The Image of Evil: Space Patrol (April 17, 1954)

“The Image of Evil” is an episode of Space Patrol, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 17, 1954. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Commander Buzz Corey and Cadet Happy of Space Patrol headquarters on Terra face a mysterious visitor, Prince Archane of Jupiter, who warns that Prince Bakarati has escaped from a rehabilitation center on Venus. Corey dispatches a check on Bakarati's whereabouts while a sinister conversation hints at a twin brother, Zoltan, who plans to take over. Later, Corey and Happy test a cosmic rocket launcher in space, when a private cruiser on a collision course forces a dangerous and unexpected encounter. Space Patrol, the series, aired on April 17, 1954.

Space Patrol headquarters on the man-made planet Terra, the records section beneath it, and deep space near Jupiter and Saturn

Characters: Commander Buzz Corey, Cadet Happy, Prince Archane, Prince Bakarati, Zoltan, Aaron Sartain, Sergeant Markham

Listen for: The conversation between Zoltan and Aaron Sartain about Bakarati's stolen identity and secret fortune, and the moment the rocket ship's test course is threatened by the private cruiser

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.