What happens
Captain Bligh commands the Bounty, a small ship carrying breadfruit trees from Tahiti to the West Indies, and his tense relationship with his crew and officers, especially Fletcher Christian, forms the story's core. The episode, part of the Mercury Theatre on the Air series, first aired on January 13, 1939, and Orson Welles leads the cast. A court-martial frames the account, with Captain Bligh describing how mutineers seized his ship and set him adrift in an open boat. The story then returns to the voyage, showing harsh discipline, a dispute over stolen cheese, and the growing resentment among the men. Bligh and Christian clash repeatedly over how the crew should be treated. Life on Tahiti brings a brief respite and a romance for Christian, before tensions rise again aboard the ship.
A British Navy ship, the Bounty, sailing from England through the South Seas, with scenes in a naval court-martial in 1792 and on the island of Tahiti.
Characters: Captain Bligh, Fletcher Christian, Mr. Fryer, Samuel, Thomas Burkett, Mills, Morrison, Hina
Listen for: Captain Bligh's testimony in the court-martial, and the arguments between Bligh and Christian about how to treat the crew.
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.