Oct 14, 2013

RhoDeo 1341 Aliens 2

Hello, well I hope you enjoyed the sunday, i did i saw Vettel win yet another race, there's some that ralentlessly try to minimize his achievements and refuse him any credit. But then most don't realize that Red Bull hadn't won a single race until Vettel arrived, likewise an Adrian Newey car hadn't won for 12 seasons until Vettel got in one of his cars (Newey joined in 2006, and won 0 races until VET joined in 2009.)  Credit where it is due, please..

The coming weeks a six-part BBC radio drama starring none other than Peter Cushing and Vincent Prince, who between them became two of the most famous horror film stars of the 1950s and 1960s. "Aliens in the Mind" is based on a story by the then-foremost "Doctor Who" script editor Robert Holmes. It centres around the discovery, on a remote Scottish island, of a community of 'human mutants' capable of telepathy. A plan is in place to use them to control the British Government, and friends Curtis Lark (Vincent Price) and Hugh Baxter (Peter Cushing) join forces to combat them.  ... NJoy

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Aliens in the Mind began life as a submission for Doctor Who in the late 1960s by the now legendary Robert Holmes.  Initially titled Aliens in the Blood, it would have featured the second Doctor, Jamie, and presumably Zoe. For various reasons,  the script was never  picked up, but several years later its outline was, and used  to form the basis of this radio serial. Holmes was apparently unable to write the script himself, and it was instead handled by one Rene Basilico - although, having been unable to find any further information on this individual, he may be a pseudonym for all I know.

Rewritten in its entirety, the story is centred  around two academics, Professor Curtis Lark and  John Cornelius,  who are  played by two absolute legends of horror and sci-fi. The more stoic and mild-mannered Cornelius is played by movie Doctor Peter Cushing, while  his witty American parapsychologist  foil  is voiced by Vincent Price. Cushing is, of course, perfect in his role as a gentlemanly surgeon, while Price is as wonderfully fruity and sardonic as ever. The duo are old acquaintances, reunited when their friend, Dr Hugh Dexter, is killed under mysterious circumstances.

Travelling to the remote Hebridean island of Lerwigh, the doctorish duo find that Dexter’s death is just one part of a far greater mystery. For the Lerwigh is plagued by something known as ‘island sickness’ - a strange affliction that affects the locals minds in their teens. Further investigation reveals that this is merely the maturation stage for a race of mutants - human anomalies with telepathic tendencies. Tendencies that even they, for the most part, are unaware of. They’d be harmless were it not for the occasional second-stage mutation, the so-called Controllers or Masters, who have the ability to psychically control the main mutant populace.

Uncovering the signs of a conspiracy, the pair take the young Flora (Sandra Clarke) away for examination. To all appearances, she is nothing more than a mentally-disabled young adult, but is, in fact, a budding Controller, able to call her fellow mutants from anywhere within a mile radius to obey her every command. In London, they discover that the emigration from Lerwigh has created a greater threat to humanity than they could ever have realised.

It’s a slow-paced drama, concerned with gently racking up the tension rather than providing action and thrills. It’s perhaps  too slow at times, dragging in the middle episodes, although continual revelations and plot developments maintain interest. Cushing and Price dominate a fair-sized cast, their voices always distinct against the array of Scots accents. Scenes which have them simply sitting down to dinner are used to summarise the plot, with  just  a smattering of banter to  help  keep it diverting. There are flashes of Holmesian wit, but the dialogue does sometimes slip into dry exposition. Nonetheless, the tension gradually mounts to a chilling finale, which manages to tie up the immediate threat, while leaving the ending open to the greater consequences. Who fans will enjoy hearing Richard Hurndall in the cast, bringing two substitute first Doctors together. There’s some subtle but effective sound work, including some very restrained gunshots, but the main strength of the play lies in Price and Cushing’s earnest depiction of the concepts, which take in telepathy; hypnotism; slavery; politics; and eugenics.

This renowned production from 1976 is sure to delight fans of science fiction, archive radio, horror films and "Doctor Who." Six episodes of 30 minutes each - First broadcast in 1977.

With:
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Peter Cushing
Vincent Price
Sandra Clarke

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Aliens in the Mind - 02 Hurried Exodus (25mb)

02 Hurried Exodus 27:25

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Previously

Aliens On The Mind 01 Island Genesis (25mb)

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