BBC Radio science fiction drama serial written by Charles Chilton, first broadcast in 1958 as the series Operation Luna, followed by sequels from the same author including two series of Space Force, plus a sequel by Julian Simpson. Our square-jawed heroes confront the dangers of deep space and boldly charge towards another cliffhanger ending, courageously ignoring the mortal danger, and sometimes overlooking the laws of physics. 72 episodes plus 2 episodes of an interview with Charles Chilton.
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ace bookoo
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August 24, 2021
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Great stuff
Thank you for the post. Lots of fun and really well done
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Mikestone8
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July 16, 2021
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The Way the Future Was - Wonderful Nostalgia Trip.
It was great to listen to Jet Morgan, Doc, Mitch and Lemmy. I heard The World In Peril at age six or seven, and part of Operation Luna at age ten. The rest I had to rediscover in adulthood.
This was the Space Age as visualised in the 1950s. The crew is all British or Commonwealth, nuf sed, and it also shows its age in the way Lemmy (the Jewish character) is portrayed. You'd never get away with that today, but six decades ago it was just reckoned good clean fun.
It starts with Operation Luna, the first Journey to the Moon in 1965. The heroes get stranded there, and then are involved with a bunch of aliens who travel through time. However, the latter are reasonably friendly and all is well in the end, despite an unplanned visit to the Ice Age. This is a standalone, and the two "sequels" have little connection with it beyond the characters.
OTOH The Red Planet and The World In Peril are closely linked. TRP is about the first Mars expedition in 1971, which finds more than it bargained for in the way of natives who have kidnapped Humans and transported them to Mars, "conditioning" then so that they can live there without spacesuits, and making them believe that they are still on Earth. After divers adventures, the leading characters escape, though other do not.
The World In Peril is about the best, describing a return to Mars in the hope of forestalling a planned invasion of Earth. They are captured as soon as they land, and taken to a mobile asteroid which is part of the invasion fleet. They defeat it in the end, but it's a real cliff hanger.
As always there is the odd gripe about little slip-ups which should have been spotted even in 1954. In OL, they cannot see out until the dust thrown up by their rocket exhaust has settled. In reality, both dust and gas would have fallen to the ground at once, having no air to float in. And in TWIP, we repeatedly hear the tramp of marching feet as a squad of conditioned types passes by, though they are supposedly in microgravity, hence would sail into the air at every step. They would have to "march" like Barnes Wallis '. bouncing bomb. But these are nitpicks, and any old codger fancying a trip down memory lane, or anyone younger who is into the history of sf, should grab this gem with both hands.
Reviewer:
scifimike451
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July 13, 2021
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Space Force One
Thanks for fixing the problem with Space Force One episodes running short. Much appreciated.
Reviewer:
phil fos
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October 15, 2020
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Classic vintage radio.
I never get tired of putting my space helmet on and trekking around the Universe with Jet and the guys!
Reviewer:
TheGolux
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September 1, 2020
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Space Force Two files corrected
The problem identified by reviewer SusanQ has been rectfied, all the Space Force Two files are now complete.
Reviewer:
SusanQ
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August 25, 2020
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Well worth the time
These are really entertaining series. Well acted and solid stories.
I did run into a small technical quirk when streaming the Space Force Two series. Every episode cut off the last minute or so. This wasn't terribly problematic, as they did a bit of overlap at the beginning of the next episode. Unfortunately this means the closing of the final episode will always be a mystery to me. Perhaps a downloaded version wouldn't have the same issue.
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Simon Pollard
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April 30, 2020
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The Best Sci-fi Ever!
This trilogy is the best radio series of all time. The pacing of the episodes is perfect, they are not rushed as in Charles Chilton's remakes. I have a particular fondness for series 2. The arrival on mars and the first sightings of life produce very exciting episodes. The nation must have been totally gripped to the radio when these were first aired. The characters are nicely defined and work very well together with Lemmy the radio tech being the star of the show and not Jet Morgan. I really can't fault the writing or production, first class.
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TheSolicitordotinfo
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April 1, 2020
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Simply Superb
Apart from the enjoyment of being drawn into a gripping yarn, each series makes you realise just how much our knowledge of the universe has increased in the relatively short time since these were made. I presume the well educated adult already knew that travel around even in our own solar system would always remain largely impractical because of the time involved but I can remember being a young lad 5 years later and believing that space travel would happen one day. I guess that programmes like this would have been genuinely scary for a lot of people.
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solidgranite
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December 30, 2019
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Absolute Classics!
This series in an absolute classic of OTR science fiction. There are a few changes to cast members, but the story characters continue throughout the 3 "adventures". Chilton created a masterpiece!
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IAMNOTTHEFISHES
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October 6, 2019
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!
Wishing he had made more of these always, they are timecapsules for me in 2019 to look back into the past and it seemed more simple
Reviewer:
Stargate Lover
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September 21, 2019
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Great
Wonderful thank you for these series, I love this..
Reviewer:
t43700
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January 12, 2019
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Great sci-fi classic OTR
wonderful series
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Alan Eiseman
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December 22, 2018
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Great Series
I listen to these all the time.
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KCredrage
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July 24, 2018
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Thank You!
Thanks for placing this great BBC series on here! One of my favorite!
Reviewer:
Nabasar
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November 19, 2017
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Many of the files are only the first couple of minutes
Thank you for uploading this historic radio series, but many of the files - including the whole of the first series - only contain the first 2 minutes of the 30 minute show.
