Dan Dare: The Radio Adventures
SciFi tales, based upon the 1950s Eagle comic character
Newly produced radio adventures based upon the Eagle comic strip “Dan Dare” originally created in the 1950s by Rev. Marcus Morris, written and drawn by Frank Hampson.
Episode 1 - Voyage to Venus by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle
Brilliant test pilot, Dan Dare, is chosen to fly the Anastasia - a new experimental spacecraft – on its maiden voyage to Venus. This isn’t exploration - it is to make first contact with a mysterious civilisation that has sent technological secrets as a goodwill gesture. However, what Dan, Digby and Professor Peabody find on Venus isn’t goodwill, but a terrifyingly intelligent, cold-hearted ruler, the Mekon. A creature destined to become Dan Dare’s nemesis – and Earth’s greatest threat…
Episode 2 - The Red Moon Mystery by James Swallow
Unable to return to Earth, Dan Dare and the crew of the Anastasia head to the desolate planet Mars, where Dan's estranged Uncle Ivor is part of a research team working on a top-secret archaeological dig; but when they find the base wrecked and the scientists missing, Dare, Digby and Professor Peabody soon discover that the Red Planet is not nearly as dead as everyone thought and that Ivor’s expedition has woken an army of deadly insect-creatures that threaten to swarm and engulf the Earth… Dare must stop the aliens, but can he really resort to genocide in order to save the human race?
Episode 3 - Marooned on Mercury by Marc Platt
When a distress call summons the crew of the Anastasia to the burning wilderness of Mercury, they are reunited with their old ally, Sondar. He tells them of the beleaguered Mercurians who are held in thrall to a cruel new taskmaster - the Mekon! The exiled Mekon is rallying his forces, plotting a desperate revenge against his former homeworld of Venus and his hated enemy, Colonel Dan Dare!
Episode 4 - Reign of the Robots by Simon Guerrier
Dan Dare and his crew finally return to Earth. Landing in central London, they find the city deserted - or that's how it seems at first. But soon Dare faces an army of ruthless machines, robots who have conquered the planet and placed the surviving humans in slave camps. The robots are too powerful and too numerous to be resisted, and their invasion is complete. With limited resources, Dare, Digby and Peabody face their greatest challenge yet - to liberate planet Earth. But the task becomes more desperate than ever when Dan discovers the alien force behind the robot invasion...
Episode 5 - Operation Saturn by Patrick Chapman
As work begins to rebuild planet Earth after the devastation of the robot invasion, Dare and his friends in Space Fleet remain vigilant, certain that it is only a matter of time before the Mekon launches a fresh attack. When the wreck of the Nautilus - an experimental ship lost over a decade before - appears in orbit of the moon, Dare, Digby and Peabody are sent to investigate. They find the ship and its crew were destroyed by advanced alien weapons. All clues lead them to Saturn’s moons. With Earth still vulnerable our heroes must journey to an unknown world - to discover who sent the Nautilus back, not realising that for once the source of their latest conflict comes from a lot closer to home. Not all would-be conquerors of planet Earth are alien...
Episode 6 - Prisoners of Space by Colin Brake
After a sequence of near non-stop adventures Dare, Digby and Peabody find themselves in a strange limbo of paranoid calm. Whilst there’s been no sign of the Mekon anywhere in the solar system, Dare is certain Earth hasn’t seen the last of the evil alien. Mysterious spaceship disappearances near Venus, an Academy student accidentally launching a prototype new spacecraft, and a floating prison cell in space... reveal themselves as all part of the Mekon’s latest plan to defeat his arch-enemy Dan Dare once and for all. The first season of Dan Dare concludes with daring space action, fearless heroics and the revelation of devastating secrets concerning Space Fleet...
Cast
Ed Stoppard (Dan Dare), Geoff McGivern (Digby), Heida Reed (Professor Peabody), Michael Cochrane (Sir Hubert), Raad Rawi (The Mekon)
with:
Amy Humphreys (Eko), Dean Harris (George Bryan), Dianne Weller (Onboard Computer), Bijan Daneshmand (Sondar), Jonathan Rhodes (Blasco), Nicholas Briggs (The Vora), Matthew Turmaine (The Prime Minister), Diane Spencer (Flight Control), Fiona McAlpine (Maxwell), Robert G Slade (Old Timer), Noof McEwan(Cadet Flamer Spry), Alistair Lock (Treen Captain), Bijan Daneshmand (Sondar), Amber Aga (Treen General), David O’Mahony (Flight Engineer), Kelly Burke (Flight Control/Ergulux), Hugh Fraser (Ivor Dare), Jake Maskall (Sergeant Scott), Jalleh Alizadeh (Corporal Dajani), Alistair Lock (Crewman Galloway/ Treen Captain), Greg Keith (Doctor Harlan Stoll), Diane Spencer (Teacher), Ryan Sewell (Flamer Spry), Nicholas Briggs (Garlock)
Broadcast in 30 minute episodes on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2018.
- Voyage to Venus (61.1Mb)
- The Red Moon Mystery (55.6Mb)
- Marooned on Mercury (58.5Mb)
- Reign of the Robots (62.7Mb)
- Operation Saturn (53.4Mb)
- Prisoners of Space (72.8Mb)
MP3 files hosted by archive.org.