Journey Into Space by Charles Chilton

Posted by Riklaa on November 19, 2010 at 11:08pm









Journey Into Space was a BBC Radio science fiction programme, written by BBC producer Charles Chilton. In the UK it was the last radio programme to attract a bigger evening audience than television.[1] Originally, four series were produced (the fourth being a remake of the first), which went on to be translated into 17 languages[2] (including Hindustani, Turkish and Dutch[3]) and broadcast worldwide (including the United States, New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands).[3] Chilton went on to write three best-selling novels and several comic strip stories, based upon the radio series.

The first series was created in 1953, soon after Riders of the Range (a popular Western, also written by Chilton) ended its six seasons on the BBC Light Programme. Michael Standing, then Head of the BBC Variety Department, asked Chilton if he could write a sci-fi programme, and Journey to the Moon (later known as Operation Luna) was the result.[1] Each half-hour episode would usually end with a dramatic cliffhanger, to increase the audience's incentive to tune in to the next episode.

The original magnetic recordings of the show were erased shortly after broadcast, and for several decades, it was believed that no recordings of the show still survived. However, in 1986, a set of mis-filed transcription discs were discovered, containing complete copies of the three original series. This discovery enabled the BBC to begin re-broadcasting the show in the late 1980s, and release copies of the show, first on audio cassette, and more recently on CD and internet download.

 Captain Andrew
"Jet" Morgan Doc Matthews Stephen "Mitch" Mitchell Lemuel
"Lemmy" Barnet
Journey to the Moon Andrew Faulds Guy Kingsley Poynter Bruce Beeby (episodes 2 to 6) David Kossoff
Don Sharp (episodes 7 to 18)
The Red Planet Bruce Beeby
The World in Peril Don Sharp Alfie Bass
Operation Luna David Williams
The Return from Mars John Pullen Ed Bishop Nigel Graham Anthony Hall
Frozen in Time David Jacobs Alan Marriott Michael Beckley Chris Moran

Guy Kingsley Poynter (who played Doc) had worked with Charles Chilton before Journey Into Space, and Chilton once commented that Poynter "was a very good poetry reader".[1] Chilton
[edit] Journey to the Moon / Operation Luna
Initially, the first series was simply known as Journey Into Space, with the subtitle A Tale of the Future added by the Radio Times, but within the BBC it became known as Journey to the Moon.[1] The series was set in 1965 (the year in which Chilton believed humans would first walk on the Moon[6]), and was first broadcast in 1953–1954 on the BBC Light Programme, which later became BBC Radio 2. The series was originally intended to have 12 episodes[1] (one source claims 8 episodes[2]), and 5.1 million people tuned in to the first episode, but the first four episodes (which took place on Earth) didn't prove very popular, and the audience soon shrank to less than 4 million.[1] However, once the rocket set off for the Moon in episode 5, the audience reaction was much more favourable. The series was extended to 18 episodes, and by the time the final episode was broadcast, 8 million people were tuning in.[1]

In 1958, Journey to the Moon was re-recorded for the BBC Transcription Services (retitled as Operation Luna), because the original recordings had been erased.[1] The first four episodes of the original series were omitted, and episodes 12 and 13 were merged into a single episode.[1] Today, the only surviving recording from Journey to the Moon is a 5-minute extract from the final episode.[1]

In addition to the main characters, other characters in Journey to the Moon included:[1]

Actor Character
Wilfred Walter Sir William Morgan
Robert Perceval Mackenzie
Deryck Guyler The Time-Traveller ("The Voice")
Mark Baker  
Errol McKinnon  
Jessica Dunning  
David Jacobs  
Duncan McIntyre  
Wyndham Milligan  

Other characters in Operation Luna included:[1]

Actor Character
John Cazabon Earth Control
Alan Keith (*) London correspondent
Duncan McIntyre Jet's great uncle, Hector
Deryck Guyler The Time-Traveller ("The Voice")
David Jacobs Miscellaneous characters

(*) Alan Keith (born Alec Kossoff) was the brother of David Kossoff, who played Lemmy.

Chilton wrote episode 8 of Journey to the Moon in response to a challenge from a TV producer, who considered the success of the series to be "a fluke". The producer challenged Chilton to write an episode "that could not be played equally well on television", and Chilton succeeded – a large proportion of the episode takes place in total darkness.[6] During the episode, Jet reads to the rest of the crew by torchlight from The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells, the only work of fiction carried on board the ship.[6]

Andrew Faulds' adopted uncle, Hector MacPherson, was an astronomer, and wrote a book called Practical Astronomy. Chilton bought a copy of the book, which first sparked his interest in astronomy, and later led him to write Journey Into Space. In episode 7 of Journey to the Moon, Jet's childhood flashback features his great uncle Hector, who was based on Hector MacPherson.[6]

In November 1957, Chilton wrote an episode of the BBC Schools Radio science series Our Own and Other Worlds, titled A Trip to the Moon, which featured edited material from episodes 5 and 6 of Journey to the Moon.[7]

The table below indicates the correspondence between the episodes of Journey to the Moon and Operation Luna.[1]

Journey to the Moon Operation Luna Brief plot summary
Episode First broadcast Episode First broadcast
1 21 Sep 1953 – – The year is 1965, and Jet's father (Sir William Morgan) launches his A.24 rocket from the Rocket Research Station at Poker Flats. But something goes wrong, and the rocket heads towards Las Vegas, out of control.
2 28 Sep 1953 – – The rocket hits Las Vegas, killing at least 35 people, and the Poker Flats site is shut down. Meanwhile, Jet is invited by Mitch to join his Operation Luna project – a rocket to reach the Moon.
3 5 Oct 1953 – – Jet is appointed the rocket's pilot, and he and Lemmy travel to Australia to meet Mitch at the secret Operation Luna base. On arrival, Mitch takes them to meet Smitty, the team's doctor, but he is found dead.
4 12 Oct 1953 – – Doc Matthews replaces Smitty (who died from a coronary), and Lemmy is to be the radio operator. Mitch spots a plane flying around the launch site, suspects spies are active, and advances the launch date.
5 19 Oct 1953 1 26 Mar 1958 The rocket "Luna" sets off for the Moon with Jet, Doc, Mitch and Lemmy aboard. Radio contact with Earth is lost. Lemmy hears odd 'music' on the radio, before contact is resumed, and a tiny meteor hits Luna.
6 26 Oct 1953 2 2 Apr 1958 Luna is turned round for the Moon landing, and Lemmy hears the 'music' again during the final approach. The crew narrate their first moonwalk by radio to Earth. While exploring a crater, Jet vanishes.
7 2 Nov 1953 3 9 Apr 1958 The crew experience strange things: Jet has visions of the past and the future; Lemmy is disturbed by the 'music' again; Doc sees a strange dome over a crater, and writes an odd diary entry without realising.
8 9 Nov 1953 4 16 Apr 1958 Luna loses power just before taking off – the crew are stuck on the Moon. A UFO is seen on the televiewer, and strange noises are heard. Power is suddenly restored, and the UFO has landed outside.
9 16 Nov 1953 5 23 Apr 1958 Mitch is inquisitive and enters the UFO, where he is temporarily possessed by an alien intelligence. Luna takes off and orbits the Moon; on the far side, the crew encounter a fleet of UFOs, which pursues them.
10 23 Nov 1953 6 30 Apr 1958 The UFOs accelerate Luna to an incredible speed, and the crew blacks out. On recovering, they find themselves out in deep space, with no sign of the Earth or Moon. In the distance, a planet is approaching.
11 30 Nov 1953 7 7 May 1958 The planet looks similar to Earth, and the crew land Luna on it. After studying the stars, Jet realises that they are on Earth, but they've travelled thousands of years through time.
12 7 Dec 1953 8 14 May 1958 Jet discovers a prehistoric stone knife near Luna, proving that they've travelled back in time. A UFO lands nearby, and a voice is heard over the radio: "Hello Luna!"
13 14 Dec 1953
14 21 Dec 1953 9 21 May 1958 The crew talk with 'the voice', which warns them that they are in great danger, and persuades them to enter the UFO, which then takes off. Eventually it lands again, in a city of domed buildings.
15 29 Dec 1953 10 28 May 1958 The crew learn more about 'the voice' and his people (they are a peaceful, scientific race). They enter a domed building, walk down a long dark tunnel, and emerge in a huge underground city.
16 5 Jan 1954 11 4 Jun 1958 'The voice' tells the crew about the native 'forest creatures' (destructive animals), and promises to help the crew get back to their own time. The crew realise the 'forest creatures' are prehistoric humans.
17 12 Jan 1954 12 11 Jun 1958 'The voice' is not pleased to learn that the crew are descended from the 'forest creatures', but reluctantly helps them. Luna takes off and is accelerated by the UFOs; the crew blacks out.
18 19 Jan 1954 13 18 Jun 1958 The crew return to the Moon in 1965, but with no memory of their adventure on prehistoric Earth. However, Doc's diary contains a detailed account, and there's also a prehistoric stone knife on board Luna...

Operation Luna 1 of 2 64k

1.1 Operation Luna.zip

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