Friday Radio: The Seventh Order (X Minus One)

Based on the story by Jerry Sohl, published in Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1952.

Originally broadcast on NBC, May 8, 1956.

Here's a first: an adaptation of a story published in the current incarnation of Thrilling Wonder Stories. See a preview of its appearance in the upcoming Volume 2 here.

Continuity hiccup: The (fictional) radio announcer refers to "the bodies of six policemen on the lawn" killed by George (as it were), yet, as we're told earlier and later, George's weapon vaporizes its targets.

Speaking of his weapon, I love the sound effect. I don't know if it was intended to be comic, but between the pause and the "poof" sound, I laugh every time it happens. In the original story, it's "soundless," but of course, that would hardly have worked on radio.

This episode originally aired on my minus fourteenth birthday. So considering that I grew up feeling that 1956 was somewhere between "a long time ago" and "an unimaginably long time ago," and that it's now only about 36% older than I am... well, it makes a fella start to feel not so young anymore, is what I'm saying.