SciFi on the BEEB

Over a period of years, the BBC has been a great source of radio dramatization. They are, after all, the folks that brought us The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

But years before that, back in the 1950's when radio was king (or Queen if you lived in England) the beeb, as it is affectionately known, produced three special series, the Journey Into Space series, based on the books by Charles Chilton. These multipart shows were fully dramatized with special sound effects (remember, though, we're talking the 50's so no zinging light sabers, etc.) and music.

With what I hope will be the kind indulgence of the BBC, I have created several brief excerpts from these three series. If you like what you hear, there are many more hours to be enjoyed in these tapes.

Operation Luna	The Red Planet	A World In Peril
Jet Morgan and his crew, Doc, Lemmy and Frank are the first men to be sent to the Moon. There, they discover that an ancient civilization has been inhabiting the Moon for centuries; a civilization that doesn't want the crew to return to Earth with their knowledge. Operation Luna excerpt 3:14 (1.4 MB)	Jet and his crew are the heads of an expedition to Mars. Along the way they mysteriously begin losing ships and crew members. One crew member in particular seems to be under the control of someone or something. Will they find the answers on Mars? Will they ever return? The Red Planet excerpt 3:07 (1.35 MB)	To stop a planned invasion by the mysterious beings on Mars, Jet and his crew return to Mars. They are captured and attempts are made to enlist their services to aid in the invasion. They discover hundreds of Earthmen, who have been slaves on Mars. Can they all get back to Earth? A World in Peril excerpt 3:01 (1.3 MB)
The Return From Mars
This sequel does not fit with the original programms as a logical follow on. It was produced years after the originals and features a new cast in the familiar character roles. It is really a new story very loosely based on the original Journey into Space Characters. The original story ended with the crews return from Mars with the invasion fleet. This story assumes that this did not take place, and that escape occurs many years later. It is still

The artwork (taken from the BBC audio tape release) and the audio samples are the express copyright of the BBC and have been excerpted without their permission. They are originaly and remain copyrighted materials. My hope is that some of you out there will like what you hear and will buy these wonderful tapes. You can order them through Amazon.com UK, and through the Internet Music and Video Shop UK.

I am missing the final installment in the Journey Into Space saga. In later years the BBC did a 2 hour presentation called RETURN FROM MARS. It has not been released on tape, If any of you out there have a recording of it, I would be pleased to know and might work out some arrangement to borrow it from you.

Another great radio series from England is the adaptation of Red Dwarf, The Red Dwarf Radio Show. These multi-part shows are performed entirely by Chris Barrie (Arnold Judas Rimmer), but you would swear that the entire cast is there. He is an excellent mimic faithfully creating the voices of Lister, Kryten and The Cat.

There are two Red Dwarf Radio Show sets available, each containing two cassettes and lasting about 2 1/2 hours. They almost follow the first two books in the Red Dwarf series, and somewhat follow the first and second seasons of the TV program. If you only know Red Dwarf from the TV series, you don't know all of Red Dwarf.

Although not actually a BBC production, I thought I would add it here.

Red Dwarf Radio Show 1	Red Dwarf Radio Show 2
Dave Lister has been put into stasis because he refused to turn over a cat, named Frankenstein, to the Captain of the Jupiter Mining Corp's ship, Red Dwarf. When he emerges, 3 million years have passed. His only companion is a hologram of his ex-work partner, Arnold Rimmer, and a senile computer personification. But, you probably know all this. Anyway, this is a very funny retelling of the story. Radio Show 1 excerpt 2:49 (2.5 MB)	These are the further adventures of Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and The Cat. As stated above, this follows right after the first season and first RDRS tapes. Again, Chris Barrie does a marvelous job of impersonating all the characters in the cast plus any incidental characters. I hope that he is allowed to do all of the series as radio shows. Radio Show 2 excerpt 1:55 (1.7 MB)

Again, I have done a no-no and scanned in the art from the tapes, and have made brief recordings from the shows. They are and remain copyrighted materials. If you are Red Dwarf fans and like what you hear, buy these tapes. You can order them through Amazon.com UK, and through the Internet Music and Video Shop UK.

The BBC have also brought the world dozens of non-sci-fi radio shows; adaptations of favorite television series such as Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo, Blackadder, and other staples of our US PBS broadcasting. If you have a favorite British show, try the search engines on the above sites. You might be pleasantly surprised.