What happens
Oliver Jordan, a New York shipping executive, plans a small dinner party for Lord and Lady Ferncliffe, visiting from England, and invites his wife Millicent and their friends. The guest list grows as the invitations are made, and Oliver's business troubles become a quiet worry. Millicent's daughter Paula is preparing for her wedding and keeps her own late nights. Dan Packard, a rough Western businessman, takes an interest in the Jordan shipping line, and Carlotta Vance, a faded stage actress, visits Oliver. The episode is an adaptation of the Kaufman and Ferber play Dinner at Eight, performed on The Mercury Theatre on the Air series, broadcast on February 18, 1940, with Lucille Ball among the guest stars.
New York City, February, in the 1930s, at the homes and offices of a shipping family and their social circle.
Characters: Oliver Jordan, Millicent Jordan, Paula Packard, Carlotta Vance, Dan Packard, Larry Renault, Dr. Talbot, Ernest
Listen for: The invitations to the Ferncliffe dinner party, Oliver's talk of the shipping line's troubles, and Carlotta's visit to Oliver's office.
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.