What happens
Two men and a woman travel to a desert ghost town to film a scene for a Hollywood production, but a rough practical joke leaves them stranded when their car is taken. Scott and Tommy are the outsiders on set, and Tommy is wary of the jokes that Murphy has played on him before. Hollywood Hostages is an episode of the radio series Suspense, first broadcast on February 21, 1956, starring Eve McVay and Tom Brown. As the afternoon turns to rain, the pair find an injured man who is not what he seems, and the tension between the group grows. The episode is built around doubt about who is telling the truth.
A desert ghost town near Hollywood, reached by a lonely road, during a film shoot
Characters: Scott, Tommy, Murphy, Fred, Texas
Listen for: Whether the sudden trouble is part of Murphy's practical joke or something real
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.