Journey Into Space

Letters Page 7

Please send your mail to control@journeyintospace.co.uk

Aerospace Engineer

This may sound weird, but I'm now 24 and have been listening to journey into space for what seems years after the BBC repeated the series. I got all the tapes (I think) and I listen to the when I go to bed I love the series still and I must of heard each episode of each series 10 or more times. I know the script off by heart but it still fascinates me. Part of that may be why I became an Aerospace engineer!! The science of it amazes me for the age of it. It takes them 4 days to get to the moon and that’s the time they took in the Apollo missions to get there. And the time to take to get to Mars is about the same as they suggested. Not to 'fly' there in a straight line but let Mars play Catch up. Well enough about science.

I LOVE the series but have heard that the tapes I have (bought) are an abridged version of the original. Is it possible to get the full version of all the series or at least the transcripts??

The idea of making an animated series seems excellent. Even today it won't seem that behind the times. Just change it from being the first men on the moon to the first amateur built rocket to visit the moon??

All the best keep this site going there are more fans out there than you know!!!

James Higgins
Twyford
Berkshire
bogumska@hotmail.com

Transcripts sound like a good idea. Anyone willing to type up all 53 episodes?

Help

I am 22 and I discovered your site today after many hours of searching.

I was introduced to JIS by my father when Operation Luna was rerun of Radio Two something like 10 or 12 years ago. Ever since then I have always been extremely fascinated by the series and consider it the best Sci-Fi ever to have made itself apparent to me.

My dad used to record the episodes on cassette and I used to wake up with immense excitement early on Saturday mornings to hear the episode of the previous night.

Ever since the first episodes I was gripped by the intensity and brilliance of the series and have listened avidly to the tapes ever since. However constant listenings have taken there toll on those tapes, and cassettes being as they are have often become split and ruined by various tape players.

So we decided to buy the series on audio tape released by the BBC and found to our horror that the version we had bought had been abridged.

The question is, do you know where I could obtain copies, on CD preferably of all three series unabridged? If so I would be delighted to hear from you.

Nigel Gale
Norwich
bozboz@moomoo.co.uk

Mad Fish

Hi Fellow JIS fan!

I stumbled across the JIS Operation Luna tapes in 1991 in my local library in Reading. I listened to them whilst working on my Graphics GCSE project.

Throughout the 1990s my brother and I purchased each new series that was released on tape - our mum had told us a bit about the broadcasts so we knew there was more than one series. About 2 years ago, I discovered that there was a 1981 Fourth JIS Special - I trekked off to the British Library for a day up in town (London) and got them to dig out the Radio 2 recording of it for me to listen to in a booth.

I was really glad to find this name registered as I typed it in on the off-chance! I have a JIS page which I had hoped to develop into something like this on my website at www.fgweb.co.uk (in the INTERESTS section). I would like to link your site to mine at some point soon but would like to know if you are okay with this - feel free to visit my pages and see if you like them. If I developed my pages some more would you consider linking your site to mine?

I have also transferred my tape copies onto Minidisks recently so the whole quartet of stories can go anywhere with me now!

Keep up the good JIS promotion work!

Frank, Twickenham UK
effigy@madasafish.com
www.fgweb.co.uk

Journey Into Space and Star Turk double bill

Hello,

Really pleased that I have come across a web site relating to this series. I first listened when Operation Lunar was repeated in 1989 on Radio 2. I also remember listening to a show called Star Turk directly afterwards, taking the mick out of Bob Monkhouse. Anyway, operation Lunar is an amazing story. Why is it always Lemmy who hears the strange noises first? Derek Guyler as the Time Traveller is also great in that story.

Red Planet was broadcast in 1990/1991 along with The World In Peril. I have the three new boxsets, and Listen at least once a week. I also taped a number of episodes directly off the radio. I always prefer listening to them like that, because at the beginning of each episode, David Jacobs would describe what had happened, with that really amazing music in the background.

"Jet Morgan, and his crew to gain time, have used every scrap of fuel, in order to contact home". Those episodes are so amazing, and I still have those final 5 episodes of World In Peril recorded off the radio, and treasured.

I could talk about this all day, but need to get back to work.

Bye for now.

Robert Bluett
Engineer
Antenna Systems
ntl
e-mail robert.bluett@ntl.com

I also remember listening to Operation Luna on Radio 2 back in 1989. I was only 13 but they say that the Golden Age of Science Fiction is when you were 13!

I also remember Star Turk - "baldly" going were no starship captain with a cheap wig has gone before.

Battery Powered Radio

I remember the original series, listening to my dad's radio, can't recall if it was the battery one (with a dry battery and wet accumulator - we had gas lights then, no electricity), or the radiogram which my dad bought after having electricity installed.

I also recall the replay, which I think was about 10 or so years ago. When I first heard it I was just 7 years old, and I find it just as exciting today.

I don't for one minute think we can be the only planet with life on it, one day we will find out.

Colin Goff
colin_goff@softhome.net

Weirdness

Now, here's a weird thing. The other day I was browsing the web looking for information about my all time favourite radio program of all time - Journey Into Space. I stumbled on www.journeyintospace.co.uk being a partly finished web site totally devoted to same.

Imagine my surprise when I discover that the guy behind this web site was at Bradford University on the EIMC course the year after me. How freaky is that!!! In fact I'm peering at the picture on your online CV and I vaaaaaaguely recognise you as well.

Wow, blimey, etc. You'll probably remember me as the guy who made the "Stormfront" film trailer at Bradford. After a brief stint in Soho I'm now running Stormfront Digital Pictures here in Sheffield where we do all sorts of 3D related malarky.

Few people realise that Journey into Space was a major influence on "Stormfront" (although it's hard to see - I assure you it was) and that my all time dream project is to make a TV show out of JIS by editing the 18 odd episodes of a season down into a 90 minute movie and creating animation to match the soundtrack - in black and white!

So what's going on with the web-site? Any plans to add the missing pages?

Regards,

Ben

Benjamin Smith
Stormfront Digital Pictures
Sheffield, England
http://www.sfdp.co.uk/

Ben has set up his own digital animation company and has worked with top British audio producers/directors Bill Baggs, Dirk Maggs and Chris Morris. He says they are all a little bit mad.

Information

Hi Paul

I know of only one other person that has any interest in this series! However I heard recently on "Home Truths" of a teenager who uses tapes of the series to send him to sleep.

I remember being allowed to stay up late(!) when I was a child to listen to it and have been interested in science fiction ever since. I look forward to seeing the site being developed!

best wishes

Chris Dewey
chris.dewey@ntlworld.com