Five commissions to mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite.
Sputnik
Doors
Sputnik might be in space but here on Earth Ron Paget’s automated garage door has gone beserk. Communist plot? Or might it have something to do with his neighbour?
Writer: Andrew Smith
Reader: Trevor White
The Phantom Cosmonaut
For every successful space launch there were plenty of rumours about missions that went wrong and were never reported. Years before Gagarin, a small spacecraft breaks from its intended orbit…
Writer: Anita Sullivan
Reader: Neil Dudgeon
Drinking Vodka In The Afternoon
It’s October 1957, and Sputnik is in orbit. In an Irish village, Mary Margaret receives lessons from a mysterious Russian.
Writer: Tania Hershman
Reader: Niamh Cusack
Gleeking
All-American Sam is less than thrilled with his new Yugoslavian stepbrother, known to their classmates as Sputnik…
Writer: Benjamin Markovits
Reader: Ryan McCluskey
The First King of Mars
It takes a long, long time to journey to Mars with plenty of time (maybe too much time) to think. And when they finally land, the new colony will need governance…
Writer: Nick Walker
Reader: Peter Capaldi
First Broadcast:
Monday - Friday, 1st-5th October 2007 at 15:30 on BBC Radio 4
Production Credits:
Broadcast Assistant: Sarah Tombling
Sound Engineer: David Thomas
Producer: Lisa Osborne
Executive Producer: Karen Rose
Music: Absolute Space by Koop & First King Of Mars Anthem by Nick Walker & performed by Peter Capaldi