radio playhouse

Deathwatch in Boston - Inner Sanctum

Dr. Carl Dickens, a Boston-based hospital intern, whose life takes a strange turn when he crosses paths with a sinister figure calling himself “Charon.” Charon operates out of a shadowy tattoo parlour and keeps a talking mynah bird that ominously chirps the show’s tagline: “It is later than you think!”.

Death of a Doll - Inner Sanctum

Willie Harper, a fresh-faced reporter for the Morning Blade, on his very first assignment—investigating a woman found dead in the city morgue, clutching a mysterious doll.

Murder by Prophecy - Inner Sanctum

A man unexpectedly inherits a sprawling, old mansion—complete with its echoing halls and a shadowed past—soon discovering it comes with more than just bricks and mortar.

Hangman's Island - Inner Sanctum

The story revolves around a desperate thief who, mortally wounded, clings to life. Before dying, he reveals a treasure map leading to a hidden fortune on a forbidding place known as Hangman’s Island, located somewhere in the Florida Keys.

Death Rides a Riptide - Inner Sanctum

The story centres on a newly married woman living with her husband near a rugged coastline. She grows increasingly uneasy when her husband’s first wife mysteriously drowned, and the events surrounding her death don’t seem to add up.

House of Doom - Inner Sanctum

A grieving husband, devastated by his wife’s death, relocates to a secluded house in hopes of escape and healing. But the house itself harbors a dark secret: it's purpose-built to dispose of bodies—a hidden void beneath the floor designed for that grim task.

The Murder Ship - Inner Sanctum

A small group of men survive a wrecked ship and are rescued by the seemingly abandoned cargo vessel, the ominous “Murder Ship.”

Murder Takes a Honeymoon - Inner Sanctum

A newlywed couple settles into their dream country home, hoping for a peaceful honeymoon away from city life. But the tranquillity quickly turns eerie.

The Eyes of My Murderer - Inner Sanctum

A young woman, visiting her aunt’s remote countryside home, begins noticing sinister occurrences—from strange whispers to ominous footsteps—all centered  around the aunt’s mansion’s eye-like portraits.

Death Demon - Inner Sanctum

A young man, tormented by the murder of his father, returns home to discover that his stepparents are suspected of foul play. Driven by grief and suspicion, he turns to the occult, determined to conjure his father’s spirit and extract the truth about the killer.

The Magic Tile - Inner Sanctum

A young woman named Catherine receives an ancient Chinese artifact—the titular “Magic Tile”—rumoured to allow communication with the dead.

The Doomed - Inner Sanctum

A man awakens in a dimly lit room, struggling to recall how he got there. As his wits sharpen, he realizes one harrowing truth — his wife is dead, seated nearby but disturbingly lifeless.

Tempo in Blood - Inner Sanctum

A pianist who becomes deeply unnerved when he hears a single “wrong note” during his performance. This dissonant chord isn't just musical — it becomes the trigger for a descent into madness.

The Hidden Face - Victor Canning

A BBC radio adaptation “The Hidden Face” (aka Burden of Proof), originally aired on January 23, 1971, adapted from Victor Canning’s 1956 thriller.
Peter Barlow is convicted and imprisoned for the murder of James “Gurney” Hansford, despite his innocence. He had confronted Hansford over his attempts to blackmail Peter’s father, Barlow serves two years and is then sprung from Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight by an ally, Ross‑Piper, and his manservant Drew. Their goal: help him find the real killer.

Apache Peak - Tales of the Texas Rangers

The story begins in the remote region near Apache Peak, where a young geologist named Dave Sherman is found dead at the bottom of a ravine. Initially thought to be an accident, the case takes a turn when his colleague reports that Dave had been fearful in the days leading up to his death—and that he had recently discovered something valuable during a survey.

The White Elephant - Tales of the Texas Rangers

In a small Texas town where a local café owner named Charlie Parks is found murdered in his restaurant late at night. The only witness is a young dishwasher who stumbled onto the scene moments after the killer fled. The boy says he saw a man with a white elephant tattoo on his forearm—an unusual and distinctive mark.
Texas Ranger Jace Pearson is assigned to the case. He learns that Charlie was a quiet man with no known enemies, but that he had recently had a few late-night arguments with a man believed to be involved in illegal gambling.

Just a Number - Tales of the Texas Rangers

 An elderly man named Walter Vaughan is found shot to death in his general store. The only clues left behind are a dropped receipt book and the absence of the store’s cash register drawer. Texas Ranger Jace Pearson is called in to investigate.

Grenvilles Planet - sf68 (Michael Shaara)

Two members of the galactic survey ship Mapping Command, Wisha and Grenville, approach what appears to be a planet entirely covered by ocean, with the curious exception of a single small island.
On the island, they discover distinct and thriving animal life—plants and creatures that, by all scientific reasoning, should not exist given the planet’s harsh tidal conditions.
The explorers are puzzled: how could terrestrial life persevere when enormous tides, hundreds of feet high, would devastate any ecosystem repeatedly? They theorize there must be an underlying anomaly—perhaps the island is protected by an energy field, a concealed moon, or even intelligent intervention.

The New Wine - sf68 (John Christopher)

Harve and Helen, married scientists, part ways before Harve embarks on an eight-year interstellar mission; due to relativistic time dilation, what feels like eight years for him will amount to a century on Earth.
On returning in 2129, Harve is shocked to find Earth vastly transformed—desolate regions, depopulated areas, and societies changed beyond recognition.
He looks forward to reuniting with Helen but learns that her own work led to ground breaking—and unsettling—changes.
 

Routine Exercise - sf68 (Philip E. High)

Naval vessel Torus, a nuclear submarine, embarks on what’s billed as a routine training exercise. 
Mid-exercise, the crew notices bizarre sonar readings. Suddenly, an inexplicable time shift occurs—the submarine emerges in an ancient, prehistoric ocean. 
Crewmembers spot massive, unknown creatures—prehistoric monsters—lurking in the depths. The sub’s weapons systems even register an unknown UFO-like contact, raising alarm and confusion.

Watchbird - sf68 (Robert Sheckley)

Scientists unveil the Watchbird—autonomous drones equipped to detect and stop murders before they're committed by monitoring brain-wave patterns associated with imminent violence 
 These aluminium-finished flying machines patrol the skies, scanning for the faint “murder impulse” and intervening instantly to prevent lethal acts .

The Cage - sf68 (A. Bertram Chandler)

The crew of the spaceship Lode Star suffer a catastrophic engine failure, forcing them to crash-land on a remote, unvisited planet. 
Sometime later, an alien species appears and “rescues” them. To the humans’ shock, they're not taken to a shelter but placed in a glass-walled enclosure—a zoo-like cage—seemingly for observation. 
The humans desperately attempt to engage with their captors. They write signs, demonstrate tools, and try reasoning—but the aliens misinterpret everything, treating them as simple creatures rather than sentient being.

Quest - sf68 ( Poul Anderson)

In a future where all of nature is synthetic, Harry Johnson, a weary urbanite, grows curious about the idea of "real".
Harry leaves the sprawling automated city in his air-car, seeking genuine nature. Eventually, he stumbles upon a hidden green park—a vivid oasis filled with grass, birds, and fresh air, a stark contrast to his sterile surroundings
Harry marvels at the park’s life, he wonders who tends it. His discovery reveals it's maintained—and created—by an aging, solitary gardener assisted by robots.

Jenny with Wings - sf68 (Kate Wilhelm)

A young woman named Jenny, born with wings, struggles with her unique identity in a world that doesn’t understand her, raised under her protective father’s care, Jenny experiences both wonder and loneliness—curious about her abilities yet painfully aware of her separation from others.

The Will - sf68 ( Walter M. Miller Jr)

A terminally ill teenage boy, named Kenny, is facing the final months of his life due to an incurable illness. Despite his illness, he remains curious and hopeful—especially about time travel, determined to secure his legacy and perhaps a second chance, Kenny decides to fund research into a time machine. He enacts a clever plan: burying small caches of postal stamps and money in hidden spots, creating a sort of treasure trail meant to support future time-travel work.
Kenny’s father becomes concerned. He worries the scheme is either delusional or exploitative. The crisis brings father and son together in tense, heartfelt conversations about mortality, hope, and what it means to leave something behind. 
As Kenny's condition worsens, his resolve remains firm. He sees the stamps and money as his “will”—a tangible expression of his belief in human ingenuity and a way to impact the future even if he can't witness it.