Dimension X - Single Episodes


(4.6 stars; 205 reviews)

DIMENSION X Dimension X was first heard on NBC April 8, 1950, and ran until September 29, 1951. Strange that so little good science fiction came out of radio; they seem ideally compatible, both relying heavily on imagination. Some fine isolated science fiction stories were developed on the great anthology shows, Suspense and Escape . But until the premiere of Dimension X -- a full two decades after network radio was established -- there were no major science fiction series of broad appeal to adults. This show dramatized the work of such young writers as Ray Bradbury, Robert (Psycho) Bloch, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Kurt Vonnegut. In-house script writer was Ernest Kinoy, who adapted the master works and contributed occasional storied of his own. Dimension X was a very effective demonstration of what could be done with science fiction on the air. It came so late that nobody cared, but some of the stories stand as classics of the medium. Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven" is as gripping today as when first heard. His "Martian Chronicles" was one of the series' most impressive offerings. Dimension X played heavily on an "adventures in time and space, told in future tense" theme. Actors who worked regularly on the show included Joe Di Santis, Wendell Holmes, Santos Ortega, Joseph Julian, Jan Miner, Roger De Koven, John Gibson, Ralph Bell, John Larkin, Les Damon, and Mason Adams. It was directed by Fred Weihe and Edward King. The deep-voiced narrator was Norman Rose. The series played heavily on the "X" factor in the title, as did X Minus One a few years later. The signature was boomed out of and echo chamber as " DIMENSION X X X X X x x x x x . . . " From the Old Time Radio Researchers Group. See "Notes" Section below for more information on the OTRR.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

License

Chapters

Dimension X 1950-04-08 01 OuterLimit 30:10
Dimension X 1950-04-15 02 WithFoldedHands 29:25
Dimension X 1950-04-22 03 ReportOnBarnhouseEffect 29:59
Dimension X 1950-04-29 04 NoContact 24:27
Dimension X 1950-05-06 05 Knock 29:36
Dimension X 1950-05-13 06 AlmostHuman 29:18
Dimension X 1950-05-20 07 TheLostRace 29:39
Dimension X 1950-05-27 08 ToTheFuture 29:59
Dimension X 1950-06-03 09 Embassy 29:57
Dimension X 1950-06-10 10 TheGreenHillsOfEarth 25:53
Dimension X 1950-06-17 11 ThereWillComeSoftRain-ZeroHour 29:56
Dimension X 1950-06-24 12 DestinationMoon 28:24
Dimension X 1950-07-01 13 ALogicNamedJoe 29:23
Dimension X 1950-07-07 14 MarsIsHeaven 29:17
Dimension X 1950-07-14 15 TheManInTheMoon 30:13
Dimension X 1950-07-21 16 BeyondInfinity 29:27
Dimension X 1950-07-28 17 PottersOfFirsk 27:49
Dimension X 1950-08-04 18 PerigisWonderfulDolls 29:08
Dimension X 1950-08-11 19 TheCastaways 30:08
Dimension X 1950-08-18 20 TheMartianChronicals 30:19
Dimension X 1950-08-25 21 TheParade 30:19
Dimension X 1950-09-01 22 TheRoadsMustRoll 29:41
Dimension-X(1950-04-08)(#01)Th 27:58
Dimension X 1950-09-15 24 HelloTomorrow 29:01
Dimension X 1950-09-22 25 DrGrimshawsSanitorium 30:22
Dimension X 1950-09-29 26 AndTheMoonBeStillAsBright 29:40
Dimension X 1950-10-28 27 NoContact 29:46
Dimension X 1950-11-05 28 TheProfessorWasAThief 30:21
Dimension X 1950-11-12 29 Shanghied 30:24
Dimension X 1950-11-19 30 Competition 29:18
Dimension X 1950-11-26 31 Universe 30:13
Dimension X 1950-12-24 32 TheGreenHillsOfEarth 29:32
Dimension X 1951-01-07 33 MarsIsHeaven 25:20
The Martian Death March 25:44
Dimension X 1951-06-03 35 TheLastObjective 24:01
Dimension X 1951-06-10 36 Nightmare 24:54
Dimension X 1951-06-17 37 PebbleInTheSky 24:53
Dimension X 1951-06-24 38 ChildsPlay 24:44
Dimension X 1951-07-12 39 TimeAndTimeAgain 29:37
Dimension X 1951-07-19 40 DwellersInSilence 29:39
Dimension X 1951-07-26 41 Courtesy 29:23
Dimension X 1951-08-02 42 Universe 29:44
Dimension X 1951-08-09 43 Veldt 30:11
Dimension X 1951-08-16 44 VitalFactor 29:51
Dimension X 1951-08-23 45 UntitledStory 30:04
Dimension-X(1951-08-30)(#46)Ma 28:02
Dimension X 1951-09-08 47 FirstContact 22:33
Dimension X 1951-09-15 48 TheKaleidoscope 29:32
Dimension X 1951-09-22 49 Requiem 31:06
Dimension X 1951-09-29 50 Nightfall 30:26

Reviews

Well done


(5 stars)

Excellent job with classic authors and classic stories.

Quite good!


(5 stars)

Now we know where William Shattner got his Captain Kirk voice from and other treasured characters' sources. The Wheaties commercials are even cute. Turn down your volume before pressing PLAY, it's loud. The sound effects and orchestration are excellent, not to mention the writing from some of the giants of science fiction. Read by great actors of the day, this is an excellent set of professional radio shows with dozens of half hour long shows from the 1940s and 1950s. Gotta go, need some Wheaties.

Listen to history happening


(4 stars)

@ 23:00 on #12 and at the beginning of #13 you can hear a news broadcast cut away as America enters the Korean war 50-06-24 and 50-07-01. That's pretty thrilling. In the middle of tales about atomics and ro-bits and missions to the moon. I love listening to these tales. Some of them are really stark.

great series


(5 stars)

So far I've gotten through about half the episodes, and I can safely say that this is an excellent series. I specially like episode 13. It's an almost perfect prediction of the internet and modern computers. On an interesting side note: episode 12 and 13 are interrupted by a news bulletin about the start of the Korean war.

index confusion....


(4 stars)

I cannot discern episodes as there are multiple / repeat titles. could this just be an issue because I am using an Android phone? really enjoy the old school production!

A bit of every thing from the early days.


(5 stars)

A collection of early science fiction mostly from the 1950's. a very good listen.

Fun Series


(5 stars)

A great series! It's like a cross between the Twilight Zone and Star Trek. It's fun to hear what 1950 thought the world would be like in the 1980s and beyond. Evidently everyone really likes playing bridge and smokes a lot. Many of the stories deal with racism. But not American racism of the 1950s. It doesn't take a big leap to draw parallels though. While relatively forward thinking on racism, the show is rather sexist in the way it portrays women as dutiful or nagging wives. The cast members are recycled in various stories but that doesn't matter. Albert Berman, who scored the early episodes of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, seems to have matured a bit and got a higher budget to hire other musicians and added a Theramin to his arsenal of musical instruments. In some episodes the music is a bit loud but that had more to do with whoever was mixing the show that day. Radio really is an excellent format for dramatizing science fiction. Some of the stories are very creative and prophetic. Definitely worth a listen if you're into sci fi.

Dimension X


(5 stars)

Should be a list itemizing each episode with, year, month, date of broadcast, actors, writer, producer, director... Especially authors. EG: We (most of us) know the broadcasts which were written by Ray Bradbury (not among my favorites as he was that of my ex-wife). However; many of these broadcasts were the works of several very well known authors. Oh, FYI: a number of these Dimension X broadcasts were also done and broadcast on the program: X Minus 1, such as "No Co tact." P.S. Anyone notice how the characters of #9, "Embassy" by Donald Waldheim sound respectively like Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade and Sidney Greenstreet as The Fat Man?