What happens
On the prison island of New Caledonia, the convict Bijou and his friend, the barber, watch the cruel executioner Monsieur de Nu and his assistant Bombiste. Bijou has fallen in love with Zelly, the young wife the executioner bought from her fishing village. When Bijou is found with bloodstained clothing after a native is murdered, he is arrested and must face the guillotine. The narrator, a convict barber, is drawn into the desperate plans of the condemned man and the girl who loves him. Escape is the series name, and this episode aired on February 21, 1950, with the cast led by Harry Bartel as Bijou and Will Gear as Monsieur de Nu.
The penal colony of New Caledonia, a French prison island, including the convict compound, the barracks, the jungle and a guillotine.
Characters: Bijou, Monsieur de Nu, Zelly, Bombiste, Jumei, The barber (narrator), The commandant
Listen for: The tense exchanges between the barber and Bijou about Zelly, and the shock at the guillotine when the hooded prisoner is revealed.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.