Dimension X
1950 -1951
Norman Rose was the narrator/ host to this trail blazing science fiction anthology series.
Dimension X was the first science fiction show for adults that really caught on. (2,000 Plus started sooner, but wasn't as sophisticated or popular.) Dimension X was hosted by Norman Rose. His calm and deadly serious voice usually spoke over a slow pounding bass drum, which added a fatalistic air of a death march in the background. These stories were not kiddie space shows like Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon. They were thoughtful and sometimes down beat stories based on the more serious science fiction found in pulp magazines of the day like Astounding Science Fiction Magazine (which eventually sponsored the show). Classic tales by Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Bloch, and Isaac Asimov were brought to life in the minds of listeners. The provided Dimension X and actual advantage to TV or cinema. While other shows were loosing audience to the boob tube because people wanted to actually see their favorite characters perform, Hollywood had a long way to go before being able to provide special effects that could compete with the creative imaginations of radio's audience. They could build dramatic and comedy sets fine, but TV and film directors would still require a few decades to believably recreate the distant planets, elaborate space ships, and creative monsters that radio made with words, music and sound effects. Dimension X employed two and sometimes three sound men, plus an excellent music composer (Albert Berman) to create effective atmosphere for stories that were literally "out of this world." The series was originally produced live for the first 13 episodes but was taped for the remaining 37 shows. Fortunately, all fifty shows were preserved in good quality for listeners to hear today. (Dunning, 200). And if that were not enough, Dimension X spun off a sequel of sorts, the equally exciting science fiction anthology series, X Minus One.
A scene from one of the especially popular episodes, "Zero Hour," courtesy of Tune In For Terror ©1992.
The Standard Intro:
(Drum roll.) "Adventures in time and space... Told in future tense!
(Echo voice.) "Dimension.... X... X... x.... x....
(Organ flairs and a crescendo sting. A slow pounding drum march plays in the background while narrator describes the opening scene.)
An Opening Narration:
"It happened during a routine skirmish in the Great War. Patrols advanced from the defense perimeter under jet cover and proceeded by Napalm Throwers. The Enemy defended in depth and mopped up with guided 98s fired from forty miles to the rear. The blast area was ten miles in circumference. And the medics didn't find much to pick up over five hundred yards in..."
An Ending Narration & Closing:
(Drum pounds in march cadence.) "Homecoming is a joyous word. But when the home you're returning to is a burned out radioactive planet, and when you cannot even imagine what terrible changes you'll find there, the word then takes on a very different meaning...
"Next week, Dimension X brings you a strange story called 'Dwellers In Silence.'"
Hear it now, FREE!
Hear up to 32 different episodes of Dimension X in RealPlayer!
(RealPlayer allows you to continue to browse other sites while you listen.)
OTR Plot Spot synopsis of various episodes from Dimension X:
http://www.otrplotspot.com/DimensionX.htm
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