In 1947 Willis Cooper, the creative force behind Lights Out, embarked on a new series with a new approach - every episode would star Ernest Chappell, who would introduce the story with a narration which attempted to 'converse' with the audience. In some cases, the narrative exposition alone comprised the bulk of the show. Sound effects were severely limited, but the stories were all Cooper originals, sufficient reason alone to listen in.  Quiet, Please first aired in June of 1947 on the Mutual network, and was received well enough to remain on the air for two years, until mid '49. Unfortunately, virtually all surviving copies of this popular show are in poor fidelity, reproduced from scratchy old 78 records. All episodes were in standard half hour format.

Currently this archive contains plotlines for 60 of 106 episodes

WEBMASTER RECOMMENDS:
Northern Lights; The Man who Stole a Planet

12 to 5

On the midnight to five shift, a disc jockey meets an omniscient newsman whose bulletins foretell the future.

13 and 8

A photographer speaks of the 'lens louse' who keeps stepping into his shots - but who doesn't show up on film.

3000 Words

Monk the murderous woodworking dwarf visits his crippled brother Hubert the shady ventriloquist.

100,000 Diameters     **LOST**

A virus is magnified ad infinitum by an electron microscope, eventually threatening to engulf the Earth.

See also 'Chicken Heart' (Lights Out)

A Mile High and a Mile Deep     **LOST**

A bearded man speaks of his life-altering discovery in a copper mine beneath Butte, Montana.

A Night to Forget

Actor John H., who works on a 'supernatural' radio program, tells of his nightmares, all of which involve Death. 

See also 'The Coffin in Studio B' (Lights Out)

A Red and White Guidon

A cavalry officer from Custer's ill-fated expedition against the Sioux relates how he and his men came to disaster.

A Ribbon of Lincoln Green    (aka 'Retreat at Dunkerque') **LOST**

Robert Hood, formerly of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, relates his role in the 1940 evacuation of Dunkerque.

A Time to be Born and a Time to Die

A man's life is traced through Biblical verse.

Adam and the Darkest Day

Adam tells of the day Chicago disappeared, and the darkest f days that followed.

And Jeannie Dreams of Me

Troy speaks of the love he shares with Jeannie in an unearthly epic romance.

Anonymous

A man speaks to the woman who phoned anonymously and told him "I hope you drop dead".

As Long as I Live

A man tells of his wife, who is a phony medium, and of his rich uncle Lars, their 97 year old houseguest.

Baker's Dozen

Hard-drinking Irving tells of his unhappy marriage and of serving aboard a 13 man jury.

Be a Good Dog, Darling

Beazer's Cellar                                                                                                                                        Ghosts

A trio of crooks looking for a place to hide stolen money hear of an old abandoned cellar in the woods - a supposedly perfect choice, but for the rumors of the ghost of the man who originally built it and then hung himself from its rafters.

Below 5th Avenue     **LOST**

Berlin, 1945

American soldiers struggling through the last days of WW II find solace on Christmas Eve from an enigmatic stranger who shows up out of nowhere.

Two versions of this story were made; one is lost.

The Big Box     **LOST**

The police question a truck driver about his missing friend.

Bring Me to Life

A radio dramatist matches wits with his magic sentient typewriter.

Calling All Souls

On Halloween, a death row inmate scheduled for execution the following morning, seeks help - from the dead.

Camera Obscura

Clarissa                                                                                                                                                 Ghosts

A writer seeking an out of the way place to finish his book accepts lodging with an old man in his dusty old house, but finds his concentration distracted by the voice of a little girl wandering somewhere in the house, a little girl whom the old man refuses to allow him to meet....

Come in, Eddie

In Eddie's house, Eddie's murderers discuss Eddie's ghost.

Cornelia

Dark Gray Magic

Dark Rosaleen

Mourning the loss of his fiance, a man meets a mysterious stranger.

Dialogue For a Tragedy

With a gun pointed to his head, a man reminisces with his would-be murderer.

Don't Tell Me About Halloween

The Evening and the Morning

Gem of the Purest Ray

A murderer speaks of the 32 people he's killed - and why there are more who must die. 

The Girl with the Flaxen Hair     (see 'Pavane')

Good Ghost

A ghost tries to see to the financial security of his fiance.

Gothic Tale **LOST**

Green Light                                                                                                                                         Supernatural

An old railroad hand relates the tale of how he lost his leg and his life's love over a phantom locomotive.

The Hat, the Bed, and John J. Catherine

A stagehand believes that a hat placed on a bed is a sign of impending death.

How are You, Pal?

How Beautiful Upon the Mountain

I Always Marry Juliet

I Have Been Looking For You

If I Should Wake Before I Die

A scientist who professes to have no concern for the militaristic application of his research into the destructive potential of the atom is forced to confront his conscience.

In the House Where I was Born

Two separate versions were made.

In Memory of Bernadine

Inquest

I Remember Tomorrow                                                                                                            

A man who has the capacity to travel into the future must face the imminent prospect of his own death at the hands of the criminals he has fallen in with.

Is This Murder?

It is Later Than You Think

When a soldier sets his new watch ahead eleven hours, he finds himself eleven hours into the future.

I've Been Looking for You

Light the Lamp for Me

Little Fellow

When a carnival midget reveals his love for the fat lady, the magician gives him a magic scarab that will grant him three wishes.

The Little Morning

A man plans to meet his dead fiance.

Little Visitor                                                                                                                                     Supernatural

A down and out locksmith suffering from long term memory loss receives  visits from a strange boy only he can see who lures him into self-destruction.

The Low Road     **LOST**

The Man Who Knew Everything

Indeed he does know everything, literally, including the untimely and unpleasant of you, the listener. 

The Man who Stole a Planet                                                                                                                    Occult

A husband-and-wife archaeologist team locate a lost Mayan temple wherein they discover a model of the Earth , accurate to the last detail. So exact a copy is it that whatever happens to it happens to the Earth itself. A man who possessed such a prize would be likened unto a god.....

Reviews:
An intriguing concept; in a way it could be looked on as a commentary on power and human nature, an illustration of the maxim that absolute power corrupts absolutely. One of the best of the series. - Webmaster

Meeting at Ticonderoga

Meet John Smith, John

John Smith meets another, older John Smith whose past eerily resembles his own.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall     **LOST**

A commercial artist complains about his boss and begins entertaining the idea of killing him.

Motive     **LOST**

My Son, John

A bereaved father calls his dead son back to him.

Never Send to Know                                                                                                                             Ghosts

A private investigator is hired by a ghost to solve its own murder.

Northern Lights                                                                                                              Super Science/Creatures

Two scientists experimenting with transporting objects through time and back again discover that one of their tests has brought back a mysterious caterpillar-like creature that 'sings' and threatens to turn the world into a frozen tomb.

Reviews:
Tough to write a summary of this show that doesn't sound ludicrous; but don't be deceived - this is perhaps the creepiest episode of the series, presented with eerie tension and an atmosphere of ominous terror, due in no small measure to the creature's droning intonation of human vowel sounds - an unusual device that is surprisingly effective. Highly recommended. - Webmaster 

Not Enough Time             

Reviews:
Slow story, made worse by poor sound quality.  We never  actually hear the Colonel, which makes him a bit more interesting than the other
characters. - Derek Upham

Shadow of the Wings

A dying young girl keeps receiving a fleeting visitor at her bedroom window.

Sketch for a Screenplay

The Smell of High Wines

Some People Don't Die

Summer Goodbye                                                                                                                             Supernatural

A husband and wife make off into the hills with a stolen fortune; they can elude the police, but not the strange hitch-hiker who keeps showing up on the road.

Symphony in D Minor

Take Me Out to the Graveyard

A cabbie is vexed by a series of passengers who insist he deliver them to a certain graveyard where they intend to die.

Tanglefoot                                                                                                                                            Creatures

A mechanic in the early 20th century finds a way of making a common housefly into a 'pet' the size of a small dog. It has an appetite to match....

See also 'The Insect' (2000 Plus), 'Strange New World' (Mysterious Traveler), & 'The Crawling Thing' (Hall of Fantasy)

Tap the Heat, Bogdan

There are Shadows Here

The Thing on the Fourble Board                                                                                                       Creatures

An oil drilling operation releases a living abomination from the depths of the planet. Often considered the best episode of the Quiet, Please series (certainly its most infamous), and one of the great classics of radio horror.

Reviews:
One of the CREEPIEST shows ever; unmatched in pure terror, although Suspense's 'House In Cypress Canyon' is better. - Luc L'Heureux

I've heard of this one for years and it more than lives up to the hype. Great story with a CLASSIC ending. - C. Grigsby

The Third Man's Story

Three

Three Sides to a Story     **LOST**

The Ticket Taker

The Time of the Big Snow

Two children become lost in a violent snowstorm and take refuge with a strange woman in her remote house.

Valentine

The Vale of Glencoe                                                                      

The Venetian Blind Man     **LOST**

Very Unimportant Person

A couple on a private plane witness the advent of Armageddon, and desperately try to outrun the mushroom clouds to reach the wilds of northern Canada, where they hope they might be safe. Then an enigmatic stowaway appears who offers them an alternative.... 

Wahine Tahiti

We Were Here First

Whence Came You?

On assignment in Egypt, an archaeologist encounters a mysterious woman who smells of death.

Where do You Get Your Ideas?                                                                                                                 Aliens

A radio drama writer runs into a drunk in a bar who claims to have murdered his wife; no big deal, however, since she is from the Moon and thus cannot stay dead for long.... Willis Cooper actually stars in this show, playing himself!