What happens
Captain Jean Dalbray, a French artillery officer, is tried by the Spanish Inquisition in Toledo for destroying a church during the Napoleonic occupation of Spain. Sentenced to a death of slow torment, he is taken to a dark dungeon, where he is bound on a wooden frame. Haunted by visions of his wife Beatrice, he finds himself in a circular pit, while a razor-edged pendulum descends toward his chest and rats gather around him. Adapted from the Edgar Allan Poe story, this Suspense radio play starred Jose Ferrer. The broadcast aired on November 28, 1947.
Toledo, Spain, during the French occupation, and the dungeons of the Spanish Inquisition
Characters: Captain Jean Dalbray, Beatrice Valdez, Fra Pedro de Espidia, Fra Antonio, General LaSalle
Listen for: The rising sound of the swinging pendulum and the rats gnawing at the bandages
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.