by Ray Bradbury about a lonely lighthouse whose bass fog horn attracts a creature from the Mesozoic out of the deeps. From the BBC anthology series Golden Apples of the Sun.

A version of this story appeared on the CBC's Theater 10:30 as 'The Beast'; This story also served as the basis for the film 'The Beast from 20 000 Fathoms'.

The Freebooter (1978) 45 m
Genre: Space Exploration
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A survey ship crash lands on a desolate world where tensions among the senior officers obstruct repair efforts, and blind them to the planet's inhabitants, the last starving remnants of a race who exist only in the metallic dust of the planet and see the newcomers only as a source of food.

Ghost Train 1 hr
Genre: Ghosts
Availability for Listening Booth: N

Passengers stranded at a remote train station said to be haunted by the ghosts of a tragic derailment years before face a night of increasing horrors.

Gormenghast (see 'Titus Groan')

Host Planet Earth (1967) 3 hrs
Genre: Aliens
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A brilliant and willful scientist conceives an interstellar drive, but following the launch of the first manned mission into deepest space, mission command is plagued by inexplicable deaths and mental breakdowns. A reporter teams up with one of the scientists to investigate, and together they uncover evidence of an ancient evil spreading throughout the galaxy, which now may be infecting the crew of the returning ship.

Hunter's Moon -see 'The Steve Gallagher Trilogy'

I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream (2002) 30 min
Genre: Supercomputers
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

Following Humanity's destruction at the 'hands' of a conscious super-computer, five people are kept 'alive' in its belly for its sadistic amusement. Story by Harlan Ellison.

Produced for the short series Chillers.

Reviews:
Very confusing as to just what is going on here. It's never explained whether our characters are still human or whether their consciousnesses have been somehow patterned and imprinted within AM's circuits. They seem to be unable to die, yet somehow do anyway. This is supposed to be one of Ellison's best, but the whole thing came across as vaguely nauseating, and rather pointless, really. - Webmaster

Into the Ether (2000) 45 m
Genre: SF
Availability for Listening Booth: N

The US government is employing 'remote viewers' - people who can travel via their psyches to any location - as spies, saboteurs, or worse, whatever the cost in trauma to their 'volunteers'.

It Was on the Spaceship Venus 30 m
Genre: Humour
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A farce about a rescue mission to retrieve Earth's top soccer star from the evil clutches of the megalomaniacal ruler of Mars.

Journey Into Space (1953-56)
Genre: Space Exploration
Availability for Listening Booth: N

A highly successful, long-running trilogy about Mankind's first tentative steps into the universe.

Operation Luna (1953) Part 1: 13 episodes; 6 hrs - 'Jet' Morgan and his three-man crew set out on Man's first mission to land on the Moon. All goes according to plan until they reach the Moon and encounter a series of anomalous occurrences, that may have something to do with a very unusual nearby crater.

See the CD cover art for this show HERE

The Kite Lords (1984) 2 hrs
Genre: Aliens
Availability for Listening Booth: N

After nuclear war has left the Earth in ruins, an airborne alien race arrives to whom 'groundlings' are nothing more than a food supply to be herded, bred, and harvested at will. Men and women are segregated until 'Kitestide', when annually the aliens allow the men to form into rape gangs and hunt the women down. A horrific future, until one young man discovers that 'Kites' can be killed too....

Reviews:
Can't say I was too impressed with this production. It's definitely not for kids-- there's a lot of swearing and organized (even encouraged) rape plays a major part in the story. The songs and comic book heroics seem childishly simplistic and out of place beside such adult themes. The aliens inspire some interest, but they appear infrequently and remain frustratingly underdeveloped. I would like to have learned more about them-- they were far more intriguing than the cardboard human characters. -- Webmaster

The Kraken Wakes

A competitive sentient species 'awakes' in the depths of the world's oceans and feeling threatened goes on the offensive. A power struggle for survival ensues between the Kraken and humans. Story by John Wyndham

Reviews:
Whereas the Kraken prove quite pro-active and to quickly adjust their stratagem as needed, the humans lag greatly behind in denial of the threat and a confusion of government efforts. An absolutely fascinating story! - Norcon

The Last Rose of Summer -see 'The Steve Gallagher Trilogy'

Leviathan 99 (1968) 1 hr 15 m
Genre: Space Exploration
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

A futuristic rendition of 'Moby Dick', with a rogue comet standing in for the White Whale, and Christopher Lee as a wayward space commander obsessed with avenging himself on it for blinding him. Adaptation written by Ray Bradbury.

Reviews:
The idea of adapting the classic Melville tale into a space opera may seem at first ridiculous, even somewhat irreverent, but Bradbury must not have thought so-- he scripted both the John Huston film and this unusual version. As with most of Bradbury's work, there is a casual disregard for astronomical realities, but he has a way of making all that scientific nitpicking seem irrelevant. The rogue comet may seem a poor analog for sixty tons of raging behemoth but, on the other hand, replacing a living creature with a blind force of nature does tend to make Christopher Lee's character even more divorced from reality than the original Ahab. And his voice gives far more dimension and vehemence to the role than Gregory Peck's rather stilted overacting did in the film. The production is done in semi-narrative, interspersed with scenes of full dialogue, and a wide array of bizarre sound effects that evoke an effective otherworldly ambience. Highly recommended. -- Webmaster

It certainly is wild. Christopher Lee makes a great captain, and the script plays all sorts of interesting variations on Moby Dick. Bradbury clearly had/has Melville on the brain. - Samuel Otter

The Light of a Thousand Suns (1974) 1 hr 30 m
Genre: SF
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

A satellite mishap convinces the skipper of a nuclear attack submarine that WW 3 has started and he must launch his missiles.

The Lost World (1975) 2hrs 30 min
Genre: SF
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

Based on the classic novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the story follows the quest of the irascible Professor Edward Challenger to prove the veracity of his claims as to the existence of a South American plateau where dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures still thrive.

The BBC produced 4 separate versions. A more recent semi-dramatized reading was done for Alien Voices.

The Machine Stops (2001) 45 min
Genre: Dystopian Future
Availability for Listening Booth: N

In a remote future when the world has become virtually uninhabitable, and humanity has retreated underground to die a slow death under the auspices of the Machine, a woman's son declares his intention to violate the fabric of civilization by venturing to the surface. An early 20th century classic of science fiction by E. M. Forster, written as a retort against H. G. Wells' faith in the wonders of a future driven by technology.

Another version of this story was produced for the series 2000 X.

The Man who Could Work Miracles (1934; '44; '51; '56; '75)
Genre: Supernatural
Availability for Listening Booth: N

George Fotheringay has discovered the secret to performing miracles - all he has to do is ask and it is done. The only thing he can't seem to control are the consequences. Story by H.G. Wells.

Other versions were produced for the CBS Radio Mystery Theater and Escape

The Mars Project (1969) 3 hrs 30 min
Genre: Mars
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

The pressures of overpopulation make necessary the terraforming and colonization of Mars, but one scientist's megalomania endangers the future of the human race, and opens the way for an ancient evil to resurface.

Reviews:
This should have been a more engaging production. There is little sense of 'being there'; the scenes cut between Mars and Earth a little too jarringly. One moment our heroes are on Mars, the next they are back home. The ray gun sounds are laughable and the writing leans toward the juvenile, but it may have been aimed at a younger audience. Far too long for its rather basic storyline and cardboard characters.-- Webmaster

The Midwich Cuckoos 90 min (in 3 half-hour episodes)
Genre: SF
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

A small town succumbs to a strange force that puts everyone within a 2-mile radius to sleep for 24 hours. Afterwards it is discovered that every woman of child-bearing age that was affected is now pregnant. All of the children are born healthy, highly intelligent, and mostly normal, except for their golden eyes and general creepiness... The novel was also made into a movie called "Village of the Damned". Story by John Wyndham.

Reviews:
Solid production. Occasionally a bit wordy, but still keeps your attention and tells a good story. I especially liked the ending and found it very simple, yet satisfying. - Steve Frankllin

Mutant Strain (197?) 30 m
Genre: Space Exploration
Availability for Listening Booth: N

The log entries of the last survivor of a doomed expedition to a planet of inexplicable terrors.

Neuromancer 2 hrs.

Based on the landmark William Gibson novel, a washed up cyber-spy gets a second chance when he is hired into a rich, but unstable ex war hero's plot to steal data from the world's most powerful and impregnable corporation.

Night of the Wolf 1 hr 30 min
Genre: Creatures/Occult
Availability for Listening Booth: Y

Cambridge, 1883 - an American judge searching for his missing son comes into contact with the dreaded Northcott family and a descent into lycanthropic madness. Starring Vincent Price.

Only You Can Save Mankind (2003) 90 m (in 3 half-hour episodes)
Genre: Aliens/ Humour
Availability for Listening Booth: N

While playing a computer game in which he has to save Earth from attacking alien ships, a young boy is surprised when the aliens in the game begin behaving in strange ways not mentioned in the computer manual. Apparently, the leader of the aliens wants to surrender to young Johnny and asks for his help. Story by Terry Pratchett.

Reviews:
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Although taken from a 'young adult' novel, I still found it quite fun and engaging at age 33. I liked the characters of Johnny and Sigourney and even the Scree Wee captain was somewhat engaging. While not hard core sci-fi, this one still made me think a bit and made me laugh a whole lot. - Steve Franklin

Operation: Vega (1970) 1 hr
Genre: SF/War
Available for Listening Booth: Y

On the brink of World War Three, the West sends envoys to recruit aid from the penal colony on Venus, only to learn a hard lesson in morality from the sub-culture which has evolved out of the brutal living conditions there.

A more recent version was produced for the NPR series 2000 X, as 'The Mission of the Vega'.

Orbital Decay (1984) 60 m
Genre: Space Exploration
Available for Listening Booth: N

A British space shuttle mission is endangered by a seemingly foolish American mission specialist, whose agenda includes the covert recovery of a strange object orbiting the Earth.

Orbit One Zero (1968) 3 hrs.
Genre: Aliens
Available for Listening Booth: N

An astronomer in residence at an English university receives a call from a colleague who claims to have picked up intelligent signals originating from the edges of the Solar System. His investigation of the matter leads to the discovery of strange glowing cylinders which suck both heat and matter from everything around it. Unchecked, they could turn the Earth into a freezer as cold as deepest space....

Presented as a serial in 6 parts.

Project: Genesis (1982) 90 m
Genre: Aliens
Available for Listening Booth: Y

Contact with a technologically superior race is made via radio telescope, but it doesn't take long for the aliens to start dictating commands to the poor backward humans. Are their intentions benign or malevolent?

See also 'Childhood's End' (BBC)

The Proxies (1964) 30 m
Genre: Robots/Space Exploration
Available for Listening Booth: Y

Eager to get their hands on anti-gravity crystals on Ganymede, Earth scientists dispatch a robot proxy to negotiate with the primitive natives, who are unwilling to trade for the gems. When the scientists resort to threats, their robotic envoy provides a lesson in ethics, but to whom?

The Purple Planet (197?)
Genre: Aliens
Available for Listening Booth: N

The only survivor of an expedition to the Purple Planet cannot convince his psychotherapist of the truth behind his story of the sadistic tortures he and his crewmates suffered at the hands of the super-advanced, slug-like natives there.

Satisfaction Guaranteed (2002)
Genre: Robots
Available for Listening Booth: N

A husband purchases an android to help out his nervous wife while he is out of town on business, and 'Tony' quickly proceeds to turn her life and her outlook on it upside down. Story by Isaac Asimov.

The Scythe
Genre: Occult
Available for Listening Booth: N

A down-and-out farmer and his family inherit a Midwestern farm, but only if he is willing to also assume the former owner's second occupation as the Grim Reaper. Story by Ray Bradbury.

Shadow of the Pharaoh
Genre: Historical Adventure
Available for Listening Booth: N

A six-part historical melodrama set in ancient Egypt, about a young man who finds himself the unwitting enemy of an evil usurper to the throne of Thebes.

The Silver Sky (1980) 1 hr 15 m
Genre: Time Travel/Aliens
Available for Listening Booth: Y

Two time travelers from separate worlds are drawn to the same location-- a beach on a strange unknown planet with no way back home and stalked by deadly predators. Story by Tanith Lee.

The Snowman Killing (1988) 30 m
Genre: Supernatural
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A mother becomes increasingly paranoid for the safety of her two sons when they obsess over a snowman in the yard that only they see.

Produced for the series Fear on Four.

Solaris 2 hrs
Genre: Space Exploration
Available for Listening Booth: N

Psychologist Kris Kelvin is dispatched to a remote research station studying Solaris, a planet dominated by an ocean of living plasma, there to investigate the death of a scientist and the mental disintegration of the entire research team - despite their total isolation, they seem to have been plagued by 'visitors'. Based on the classic novel by Stanislaw Lem.

Two film versions were made, a lengthy Russian production out of the 70's, and the more recent Hollywood version starring George Clooney.

Reviews:
Like the novel, this is a slow mover by today's standards, but well worth the time. Lem was a literary writer who sought to raise the bar for SF, and much of the story is devoted to the relationships and the psychology rather than the pace and twists in the plot. There is certainly the raw material here for an action/ horror story, but Lem resists that temptation, preferring to explore the effect of the unexplainable on the human psyche. There is an ethereal, almost creepy dream-like quality to the whole thing which is very appropriate to its subject. Recommended. - Webmaster

The Songs of Distant Earth (1962) 30 m
Genre: Space Exploration
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A colony world, long cut off from Mother Earth, witnesses the arrival of an outbound starship which must repair its crippled engines. The crew and colonists must face the hard realities of colonizing the stars when they are forced to part once again. Based on the book by Arthur C. Clarke.

Reviews:
A surprisingly slight little yarn since it's by Arthur C. I'll bet his actual story is a lot better.- Bruce Fisher

Sophie (1975) 45 m
Genre: Space Exploration
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A lone astronaut on a long interstellar journey develops romantic feelings for the ship's 'female' computer when 'her' attempts to understand his psyche result in the evolution of an electronic personality.

Sounds in the Sky (1971) 1 hr
Genre: Aliens
Available for Listening Booth: Y

An alien colony ship encounters a meteor storm and is forced into the atmosphere of a giant hostile planet where they must find an energy source to regenerate their power core. They find one - in the form of a human brain.

Space Program Alpha 30 min
Genre: War
Available for Listening Booth: Y

The Earth cruiser Eumenides is dispatched on a salvage and rescue mission into deepest space to retrieve vital medicines from a courier ship attacked by enemy aliens.
NOTE: This was a one off for a series targeted to schools called Secondary English 11-14 and aired three times starting on 12-4-86. Of the 38 programs listed, this seemed the only one of the SciFi genre.

Reviews:
The mission, to retrieve medical supplies from a space freighter that has been damaged by enemy space ships and deliver to a ship in lunar orbit. Stereotypes abound. The captain, navigator and engineering officer are women. The navigator almost misses the launch because she can't find the ship although she has her android named \o' to guide her. The byplay between the curmudgeonly medical officer and the officious security officer added further humor. The ending is totally up in the air. Did someone from the ship or the launching base betray them to the enemy that they encounter at the wrecked ship? Do they crash on the moon? - Wayne

Classic juvenile space opera, but not that juvenile. Except for, don't blanch, Gizzzzzzo the robot. Cute. Otherwise it's typical Saturday morning crisis's and heroics. Like most stuff from the B, it's at least worth a listen. Except for the ending which never really resolves itself and leaves you hanging. - Bruce Fisher

Specialty of the House
Genre : Horror
Available for Listening Booth: Y

Dinner at Spiro's is an occasion to be both anticipated and remembered as the finest dining experience in the world - but why is the chef so fanatically adamant that no one be allowed in his kitchen?

From the series Fear on Four

Reviews:
This is about the best of the short series of outstandingly good programs produced by Vincent Price for the BBC, called The Price of Fear. In each, Price himself is caught up in an unexpected adventure. In Speciality of the House a friend in London introduces Price to a little-known restaurant, Spiro's, with a small but dedicated clientele who wait eagerly for the occasional appearance on the menu of Lamb Armistan, literally food to die for. - Anonymous

S.S.Z. 43 (197?) 30 m
Genre: Space Exploration
Available for Listening Booth: Y

The staff aboard an orbital research station is attacked by a space borne virus that invades the brain and drives the victim mad with delusions and excruciating pain.

The Steve Gallagher Trilogy (1978-80) approx. 6 hrs
Genre: Dystopian Future/ Robots/ Aliens
Available for Listening Booth: N

A lengthy serial about the relationship between man and machine in a future where the lines dividing the two become increasingly, and more dangerously, blurred. Never is there a proper title for the trilogy mentioned, though some sources refer to it as the 'Last Rose of Summer Trilogy', perhaps because that segment was the original novel upon which the entire story evolved in radio form. Each segment of the trilogy contains its own storyline, though naturally it makes more sense as a whole. The series is not actually from the BBC, but a product of Piccadilly Radio out of Manchester, UK.
The Last Rose of Summer (1978) 2 hrs 30 min - In the future the world's population resides entirely in the City, a megalopolis controlled down to the minutiae of everyday life by Central Command, a supercomputer. A lowly nobody by the name of Mitchell decides that this just won't do. He embarks on a crusade to overthrow the system, hunted down by Randall, one of the hardcore 'Elite', enforcers trained since birth to serve the State.
Hunter's Moon (1979) 3 hrs 20 min - The Central Computer destroyed, society is on the verge of collapse, only to be 'saved' by the advent of the Council, tyrants who have seized power in the vacuum. Randall, contaminated by his exposure to Mitchell, is packed off to a polar prison complex. Then a new threat emerges: an alien race arrives - the Wekk - who rape planets to build their Worldships. Having patterned Mitchell's persona into a mechanical simulacrum, they begin building an army of simulacra to overwhelm the Earth. The Council has even sold out to the Wekk to save their own hides. Only Randall, Lobo - a fellow convict - and the Mitchell simulacra stand in their way.
The Babylon Run (1980) 1 hr 40 min - Hundreds of years later, in a time when Man has spread out to the stars, a commercial charter makes a forced landing on the Babylon asteroid, a luxury resort for the super rich. Their ship damaged, they are dismayed to find the complex abandoned due to an incoming 'something' on a collision course. If that weren't bad enough, there is mutiny brewing, and Babylon itself is not what it seems to be...

See the CD cover art for this show HERE

Reviews:
I absolutely LOVED this series. Each segment of the trilogy was better than the last. Its author, Steve Gallagher, ought to be a household name. There are few writers anywhere who come up with more original ideas, and even fewer who can develop those ideas into plots as intricate and intelligent as you'll find here. Every scene is loaded with conflict and drama, the characters all have depth, personality and punch to them, and the story takes twists and turns you just don't see coming. You can appreciate this story simply as a fast-paced and entertaining futuristic adventure, or on a deeper level, as Gallagher explores the complexities of what it means to be human - without the usual proselytizing or overblown romanticism. Top rate production all round. - Webmaster
If you like this one, don't miss Gallagher's other radio work, most notably 'An Alternative to Suicide'.

Survival (1997) 30 min
Genre: SF
Available for Listening Booth: Y

When an interplanetary liner is cast adrift in the depths of space, the passengers are faced with a limited food supply, and the looming threat of cannibalism. Story by John Wyndham.

From the BBC series Fear on Four.

See also 'A Fall of Moondust' (Nightfall), & 'Space Wreck' (2000 Plus); also 'The Map Makers' & 'Death Wish' (X Minus One)

Tapping (1997) 25 min
Genre: Ghosts
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A couple living alone on the Scottish coast must deal with the husband's suppressed trauma over having heard a supposedly dead young girl tapping from within a coffin when he was young. Little do they realize the dangers of dredging up the past....

Produced for the series Fear on Four.

There will Come Soft Rains (1962, '71, '74,'77)
Genre: SF
Available for Listening Booth: N

A narrative account of an automated house which continues to function long after its human occupants have gone. Story by Ray Bradbury.

Versions were also produced for Dimension X & X Minus One.

Tiger! Tiger! (1991) 1 hr 30 m
Genre: Dystopian Future/ Super Science
Available for Listening Booth:

Adrift aboard a space wreck, third rate mechanic Gully Foyle has managed to survive for months in a tool locker, only to be ignored by a passing ship. Finally rescued by the inhabitants of a ramshackle asteroid colony, his search for vengeance on the vessel that abandoned him leads him into conflict and conspiracy involving mega-corporations, covert government agencies, and the secret behind a substance known only as PyrE. The outcome could determine the fate of Earth in its war with the Outer Planets, and maybe much more.....
Based on the classic novel The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester; Produced for the BBC series The Shape of Things to Come.

Reviews:
The book is considered by some critics to be the best science fiction novel ever written, and I highly recommend reading it before listening to the audio production. There is a lot of story to tell, with numerous colorful characters and many layers of depth to the society in which they operate. Thus the pace of the radio play is fast and furious, as even 90 minutes is scant enough time to tell the whole story. If you are not familiar with the plot, it's easy to become lost and confused as to who is who, what they are after, and why they are after it. But if you have read the book, you should enjoy this pared down version.-- Webmaster

Timeslip (1983) 60 min.
Genre: SF/ Humour
Available for Listening Booth: N

Frank and Paul are two engineers tinkering with a supposedly non-working Electronic Agitator stroke Molecule Adjustor (for the layman, a copy machine that makes working 3-D copies of anything). When they accidentally and unknowingly create duplicates of themselves, things get a bit confusing. They and their frustrated wives have to solve many existential crises, such as: Who is the original? How do we get rid of the impostors? and Who gets the only pair of house slippers? Story by Wally K. Daly.

Reviews:
Hilarious! This is one of the funniest things I've heard in a while. Just listening to Frank and Paul coming to grips with having to see themselves as others see them is not only amusing, but even a bit illuminating. I also love the head-butting between each character and his double and the wives are quite funny as well. Great stuff, highly recommended. -Steve Franklin

Titus Groan 3 hrs total
Genre: Fantasy
Available for Listening Booth: Y

Split into two parts, each 90 min; Part 1 - 'Titus Groan', Part 2 - 'Gormenghast'

Mervyn Peake's classic fantasy of intrigue and power-brokering in the ancient moldering castle of Gormenghast. Titus, the young heir to the throne, is threatened by the machinations of Steerpike (played by Sting), a kitchen servant whose sole ambition is to destroy the Groan dynasty that has dominated Gormenghast for 76 generations.

The Tor Sands Experience (1970) 60 m
Genre: Aliens
Available for Listening Booth: N

Scientists at a secret British research facility find themselves 'invaded' by beings from another dimension who are willfully de-evolving to escape the ramifications of the technology humans are so desperately trying to achieve.

Reviews:
Tried several times to get through this show and fell asleep every time. Cool story idea, but it turned out boring me.-- Alex DiPietro

To See the Sun (2001) 30 m
Genre: Vampires
Available for Listening Booth: N

A researcher travels to Romania to interview a beautiful Countess whose ancestor had been renowned as a vampire. Story by Kingsley Amis.

Touch and Go (1961) 30 m
Genre: Space Exploration
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A team of planetary surveyors working to build a landing field for future colony ships encounters a strange and deadly native creature.

The Veldt (1959)
Genre: SF
Available for Listening Booth: N

A couple purchase a holo-theater to keep their son and daughter amused, but the recreation of the sweltering African savannah the children concoct is anything but amusing....Story by Ray Bradbury.

See also 'The House on Chimney Pot Lane' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater)

One of Bradbury's most popular stories, versions appeared on X Minus One, CBC Playhouse, and Dimension X.

We Can Remember it For You Wholesale (1997) 30 m
Genre: Super Science
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A common, unassuming man fantasizes about an exciting life as a secret agent on Mars, and seeks to fulfill his dreams by having artificial memories implanted into his brain. But reality and fantasy become confused when the implants trigger the repressed memory of a life he never knew he had. Based on the short story by Philip K. Dick.

This story was the basis for the film Total Recall.

Who Goes There? (2002) 30 min
Genre: Aliens
Available for Listening Booth: Y

John W. Campbell Jr,. the publisher of Astounding Stories, penned the classic short story upon which this show is based. A research team in the Antarctic finds the shell of a spaceship which had crashed in prehistoric times, and the mummified remains of its pilot frozen into the ice. They drag the ice block into their station and it begins to thaw....

Broadcast as part of the series Chillers.

This story inspired two Hollywood film versions, both called The Thing.

Reviews:
A nice mini rendition of that classic tale. Not quite as believable as it could be. I mean a group of scientists who allow a frozen alien to melt without any controls or isolation, even I know better then that. But I still enjoyed it. - Bruce Fisher

Why Weren't You Looking? (1985) 1 hr.
Genre: Aliens
Available for Listening Booth: N

An alien disregards protocols and contacts the primitive natives of Earth to warn them of the dangers of nuclear weapons.

Reviews:
Uninspired and anticlimactic. The dialogue is overlong and dry, often wandering off on irrelevant tangents to fatten up an otherwise emaciated script. - Webmaster

William and Mary

A woman receives a letter left by her recently deceased husband,  an Oxford don, explaining that he has participated in a medical  
experiment.  Just after his cancer kills him, his doctor will remove  his brain and sustain it artificially.  The letter tells the wife to
contact the doctor, to find out whether the operation was a success.  Story by Roald Dahl.

From the BBC series Fear on Four

Reviews:
Excellent show. The step-by-step description of the surgical process, complete with sound effects, lulls you into a false sense of security.  
Then the plot twists come out of left field and you start saying 'Oh &*$#'  to yourself. - Derek Upham