Dimension X is a science fiction radio series that aired from 1950 to 1951, inviting listeners to embark on thrilling journeys through time and space. With creative stories adapted from the pages of popular magazines like Astounding Science Fiction, Galaxy, and Fantastic Adventures, it transported audiences to distant planets, futuristic societies, and mind-bending alternate realities.
In his Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, John Dunning wrote of the show: “The series demonstrated (though it would take the perfection of television to prove it) that adding a picture to a story of vision, illusion, or myth does not automatically enhance things. The tube is too small, the props too artificial (no matter how ingenious or technologically advanced) to compete with the landscape of the mind. For its time, Dimension X was a wonder.”
The series was narrated by Norman Rose and captivated listeners with its imaginative stories, often adapted from the works of up-and-coming authors like Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, with many scripts being recycled by the later show X Minus One. Dimension X not only entertained but also sparked curiosity about the possibilities of the future. These stories continue to inspire modern science fiction, reminding us of the power of imagination and the wonders that lie beyond our world.
Story by: Graham Doar
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: April 8, 1950
Cast: Joseph Julian, Wendell Holmes, Joe De Santis
The inaugural episode of Dimension X tells the story of an astronaut who encounters a mysterious alien force while on a space mission. Doar’s original short story was published in the Saturday Evening Post in December 1949, just two years after the first report of a UFO sighting by pilot Kenneth Arnold, so the idea of flying saucers was still quite new and exciting.
Story by: Jack Williamson
Adapted by: John Dunkel
Broadcast date: April 15, 1950
Cast: Philip Bourneuf, Alexander Scourby, Peter Capell, Bryna Raeburn
Humanoid robots, designed to serve and protect humans, enforce a strict interpretation of their prime directive, ultimately restricting human freedom. The original story was published in the July 1947 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Williamson would later develop the idea into a full-length sequel called The Humanoids. When asked about the origins of the story in a 1991 interview, Williamson said that his idea came from “that general feeling that some of the technological creations we had developed with the best intentions might have disastrous consequences in the long run.”
Story by: Kurt Vonnegut
Adapted by: Clarice A. Ross
Broadcast date: April 22, 1950
Cast: Bill Quinn, Ed Jerome, Karl Weber
Professor Arthur Barnhouse discovers he can manipulate physical objects and events through sheer mental power. When the U.S. government attempts to weaponize his talent, Barnhouse goes into hiding, using his powers to try to promote peace. The original short story was Vonnegut’s first, published in Collier’s Magazine, February 11, 1950.
Story by: George Lefferts & Ernest Kinoy
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: April 29, 1958
Cast: Wendell Holmes, Lawson Zerbe, John McGovern
Humanity faces a mysterious and deadly barrier in space that has caused five exploratory missions to vanish without a trace. As scientists set out on a sixth mission to penetrate this invisible wall, they grapple with the unknown fate of the previous crews and the potential dangers that lie ahead. This was the first of many Dimension X scripts by Lefferts, and was based on an original storyline he developed along with fellow Emmy-winning writer Ernest Kinoy. Lots of high-pitched beeping in this one, but it’s a decent episode if you can get past the annoying sound effects.
Story by: Fredric Brown
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: May 6, 1950
Cast: Arnold Moss, Luis van Rooten, Joan Alexander
The last man on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door…
So begins Fredric Brown’s fantastic little story, inspired by a short blurb from the Ponkapog Papers by Thomas Bailey Aldrich. It’s a full-circle story that explores the aftermath of an alien invasion that has wiped out all of humanity except for one man and one woman. Brown’s original story was published in the December 1948 edition of Thrilling Wonder Stories. “Two sentences and an ellipsis of three dots. The horror, of course, isn’t in the two sentences at all; it’s in the ellipsis, the implication: what knocked at the door?”
Story by: Robert Bloch
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: May 13, 1950
Cast: Santos Ortega, Rita Lynn, Jack Grimes (as Jackie Grimes)
A shady criminal becomes the caretaker for a childlike android designed to look and act like a human and begins to manipulate its thoughts and emotions. Bloch originally published the story in the June 1943 issue of Fantastic Adventures under the pen name Tarleton Fiske.
Story by: Murray Leinster
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: May 20, 1950
Cast: Matt Crowley, Roger De Koven, Joseph Julian
The crew of a space freighter lands on a planet and discovers the remnants of an extinct alien race. As they investigate the cause of the civilization’s downfall, they discover a mysterious machine that might hold the answers. Their journey to the truth is complicated by the question of whether they are truly alone on the planet. Leinster’s original story was published in the April 1949 volume of Thrilling Wonder Stories.
Story by: Ray Bradbury
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: May 27, 1950
Cast: John Larkin, Jan Miner
An American couple are enjoying a vacation in Mexico when they notice a strange man following them. Soon, they’ll discover that he knows a bit too much about who they are — and about the future they’re running from. This is one of my favourite episodes. Bradbury’s original story was published earlier the same month in Collier’s magazine and it later appeared in The Illustrated Man as The Fox and the Forest.
Story by: Donald A. Wollheim
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: June 3, 1950
Cast: Joseph Julian, Berry Kroeger
A private detective is hired by a strange man who is on a quest to locate a hidden Martian Embassy in New York City, claiming that it is crucial to prevent an impending invasion. Wollheim first published his story in the March 1942 edition of Astounding Science Fiction under the pen name Martin Pearson.
Story by: Robert A. Heinlein
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: June 10, 1950
Cast: Ken Williams, Tom Glazer
My heart turns home in longing / Across the voids between,
To know beyond the spaceways / The hills of Earth are green.
After an accident blinds him, an engineer named Rhysling travels the stars as a songwriter, his songs reaching to every corner of the galaxy. As Rhysling grows older, he attempts to make his way back to his home planet, to stand one last time on “the cool green hills of Earth.” Tom Glazer would later reprise his singing role in the X Minus One version of this story. Heinlein’s original story was published in the February 8, 1947 issue of The Saturday Evening Post and would later be quoted during the Apollo 15 lunar expedition.
Story by: Ray Bradbury
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: June 17, 1950
Cast: Norman Rose, Denise Alexander, Rita Lynn, Roger De Koven
In The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio, John Dunning comments that this is where where Bradbury “ended the world twice in a single show.” There Will Come Soft Rains is about a house that goes on living long after its inhabitants have become victims of a nuclear war. It was originally featured in Collier’s Magazine, May 1950 and the script is mostly a narration by Norman Rose. The second tale, Zero Hour, was first published in the Fall 1947 issue of Planet Stories. It’s the story of a children’s game that quickly turns terrifying. I found the second story fun, but There Will Come Soft Rains worked much better as a side story in the later adaptation of The Martian Chronicles.
Story by: Robert A. Heinlein
Broadcast date: June 24, 1950
Cast: Santos Ortega, Luis van Rooten, Ralph Bell
The story of a troubled first human mission to the moon. This episode was adapted from the screenplay of George Pal’s 1950 film, which, at the time of the broadcast, was yet to be released. I found this one boring and the characters had a kind of bumbling quality that I doubt even our earliest real-life astronauts had. I know it was still 19 years until the actual moon landing and few knew what to expect at this point, but I feel like Heinlein could have made his characters seem a bit more prepared for their mission.
Story by: Murray Leinster
Adapted by: Claris A. Ross
Broadcast date: July 1, 1950
Cast: Joseph Julian, Roger De Koven
The true colours of humanity are revealed when an intelligent machine is invented that can answer any question – no matter how dark. The story was originally published in the March 1946 issue of Astounding Science Fiction under Leinster’s real name Will F. Jenkins. Isaac Asimov would later comment that it was almost as if “Jenkins had some sort of pipeline into the 1980’s” as he seems to have predicted the home computer age. You could even go one step further and say he predicted AI. This was the final live broadcast for this show; all future episodes of the series would be pre-recorded.
Story by: Ray Bradbury
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: July 7, 1950
Cast: Wendell Holmes, Peter Capell
The crew of a space expedition land on Mars to find everything a bit too familiar. Are these the ghosts from their past, or something more alien? First published in the Fall 1948 volume of Planet Stories and later reworked as ‘The Third Expedition’ for Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles.
Story by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: July 14, 1950
Cast: Luis van Rooten, Santos Ortega
A routine broadcast by the Federal Bureau of Missing Persons is disrupted by a transmission claiming to originate from the moon. A record custodian at the Bureau is visited by a mysterious reporter about the incident and discovers a link between the names from the transmission and a series of strange disappearances. This episode was one of the original stories by Lefferts, and I find it a shame he didn’t expand on this idea. It’s a great concept, but the episode felt like a small part of a larger story.
Story by: Villiers Gerson
Broadcast date: July 21, 1950
Cast: Les Damon, Lotte Stavisky, E. A. Krumschmidt, Joe De Santis
In a totalitarian European nation, a scientist and his family are working on a shrinking machine, at the risk of being discovered by the secret police. Gerson was a known science fiction reviewer so it makes sense that he would have an interest in writing his own story in the genre. However, this episode leaves me with no questions about why this is the only fictional story attributed to him.
Story by: Jack Vance
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: July 28, 1950
Cast: Karl Weber, Wendell Holmes, Raymond Edward Johnson
An administrator of the Department of Interplanetary Affairs recalls how he came into possession of a beautiful, unique souvenir bowl during his younger years on the planet Firsk. I had a bit of trouble getting into this one, and felt that it fell into the trap of characterizing a native race, as many shows of the era did. The original Vance short story in the May 1950 edition of Astounding Science Fiction was, in my opinion, better than the adaptation.
Story by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: August 4, 1950
Cast: Les Damon, Joan Alexander, Denise Alexander, Joe De Santis, Leon Janney
One of the first “killer doll” stories, with a twist. Ten-year-old Denise Alexander, who played Mink in the earlier episode Zero Hour, did quite a good job but the script was all over the place. I feel like Lefferts wasn’t really sure what story he wanted to write here.
Story by: Ernest Kinoy & George Lefferts
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: August 11, 1950
Cast: Santos Ortega, Gregory Morton (as Greg Morton)
A United States army General is tasked with the forced relocation of a nation on a Pacific Island for bomb testing, but the people don’t want to be removed from their home. Nuclear testing in the Pacific Proving Grounds was still actively happening at the time this episode aired, and although the story touches on some of the ethical implications, I found it unfortunate that the protagonist was written to have such a lack of empathy regarding the fate of the native group. This was another episode I felt the writers tried to do too much with.
Story by: Ray Bradbury
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: August 18, 1950
Cast: Inge Adams, Roger De Koven, Donald Buka
This is an interesting compilation of several different stories from Bradbury’s book that chronicle the story of Mars’ colonization. It was pretty well-done (There Will Come Soft Rains works much better in the background here than it does as a feature) but cramming the whole journey, from exploration to colonization, into a 30-minute show felt a bit rushed. Most of these stories were transcribed into full episodes for Dimension X and X Minus One so I’m not sure why they also tried to mix them all together in a single episode.
Story by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: August 25, 1950
Cast: Joseph Curtin, Barry Kroeger, Alexander Scourby
An advertising executive is offered a million dollars to create a marketing campaign for a martian-themed parade. He believes the campaign is meant to promote an upcoming Century Pictures film, because a martian invasion isn’t actually possible…is it?
Story by: Robert A. Heinlein
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: September 1, 1950
Cast: Wendell Holmes, Ralph Bell
This story imagines a future society where moving walkways are the main form of transportation. A group of engineers who are responsible for keeping the roads rolling are called to revolt, and the chief supervisor must find a way to manage the chaos. This story was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1940.
Story by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: September 15, 1950
Cast: Nancy Olson, Santos Ortega, Donald Buka
Atomic war has forced humanity underground and the survival of the human race through genetic perfection is prioritized. Those deemed genetically “unsound,” whether through anatomical differences or victim to emotions, are relegated to the status of lab subjects. Against this backdrop, an unlikely love story unfolds, challenging one scientist’s core beliefs about human worth
Story by: Fletcher Pratt
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: September 22, 1950
Cast: Karl Weber, Roger De Koven
Story by: Ray Bradbury
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: September 29, 1950
Cast: Alexander Scourby, Wendell Holmes
A human expedition lands on Mars, only to discover that the martians were killed off due to a very human disease. As the crew explores the remnants of the alien world, one man grapples with overwhelming guilt of humanity’s role in the extinction of an entire race. Originally published in Thrilling Wonder Stories, June 1948 and later as part of Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles.
Story by: L. Ron Hubbard
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: November 5, 1950
Cast: Arthur Maitland, John Larkin, John Gibson
A Newspaper reporter, with his job on the line, must find out why buildings are disappearing all over New York City. This story, written by the man who would several years later create the Church of Scientology first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, February 1940. If you’re looking for something silly, you may enjoy this but it wasn’t for me. Fun fact: actor Arthur Maitland shared a name with an actual Physics professor in real life.
Story by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: November 12, 1950
Cast: John Sylvester White (as John Sylvester), William Griffis
While enjoying his bachelor party, a man is kidnapped and forced to work on a space freighter for a fifteen year trip. This was an original script by Ernest Kinoy.
Story by: E. M. Hull
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: November 19, 1950
Cast: Elaine Rost, Les Tremayne
This story follows a woman traveling on an immigrant space freighter to join her sister on a distant planet. She soon discovers that she will be assigned to a planet instead. After being kidnapped and poisoned, she is coerced into becoming the secretary to Artur Blord, with the instruction to kill him in exchange for the antidote. This story was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1943, and was written by Canadian author Edna Mayne Hull, whose husband’s work is said to have inspired the movie Alien. This wasn’t a terrible story, but it was predictable and the characters were so unlikeable I wondered why they bothered changing the ending to make it a romance.
Story by: Robert A. Heinlein
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: November 26, 1950
Cast: Mason Adams, Peter Capell
Story by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: January 14, 1951
Cast: Marc Cavell (as Butch Cavell), Cameron Prud’homme, James Monks, Ralph Bell
A man recounts a pivotal moment from his youth on a colonized Mars, where the remnants of the Martian race attempted to embark on a treacherous journey to freedom. This is an original episode from Kinoy that seems to be inspired by the forced displacement of five Indigenous tribes in the American South during the mid-19th century. Though not without its flaws, I found that the script dealt with difficult subject matter respectfully without feeling out of place in a science fiction show.
Story by: Paul Carter
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: June 3, 1951
Cast: Lawson Zerbe, Ralph Bell, Wendell Holmes, Jack Grimes
Story by: Steven Vincent Benét
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: June 10, 1951
Cast: John Gibson, Rita Lynn
After a string of seemingly unrelated accidents involving everyday equipment, a statistician starts to suspect that machines around the country are starting to revolt. This was based on Benét’s poem Nightmare Number Three (also known as The Revolt of the Machines).
Story by: Isaac Asimov
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: June 17, 1951
Cast: Santos Ortega, Susan Douglas
Story by: William Tenn
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: June 21, 1951
Cast: Leon Janney, Karl Weber, Patsy Campbell
In the future, science will have advanced to a point where even children can build human beings with merely a mail-order kit. One of these kits is mistakenly sent to Mr. Sam Weber — 200 years too soon. This one was fun, and the company tagline always kills me. It first appeared in the March 1947 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.
Story by: H. Beam Piper
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: July 12, 1951
Cast: David Anderson, Joseph Curtin
During an atomic war, a soldier gets caught in a bomb blast and wakes up to find that he has been thrown thirty years into the past, all the way back into his 14-year old body. This story was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, April 1947 and it’s one of the few Dimension X scripts adaptations that I think was better than the original.
Story by: Ray Bradbury
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: July 19, 1951
Cast: Peter Capell, Bill Griffis, Gertrude Warner
Story by: Clifford D. Simak
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: July 26, 1951
Cast: Lawson Zerbe, Bill Zuckert, Bill Gray
After landing on a strange planet, the crew of a spacecraft start dying from a mysterious illness. But why are the natives immune? This story aired just before it appeared in the August 1951 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.
Story by: Ray Bradbury
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: August 9, 1951
Cast: Lesley Woods, Bill Quinn, Joan Lazer, David Anderson
Story by: Nelson Bond
Adapted by: Howard Rodman
Broadcast date: August 16, 1951
Cast: Raymond Edward Johnson, John McGovern, Luis Van Rooten
Story by: Frank M. Robinson
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: August 23, 1951
Cast: George Petrie, Ann Sargent, Bernard Lenrow
Story by: Ray Bradbury
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: August 30, 1951
Cast: Kermit Murdock, Martin Rudy, Ross Martin
Story by: Murray Leinster
Adapted by: Howard Rodman
Broadcast date: September 8, 1951
Cast: Wendell Holmes, Bob Hastings, Clarke Gordon, William Malley, Stan Early
Story by: Ray Bradbury
Adapted by: George Lefferts
Broadcast date: September 15, 1951
Cast: Joe DiSantis, Leon Janney, Joan Alexander
Story by: Robert A. Heinlein
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: September 22, 1951
Cast: Rod Hendrickson, Bill Quinn, Owen Jordan
Story by: Isaac Asimov
Adapted by: Ernest Kinoy
Broadcast date: September 29, 1951
Cast: Lyle Sudrow, Cameron Prud’homme, John McGovern
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