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SF serial · BBC Light Programme

Operation Luna (JIS)

· 12 broadcasts

Operation Luna is the surviving form of the first series of Journey into Space -- the BBC science-fiction serial that was, famously, the last British radio show to out-draw television in the evening. Written and produced by Charles Chilton, it sends Captain 'Jet' Morgan and his three-man crew (Doc, Mitch, and the Cockney radio operator Lemmy) to the Moon aboard the rocket Luna in the far-off year of 1965, only for a fleet of UFOs to sweep them through time to prehistoric Earth and home again -- with no memory of any of it, but with strange proof that it happened. Andrew Faulds stars as Jet, with Guy Kingsley Poynter, Alfie Bass, and David Williams as the crew and Van Phillips's clavioline-tinged score behind them. A note on what you're hearing: the original 18-part 1953-54 serial was wiped by the BBC, so this is the 1958 re-recording made for the BBC Transcription Service under the title Operation Luna -- thirteen episodes, with the original's slow Earth-bound opening trimmed away so the story lifts off almost at once. Rediscovered on misfiled discs in 1986, it has been thrilling listeners all over again ever since.

Collection status: 12 of 12 held (100% complete)
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Episode Spine

1953

September 21, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 1 of 12 Listen (MP3)
The rocket Luna leaves for the Moon with Jet, Doc, Mitch, and Lemmy aboard; when radio contact drops, Lemmy catches an eerie 'music' on the set -- and hears it again, unnervingly, out beyond the hull.
September 28, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 2 of 12 Listen (MP3)
Turning for the landing, the crew radio home their first steps on the Moon -- until Jet, exploring a crater, simply vanishes.
October 5, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 3 of 12 Listen (MP3)
Strange visions, that haunting music, and a diary entry Doc doesn't remember writing shadow the crew's last week on the Moon -- and then, as they prepare to leave, every system goes dead.
October 12, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 4 of 12 Listen (MP3)
Stranded with the air-conditioning gone and oxygen running low, the crew watch a UFO cross the televiewer; power returns at the last possible moment, and the craft has landed just outside.
October 19, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 5 of 12 Listen (MP3)
Mitch steps inside the UFO and is briefly seized by an alien mind; Luna lifts off, and on the Moon's far side a whole fleet of the craft gives chase.
October 26, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 6 of 12 Listen (MP3)
The UFOs fling Luna to a blinding speed and the crew black out, waking adrift in deep space with Earth and Moon gone -- and a strange planet drawing near.
November 2, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 7 of 12 Listen (MP3)
They set down on a world uncannily like Earth, and studying the night sky Jet reaches a staggering conclusion: it IS Earth, thousands of years adrift in time.
November 9, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 8 of 12 Listen (MP3)
A prehistoric knife says the deep past; the tracks of a great machine say otherwise -- and then a UFO lands nearby and a voice crackles over the radio: 'Hello, Luna!'
November 16, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 9 of 12 Listen (MP3)
'The voice' reveals that the music is the power his peaceful, far-travelled people use to drive their ships, warns the crew of grave danger, and leads them by UFO to a city of domes.
November 23, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 10 of 12 Listen (MP3)
The crew learn their hosts are a gentle, scientific race, brush past a sabre-toothed tiger, and grasp that they have gone BACK through time -- before something waiting in 'the voice's' dome leaves them terrified.
November 30, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 11 of 12 Listen (MP3)
Warned about Earth's savage 'forest creatures,' the crew are shaken to find they are prehistoric humans -- their own ancestors; 'the voice' honors his promise to send them home, and Luna is hurled once more through time as the crew wonder whether they will remember any of it.
December 7, 1953 Operation Luna - Part 12 of 12 Listen (MP3)
The crew reach the Moon of 1965 with no memory of prehistoric Earth -- yet their rations are now water and a strange bread, Doc's diary tells the whole tale, and a prehistoric stone knife rests aboard Luna.
The Story

Operation Luna is the surviving form of the first series of Journey into Space -- the BBC science-fiction serial that was, famously, the last British radio show to out-draw television in the evening. Written and produced by Charles Chilton, it sends Captain 'Jet' Morgan and his three-man crew (Doc, Mitch, and the Cockney radio operator Lemmy) to the Moon aboard the rocket Luna in the far-off year of 1965, only for a fleet of UFOs to sweep them through time to prehistoric Earth and home again -- with no memory of any of it, but with strange proof that it happened. Andrew Faulds stars as Jet, with Guy Kingsley Poynter, Alfie Bass, and David Williams as the crew and Van Phillips's clavioline-tinged score behind them. A note on what you're hearing: the original 18-part 1953-54 serial was wiped by the BBC, so this is the 1958 re-recording made for the BBC Transcription Service under the title Operation Luna -- thirteen episodes, with the original's slow Earth-bound opening trimmed away so the story lifts off almost at once. Rediscovered on misfiled discs in 1986, it has been thrilling listeners all over again ever since.

Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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