Journey Into Space Operation Luna
7 CD Box Set
Compete & Unabridged
Journey Into Space was a BBC Radio science fiction serial first broadcast from 1953 to 1956. Three series were originally broadcast, all written and produced by Charles Chilton. The first series, Operation Luna, was originally titled Journey To The Moon and broadcast in 1953/4. The first four episodes, set on Earth, were not popular with audiences, but the serial grew in popularity when the story blasted off for space in episode five. The tapes of this first series were erased, but the series was re-recorded and re-broadcast in 1958, under the new title Operation Luna, but with the first four episodes omitted. The second series, The Red Planet, was the last time that a BBC radio show achieved a higher rating than its TV opponent. Operation Luna followed the adventures of Captain ‘Jet’ Morgan and his crew, as they attempt the first Moon landing, only to encounter a fleet of UFOs who send them back in time. The second series, The Red Planet, broadcast in 1954/5, sees Jet and his crew travelling to Mars, where they discover a plot by the Martians to invade Earth. The third series, The World In Peril, broadcast in 1955/6, was a direct continuation of the story begun in series two, and followed Jet Morgan and his crew's return to Mars in an attempt to avert the impending Martian invasion. The Return From Mars was a revival of Journey Into Space, written by Charles Chilton for Radio 4’s Saturday Night Theatre in 1981, and continues the story from approximately the end of The World In Peril, with the crew returning to Earth after thirty years in space, missing presumed dead . Frozen In Time was another stand-alone story, written by Charles Chilton and broadcast in 2008. Returning from a trip to Neptune, the crew awaken from suspended animation in order to rescue a stranded mining expedition on Mars. The Host was a further one-off episode, this time written by Julian Simpson, and broadcast in 2009, which sees the crew thwart the plans of a sentient information being to take over the Universe .