UK, 12 October 1958
55m
broadcast live, black and white, 1.33:1
Series: Armchair Theatre (1956-1974) – series 3, episode 5
A British science fiction television episode directed by Wilfred Eades.
Plot Summary
Representatives of the British, US and Russian governments all receive the same cryptic and anonymous communication at the same time – “I can destroy the sun.” The sender turns out to be Dr Lunn who apparently destroys Phobos, one of the moons of Mars before blowing up “a small planet called Athios” and blackmails the superpowers into decommissioning their arsenal of nuclear weapons threatening to do the same to the sun if they fail to comply.
Credits
Crew
Direction: Wilfred Eades
Thames/ABC
Producer: Sydney Newman
Script: Jimmy Sangster
Idea: Ingram D’Abbes
Designer: Voytek
Cast
John Barron (Henry Walpole)
Jenny Lee Wright (Mary Harkness)
John Robinson (Lloyd Crichton)
Carmel McSharry (Bella)
Leslie Sands (Supt Travers)
Robert James (James Cartwright)
Paddy Webster (Helen Dawson)
Jan Conrad (Igor Petrov)
Robert Ayres (Boardman)
Maurice Denham (Dr Lunn)
References
Books
- The Encyclopedia of TV Science Fiction (3rd Edition) by Roger Fulton p.655 – credits
Other Sources
- National Film Theatre Programme August 2003 p.28 – illustrated article
