1
Ray Bradbury 2014 The Martian Chronicles (Derek Jacobi)
57:51
2
The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham (Apocalyptic Sci-fi Show)
2:06:08
3
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick
1:49:45
4
Deep Station Emerald by Joe Turner
1:51:02
5
Ray Bradbury 2014 The Illustrated Man (Iain Glen)
1:00:19
6
Ray Bradbury 2011 Something Wicked This Way Comes (dramatized by Diana Griffiths)
56:59
7
Ray Bradbury 2007 The Veldt (adapted by Mike Walker from his stage play)
43:45
8
Ray Bradbury 1982 Fahrenheit 451 (dramatized by Gregory Evans)
1:26:21
9
Ray Bradbury 2004 The Pedestrian (read by David Horovitch)
12:37
10
Ray Bradbury 1994 Shoreline at Sunset (read by Ed Bishop)
14:15
11
Ray Bradbury 1991 Kaleidoscope (adpt by Ray Bradbury)
41:09
12
Ray Bradbury 1991 The Smile (read by Peter Whitman)
13:52
13
Ray Bradbury 1968 Leviathan 99 (adapted by H. B. Fortuin)
1:09:55
14
Ray Bradbury 1962 There Will Come Soft Rains (dramatized by Nesta Pain)
23:01
15
Ray Bradbury 1959 The Veldt (dramatized by Jack Pulman)
27:59
16
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep01/02) 1979 The Sun Stealers
51:26
17
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep03/04) 1979 The Starsmith Project
51:09
18
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep05/06) 1979 The Night Riders of Kalimar
47:31
19
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep07/08) 1979 The Resurrectionists of Lethe
38:58
20
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep09/10) 1979 The Keeper of Eight
39:47
21
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep11/13) 1979 ISA Conspiracy
57:55
22
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep14) 1979 The Kilohertz War
25:02
23
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep15/16) 1979 Egyptian Necklace
48:13
24
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep17) 1979 Time Clash
24:44
25
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep18) 1979 Death song
24:31
26
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep19/20) 1979 The Infinity Factor
47:17
27
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep21/22) 1979 Earthlight
49:26
28
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep23) 1979 The Seeds of Time
24:34
29
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep24/25) 1979 The Madonna's Of Zanzabar Alpha
48:28
30
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep26) 1979 The Himalayan Parallel -Last broadcast show
24:44
31
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep27) 1979 A Dream Within a Dream (Not Aired)
24:51
32
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep28) 1979 A Question of Conscience (Not Aired)
25:00
33
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep29) 1979 The Lukocyte Manuver (Not Aired)
24:29
34
Alien Worlds (Radio) (ep30) 1979 The Parallax Deception (Not Aired
24:25
35
X Minus One - 1957 Something for Nothing
21:54
36
X Minus One - 1957 Man's Best Friend
22:44
37
X Minus One - 1956 The Lifeboat Mutiny
28:55
38
X Minus One - 1956 The Cave of Night
29:17
39
X Minus One - 1956 Hostess
29:20
40
X Minus One - 1956 Honeymoon in Hell
29:50
41
X Minus One - 1956 C-Chute
29:21
42
Suspense -1962 Doom Machine
21:23
43
Suspense - 1962 Twenty-Four Sixty-Two
22:51
44
Suspense - 1960 Report From a Dead Planet
19:37
45
Suspense - 1957 Man from Tomorrow
30:05
46
Suspense - 1955 Zero Hour
24:36
47
Suspense - 1955 Kaleidoscope
24:00
48
Suspense - 1955 Heaven's to Betsy
27:37
49
Suspense - 1953 Plan X
29:22
50
Suspense - 1952 How Long Is The Night
25:23
51
Suspense - 1952 Frankenstein
29:32
52
Quiet Please - 1948 Very Unimportant Person
29:29
53
Suspense - 1944 Donovan's Brain Pt1&2
58:45
54
Suspense - 1942 The Hitch-Hiker
29:12
55
Hall of Fantasy - 1953 The Automaton
26:17
56
Hall of Fantasy - 1951 The Man From The Second Earth
22:42
57
Exploring Tomorrow -1958 First Contact
19:38
58
Exploring Tomorrow - 1958 The Stowaway
17:42
59
Exploring Tomorrow - 1958 The Mountain of Diamond Inferiority
20:04
60
Exploring Tomorrow - 1958 The First Baby in Space
19:41
61
Exploring Tomorrow - 1958 The Adventure of the Beauty Queen
19:37
62
Escape - 1953 The Invader
29:30
63
Exploring Tomorrow - 1958 Planet of Geniuses
19:25
64
Escape - 1951 The Earthmen
29:30
65
Escape - 1950 Mars Is Heaven
29:30
66
Escape - 1950 - Earth Abides (Pt1&2)
59:39
67
Dimension X - 1951 - Pebble In The Sky
24:54
68
Dimension X - 1950 - With Folded Hands
29:58
69
Night of the Triffids - Simon Clark (Five-episode Serial)
2:25:51
70
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep01 The First Step to the Stars
28:25
71
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep02 Conflict in Space
27:04
72
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep03 The Master Plan
27:21
73
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep04 Flight to the Moon
26:36
74
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep05 Inside the Moon Station
27:12
75
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep06 Breakaway
27:39
76
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep07 Price of Survival
28:23
77
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep08 Marooned in Space
28:13
78
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep09 Operation Salvage
28:15
79
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep10 Return to Woomera
28:11
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep11 A Flight Against Time
27:28
81
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep12 Building the Space Station
27:08
82
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep13 The Net Closes
27:13
83
Orbiter X Radio BBC ep14 The Final Round
27:25
84
Sci-Fi (Radio) Dimension X (1950) With Folded Hands
29:58
85
Sci-Fi (Radio) Dimension X (1951) Pebble in the Sky
24:54
86
Children Of the Stones (2020 Radio Serial)
2:19:46
87
Darkness by DJ Britton
44:24
88
Dark Minds By Philip Palmer
55:41
89
Dark They Were & Golden Eyed by Ray Bradbury
27:55
90
Closed Planet by John Hynam
57:34
91
Corona by Samuel R Delaney
28:06
92
Courtesy by Clifford D. Simak
21:48
93
Childhood's End (1996) Arther C. Clarke
1:52:18
94
Brave New World (2013) Aldous Huxley
1:51:51
95
Card Trick by John Berryman
1:14:12
96
Bill, the Galactic Hero (1984) Harry Harrison
1:05:30
97
The Outward Urge (ep01) The Space Station
1:12:57
98
The Outward Urge (ep02) The Moon
1:45:38
99
The Outward Urge (ep03) Mars
1:09:59
100
The Outward Urge (04) Venus
1:15:47
101
The Outward Urge (05) The Emptiness of Space
38:47
102
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (Sci-Fi Radio)
1:23:44
103
Chocky (Sci-Fi Radio) John Wyndham
1:30:02
104
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (Sci-Fi Radio)
1:53:18
105
Survival by John Wyndham (Sci-Fi Radio)
1:01:26
106
Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham (Sci-Fi Radio)
2:19:28
107
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
1:47:53
108
Beethoven Can Hear You (Sci-Fi Radio)
1:25:53
109
And It Comes Out Here by Lester del Ray
33:29
110
A Matter of Life and Death (Part 1&2)
1:52:18
111
Dimension X - 1950 The Martian Chronicles
30:19
112
Dimension X - 1950 Report on the Barnhouse Effect
29:59
113
Dimension X - 1950 The Outer Limit
30:10
114
2000 Plus - 1950 Worlds Apart
28:08
115
2000 Plus - 1950 When the Worlds Met
29:54
116
2000 Plus - 1950 The Other Man
30:37
117
2000 Plus - 1950 The Green Thing
30:23
118
2000 Plus - 1950 The Flying Saucers
29:39
119
2000 Plus - 1950 The Brooklyn Brain
28:57
120
Zero Hour - Mysterious Traveler
30:02
121
White Flame - Zero Hour
16:47
122
Wanted in Surgery - Seeing Ear Theatre
23:00
123
Shadow of a Doubt - Alfred Hitchcock
58:25
124
Restaurant at the End of the Universe
59:19
125
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C Clarke
1:58:01
126
Night Of the Wolf - Ghost Stories
1:24:43
127
Oblivion Syndrome - Seeing Ear Theatre
29:26
128
My Beloved Must Die - Sealed Book
26:36
129
Ghost Stories - Ghost Train
1:25:07
130
George and the Read Giant - Seeing Ear Theatre
1:01:06
131
Happiness Effect - Exploring Tomorrow
20:00
132
Murderer Goes Free - Mysterious Traveler
27:46
133
First Contact - Exploring Tomorrow
19:41
134
Dreams - Exploring Tomorrow
19:55
135
Convict - Exploring Tomorrow
16:26
136
Christmas Story - Mysterious Traveler
26:28
137
Beware of Tomorrow - Sealed Book
29:05
138
Earthsearch: (10-Part Serial in Time and Space)
4:45:49
139
The Slide 1964 (Sci-Fi Radio Serial in 7 parts)
3:27:05
140
Aliens in The Mind 1977 - Pt.1/6 Island Genesis
28:35
141
Aliens in The Mind 1977 (Pt.2/6) Hurried Exodus
27:57
142
Aliens in The Mind 1977 (Pt.3/6) Unexpected Visitations
27:58
143
Aliens in The Mind 1977 (Pt.4/6) Official Intercessions
27:24
144
Aliens in The Mind 1977 (Pt.5/6) Genetic Revelation
27:27
145
Aliens in The Mind 1977 (Pt.6/6) Final Tribulations
27:52
146
Orbit One Zero (6 Part Mini Serial)
2:51:31
147
Host Planet Earth (6 Part Mini Serial)
2:49:58
148
A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
1:27:15
149
A Clockwork Orange - BBC 2010
1:28:39
150
625Y by Wally K. Daly
57:15
151
Alpha (2002) Mike Walker
57:13
152
20000 Leagues Under The Sea By Jules Verne
34:50
153
Sci-fi Radio (ep26) Yanqui Doodle by James Tiptree Jr.
27:49
154
Sci-fi Radio (ep25) The Twonky' by Lewis Padgett
27:44
155
Sci-fi Radio (ep23/24) Home Is the Hangman by Roger Zelazny
51:35
156
Sci-fi Radio (ep22) Keep Your Shape by Robert Sheckley
28:39
157
Sci-fi Radio (ep20/21) Houston, Houston, Do You Read by James Tiptree Jr.
55:32
158
Sci-fi Radio (ep19) Field of Vision by Ursula K. Leguin
29:21
159
Sci-fi Radio (ep18) Impostor by Philip K. Dick
28:37
160
Sci-fi Radio (ep17) Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson
38:40
161
Sci-fi Radio (ep16) Grantha Sighting by Avram Davidson
15:29
162
Sci-fi Radio (ep14/15) Vintage Season by Catherine L. Moore and Henry Kuttner
55:53
163
Sci-fi Radio (ep13) Wall of Darkness by Arthur C. Clark
28:47
164
Sci-fi Radio (ep11/12) Sundance by Robert Silverberg
39:38
165
Sci-fi Radio (ep10) The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin
28:46
166
Sci-fi Radio (ep08/09) Frost and Fire by Ray Bradbury
53:50
167
Sci-fi Radio (ep07) Diary of a Rose by Ursula K. Leguin
28:41
168
Sci-fi Radio (ep06) Sales Pitch by Philip K. Dick
28:48
169
Sci-fi Radio (ep05) The Ballad of Lost C'Mell
39:15
170
Sci-fi Radio (ep04) Light of Other Days by Bob Shaw
14:35
171
Sci-fi Radio (ep02/03) Dark Benediction by Walter M. Miller
55:12
172
Sci-fi Radio (ep00) Voices Lost in Calling
26:29

Orbiter X Radio BBC ep11 A Flight Against Time

8 months ago
30

Orbiter X: An adventure in the conquest of space was a BBC Radio science fiction programme written by B. D. Chapman. Only a single series was produced which was broadcast by the BBC Light Programme on Monday evenings in late 1959. Presumed to have been wiped and lost, a set of discs of the entire series, recorded for the BBC Transcription Service, was discovered and restored. Since 2016, Orbiter X has occasionally been repeated on the BBC's archive station, BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Plot
The fictional Commomwealth Space Project (CSP), based in Woomera, South Australia, is working to build a space station orbiting a thousand miles above the Earth's surface: Orbiter X. Planned to be a refuelling station for further space exploration, along with laboratories and other services, the CSP has launched the various components for the space station into orbit. But before construction can begin, the first assembly ship, Orbiter 1, is seemingly attacked and loses contact with CSP Control. A second ship, Orbiter 2, piloted by Captain Bob Britton (John Carson), sent to rescue the first crew finds Orbiter 1 deserted and the spacecraft's log missing. Orbiter 2 is also attacked by a UFO and Flight Engineer 'Hicky' (Barrie Gosney) seriously injured. With their spacecraft crippled, the crew have no alternative but to abandon ship and place themselves at the mercy of their attackers. Once aboard the UFO, they meet Commander Gelbin (Arthur Lawrence), the deputy leader of the Unity organisation: a group of technocrats who plan to use Orbiter X themselves and create a New World Order.

Background
Writing in the Radio Times, the programme's creator said:
With the arrival of the Russian moon probe in the lunar Sea of Serenity a fortnight ago, scientific fact and fiction have become curiously interwoven. The time cannot be far distant when man himself will be setting foot on the moon, but such an undertaking still poses major problems, not least of which is the question of fuel for the return trip.

At the present time, a rocket consumes the bulk of its fuel during its breakaway from the earth. To make the return trip possible, a refuelling point or terminal will be required beyond the limits of the atmosphere. This dual purpose could be served by a space station which would also be equipped with facilities such as a space laboratory, workshops, an observatory and, of course, living accommodation for the crew.

I believe that we shall see such a station taking shape within the course of the next ten years or so, and it is this possibility which has given me the background of the new serial.

For myself, I am hoping that the serial will not be outdated by the News before it starts!
Production details
The producer of Orbiter X, Charles Maxwell, aimed to make the series authentic as possible. During the studio recordings, the cast wore 'space helmets' to help them to achieve a sense of realism. Harry Morriss and Ian Cook created around 40 different sound effects for the series, with "as many as four or five effects sometimes being blended together to produce one particular sound".

Cast
The complete cast, as listed in the Radio Times, was:
Part Played by
Captain Bob Britton John Carson
Captain Douglas McClelland Andrew Crawford
Flight Engineer Hicks Barrie Gosney
Colonel Kent Donald Bisset
Captain Jack Bradley John Witty
Control Officer Brown Peter Noel Cook
Control Officer Camm Francis Hall
U F O Commander Gelbin Arthur Lawrence
Radio Operator John Matthews
Max Kramer Gerik Schjelderup
Greta Ravel Irene Prador
Sir Charles Day Leslie Perrins
Neasen Ian Sadler
Letmann John Cazabon
Captain Knight John Graham
Episode list
No. First broadcast title
1 28 Sep 1959 The First Step to the Stars
2 5 Oct 1959 Conflict in Space
3 12 Oct 1959 The Master Plan
4 19 Oct 1959 Flight to the Moon
5 26 Oct 1959 Inside the Moon Station
6 2 Nov 1959 Breakaway
7 9 Nov 1959 Price of Survival
8 16 Nov 1959 Marooned in Space
9 23 Nov 1959 Operation Salvage
10 30 Nov 1959 Return to Woomera
11 7 Dec 1959 A Flight Against Time
12 14 Dec 1959 Building the Space Station
13 21 Dec 1959 The Net Closes
14 28 Dec 1959 The Final Round

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