James Follett's Sci-Fi

 

 

James Follett is a prolific novelist and radio play writer. Perhaps his well honed skill in the latter can be attributed to the fact that he lost his sight as a child before having it restored in his teens by an operation. His well-crafted science fiction (and other) plays are familiar to radio drama enthusiasts, especially the two "Earth Search" epics from 1981 and 1982, where two organic computers responsible for the running of a huge spaceship slowly go out of their minds. Here is a selections of restored sci-fi radio dramas from the pen of James Follett:

 

The Light of  Thousand Suns:

A satellite mishap convinces the skipper of a nuclear attack submarine that WW 3 has started and he must launch his missiles - 90 minutes duration

 

The Doppelganger Machine:

A 1933 mail flight from France to England flies into a fogbank and emerges into an alternate timeline 40 years into the future, where a defeated Britain is a mere puppet state of Nazi Europe. Not surprisingly, the crew and passengers quickly arouse the curiosity and suspicion of the fascist authorities. A great story, well presented - 60 minutes duration

 

The Destruction Factor:

Ralph Exon while working for an international fertiliser corporation, has created a new strain of plant; a mutation which he hopes will bring relief to the famine-ridden countries of the world. It's an innocent looking plant, known as the Exon strain, but therein also lurks the Destruction Factor - 6 episodes each of 30 minutes duration

 

Earth Search:

Earth Search I and Earth Search II are each presented in ten 30-minute episodes. From the pen of James Follett comes the story of The Starship Challenger which had been exploring other galaxies for nearly 100 years when the Great Meteoroid Strike came. Five hundred crew die, leaving the fate of the four infant survivors in the hands of their mysterious guardian "Angels". Twenty five years later they re-enter their own solar system only to discover that a million years have passed and Earth has vanished!. Embarking on a perilous voyage through deep space, the crew of the Challenger go in search of their lost home.

Series II continues the adventure (I don't want to give anything away, here)

Earth Search: Mindwarp is a 3 part series based on the Mindwarp novel by James Follett. This new series was first broadcast on BBC7 in 2006, beginning on April 2, and the episodes were 45 minutes long.

While it has only a loose connection to the Earth Search series, it does set the stage for the former, and contains many familiar plot elements and character traits.

 

This MP3 Disc contain the complete adventures of these James Follett Sci-Fi shows:

 

A. The Light of a Thousand Suns

1.         BBCLTS_1974-07-06 The Light of a Thousand Suns.mp3

 

B. The Doppelganger Machine

1.         BBCDM_1974-08-14 The Doppelganger Machine.mp3

 

C. The Destruction Factor

1.         BBCDF_1978-03-11 Pt.1 The Seeds of Creation.mp3

2.         BBCDF_1978-03-18 Pt.2 The Devil's Harvest.mp3

3.         BBCDF_1978-03-25 Pt.3 The Wings of Azreal.mp3

4.         BBCDF_1978-04-03 Pt.4 Birdstrike.mp3

5.         BBCDF_1978-04-10 Pt.5 Search and Destroy.mp3

6.         BBCDF_1978-04-17 Pt.6 World Without Fire.mp3

 

D. Earth Search

      

Earth Search I

1.           ES_1981-01-06 Planet Fall.mp3

2.           ES_1981-01-13 First Footprint City.mp3

3.           ES_1981-01-20 Sands of Kyros.mp3

4.           ES_1981-01-27 The Solaric Empire.mp3

5.           ES_1981-02-03 The Pools of Time.mp3

6.           ES_1981-02-10 Across the Abyss.mp3

7.           ES_1981-02-17 New Blood.mp3

8.           ES_1981-02-24 Marooned.mp3

9.           ES_1981-03-03 Star Cluster - Tersus Nine.mp3

10.       ES_1981-03-10 Earthfall.mp3

 

       Earth Search II

1.           ES_1982-04-25 Return.mp3

2.           ES_1982-05-02 Flood.mp3

3.           ES_1982-05-09 Surrender.mp3

4.           ES_1982-05-16 Solaria.mp3

5.           ES_1982-05-23 Sun Death.mp3

6.           ES_1982-05-30 Supermass.mp3

7.           ES_1982-06-07 Death Ship.mp3

8.           ES_1982-06-14 Megalomania.mp3

9.           ES_1982-06-21 Earth.mp3

10.       ES_1982-06-28 Earth Voice.mp3

 

       Mindwarp

1.         ESMW_2006-04-02 Episode No. 1.mp3

2.         ESMW_2006-04-09 Episode No. 2.mp3

3.         ESMW_2006-04-16 Episode No. 3.mp3

 

 

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