Journey Into Space - Critical Reaction

Critical Reaction

Public reaction to the show was mixed. Some comments received by the BBC described the show as "a first class affair" and "the best serial for ages". After episode 5 of Journey to the Moon was first broadcast, the Daily Express commented:

Hats off to Charles Chilton, who has switched from Riders of the Range to Journey Into Space with masterly ease. I rate this space travel serial as the most exciting piece of radio material for years.

Midway through the original broadcast of The Red Planet, a BBC Audience Research Report indicated that the series

was described as "thrilling", "fascinating" and "most entertaining"... This is obviously very much a family occasion in many homes, the entire household following the adventures of Jet Morgan and Co. with great interest.

However, others commented that the plot often featured scientific inaccuracies, even though Chilton had received technical advice from Flight Lieutenant Roger Burton and Kenneth Gatland of the British Interplanetary Society. One reviewer in the Radio Times issue of 4 February 1955 commented that:

Journey into Space was a glorified interstellar 'horse-opera' with no coherent plot, which relied on odd musical arrangements to bolster up the stilted conversations of characters with no substance. There were no convincing word pictures of the new world: 'Jet' lacked tact and leader qualities and 'Lemmy' was an improbable space traveller, not to mention electronic engineer!

Chilton has admitted that he is not a science-fiction writer, astronomer, or scientist, and that his "pursuit of astronomical studies is clumsy and very amateurish". He often "worked very late to deadline", sometimes not starting to write an episode until two days before recording.

Journey Into Space remains popular today, thanks to the discovery of mis-filed recording of the show, which enabled the BBC to begin re-broadcasting the show from the late 1980s onwards.

Today it still enjoys a huge fanbase, with active websites and keenly received repeats on digital radio channel BBC Radio 4 Extra. —Paul Donovan, The Sunday Times