Space Force: Series 1

Space Force was a BBC Radio science fiction serial, broadcast from 4 April 1984 to 17 June 1985.

Written by Charles Chilton, it was originally intended to be a sequel to his 1950s Journey into Space series, using the same cast who had made a one-off revival of that series entitled 'The Return From Mars’ in 1981. While this idea was dropped late in the development of the serial, the four characters, played by Barry Foster, Nigel Stock, Nicky Henson, and Tony Osoba, are nevertheless essentially the same as those from the earlier series, albeit with different names.

The first series sees the team travelling to Jupiter, where they encounter a ship crewed entirely by female aliens.

The second series finds the crew tackling aliens posing as ancient Egyptians.

Within both series, Space Force is the name of the team's spaceship, rather than the name of an organisation.
Episode 1: The Voice From Nowhere

​Captain Saxon Berry and his crew — flight engineer Lodderick Sincere, radio operator Lemuel ‘Chipper’ Barnet and Professor Magnus Carter — set​ off for the Moon on board a Lunar freighter, in order to join their new exploration vessel ‘Space Force’. Contact with both Earth and Lunar control is lost, and Chipper is sent outside the ship to check the antenna. Whilst outside, Chipper hears strange music and voices through his radio and passes out. Brought back into the ship, Chipper decides to watch a videotape on TV, but the TV explodes and he hears the music and voices again. Professor Carter realises that the voices are a reply to the message sent out into space from the Arecibo radio telescope, as part of the SETI program, over thirty years previously.

​First broadcast: 4 April 1984.
Original Story by Charles Chilton.
​Cast: Barry Foster, Tony Osoba, Nicky Henson, Nigel Stock.
Episode 2: Towards The Unknown

​Professor Carter reveals he is a member of a secret organisation set up to study the alien signal. He informs the crew that their mission is to travel to Jupiter, where the signal originates, and where all contact with four unmanned probes has been lost. During training on the Lunar surface, Chipper becomes separated from the rest of the crew and hears the music and voices again. The Space Force blasts off for a three year return trip to Jupiter. The ship is hit by a small asteroid, and Chipper begins showing signs of mental impairment, due to the long voyage. The crew encounter one of the unmanned probes and discover that all its electrical equipment has been removed. Chipper again hears the music and voices. The Space Force approaches Jupiter orbit and suffers a complete systems failure.

First broadcast: 11 April 1984.
Original Story by Charles Chilton.
​Cast: Barry Foster, Tony Osoba, Nicky Henson, Nigel Stock.
Episode 3: The Silver Strangers

The crew hear a knocking on the outer airlock door, but they cannot open it due to the ship’s power loss. Power returns to the ship when it moves further from Jupiter in its orbit, and Chipper hears the strange voice again. A ship is seen approaching the Space Force and two humanoid figures emerge. They float across to the Space Force and make contact with Chipper telepathically. The crew allow the figures to enter the ship and discover they are seven foot tall, silver aliens. The visitors demand that the Space Force rendezvous with their mothership on the far side of Jupiter.

First broadcast: 18 April 1984.
Original Story by Charles Chilton.
​Cast: Barry Foster, Tony Osoba, Nicky Henson, Nigel Stock.
Episode 4: The Time Ship

Professor Carter is taken aboard the alien’s ship, whilst one of the aliens stays aboard the Space Force for the journey to the mothership. Carter discovers the aliens are from Alpha Centauri and have travelled to Jupiter in less than one year. The crew arrive at the mothership and are assigned quarters. A holographic image of one of the aliens, named Jenny, informs the crew that men are used as slaves on the alien’s homeworld, with only a select few used for breeding purposes. Chipper begins to fall in love with Jenny. The crew are taken to meet the mothership’s commander, who orders Chipper to be taken for interrogation.
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​First broadcast: 25 April 1984.
Original Story by Charles Chilton.
​Cast: Barry Foster, Tony Osoba, Nicky Henson, Nigel Stock.
Episode 5: Threshold of The Stars

Due to his telepathic abilities, Chipper is selected to return to Alpha Centauri with the aliens. The rest of the crew are given ten minutes to leave. Saxon devises a plan for them all to escape, but Chipper refuses to go, as he is in love with Jenny. Overpowering a security detail and stealing their anaesthetic guns, the crew order Chipper to return with them to the Space Force at gunpoint. Chipper escapes and finds his way to Jenny’s cabin, where he discovers she is an artificial intelligence program, created to persuade him to return with the aliens. The crew find Chipper, and they all make it to the airlock leading to the Space Force, but there are only three spacesuits provided, as Chipper was expected to stay. Professor Carter remains behind, while the rest of the crew cross to the Space Force. Saxon returns with a spacesuit for Carter, but the airlock loses power, with the door only partially open and the alien ship about to leave for home.

​First broadcast: 2 May 1984.
Original Story by Charles Chilton.
​Cast: Barry Foster, Tony Osoba, Nicky Henson, Nigel Stock.
Episode 6: Marooned In Space

Saxon and Carter reduce the pressure in their spacesuits, in order to squeeze into the airlock. The Space Force blasts off, just as the alien ship accelerates for Alpha Centauri. Chipper hears Jenny’s voice, trying to persuade him to return to the alien ship. Space Force is hit by some sort of beam from the alien ship and loses power. The crew are knocked unconscious. On recovery, the crew find Space Force tumbling out of control in space, with no sign of Jupiter on the televiewer. The crew receive a response to their radio messages from Jenny, but this Jenny is a radio operator for an airbus service on Earth. The crew are put in touch with Control, who inform them they are only around half a million miles from Earth. It seems the alien beam which hit their ship accelerated it towards Earth at enormous speed.

​First broadcast: 9 May 1984.
Original Story by Charles Chilton.
​Cast: Barry Foster, Tony Osoba, Nicky Henson, Nigel Stock, Theresa Stretfield, Wendy Murray.