What happens
On the colony world of New Delaware, Mayor Ed Beers appoints Tom Fisher as the town's official criminal, so the village can have the trappings of Earth society before an Earth inspector arrives. Tom is given a skulking permit and told to steal and commit a murder. He struggles with both tasks, while the mayor and village officials scramble to hide the colony's lack of crime. The episode is X Minus One, first broadcast on February 15, 1956, adapted from a Galaxy Science Fiction story by Robert Sheckley, with Dick Hamilton among the cast.
New Delaware, a colony world where a small village has existed for over 200 years, awaiting an Earth inspector's visit.
Characters: Tom Fisher, Mayor Ed Beers, Billy Painter, Mary, Marv Carpenter, George Waterman, The Inspector, Mr. Grant
Listen for: Tom's attempts to steal and murder, and the mayor's efforts to convince the inspector the village is civilized.
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.