Journey into Space

Journey Into Space is a BBC Radio science fiction programme written by BBC producer Charles Chilton. It was the last UK radio programme to attract a bigger evening audience than television. Originally, four series were produced, which was translated into 17 languages and broadcast in countries worldwide. Chilton later wrote 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 ended its six series 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 was the result. Each half-hour episode would usually end with a dramatic cliffhanger, to increase the audience's incentive to tune into 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 had survived, although some were broadcast by the American Forces Radio and Television Service in Europe during the late 1970s. In 1986, a set of misfiled Transcription Service discs was 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.
Fans of Journey Into Space included Colin Pillinger, Kenny Everett, John Major, Stephen Hawking, Miriam Margolyes, and former Doctor Who producer Philip Hinchcliffe.

The [|main characters]

The four main characters appear in all the original series, as well as the later special episodes:

	Captain Andrew "Jet" Morgan	Doctor Daniel "Doc" Matthews	Stephen "Mitch" Mitchell	Lemuel "Lemmy" Barnet
Journey to the Moon	Andrew Faulds	Guy Kingsley Poynter	Bruce Beeby	David Kossoff
Journey to the Moon	Andrew Faulds	Guy Kingsley Poynter	Don Sharp	David Kossoff
The Red Planet	Andrew Faulds	Guy Kingsley Poynter	Bruce Beeby	David Kossoff
The World in Peril	Andrew Faulds	Guy Kingsley Poynter	Don Sharp	Alfie Bass
Operation Luna	Andrew Faulds	Guy Kingsley Poynter	David Williams	Alfie Bass
The Return from Mars	John Pullen	Ed Bishop	Nigel Graham	Anthony Hall
Frozen in Time	David Jacobs	Alan Marriott	Michael Beckley	Chris Moran
The Host	Toby Stephens	Alan Marriott	Jot Davies	Chris Pavlo

Guy Kingsley Poynter had worked with Charles Chilton before Journey Into Space, and Chilton once commented that Poynter "was a very good poetry reader". Chilton also observed that Bruce Beeby was like his character Mitch, and was "always blowing his top".
David Kossoff asked Chilton if his character could be called Lemuel, and Chilton shortened the name to Lemmy. Chilton based Lemmy's character on himself, since he had been a radio operator in the RAF. Originally, Chilton had chosen John Glen to play Jet, but later decided to use Andrew Faulds instead, because Chilton's secretary fancied him.
David Jacobs's ability to play a wide variety of characters, each with their own distinctive voice, resulted in him playing 22 different characters during the course of Journey Into Space. He used to mark up his script using different colour pencils, to help him remember what each character was supposed to sound like. In episode 1 of The Red Planet, Jet is interviewed by a group of newspaper reporters, all of whom were played by Jacobs.
Light-hearted pranks were often played on David Jacobs just before a recording session was about to begin. On one occasion, Andrew Faulds poured a jug of water inside his trousers, totally soaking him, and he "did the rest of the programme in a raincoat!" On another occasion, some of the actors smeared mustard on his lip microphone, causing him some difficulties during the recording session.
Don Sharp later became a noted director.

Original three series

''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. The series was set in 1965, and was first broadcast in 1953–1954 on the BBC Light Programme. The series was originally intended to have 12 episodes, and 5.1 million people tuned into the first episode, but the first four episodes did not prove very popular, and the audience soon shrank to fewer than 4 million. But 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.
In 1958, Journey to the Moon was re-recorded for the BBC Transcription Services, because the original recordings had been erased. The first four episodes of the original series were omitted, and episodes 12 and 13 were merged into a single episode. Today, the only surviving recording from the original 1953 series Journey to the Moon is a 5-minute excerpt from the final episode.
Faulds, Kingsley Poynter, and Deryck Guyler were the only actors from Journey to the Moon to reprise their roles in Operation Luna.
In addition to the main characters, other characters in Journey to the Moon included:

Actor	Character
Wilfred Walter	Sir William Morgan
Robert Perceval	Mackenzie
Deryck Guyler	The Time-Traveller
David Jacobs	Miscellaneous characters
John Cazabon	Earth Control
Alan Keith	London correspondent
Duncan McIntyre	Jet's great uncle, Hector
Mark Baker
Errol McKinnon
Jessica Dunning
Wyndham Milligan

Alan Keith 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. 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.
Andrew Faulds's 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.
In November 1957, Chilton wrote an episode of the BBC School 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.
The table below indicates the correspondence between the episodes of Journey to the Moon and Operation Luna.

''The Red Planet''

The second series, The Red Planet, followed the adventures of the crew in their first attempt to reach and explore Mars. Several new characters were introduced, the most notable of which were Frank Rogers and James Edward Whitaker, the two original crewmen of freighter #2. Chilton took the name Whitaker from a copy of Whitaker's Almanack which was sitting on his desk.
In addition to the main characters, other characters in The Red Planet included:

Actor	Character
David Jacobs	Frank Rogers and miscellaneous characters
Anthony Marriott	James Edward Whitaker
Miriam Karlin	Mrs Barnet
John Cazabon	Australian control voice, dingo hunter, flying doctor, John Bodie, Bill Webster
Madi Hedd	Martha Bodie
Don Sharp	Sam

Married to Bruce Beeby, who played Mitch.
The most memorable catchphrase from this series was "Orders must be obeyed without question at all times", which was often repeated by many of the 'conditioned' characters, especially Whitaker. Episode 19 of the series rated a 17% audience share, whereas the newsreel broadcast simultaneously on BBC TV had an audience share of 16%. This was the last time that a radio show achieved a higher rating than its TV opponent.
During the first broadcast of this series, the Radio Times featured Journey Into Space on its cover, showing Andrew Faulds as Captain "Jet" Morgan. His spacesuit was a prototype being developed in Britain at the time.
During the recording of The Red Planet, Guy Kingsley Poynter was also starring in The Teahouse of the August Moon at Her Majesty's Theatre.
The British Empire Exhibition was referred to throughout the episodes.
In the table of episodes below, the numbers marked with # refer to the numbered freighters of the Mars fleet.

Episode	First broadcast	Brief plot summary
1	6 Sep 1954	April 1971. Jet and Mitch travel from Earth to the Moon by rocket. The Mars fleet begins its journey. During an EVA, Mitch's safety line fails, leaving him adrift.
2	13 Sep 1954	Jet manages to rescue Mitch, using a miniature rocket unit. Frank Rogers, of #2, tells Lemmy he's not getting on at all well with Whitaker, his shipmate. Later, Control requests information about Whitaker; and Whitaker starts behaving very strangely while Jet is questioning him.
3	20 Sep 1954	While Whitaker is in a strange deep sleep, both Frank and Lemmy have nightmares. Radar suddenly reveals a huge meteor swarm ahead of the fleet, blocking its path. Just as Lemmy escorts Whitaker to his new ship, #7, a large meteor destroys the ship.
4	27 Sep 1954	Control discovers very odd information about Whitaker – the only man answering to his description was apparently born in 1893, and has been missing since 1924. The fleet changes course twice to avoid the meteor swarm, but both times it moves to block their path again. The crew realise they have only one option: to head straight through the swarm.
5	4 Oct 1954	The fleet enters the swarm, and for nearly 7 hours all electronic equipment is badly disrupted. Peterson reports an emergency on board #6 with Whitaker. On leaving the swarm, #6 is nowhere to be seen, and the swarm is now blocking radio contact with Control. Two weeks later, Discovery apparently re-establishes contact with home, but as they prepare to take an important message, the crew are puzzled by the short delay between replies.
6	11 Oct 1954	A radio message orders the fleet to return home. However, a bearing on the radio signal reveals the transmitter to be somewhere in front of the fleet, thus proving the message to be a fake. #6 is sighted ahead of the fleet, and Discovery draws up alongside it. Jet decides they must enter the ship to investigate.
7	18 Oct 1954	Jet and Doc transfer to #6, and Whitaker is found badly injured in the ship's hold, but Peterson has vanished. Jet has a strange dream, and Whitaker dies from his injuries, suddenly transforming into an old man. Recording tapes found in the cabin confirm the crew's suspicions that Whitaker faked the radio message. Discovery and #6 both rejoin the fleet, and Jet and Lemmy are shocked to hear Peterson's voice on the radio.
8	25 Oct 1954	Peterson's voice was actually a forgotten tape playing on the recording machine. Peterson's suicide recording is heard, and radio contact with Control is restored. The fleet finally enters orbit round Mars, and Discovery lands at the South Pole, but a strange soporific noise troubles the crew and causes them to crash-land.
9	1 Nov 1954	Jet reveals that the strange noise caused him to black out, but the crew are all safe. #1 lands alongside Discovery, and Jet and Mitch explore outside. Whilst conducting experiments, they soon get lost in a dense fog. They see a mysterious orange light, mistaking it for the landing light of the Discovery, and the same soporific noise heard during the landing causes them to lose consciousness.
10	8 Nov 1954	Doc and Frank rescue Jet and Mitch using a land transport truck, and Jet says he dreamed of a ruined city in a valley. Discoverys crew begin the exploration of Mars in the land trucks, whilst Freighter #2 begins to ferry supplies down from the fleet in orbit. However, on its second trip down, the freighter pilot hears the soporific noise and the ship apparently crashes.
11	15 Nov 1954	Racing to reach the crashed freighter before sunset, the Discovery's crew reaches the Mare Australis, the plain north of the ice cap. After nightfall, they see a mysterious white light moving across the plain. In the morning, they spot the crashed freighter, but upon reaching it find its crew missing. However, there are strange marks in the ground nearby which Jet deduces to belong to "the light", realising that a ship has visited and kidnapped the freighter crew. Jet resolves to change the exploration route and go after the ship.
12	22 Nov 1954	The Discovery crew travel west across the Mare Australis in pursuit of the mysterious ship. Meanwhile, Frank and Grimshaw, currently crew members of Freighter #1, reach the wrecked #2 and take up residence for the night. However, during the night, a 'sphere' arrives and its crew attempt to enter the wreck. Whilst observing the crew, Frank realises they are human. A few days later, Discovery's crew reach a valley in the Argyre Desert, and Jet spots a city which is identical to the one in his earlier dream.
13	29 Nov 1954	Discoverys crew explore the valley's ruined city, but Lemmy vanishes, and experiences a hypnotic dream. He's later found with McLean, who is now mysteriously able to breathe the Martian atmosphere without a helmet.
14	6 Dec 1954	Jet and Doc return Lemmy to the caravans, and Doc deduces that Whitaker and McLean had been 'conditioned', allowing them to be controlled, as well as breathe in the Martian atmosphere. Mitch becomes separated from the others, and meets a man who claims to be a dingo hunter in Australia. Meanwhile McLean, disguised in Mitch's spacesuit, enters the caravan and confronts Lemmy.
15	13 Dec 1954	McLean reveals that only two of his three crew mates survived the crash, and declares that Mitch is alive but will never return to the fleet or Earth. He then tries to overpower but Lemmy wins the fight. The sphere is spotted on top of the city, but takes off with Jet, Lemmy and Doc in pursuit again. Meanwhile, Mitch, lost in the desert and now able to breathe the Martian atmosphere, comes across a house inhabited by a man and woman, who claim to be sheep farmers living in Australia in 1939. Driven to a frenzy, Mitch demands explanations, only for the farmer to turn his rifle on him.
16	20 Dec 1954	Jet, Doc and Lemmy discover the farm house, and find Mitch inside it. But Mitch is now 'conditioned' to believe he's in Australia, and doesn't recognise the others. He refuses to rejoin them, and attacks Jet, puncturing his helmet. As the others work to save him, the sphere lands outside and the crew are trapped.
17	27 Dec 1954	A 'flying doctor' has arrived in the sphere, with Dobson and Harding of #2 'conditioned' and working as his assistants. Although Jet successfully escapes back to the land trucks, the doctor manages to capture Doc and Lemmy. He tries to 'condition' them using the soporific noise, but they manage to resist. They find themselves being taken to a much larger Martian city.
18	3 Jan 1955	Jet sets out after the sphere again, having ordered McLean to follow him in the second caravan. Meanwhile, the sphere arrives at Lacus Solis, and the flying doctor reveals the Martian plan to invade the Earth in 1986. Lemmy overpowers the doctor in a struggle, and he and Doc contact Frank, who is searching for them in #1. Through him, they pass their news to Jet, but then Frank hears the soporific noise and his freighter crashes.
19	10 Jan 1955	Doc and Lemmy escape the city in the sphere with Mitch, who starts to recover from his 'conditioning', but can only remember being two weeks away from reaching Mars. Meanwhile, Jet is contacted by Webster, a man trying to return to Earth, and learns more about the Martians. Webster offers to help Jet find his lost crew mates, but while travelling across the desert, they spot a sphere hovering above them.
20	17 Jan 1955	The sphere turns out to be Doc and Lemmy's, and Discovery crew are fully reunited at last thanks to advice from Webster, Mitch completes his recovery. Jet, Lemmy and Webster try to rescue Frank and Grimshaw from an underground factory, but they cannot be reached, and during a fight with the factory supervisor, Webster is injured and dies. The crew return to Discovery at the North Pole, and take off for home, escaping a pursuing fleet of spheres. Their news of the upcoming Martian invasion is passed to Earth, causing great commotion. They land back on the Moon six months later, but what happens next is another story...