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1. The First Step to the Stars

Episode 1 of 14

1959 sci-fi adventure from the birth of space exploration. A space station's construction is halted by UFOs. Stars John Carson.

BD Chapman's futuristic sci-fi adventure - first broadcast in 1959.

A bold plan to conquer space begins with prefabricated components of space station 'Orbiter X' being transported up from Earth.

But the task proves perilous.

Shaped like a giant wheel, 'Orbiter X' is designed to circle Earth, travelling in a rapid polar orbit - boasting synthetic gravity, produced by the rotation around the central hub.

First of fourteen parts.

Fact and fiction were curiously interwoven, as a fortnight before the first BBC broadcast, the Soviet Luna 2 space probe crash landed on the Moon.

Captain Bob Britton …. John Carson
Captain Douglas McClelland …. Andrew Crawford
Flight Engineer Hicks …. Barrie Gosney
Colonel Kent …. Donald Bisset
Captain Jack Bradley …. John Witty

Producer: Charles Maxwell.

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in September 1959.

30 minutes

Last on

Tue 12 Jul 202200:00
BBC Radio 4 Extra

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2. Conflict in Space

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Broadcasts

  • Mon 11 Apr 201618:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Tue 12 Apr 201600:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 12 Feb 201818:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Tue 13 Feb 201800:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 3 Feb 202018:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Tue 4 Feb 202000:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 11 Jul 202218:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Tue 12 Jul 202200:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra