Category: Out Of The Unknown

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Out Of The Unknown Season 1

No Place Like Earth

Out Of The UnknownEarth was destroyed 15 years ago, after the solar system had been colonized as far as the moons of Jupiter. Bert, one of the last people to leave Earth for Mars, became more or less stranded on Mars, traveling between Martian settlements and repairing things for the locals. When the call goes out for men to colonize Venus, Bert is torn between his peripatetic life on Mars, which affords him both a living and leisure time, and the urge to rebuild a new world in the image of Earth. But it is only when Bert arrives on Venus that he learns that all of human history will play out in the building of this new world – even the worst parts. And if he starts a revolution, he may not be long for this, or any other, world.

adapted by Stanley Miller
from a story by John Wyndham
directed by Peter Potter
music by Norman Kay

Out Of The UnknownCast: Terence Morgan (Bert), Jessica Dunning (Annika), Hannah Gordon (Zaylo), Joseph O’Conor (Freeman), Alan Tilvern (Blane), George Pastell (Major Khan), Jerry Stovin (Captain of Spaceship), Vernon Joyner (Carter), Bill Treacher (Harris), Geoffrey Palmer (Chief Officer), Roy Stewart (Security Guard)

Out Of The UnknownNotes: The works of writer John Wyndham would inspire many future genre productions, including the BBC’s adaptation of Day Of The Triffids and ITV’s Chocky series. Norman Kay also provided the incidental music for the first Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child, in 1963.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Out Of The Unknown Season 1

The Counterfeit Man

Out Of The UnknownA long-haul space mission to and from Ganymede is taking a toll on its all-too-human crew. One of the ship’s navigators dies from what appears to be the stress of being away from an earthlike environment, while the ship’s doctor suspects that Wescott, one of the crew, is not human, but an alien being that has assumed his physical form. The doctor begins sowing the seeds of suspicion among his own crew, and soon Westcott is a pariah among his crewmates, and the suspicion spreads. How inhuman will the crew become in trying to prove a shipmate isn’t human?

adapted by Philip Broadley
from a story by Alan Nourse
directed by George Spenton-Foster
music by Norman Kay

Out Of The UnknownCast: Alan Davion (Dr. Crawford), David Hemmings (Wescott), Charles Tingwell (Captain Jaffe), Peter Fraser (Donnie), Anthony Wager (Jensen), Keith Buckley (Scotty), David Savile (Gerry), Geoffrey Kenion (Dave), Barry Ashton (Frank), David Munro (Ken), Hedger Wallace (Commander), Lew Luton (Officer), Derek Martin (Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Out Of The Unknown Season 3

The Little Black Bag

Out Of The UnknownDisgraced and discredited, Dr. Full was once a medical doctor, but is now a shambling alcoholic in possession of an oddly shaped bag of medical instruments. After a chance meeting in a bar with a woman named Angie, he is surprised to find that she has borrowed enough money for him to open a practice again, strictly for cosmetic surgical procedures…and she will be minding the till and calling the shows. Full discovers that what he has is no ordinary medical bag: it’s from the year 2160, and its instruments seem to provide their own treatment, miraculously curing any ill, not just cosmetic surgeries. The rush of resuming his calling as a healer thrills Dr. Full…but Angie sees only dollar signs, even over Full’s dead body.

written by C.M. Kornbluth
dramatized by Julian Bond
directed by Eric Hills
music by Don Harper

Out Of The UnknownCast: Emrys Jones (Dr. Roger Full), Geraldine Moffatt (Angie), Elizabeth Weaver (Edna Flannery), John Woodnutt (Kelland), Ian Frost (Johnny), Alan Downer (Mallinson), John Dunbar (Mr. Collins), Catherine Kessey (Receptionist), Honora Burke (Mrs. Coleman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green