Double Dare: X Minus One (December 19, 1957)

“Double Dare” is an episode of X Minus One, the old-time radio show, first broadcast December 19, 1957. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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

What happens

Two Earth engineers, Marner and Cambridge, travel to the planet Domerang to take part in a contest of technical skill against the Domerangi. Their liaison Plovash sets them three problems: duplicate a depilatory, build a pest trap, and reproduce a machine. The engineers meet each challenge, but the final device raises questions about its power source and about what the Domerangi intend to do with them. Part of the story is told here, and the guide does not cover how it ends.

The planet Domerang, a laboratory provided by the Domerangi government, and a hotel room near the capital

Characters: Marner, Cambridge, Plovash, The Consul

Listen for: Marner and Cambridge's scheme to pass an anti-gravity machine to the Domerangi through the Consul

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.