Journey into Space

Journey Into Space

The four main cast members of Journey Into Space: The World in Peril
Genre	Science fiction
Running time	30 minutes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Light Programme
Starring	Andrew Faulds Guy Kingsley Poynter Bruce Beeby Don Sharp David Williams David Kossoff Alfie Bass David Jacobs (plus others)
Created by	Charles Chilton
Produced by	Charles Chilton
Original release	21 September 1953 – 18 June 1958
No. of episodes	Journey to the Moon – 18 The Red Planet – 20 The World in Peril – 20 Operation Luna – 13 The Return from Mars – 1
Audio format	Monaural

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 (the fourth was a remake of the first), which was translated into 17 languages (including Hindustani, Turkish and Dutch) and broadcast in countries worldwide (including the United States, New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands). 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 (a popular Western, also written by Chilton) 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 (later known as Operation Luna) 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. In 1986, a set of misfiled Transcription Service discs (produced for sale to overseas radio stations) was discovered, containing complete copies of the three original series (more accurately, the surviving version of the first series is a cut-down remake of the original, produced for the Transcription Service during the 1950s). 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 include Colin Pillinger,Kenny Everett,John Major,Stephen Hawking,Miriam Margolyes and former Doctor Who producer Philip Hinchcliffe.