''Orbiter X: An adventure in the conquest of space'' is a

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

programme written by B. D. Chapman. Only a single series was produced which was broadcast on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

on Monday evenings in late 1959. Presumed to have been wiped and lost, a set of discs of the entire series, recorded for the BBC Transcription Service, was discovered and restored. Since 2016, ''Orbiter X'' has occasionally been repeated on the BBC's archive station,

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

Plot

The fictional

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Space Project (CSP), based in Woomera,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, is working to build a space station orbiting a thousand miles above the Earth's surface: ''Orbiter X''. Planned to be a refuelling station for further space exploration, along with laboratories and other services, the CSP has launched the various components for the space station into orbit. But before construction can begin, the first assembly ship, ''Orbiter 1'', is seemingly attacked and loses contact with CSP Control. A second ship, ''Orbiter 2'', piloted by Captain Bob Britton ( John Carson), sent to rescue the first crew finds ''Orbiter 1'' deserted and the spacecraft's log missing. ''Orbiter 2'' is also attacked by a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

and Flight Engineer 'Hicky' ( Barrie Gosney) seriously injured. With their spacecraft crippled, the crew have no alternative but to abandon ship and place themselves at the mercy of their attackers. Once aboard the UFO, they meet Commander Gelbin (Arthur Lawrence), the deputy leader of the ''Unity'' organisation: a group of

technocrats Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...

who plan to use ''Orbiter X'' themselves and create a New World Order.

Background

Writing in the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'', the programme's creator said:

Production details

The producer of ''Orbiter X'', Charles Maxwell, aimed to make the series authentic as possible. During the studio recordings, the cast wore 'space helmets' to help them to achieve a sense of realism. Harry Morriss and Ian Cook created around 40 different sound effects for the series, with "as many as four or five effects sometimes being blended together to produce one particular sound".

Cast

The complete cast, as listed in the ''

'', was:

Episode list

References

External links

*
''Tim Worthington's Newsround'' blog on Orbiter X
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orbiter X BBC Light Programme programmes BBC Radio dramas British science fiction radio programmes Space opera Works about astronauts Works set in outer space 1959 radio programme debuts 1959 radio programme endings 1959 radio dramas 1950s British radio programmes