The Destruction Factor

by James Follett

As fires erupt, why is Ralph Exon's new plant strain mutation growing so rapidly? Stars Paul Copley and TP McKenna.

Audiobook

First published April 1, 1978

About the author

James Follett (not "Follet") was an author and screenwriter, born in 1939 in Tolworth, England.

Follett became a full-time fiction writer in 1976, after resigning from contract work as a technical writer for the British Ministry of Defence. He has wrote over 20 novels, several television scripts (including episodes of the BBC's Blake's 7), and many radio dramas. Follett was one of the 400 most popular British authors, measured by the numbers of books borrowed from public libraries in the UK, having spent 11 years in the public lending right's top two bands of authors.

Reviews

[Red Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable classic SF in the John Wyndham strain of “scientifically possible and socially horribly plausible”; particularly the misogyny, classism and political undermining of environmental threat. Beautifully acted, well-written and with excellent effects.

Found for free on the BBC Sounds app, but the Internet Archive also has a free version which can be found by googling.

[Todd Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Destruction Factor is a short 1978 radio play written by James Follett and produced by the BBC. The plot involves a mutant plant that produces an inordinate amount of oxygen, sparking fires and threatening life as we know it.

Yeah, it's pretty silly. Decent production value though and reasonably entertaining. You can find it on-line if you possess reasonable google-fu.

[Sandra Vdplaats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ralph Exon works for an international fertiliser corporation - and he has created a new strain of plant. It's a mutation which he hopes will bring relief to the famine ridden countries in the world.

But as fires erupt, there seems to be something amiss..... and why is Exon's new plant strain mutation growing so rapidly?

BBC Radion 4 drama, first broadcasted in March 1978. Can be listened to again... (BBC 4).


Story from the golden age of SF - highly enjoyable, - available now on BBC 4 for a limited period of days.

[Stefan Grieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly, over the top seventies sci-fi featuring fire causing giant plants. Fun and thrilling, this is everything you'd hope for in this kind of thing. Along with featuring many sci-fi's tropes, there is a scene near the end where a couple of the heroes (the heroic group overall having a fun camaraderie fighting against the stiff upper lip of the time somewhat) where they frolic on a beach. Well, the worlds going to end soon they think, so why not?

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sci-fi radio drama, 6 half-hour episodes. First broadcast 1978. I heard it on BBC 7 (now Radio 4 Extra).

James Follett writes top radio.

The Destruction Factor is very well-written. The dialogue is natural. The plot is coherent (rare in sci-fi). The foreshadowing is episodes ahead ("I couldn't live here, too close to a London airport"). Every episode ends on a cliff-hanger.