The Midwich Cuckoos
by John Wyndham
BBC World Service
Broadcast: Saturday 4th December 1982
Cuckoos lay eggs in other birds' nests....
The rather sleepy village of Midwich finds itself becoming even sleepier when one night in September all those in it – and nearby, within a
precise circular boundary – fall suddenly into a state of unconciousness that lasts for over 24 hours. In that time, aerial reconnaissance and
photographs reveal not only that the affected area is a hemisphere, but also that, at the centre of it, a strange shape can be seen.
But as suddenly as the village was affected, everything returns – apparently – to normal. It's some weeks before the realisation grows that all
the women in the village of child-bearing age are mysteriously impregnated. Nine months pass and the pregnancies run to their natural term,
producing 61 "Children" – all with blonde hair, pale skin and golden eyes. As they start to grow at enormous speed, it becomes clear that
they all have telepathic abilities.
The clutch that have been fathered by Aliens promise to make the human race look as dated as the dinosaur.... and who is to stop them?
Adaptation for radio by William Ingram of John Wyndam's 1957 classic novel, "The Midwich Cuckoos".
With Charles Kay [Colonel Bernard Westcott], William Gaunt [Richard Gayford], Manning Wilson [Gordon Zellaby], Pauline Yates [Mrs.
Angela Zellaby, Gordon's Wife], Jenny Quayle [Miss Ferrelyn Zellaby, Gordon's Daughter], Rosalind Adams [Janet Gayford, Richard's
Wife / A Child], Gordon Dulieu [Sergeant Alan Hughes], Hugh Dickson [Dr. Charlie Willers], William Ingram [The Reverend Hubert
Leebody], Garard Green [Colonel Latcher], Martin Ransley [Captain Beamish], Peter Tuddenham [Group Captain Hardy / Dr. Torrance,
an Eminent Psychiatrist], Ronald Baddiley [The Chief Constable], David Peet [The Policeman], Alex Jennings [The Pilot], Edward Cast
[Pilot's Controller at base], Nigel Graham [The Coroner], Katherine Parr [Mrs. Williams, of The Scythe and Stone], Jill Lidstone [A Child],
and Simon Hewitt [A Court Witness].
Music specially composed by Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Directed by Gordon House.
90 minutes.
....Jim....
