X Minus One, widely regarded as one of the finest science fiction dramas ever produced for radio, was broadcast on NBC from 1955 until 1958. It began as a revival of NBC’s Dimension X, which ran for just a year and a half, from 1950 to 1951. Though the first fifteen episodes of X Minus One were merely new versions of Dimension X episodes, the rest were adaptations of newly published works of science fiction stories by some of the genre’s top authors, including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Robert A. Heinlein, Frederik Pohl, and Theodore Sturgeon, along with some original scripts by NBC staff writers Ernest Kinoy and George Lefferts.
Each episode opened with the introduction: “Countdown for blastoff … X minus five, four, three, two, X minus one … Fire! From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future; adventures in which you’ll live in a million could-be years on a thousand may-be worlds. The National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of Astounding Science Fiction, presents … X Minus One.”
Collected here are twelve episodes for your listening pleasure:
- “The C-Chute,” adapted from Isaac Asimov, starring Bob Hastings
- “Skulking Permit,” adapted from Robert Sheckley, starring Mandel Kramer
- “The Sense of Wonder,” starring William Quinn
- “Sea Legs,” starring William Redfield
- “The Seventh Order,” starring James Monks
- “Lulungameena,” starring Ralph Camargo
- “Mr. Costello, Hero,” adapted from Theodore Sturgeon, starring Joe DeSantis
- “Bad Medicine,” starring Karl Weber
- “The Stars Are the Styx,” adapted from Theodore Sturgeon, starring Craig McDonnell
- “The Snowball Effect,” starring Ted Osborne
- “The Lifeboat Mutiny,” starring Leon Janney
- “Saucer of Loneliness,”adapted from Theodore Sturgeon, starring Elaine Rost
Download and start listening now!
“X Minus One was an anthology science fiction series, broadcast by NBC from 1955 to 1958, and is probably the best OTR program of this genre…Many episodes were adapted from stories by the major science fiction writers of the era, including Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and Philip K. Dick, and generally remained faithful to the originals. What may surprise modern listeners—used to Hollywood’s takes on stock science fiction ideas—is how dark and bleak many of the stories could be, with downbeat endings in which the dashing hero does not save the day. This reflects the time in which the series was made, with Cold War–era paranoia and anxiety infusing many of the tales…Yet the best stories transcend their time and still offer powerful and exciting visions, both of the future and the present.”
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Old Time Radio Review.com