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Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures, Volume One
Three audio adventures based on the Eagle comic strip “Dan Dare” created by Rev. Marcus Morris, written and drawn by Frank Hampson
Episode 1 - Voyage to Venus by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle
Brilliant test pilot, Dan Dare, is chosen to fly the Anastasia - a new experimental spacecraft – on its maiden voyage to Venus. This isn’t exploration - it is to make first contact with a mysterious civilisation that has sent technological secrets as a goodwill gesture.
However, what Dan, Digby and Professor Peabody find on Venus isn’t goodwill, but a terrifyingly intelligent, cold-hearted ruler, the Mekon. A creature destined to become Dan Dare’s nemesis – and Earth’s greatest threat…
Episode 2 - The Red Moon Mystery by James Swallow
Unable to return to Earth, Dan Dare and the crew of the Anastasia head to the desolate planet Mars, where Dan's estranged Uncle Ivor is part of a research team working on a top-secret archaeological dig; but when they find the base wrecked and the scientists missing, Dare, Digby and Professor Peabody soon discover that the Red Planet is not nearly as dead as everyone thought and that Ivor’s expedition has woken an army of deadly insect-creatures that threaten to swarm and engulf the Earth… Dare must stop the aliens, but can he really resort to genocide in order to save the human race?
Episode 3 - Marooned on Mercury by Marc Platt
When a distress call summons the crew of the Anastasia to the burning wilderness of Mercury, they are reunited with their old ally, Sondar. He tells them of the beleaguered Mercurians who are held in thrall to a cruel new taskmaster - the Mekon! The exiled Mekon is rallying his forces, plotting a desperate revenge against his former homeworld of Venus and his hated enemy, Colonel Dan Dare!
A fourth disc, entitled New Worlds, presents music by Imran Ahmad from Dan Dare and a variety of other B7Media productions.
Episode 1 - Voyage to Venus by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle
Brilliant test pilot, Dan Dare, is chosen to fly the Anastasia - a new experimental spacecraft – on its maiden voyage to Venus. This isn’t exploration - it is to make first contact with a mysterious civilisation that has sent technological secrets as a goodwill gesture.
However, what Dan, Digby and Professor Peabody find on Venus isn’t goodwill, but a terrifyingly intelligent, cold-hearted ruler, the Mekon. A creature destined to become Dan Dare’s nemesis – and Earth’s greatest threat…
Episode 2 - The Red Moon Mystery by James Swallow
Unable to return to Earth, Dan Dare and the crew of the Anastasia head to the desolate planet Mars, where Dan's estranged Uncle Ivor is part of a research team working on a top-secret archaeological dig; but when they find the base wrecked and the scientists missing, Dare, Digby and Professor Peabody soon discover that the Red Planet is not nearly as dead as everyone thought and that Ivor’s expedition has woken an army of deadly insect-creatures that threaten to swarm and engulf the Earth… Dare must stop the aliens, but can he really resort to genocide in order to save the human race?
Episode 3 - Marooned on Mercury by Marc Platt
When a distress call summons the crew of the Anastasia to the burning wilderness of Mercury, they are reunited with their old ally, Sondar. He tells them of the beleaguered Mercurians who are held in thrall to a cruel new taskmaster - the Mekon! The exiled Mekon is rallying his forces, plotting a desperate revenge against his former homeworld of Venus and his hated enemy, Colonel Dan Dare!
A fourth disc, entitled New Worlds, presents music by Imran Ahmad from Dan Dare and a variety of other B7Media productions.
- GenresScience FictionAudiobook
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2016
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Richard Kurti
25 books36 followersIn another life, I’d love to have been a clockmaker.
It’s not enough that a clock is a beautiful object, it also has to work – it needs to keep accurate time, month after month.
This is what attracted me to screenwriting, which is where I started as a professional writer. Screenplays have to tell moving, exciting, engaging stories, but they are also incredibly complex and very technical machines that are blueprints for the entire production.
When I ventured into the world of novel writing, I tried to bring some of the lessons I’d learnt in screenwriting with me…
High Concept
I always try to find a big idea to put at the heart of a novel.
It needs to be complex enough to resonate with different characters and situations, but it also needs to be clear enough to immediately take hold of your imagination.
Plot-Character-Plot-Character
To me, they’re very similar things.
Plots only happen because characters are striving for something; at the same time, characters are defined by what they actually do in different circumstances.
Mechanics
This is all about using different techniques to create the most dramatic and gripping story. Often it’s about knowing where to end a scene, or when to reveal information, or the ordering of different events. It’s a bit like playing a massive game of hide and seek with the reader!
Did I succeed?
Let me know what you think through Goodreads, or with a Tweet to @Richard_Kurti
Instagram: RichardKurtiWriter
It’s not enough that a clock is a beautiful object, it also has to work – it needs to keep accurate time, month after month.
This is what attracted me to screenwriting, which is where I started as a professional writer. Screenplays have to tell moving, exciting, engaging stories, but they are also incredibly complex and very technical machines that are blueprints for the entire production.
When I ventured into the world of novel writing, I tried to bring some of the lessons I’d learnt in screenwriting with me…
High Concept
I always try to find a big idea to put at the heart of a novel.
It needs to be complex enough to resonate with different characters and situations, but it also needs to be clear enough to immediately take hold of your imagination.
Plot-Character-Plot-Character
To me, they’re very similar things.
Plots only happen because characters are striving for something; at the same time, characters are defined by what they actually do in different circumstances.
Mechanics
This is all about using different techniques to create the most dramatic and gripping story. Often it’s about knowing where to end a scene, or when to reveal information, or the ordering of different events. It’s a bit like playing a massive game of hide and seek with the reader!
Did I succeed?
Let me know what you think through Goodreads, or with a Tweet to @Richard_Kurti
Instagram: RichardKurtiWriter
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 16, 2020
This full cast audio production adapts the i>Dan Dare comics; with this volume collecting the first three arcs. In these stories we visit Venus, Mars, and Mercury respectively. They're very pulpy and campy, but in a good way. There's also a British flair to them due to the source material.
We have Dan Dare, our sarcastic and skilled pilot. Professor Peabody, known for her wicked smarts and sharp wit. And finally Digby, a military man with a mysterious yet soft side. Together this trio embarks on some predictable yet nonetheless enjoyable adventures. There's cliches abound, but the story knows it and you find yourself having fun with them anyway. I'd say this is well worth a listen if you are in the mood for some cheesy sci-fi stories.
We have Dan Dare, our sarcastic and skilled pilot. Professor Peabody, known for her wicked smarts and sharp wit. And finally Digby, a military man with a mysterious yet soft side. Together this trio embarks on some predictable yet nonetheless enjoyable adventures. There's cliches abound, but the story knows it and you find yourself having fun with them anyway. I'd say this is well worth a listen if you are in the mood for some cheesy sci-fi stories.
September 1, 2021
What a fab collection from Big Finish. Great stories and performances.
February 24, 2023
Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future was a popular British science fiction comic of the 1950s originally written by Frank Hampson and published in Eagle comic. It has undergone various adaptations and remakes through the years, with this being a version made for radio in 2017.
Voyage to Venus – The first story introduces us not only to our hero and his supporting cast but to recurring nemesis the Mekon. Beyond the title and the presence of the main characters, there is little resemblance to the plot of the original comic story, not least because this is rather shorter. Among other things, it has obviously been updated for the modern day in terms of both the technology (for example, Dare has a smartphone) and the science, with Venus being almost as uninhabitable as it is in real life.
Even so, we have something that feels like an old-style adventure story with daring escapes and villainous plans to be foiled. Dare is square-jawed and heroic, neither feeling painfully retro nor shoe-horned into modern issues and sensibilities that would feel out of place in this setting. Of the supporting cast, Digby has the best portrayal, a voice of sensible caution and pragmatism to Dare’s heroic stance and flippant defiance. Peabody, the only significant female character from the original (and dropped altogether from the ‘60s version of the comic) has less of a role and doesn’t come across as particularly sympathetic so far. 4 stars.
The Red Moon Mystery – The Mekon is absent in this second episode, which uses a different alien menace. The nature of the aliens, and the fact that much of the story is set on Mars, are both taken from the original comic story of the same title. Once again, however, the plot is substantially different (as is the depiction of Mars), the absence of a literal red moon being one indication of this. There’s also clearly a plot arc building up here with another potentially sinister faction in the background that we’ll presumably be seeing more of later.
Assuming you’re not a purist fan of the original, this new plot works well, presenting us with an action and mystery story that also fills in more of Dan’s background. The science is updated to the modern day without changing the basic idea behind the aliens and arguably has a grittier tone than its predecessor while still maintaining Dan’s heroic persona. Digby has a significant role to play but he takes more of a backseat this time, giving Peabody a chance to shine; this version of her is something of a cold fish but her cool efficiency is an effective counterpoint to the action elements of the story. It’s a good science fiction action tale that has a more modern feel than the first episode, and arguably benefits from it. 4.5 stars.
Marooned on Mercury – The Mekon returns in the third episode, which sees Dare and his companions being forced to land on Mercury. It hews closer to the plot of the original than the previous two episodes did, although there are still significant changes, not least in the shorter length. The disadvantage here is that the comic version of Marooned on Mercury is, by all accounts, not one of the better stories, and basically all we have a is straight-up rebellion plot, with Dare and Digby persuading the Mercurians to rise up against the Mekon, which they presumably could have done at any prior point anyway.
Nor do we get much of the characterisation of the previous two episodes, at least for the two male leads. Peabody is dealt with more sympathetically than before and helps to drive some of the story while Dare is mostly just being square-jawed – although he does get a good scene with the Mekon once the latter turns up in person. Having said all this, it’s not a bad story, just lacking in some of the updated feel of the first two, perhaps because (unlike them) it’s too busy emulating the original plot. It ends on a cliffhanger, setting up the second volume. 3.5 stars.
Voyage to Venus – The first story introduces us not only to our hero and his supporting cast but to recurring nemesis the Mekon. Beyond the title and the presence of the main characters, there is little resemblance to the plot of the original comic story, not least because this is rather shorter. Among other things, it has obviously been updated for the modern day in terms of both the technology (for example, Dare has a smartphone) and the science, with Venus being almost as uninhabitable as it is in real life.
Even so, we have something that feels like an old-style adventure story with daring escapes and villainous plans to be foiled. Dare is square-jawed and heroic, neither feeling painfully retro nor shoe-horned into modern issues and sensibilities that would feel out of place in this setting. Of the supporting cast, Digby has the best portrayal, a voice of sensible caution and pragmatism to Dare’s heroic stance and flippant defiance. Peabody, the only significant female character from the original (and dropped altogether from the ‘60s version of the comic) has less of a role and doesn’t come across as particularly sympathetic so far. 4 stars.
The Red Moon Mystery – The Mekon is absent in this second episode, which uses a different alien menace. The nature of the aliens, and the fact that much of the story is set on Mars, are both taken from the original comic story of the same title. Once again, however, the plot is substantially different (as is the depiction of Mars), the absence of a literal red moon being one indication of this. There’s also clearly a plot arc building up here with another potentially sinister faction in the background that we’ll presumably be seeing more of later.
Assuming you’re not a purist fan of the original, this new plot works well, presenting us with an action and mystery story that also fills in more of Dan’s background. The science is updated to the modern day without changing the basic idea behind the aliens and arguably has a grittier tone than its predecessor while still maintaining Dan’s heroic persona. Digby has a significant role to play but he takes more of a backseat this time, giving Peabody a chance to shine; this version of her is something of a cold fish but her cool efficiency is an effective counterpoint to the action elements of the story. It’s a good science fiction action tale that has a more modern feel than the first episode, and arguably benefits from it. 4.5 stars.
Marooned on Mercury – The Mekon returns in the third episode, which sees Dare and his companions being forced to land on Mercury. It hews closer to the plot of the original than the previous two episodes did, although there are still significant changes, not least in the shorter length. The disadvantage here is that the comic version of Marooned on Mercury is, by all accounts, not one of the better stories, and basically all we have a is straight-up rebellion plot, with Dare and Digby persuading the Mercurians to rise up against the Mekon, which they presumably could have done at any prior point anyway.
Nor do we get much of the characterisation of the previous two episodes, at least for the two male leads. Peabody is dealt with more sympathetically than before and helps to drive some of the story while Dare is mostly just being square-jawed – although he does get a good scene with the Mekon once the latter turns up in person. Having said all this, it’s not a bad story, just lacking in some of the updated feel of the first two, perhaps because (unlike them) it’s too busy emulating the original plot. It ends on a cliffhanger, setting up the second volume. 3.5 stars.
December 20, 2025
I first encountered Dan Dare in the old 2000AD comics of my youth. I remember him as being a little more gritty in those old tales than he is here, but he is still a man who lives up to his last name. These 'Audio Adventures' are taken from a radio production and are based on the original 1950s comic books that introduced Dan Dare to the British public. It has been updated for a modern audience, but there is no denying the 1950s influence. Everything from evil Martians hell-bent on conquering Earth to Dan Dare not thinking twice about jumping into a spaceship and rocketing off to Mars in the blink of an eye. This series of broadcasts holds no real surprises, but it also presents no disappointments. This is old school sci-fi in the vein of Flash Gordon and pulp magazines, laced with a Britishness that is always appealing.
June 9, 2021
Fun, old school radio scifi.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews