Between 1953 and 1958, a devoted audience of adults and children attentively followed Captain Jet Morgan and his crew from one cliff-hanger to another as, together, they faced the unknown perils of space. Charles Chilton's classic science fiction trilogy stormed the BBC airwaves, its gripping story lines, extraterrestrial sound effects and atmospheric music engaged the listener as never before...

The BBC originally relaunched of the complete series of Journey into Space across three box sets back in 2004. However, back then they were charging £60 for each set - which was a little over priced. Now the series has been repackaged and is also available on MP3 download, so this CD collection is now available for just over £25.

This series - originally broadcast in 1953 - represents a pretty impressive audio production. Despite the fact that we know more about what awaits us out there in space than the writers of this series did, it is still a gripping drama.

For the first five episodes critics of the time wrote unfavourable reviews - accusing it of being too slow and boring. But, by episode 10, the critics were shouting its praises from the rooftops.

The original first series, Journey to the Moon, was lost, but thirteen episodes were re-recorded in 1958. All of those episodes are included here, as well as the sole surviving extract from Journey to the Moon.

There is also a 1999 radio documentary entitled Journey into Space... Again. This goes behind the scenes and interviews cast and crew from the series. There are some amusing stories about the pranks the cast would play on each other, as well as how a challenge to the production, from a TV producer, to write an episode that would not work as well on TV, resulted in an entire episode being written with the action set in total darkness.

Also included is a PDF file of a 16-page booklet detailing the history of the series, with cast lists and episode guides.

This is one classic audio collection that any serious sci-fi fan needs to get hold of.

7

Nick Smithson