Escape's "A Dream of Armageddon" is based on the 1901 short story by H.G. Wells. (The original work is available online at Wikisource.) Escape made a few alterations to the story by skipping the original beginning, by changing the setting from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century, and by changing the nationalities from English to American. Otherwise, they kept the rest of the story intact.
As the episode opens, a man describes a vivid dream in which he finds himself living a completely different life. In his dream, he wakes to a new life in Capri, hundreds of years into the future. He is with a woman he loves, but there is a cloud over their happiness. In order to be together, he had to leave his position as a world leader, and now, without him, world politics seems to be steadily moving towards war.
When the man wakes up in his own time, he is back in his own drab life. Was it really a dream? Days pass and eventually his dream of the future picks up again and turns into a nightmare.
"A Dream of Armageddon" was adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield and was produced and directed by Norman MacDonnell. Featured in the cast were Stacy Harris and Betty Lou Gerson. Also appearing were Charlotte Lawrence, Jack Kruschen, Erik Rolf, and John Dehner. This episode aired on September 5, 1948.
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(Image of Fall River Press edition)
One of my favourite episodes, especially the ending! Brrr! Chilling!
Posted by: Armand S. | July 26, 2010 at 12:38 AM
The ending really freaked me out, because I'd read the story years ago and had interpreted the final line as a metaphor. I hadn't expected the radio version to take it literally.
Posted by: Mike Hobart | July 26, 2010 at 06:24 AM