What happens
Rudolf Rassendyll, a young Englishman on a fishing holiday in Ruritania, is mistaken for the king, who is a close double of him. Colonel Zapt and Fritz von Tarlenheim persuade him to take the king's place at the coronation, since the king's half-brother Michael plans to seize the throne. Lux Radio Theatre presents this adaptation of Anthony Hope's romance, starring Ronald Colman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Benita Hume, in a broadcast of June 5, 1939. The first part sets up the impostor scheme and the coronation, and introduces Princess Flavia and the threat posed by Michael.
A forest stream in the mountains of Middle Europe, then the palace and cathedral at Strelsau in the kingdom of Ruritania.
Characters: Rudolf Rassendyll, Colonel Zapt, Fritz von Tarlenheim, Rupert of Hentzau, Michael, Princess Flavia, King Rudolf, Antoinette de Mauban
Listen for: Listen for how Rudolf is mistaken for the king, and how the impostor scheme takes shape at the coronation.
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.