Classic Radio Sci-Fi

On a remote Scottish island, Doctors Curtis Lark and John Cornelius are convinced that the violent death of their friend Dr Hugh Dexter was no accident... Dexter's research notes reveal that he was investigating an island sickness affecting many of the inhabitants, turning them into zombies blindly obeying orders from an unknown source. The key to the mystery seems to be an apparently telepathic, but simple-minded, local girl, Flora. Lark and Cornelius want to take her to London to find out more - but is she the only telepath to have left the island? And who is controlling them? Film horror legends Peter Cushing and Vincent Price play Lark and Cornelius in this six-part series, which also features Richard Hurndall (Blake's 7 and Doctor Who) among the cast. Written by Rene Basilico, it is based on a story by 1970s Doctor Who script editor Robert Holmes.

In the 1950s, the British public was gripped by three adult-oriented BBC science-fiction serials which became the keystone and benchmark for the genre on television. In many ways Professor Bernard Quatermass symbolised an era in which pioneering scientific discoveries encouraged both the hopes and the fears of a nation. Mixing extracts from the original BBC TV series with archive footage of real-life news events, interwoven with Nigel Kneales's narration and original drama segments, The Quatermass Memoirs looks at the genesis of the series, and how it was very much a product of its time. Now retired and living in the north of Scotland, Bernard Quatermass wants only to be left alone - but when a keen young reporter turns up at his door, for how long wil he manage to remain guarded about his past adventures?

Bill Masen wakes in his hospital bed, eyes bandaged. Something is wrong: it’s unusually quiet and no one has come to his room. When he removes his bandages he finds a world that has changed utterly. Most of the population are completely blind – only those who didn’t watch the night sky can still see. And, as law and order break down, a new menace appears – Triffids, walking carnivorous plants that can kill a human with their lethal sting. For Bill and the other survivors, it’s now a battle to stay alive. Gary Watson stars as Bill, with Barbara Shelley as Josella in these six stirring episodes. Also amongst the cast are Peter Sallis, Marjorie Westbury and some names familiar to Doctor Who aficionados: Peter Pratt, Christopher Bidmead and David Brierley. First published in 1951, John Wyndham’s novel became his best-known work and a classic of 20th Century fiction.

Driving back from a weekend in London, Richard and Janet Gayford are surprised to find the village of Midwich sealed off because of ‘army manoeuvres’. There are no birds singing, the air seems thick and there is a strange sort of music in the air. It soon becomes clear that there is an invisible wall around the village, and everyone within the perimeter is unconscious. When the barrier lifts, the strange occurrence is put down to a gas leak. The villagers seem to have suffered no adverse effects from their ‘day out’ - until, some months later, there is an epidemic of pregnancies among the women. All the babies are born on the same day, all have golden eyes - and they can all communicate with each other telepathically. As they grow older and their powers grow stronger, the people of Midwich begin to feel threatened...

Two classic tales from acclaimed British science fiction writer John Wyndham. In The Chrysalids, ten-year-old David is a happy, ordinary boy, untroubled except for occasional strange dreams about a mysterious city – until he befriends Sophie, who is unlike anybody he has met before: she has six toes. But, in the ultra-religious village of Waknut, all abnormality is abhorred as an offence against God, and he must keep her secret to himself. When he learns that he, too, is ‘deviant’, he realises that differences can be very dangerous indeed... Survival, set in the future, concerns the first auto-piloted space flight. When the ship meets with an accident, one of the passengers is killed and the others are cast adrift into space. They have enough supplies to last for three months – but the only woman on board, Alice Morgan, is pregnant, and needs extra rations. Then, food starts to go missing from the larder. What lengths will the passengers go to in order to survive? Stephen Garlick, Susan Sheridan, John Moffatt and Nicholas Courtney star in these two disturbing stories about the darker side of human nature. This CD release also includes a detailed sleeve note recounting the making of the radio adaptations, written by Andrew Pixley.

'They came in cylinders as dreaded falling stars; they were the ultimate killing machines...' When a Martian spacecraft crash-lands near Woking, mankind is terrorised by aliens in tall, armoured capsules that stalk the countryside on three legs. The frightening machines wreak havoc on London and the Southern Counties with their heat-rays, and survivors are driven underground. Yet it all began in the calm of an observatory... While scanning the heavens, scientist John Nicholson sees a shower of meteorites heading towards Earth. But what he is witnessing is, in fact, the beginnings of an invasion. Soon, dense black smoke wipes out vast numbers of the population and Nicholson tells how he was plunged into a paralysing nightmare of stark terror and utter destruction. Martin Jarvis, Peter Sallis and Anthony Jackson also feature in this thrilling six-part, full-cast dramatisation of H.G. Well's classic novel - an immensely atmospheric recording based on one of the most influential stories ever told.

From John Wyndham, author of The Day of the Triffids, comes this chilling tale of a normal boy confronted with abnormal circumstances. Matthew had always been an ordinary boy. Even when he started talking to himself and introduced his invisible friend, Chocky, to the family, it was obviously just a phase he was going through. And all children have imaginary friends, even if Matthew’s a bit old to have one. As he becomes increasingly distressed and blames it on arguments with this unseen companion, his parents become concerned. But when Matthew starts explaining binary maths and anti-gravity propulsion, concerns turn to worry. After all, Chocky is only the product of an overactive imagination. Isn’t he? Chocky stars Sacha Dhawan as Matthew, Owen Teale as David Gore and Cathy Tyson as Mary Gore.

When psychologist Kris Kelvin arrives at the scientific research station hovering high above the surface of Solaris, he finds the place deserted except for two scientists, who have been driven mad by some unknown horror. The researchers had been trying to investigate the ocean planet, and probe the secrets of its alien lifeforms. But their clumsy, aggressive approach has provoked a terrifying response from the ocean, which is now confronting them with their most painful repressed thoughts and memories in human form. Kris is faced with the manifestation of his long-dead wife, Rheya, and his guilt over her suicide, but whatever is tormenting the other scientists appears to be much worse... Solaris was first published in 1961 and is a classic of modern science fiction, twice adapted for film - by Tarkovsky in 1972 and Steven Soderbergh in 2002. Stanislaw Lem’s original novel combines a gripping sci-fi ghost story with a powerful debate about guilt and the human condition. The play has an exciting soundtrack by composer Alice Trueman.

Wells' thrilling story of an inventor who travels in time and discovers a nightmarish dystopian future has been adapted several times for TV and film. This first ever UK radio adaptation, starring Robert Glenister as the Time Traveller and William Gaunt as H. G. Wells, brings Wells' fascinating ideas and extraordinary visions to vivid life. It opens in 1943, when Wells is recording a talk for the Home Service in which he questions mankind's future. After the broadcast, he spends the evening with American journalist Martha, and tells her the astonishing news that his bestselling book The Time Machine was not fantasy but fact. Wells explains that he was actually present at the dinner party in Richmond fifty years earlier, when the Time Traveller returned from his first fateful journey into the future. He reveals to Martha the full story of the Time Traveller's encounter with the Eloi and the Morlocks - and what really happened to him afterwards...