This is the second broadcast of the Gus C. Bayz script about the failed 1852 Arctic expedition to find the a prior failed expedition of seven years earlier. The 1845 Franklin expedition attempted to find an Arctic route from Europe to Asia. Bayz used incidents and information about other searches for the Franklin Expedition to make a composite story that has a much happier ending than the actual events. The first broadcast was just before Christmas in 1952, and the holiday references are quite clear, and are retained in this production. Details about those expeditions and the first broadcast can be found at:
https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/08/1952-12-22-arctic-rescue.html
https://archive.org/details/TSP521222 is where the recordings can be streamed or downloaded.
The program was pre-recorded on Thursday, January 12. 1956. The session began at 2:00pm. The main body of the program was recorded from 5:00 to 5:30pm. There was an extra session in a different studio from 5:15 to 7:00pm. This may have been to record additional background effects.
The script cover has an error in terms of the duration of the episode, listed at 23:50, which after adding the 40 seconds standard time for the “Suspense March,” comes to 24:30. The actual duration is 28:50 plus the 40 seconds for 29:30.
There are two surviving recordings of this episode. The network recording is probably preferred, with some minor distortion despite its generally rich sound. There is an Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#568) that has very nice sound but has some minor disc noise. Either recording will provide a very pleasant listening experience.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP560131
THE CAST
John Stephenson (Gerald Stewart), Herb Butterfield (Captain Jonathan Blake), Norma Varden (Lady Jane Franklin), Lillian Buyeff (Miss Craycroft / Eskimo Girl), Richard Peel (Starkey), John Dodsworth (Halliday), Clayton Post (Patric Hansen), George Walsh (Crewman / Narrator), Ray Kemper, Bill James (Ad Libs)
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