Journey into Space - The Host (Pt 1&2)
0THE HOST
In this latest exciting adventure, Jet Morgan and his crew receive a distress call from an abandoned space freighter. But when they board the ship, Jet and Doc discover a digitized personality locked inside the ship's computer - one with a deadly intent.
The crew must find a way to defeat the vastly superior Host: for if they fail, they will not only all perish, but mankind will become a dispensable steppingstone to a new chapter in evolution... Between 1953 and 1958, Journey into Space attracted millions of listeners, gripped by the mystery and promise of space exploration in weekly cliffhanging instalments.
Toby Stephens stars as Jet Morgan, with David Jacobs - who appeared in the original radio series - as the Host, Chris Pavlo as Mitch, Alan Marriott as Doc and Jot Davies as Lemmy. The writer is Julian Simpson. Also included are 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes out-takes from the radio recording.
The Original Series
Initially, the first series was simply known as Journey into Space, with the subtitle A Tale of the Future added by the Radio Times, but within the BBC it became known as Journey to the Moon.
The series was set in 1965 (the year in which Chilton believed humans would first walk on the Moon) and was first broadcast in 1953–1954 on the BBC Light Program. The series was originally intended to have 12 episodes (one source claims 8 episodes), and 5.1 million people tuned into the first episode, but the first four episodes (which took place on Earth) did not prove very popular, and the audience soon shrank to fewer than 4 million.
But once the rocket set off for the Moon in episode 5, the audience reaction was much more favorable. The series was extended to 18 episodes, and by the time the final episode was broadcast, 8 million people were tuning in.