Web Page  No 2262

13th May 2016

Top Picture: Radio Times Cover 5^th Dec 1954

Second Picture: The Cast Broadcasting

Third Picture: The theme music recorded on Decca

Forth Picture: CD Cover

Journey Into Space

Journey into Space was written by Charles Chilton and ran for over 60 episodes during the 1950s and grabbed the imagination of the whole nation. When it was broadcast first on the Light Programme, it was only intended to be an eight week serial, but the success was so great that it was instantly extended to eighteen episodes, with two a week instead of the originally planned one. |The first broadcast was on 21st September 1953 (Monday evenings at 7.30pm, changing to Tuesdays for the last three episodes and the final transmission was on 19th January 1954.

The first of the three stories, OPERATION LUNA, was set in the far flung future of 1965 and told of Man's conquest of the Moon. In it, Andrew Faulds played Captain 'Jet' Morgan, David Kossoff, Lemmy, in the first three episodes. Guy Kingsley Poynter narrated the first episode and played additional crew in episodes 2 & 3, he then played the Doc from episode 4 onwards. Bruce Beeby played extra roles for the first 3 episodes, and was Mitchell for 4, 5, and 6, with Don Sharp taking over the role from episode 7 onwards. Errol Mackinnon and Mark Baker also appeared early in the serial. Music was composed and conducted by Van Phillips.

To make things a little more complicated the BBC Transcription Service, had the serial re-recorded for overseas sales in late 1957, with the serial being shortened to 13 weeks and with a slight change in the cast. This is the version that appears on the BBC cassettes and was broadcast weekly from 26th March to 18th June 1958.

In this serial Andrew Faulds and Guy Kingsley Poynter resumed their roles of Jet and Doc, with Alfie Bass taking the role of Lemmy after David Kossoff had left for a stage show, and David Williams, Mitch. Extra cast included David Jacobs and Deryck Guyler

The second serial, THE RED PLANET, was slightly longer at 20 episodes and was broadcast from 6th September 1954 to 17th June 1955. Andrew Faulds continued to play Jet, David Kossoff was Lemmy, Guy Kingsley Poynter, Doc, and Bruce Beeby as Mitch. David Jacobs and Anthony Marriott were both featured. This series was set in the early 70s and follows Jet Morgan, in his bright blue flagship Discovery, heading the fleet on a 35 milllion mile round trip to Mars.

The final part of the series, THE WORLD IN PERIL, ran to another 20 episodes, and was broadcast between 26th September 1955 and 6th February 1956.

A variety of sound effects were used in the episodes, and played a major role in the programmes. In addition to basic sounds, such as feet walking along a corridor or tunnel, more advanced effects were created, such as the mysterious haunting 'music' which is heard over the rocket's radio in many episodes. The most distinctive effect was the dramatic rocket take-off, which was played at the beginning of each episode, and whenever necessary during the episodes. This was actually a recording of a jet aircraft at Heathrow airport. Often, this would be followed by a slowly ascending tone (representing the rocket accelerating), which "was actually a recording of a thermionic valve played through an echo chamber  at the Physical Research Laboratory at Kingston". Other sound effects were created at Battersea Power Station, and the sound made by the televiewer on board Luna was actually a naval ASDIC.

The BBC had an echo chamber in the studio, which was greatly utilised during the episodes. Whenever the crew were in contact by radio with Earth control, or another distant location, the echo chamber would be applied to the voice of the remote character. Various sound effects were also created "live" in the studio. For example, in episode 8 of Journey to the Moon, the crew hear a mysterious tapping on the outside of the ship; this effect was created "by tapping the needle of the gramophone pickup head, and playing that through an echo chamber".

All the serials have been released by the BBC and are the nearest that can be found to the original broadcasts and run for nearly 21 hours in total. They can also be bought as a complete boxed set, so if you need something to fill the journey to and from work, and want to catch up on a true classic, then this is well worth it, they are available from Amazon.

By the time that the series had finished, it had been translated into 17 languages, broadcast from radio stations worldwide, was novelised, and had attracted a larger listening audience than the TV audiences of the time - the last evening radio serial ever to do that.

Keep in touch

Peter

gsseditor@gmail.com

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On this day 13^th May 1960-1965

On 13/05/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/05/1961 the number one single was Blue Moon - The Marcels and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/05/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Film star Emilio Estevez born

On 13/05/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/05/1964 the number one single was Don't Throw Your Love Away - Searchers and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/05/1964 the number one single was Don't Throw Your Love Away - Searchers and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/05/1965 the number one single was Ticket to Ride - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.