Dan Dare (Ed Stoppard) is a test pilot, spending his life taking the air force's planes to the breaking point, in order to prove the value of his family, after his father's final disastrous mission which resulted in the stopping of space exploration. He's spent a decade trying to get into the Interplanetary Space Fleet, but is rather surprised when they turn up with a job offer.
The ISF have retrieved a crashed alien spaceship which landed in the UK seven years ago, and determined that it came from Venus. It comes with a message, from Sondar the Treen, as well as a lot of wildly advanced technology that will enable humanity to reach the distant planet. They've built that technology into the Anastasia, an experimental spacecraft, and want Dare to fly it to Venus to contact Sondar.
On the ship with Dare is Digby (Geoff McGivern), originally Dare's batman in the comics, but here a representative of the Space Fleet's military, and Professor Peabody (Heida Reed), the scientific head of the Eagle Corporation, who are hoping to make a profit out of space exploration. The team of three have to survive the harsh Venusian atmosphere, as well as the domed cities occupied by the Treen and the attention of The Mekon (Raad Rawi). And so begins a classically minded rip-roaring adventure, with our heroes trying to thwart the desires of The Mekon and return to Earth.
This is something of a teaser, being the first story of Volume 1 of the Dan Dare: The Radio Adventures, (purchase), being an hour-long story spread over two episodes. It covers the venturing of Earthlings beyond their own planet for the first time, as well as their first encounter with the terrible Mekon, Dare's traditional nemesis.
The characters of the main three are very well-drawn, with Dare's exuberant brashness, Digby's brutal cynicism and Peabody's logical mediation. And I've just realised the similarity to Kirk, Bones and Spock. They're a well balanced team, but I will admit to having a favourite in McGivern's Digby. He's always been the comic relief, but here as played effectively by Ford Prefect (I know, I know, small reference pools), he's just wonderful. Example: "Make a nice picture for your next vlog. Oh no, there won't be one, 'cause we'll all be dead." The Mekon is also rather brilliant, channelling the historical style of similar villains, with the carefully measured tones and quiet threat with an undercurrent of horrific violence.
As you'd expect from a company like this, the soundscape is rich and vibrant, with menacing musical cues and nice voice distortion. (Though the Treen do occasionally have slightly odd accents.) It carefully runs under the dialogue, which is generally pleasingly comical. It's a cheerful listen, and more or less free of troublesome topical references that might date it. The futurism of Dan Dare was always designed to be somewhat timeless, and this is a good attempt at that.
It's a good version of a story that has been told many times, and I may have to look at acquiring the remainder of the episodes (though they may all be put on the radio at some point).
Tagged: Radio Drama Cast Fiction Science fiction