''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 (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

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 2 and BBC Radio 1. 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.

Plot

The fictional Commomwealth Space Project (CSP), based in Woomera,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, 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), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

and Flight Engineer 'Hicky' (

Barrie Gosney Barrie Gosney (1926, Surrey – 24 January 2008) was a British television, film and theatrical actor. In a career spanning five decades, Gosney played roles in ''Up Pompeii'', ''Last of the Summer Wine'', ''Believe Nothing'', ''Time Gentlemen ...

) 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 the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...

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

Background

Writing in the '' Radio Times'', 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 '' Radio Times'', 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