The Cave-In: Suspense (July 5, 1955)

“The Cave-In” is an episode of Suspense, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 5, 1955. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

Listen to Suspense free, live around the clock: every episode, in the order it first aired. No sign-up.

What happens

Inspector Harry Glid works in a Welsh mining district when a cave-in traps four men in a coal mine. Evan Lewis, David Owen, Davis and Glid himself are cut off, and one of them, Eppo Williams, is already dead. Glid learns that Williams was disliked, that he had a history of quarrels over women, and that several men had reason to resent him. As the trapped men dig toward the surface, they run short of water and tempers rise. The mine becomes a grim test of nerves and loyalty. The suspense play Suspense aired on 1955-07-05 with Ben Wright in the lead role.

A sealed coal mine in a village in South Wales

Characters: Harry Glid, Evan Lewis, David Owen, Davis, Will Vaughn, Mr. Flowers, Eppo Williams, Glynis

Listen for: The growing argument over the water can and the men's suspicions of one another

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.