ABC Radio Workshop 1950.xx.xx Mars Is Heaven

Summary

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Harold's Old Time Radio — "ABC Radio Workshop: Mars Is Heaven"

Air Date: September 16, 2025
Podcast Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Story Adaptation: From Ray Bradbury’s "The Martian Chronicles"
Summary by Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

This episode features a classic science fiction story, Mars Is Heaven, adapted from Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles as performed by the ABC Radio Workshop in 1950. The episode chronicles the first Earth expedition to Mars, led by Captain John Blackmaster and Dr. Samuel Hingston, as their journey into the unknown becomes an eerie encounter with seemingly resurrected loved ones—and the realization that nothing on Mars is as it seems.

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Key Discussion Points and Plot Breakdown

Journey to Mars and the Mysterious Death ([00:19]–[07:13])

• Preparation & Anticipation:
  The crew, led by Captain Blackmaster, documents their impressions as they near Mars, reflecting anxiously on what awaits them.

  • "Will it consume us? Spew our dust out into space?" — Captain John Blackmaster ([02:19])

• Sudden Aging and Death:
  While in the observation turret, crewman Lt. Pete Lustig rapidly turns into an old man and dies of old age:

  • "Pete died of old age." — Dr. Samuel Hingston ([05:35])
  • A discussion ensues about space rays possibly accelerating the aging process.

• Urgency and Caution:
  Captain Blackmaster orders the observation turret sealed off, and the ship must rely solely on instruments.

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Landing on Mars and Uncanny Familiarity ([07:13]–[13:53])

• Ship’s Arrival & Repairs:
  After a perilous landing, Captain Blackmaster and Dr. Hingston venture onto the Martian surface, which curiously resembles a small American town from their childhoods.

  • "A Victorian house. Colored glass and scrolls, everything. I don't believe it." — Captain Blackmaster ([12:46])

• Disbelief and Wonder:
  The two men pass familiar sights—houses, lawns, even a player piano playing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart."

  • "This couldn't be heaven. I admit it looks peaceful and cool..." — Dr. Samuel Hingston ([13:43])

• Philosophical Exchange:
  They wonder if this is a quirk of parallel evolution, an alternate dimension, or a metaphysical revelation:

  • "Maybe this proves the existence of God... Fills me with terror and joy." — Captain Blackmaster ([13:55])

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Encounter with the Townspeople ([16:16]–[18:50])

• Attempting to Communicate:
  The inhabitants of the town seem baffled by the notion of Earth, insisting they're in Green Lake, Wisconsin—with the year and details matching Earth history.

  • "This is Green Lake, Wisconsin, on the continent of America... on a place called the World, or sometimes the Earth." — Woman at the Door ([17:35])

• An Eerie Reunion:
  Dr. Hingston is approached by his deceased grandmother, who warmly welcomes him.

  • "It's your grandma. Your old grandma... She died 30 years ago." — Dr. Hingston ([18:34])

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Seductive Comfort and Growing Suspicion ([18:57]–[24:42])

• Family Reunions:
  Both explorers are swept into domestic happiness, comforted by family members long dead.

  • "Ever since I died 30 years ago, Sam... here I am, alive again, and no questions asked." — Grandma Hingston ([19:28])
  • "Is Mars heaven?" — Dr. Samuel Hingston
    "Nonsense. No, it's just a place where we get a second chance." — Grandma Hingston ([20:11])

• Disobedience and Absorption:
  The entire crew abandons their posts to reunite with loved ones, seduced by the paradise-like town.

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The Dark Realization ([24:07]–[25:40])

• The Unnerving Theory:
  The comfort turns ominous as Captain Blackmaster considers if this is a clever Martian trap.

  • "Suppose the Martians saw our ship coming and... wanted to destroy us, but in a very clever way... They would use telepathy, hypnosis, memory, imagination." — Captain Blackmaster ([24:14])

• Danger Emerges:
  Blackmaster’s suspicion peaks, and he seeks his weapon, only to be confronted and stopped by "Phyllis," his apparent lover—which reveals the illusion’s lethal intent.

  • "You think too much, John." — Phyllis ([25:36])

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Tragic Conclusion ([25:40]–[28:57])

• Aftermath & Martian Victory:
  The next morning, Martians in the forms of the crew’s relatives hold a funeral for the Earthmen:

  • "From every house in the street came little solemn processions bearing long boxes... 15 holes in all, and 15 tombstones." ([25:40])
  • Faces of Martians shift, revealing their true nature as the town resumes life, having destroyed the invaders through deception.

• Credits:
  The adaptation is credited to Morton Fine and David Friedkin, with voice acting performed by Bill Hudson (Captain Black), Francis Urie (Dr. Hingston), and others.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Martian Deception:
  "Suppose this town in some other shape—a Martian shape—but by playing on my memory and my desires and my wants, they've made it what I wanted it to be."
  — Captain John Blackmaster ([24:53])

• On Grief and Reunion:
  "Grandmother… she's dead. She died 30 years ago. This is my grandmother."
  — Dr. Samuel Hingston ([18:34])

• On Existential Crisis:
  "Maybe this proves the existence of God... Fills me with terror and joy. I don't know whether to laugh or cry."
  — Captain Blackmaster ([13:55])

• On Lethal Comfort:
  "You think too much, John."
  — Phyllis ([25:36])

• Radio’s Chilling Closure:
  "During the night, earth was shoveled in on the coffin… everyone took the day off."
  — Narrator ([28:32])

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Segment Timestamps

• 00:19–05:03: Launch and journey to Mars; death of Lt. Lustig
• 07:13–13:53: Landing, exploration, and discovery of the Earth-like town
• 16:16–18:50: Interactions with townspeople; reunion with deceased grandmother
• 18:57–24:42: Joyous reuniting turns to growing unease
• 24:07–25:40: Captain Blackmaster’s realization and attempted escape
• 25:40–28:57: The true fate of the crew and the Martian funeral

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Final Thoughts

This radio drama delivers a masterful blend of nostalgia, uncanny dread, and psychological science fiction. Bradbury’s tale, as adapted by the ABC Radio Workshop, probes the thin boundary between yearning and illusion. The illusion of paradise becomes the ultimate weapon, leaving listeners with a haunting question: what memories might doom you, given the chance to relive them?

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Recommended For:
Fans of suspenseful radio drama, Bradbury’s fiction, and classic sci-fi that explores memory, desire, and deception in evocative old-time radio style.

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Transcript

[Sarah]

Hey, this is Sarah. Look, I'm standing out front of a.m. p.m. Right now and, well, you're sweet and all, but I found something more fulfilling.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Even kind of cheesy.

[Sarah]

But I like it. Sure, you met some of my dietary needs, but they've just got it all. So farewell, oatmeal. So long, you strange soggy.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Break up with bland breakfast and taste AM PM's bacon, egg and cheese biscuit made with K tree eggs, smoked bacon and melty cheese on a buttery biscuit. A.m. p.m. Too much. Good stuff. Log entry adventure. One hour out from Earth. Destination Mars. Past Kenley Heaviside layer without incident. Rate of speed, 450,000 miles per hour. With planet Mars at its closest point to Earth, 35 million miles. Calculate duration of voyage to be roughly three and a half days. Captain John Blackmaster, Log Entry Adventure. Twelve hours out from Earth. Ship navigated. Super tension, atmospheric forces. One shield generator broke down. Replaced by booster. Yeah. We have Boston reporting, sir. Oh, come in, Pete. The report on our trajectory, sir. Put it on my desk, Pete. Yes, sir. How do you feel? Just wonderful. Sitting up there in the observation turret. I don't know how to say it. With sights. I mean, the moon so close and the Earth looking like my Mars. Sir? Sir, do you really think we'll make it? Who is it? Dr. Hingston, Captain. May I come in? Oh, sure. Sam. You weren't asleep, were you, John? No. No, sir. No, I was just sitting here, thinking. Don't think about it. Too much. Sleep instead. You need all the sleep you can get. Who sleeps, who sleeps when? He has no way of knowing what's waiting for him. Look at it, Sam. Mars. How would you describe it? That glittering blob of red. That's good enough. Will it consume us? Spew our dust out into space? Or maybe it's the Elysian Fields, huh? It's all charm and sweetness and moonlight shining on the restless dead, eh? Which will it be, Sam? I don't know. All I know is they told me I was an expert in space medicine. Randolph Field. On a plot of ground. Coal, Texas. They told me that. That's all I know. Yep. Have a drink, Sam? Yeah, sure. That's enough. Joke. Wonder what they're drinking on Mars. Well, off to Morrows Round. You're supposed to be in the sack. What? Rounds. I'll tell you, Captain. You know, sometimes a man just can't sleep. Happens to me sometimes. So I just wander through the ship, check on the boys, see if they're tucked in. So that is what you're doing with me, huh, Sam? No, no, of course not. Yeah, yeah. Wait a minute. I'll go with you. Is it all right? Your they don't seem to have any trouble. Look at them. Now don't begrudged in their sleep, John. It should happen to you and me. What made them do it? What made them volunteer? Man keeps looking for something. There are no new frontiers, only new worlds. They had it all in the comic strips. Who's that? Who's that man? He's not one of the crew. Well, he has to be. Just this strange light. Wait. I'll check the card on his buck. Card says he Lieutenant Peter Lustig. I'll observe her, huh? Listen up, Pete. That's an old man. Wake him up. Wake up. You wake up. Come on, wake up. What's happened? Where is it? What do you want? Thank you. Dr. Hanks, the captain. Who are you? What are you doing aboard my ship? Sir, I don't understand. Who are you? An old man with the end of travel. John. Don't speak up. Ask me. I just want to be a joke, sir. You know me, sir. Lieutenant Peter Lester Girbs. What are you talking about? You don't believe me, Captain? I don't understand you. You almost.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Wait here.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Look. The identification bracelet on my wristlet. My hands. What's happened to my hands? They spotted twisted like an old man. Wait. Don't. Take your hands off me. Sam. What is this? Carry that mare. Give me my mirror. Him. Take that mare away from me. My face. My face. It. It's not mine. This face.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

It.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

It's not mine. What's happened to me? What's happened to something worth. For God's sake. Oh, Tom. We've been together for a long time. That man was Pete Lustig. From medical records, from careful physical examination, I know. All right. It was Pete Lustig. And how was Pete Lustig, Doctor? Pete Dead. Dead? What made him die? Very ordinary ailment. Pete died of old age. Who did the kid turn into an old man overnight and die? Can you explain that, doctor? Did they tell you all about it? A Randolph field, doctor. Not all of it. They told us there was danger in the X rays of the sun. They said there were theories that these rays had a deteriorating effect on the cells of humans. Simply, Doctor. Simply. So I can understand it too. The theory is that these rays produce a decaying process. They're the cause of our growing old. That's the theory. Then we've got proved it, haven't we, Doctor? I could won a surprise. Give me Observation to it. Pete was subjected to more of them at one time than man has ever experienced. Somehow. Somehow during his particular shift he was bombarded with them. Pete aged a normal lifespan 70, 80 years. Well, it's not gonna happen to anyone else. The observation turret will be sealed off as of right now. John, wait. You can't do that. You know we need observation. Without it we're blind in scratch.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Haste me.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Captain the crew. Captain the crew. Your attention. No one is to enter observation turret. Machinist made rivers will well the door. That is all. Log entry to venture, 52 hours out from Earth. Ship being navigated entirely on instruments. Crew operating on emergency basis. Captain John Blackmaster. Log entry the Venture 78 hours out from Earth. Seven men in sick bay. Unable to diagnose illness. Low fever and lassitude. Approaching gravitational field of Mars. Atmospheric conditions similar to Earth. Calculate landing at approximately 1. Condition B exists at Station 12. Condition B exists at Station 12. All men to go to nearest safety lock. Condition B exists at Station 12. Condition B exists at Station 12. All right, Wesley. What happened? Something struck the hell. Door is open between bulkhead 12 and 13. Pletcher going down pretty fast, sir. Who's up there? Lieutenant Samuels and James Burton, sir. Well, what are you waiting for? Close it off. Close the emergency door. The lieutenant, sir. And Burton already close it. Yes, sir. Now give me your microphone, Westwood. Yes, sir. Captain the crew. Captain the crew. Your attention. Condition B replaced by condition and all clear. Return to your stations. Prepare to land. Ready. John, how are the men in sick base here? Oh, happy they're all right. John, you ready? Yeah. First one thing. Captain, the crew. Captain the crew. Your attention. We have landed on Mars. Chemical analysis shows the air to be breathable and gravity is comparable without a verse. Now hear this. No man is to leave this ship under penalty of courts martial. Dr. Hingson and I will make a brief reconnaissance. Crew will proceed with repair of ships hull. As you know, our ship is armed against any possible aggression. I. I can't impress it upon you too strongly. No man will leave this ship until Dr. Hingston and I ascertain that we are not in a hostile world. That is all. Let's go, Sam. You first, Captain. It's your honor. You the first man from Earth to walk on Mars. John, look over there. A house. A Victorian house. Colored glass and scrolls, everything. I don't believe it. Come on. Look at these two iron deer on this lawn. He had a pair of these when I was a kid. Hey, do you hear that? That piano from that House. Sam, this isn't Mars. It can't be. It just can't be. It can't be, John. But it is. What did I say, Sam? Somewhere back there in space that Mars was the Elysian Field, all sweetness and charity. No, Johnny, it isn't that. It's what you see. A world like ours on Earth. And this small town with good air in it. Small town? Like the one I was born in. Even the twilight, the same. Same smell of flowers, same sound. You think that the civilizations of two planets can progress at the same rate, develop in the same way I do now? Well, I don't. Look at that house. A Victorian house on Mars. Well, you expect me to believe that a house with lace curtain windows, with port swings, with something that sounds like a player piano and probably is playing? Let me call you sweetheart. You believe all that? I believe it. I admit it's strange, but I believe it. Strange? Nuts. It's impossible. We're going back. Wait. Shall we, Johnny? Couldn't be. Yeah. Couldn't be that there are similarities. Patterns of thought, movement, civilization on every planet in our system? Maybe. Maybe we're on the threshold of the great psychological and metaphysical discovery of our time. Maybe. Go on, Sam. Maybe this proves the existence of God. You know, not everyone needs proof. I don't need to. But how else can you explain all this? John? Fills me with terror and joy. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. When were you born, Sam? In 1901. Well, that makes you 52 years old now. This couldn't be heaven. I admit it looks peaceful and cool and pretty much like Council Blush. When I was born, it was a good, quiet place. Council Bluff, silent. See, I remember. Did you see that, Sam? Did you hear? Was there a horse and carriage going down the street? Suppose, just suppose that by accident, in space, in time or something, we landed on a planet in space in another time. Suppose this is earth 30 or 50 years ago. Maybe we got lost in the dimensions. What do you think, Sam? I think I prefer it my way. Or maybe someone else has been here before us years ago, built a rocket ship and came here. You know that. That could have been done in secret years ago, John. That would explain all this. This architecture, those maple trees lining the road, that church, people. Maybe they hated the world as they knew it on Earth and tried to.

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[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

A new one here on Mars. Sam, you haven't heard a word. Oh, much like my hometown. That house, that room up there with a beaded lamp near the window. When I was a kid, I used to sleep and do my lessons in a room just like that. I. I'd lie there in the night and I'd be awake. And I could hear the freight trains across the river.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

John, do you hear that?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Yeah, I hear it. Let's go. Where? We're going up to that house and ask questions. Where else? Come on.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Yes? Can I help you?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

I beg your pardon, but we want to let it.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

If you're selling something. I'm much too busy and I haven't time. We're all at.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Oh, wait, wait, wait. Don't go away. What town is this?

[Captain John Blackmaster]

What do you mean, what town is this? How could you be in a town and not know what town it was?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

I beg your pardon, but we're strangers here. We're. We're from Earth and we want to know how this town got here. How you got here?

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Well, you sent the sake.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

No, no, we.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

What do you want?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

How long has this town been here?

[Captain John Blackmaster]

It was built in 1868. Is this a game?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

No, no, it's not a game. Look, Try to understand. Where from? Earth.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

From where?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

From Earth.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Where's that?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

The Earth.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

The do you mean.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

No, no, no.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Out of the ground.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

The planet Earth. Come out on the porch, please, and I'll show you.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

No, I won't come out there. They're evidently quite mad for from the sun.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Let me try, John. Lady, we came in a flying ship across space, among the stars. We came from the third planet from the sun, Earth, to this planet, which is Mars. Now do you understand?

[Captain John Blackmaster]

You are mad from the sun. Go away now. Go away before I call my husband from his supper. He'll beat you up, that's what he'll do.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

But this is Mars, isn't it?

[Captain John Blackmaster]

This is Green Lake, Wisconsin, on the continent of America, surrounded by the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. On a place called the World, or sometimes the Earth. Go away now. Go away.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Let's take a walk, Sam. Yeah. Sam. Yeah? There's something going on here. Something we don't understand. I want you to go back to the ship. If anything out of the way happens, lift the ship and get out. That's an order, Sam. All right, if it's an order, tell him. Look. Look at that woman walking towards us, Sam. What about her? What was.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Sam. Oh, Sam, you look fine. So grown up. Well, Sam, don't you know me? It's your grandma. Your old grandma. Grandmother. What's wrong, sir? And who is this, a friend of yours?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

This is Captain John Black. John. This is my grandmother. Grandmother, so help me. So help me. John. This is my grandmother. She's dead. She died 30 years ago. This is my grandmother.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

There's no sense standing here on the street. You just come on home. We've so much to talk about.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

You too, Captain.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Any friend of my grandson's is mine, too. Don't stand there with your mouths open. Come on. Sam has some more iced tea. Would you like some more tea, Captain?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Yes, thank you, I would.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Well, here's to our help.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

How long have you been here, Grandmother?

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Ever since I died. Now, don't look like that. I said ever since I died 30 years ago, Sam. Who were we to question what happened? What's living, anyway? All I know is here I am, alive again, and no questions asked. You can't here be my arm, Grant. Solid, isn't it?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

No.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

You hear my voice, don't you? You hear it, don't you, Captain?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Yes. Yes, I hear it, Grandmother.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Well, then why go around questioning it?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Just that we never. Well, I never thought I'd see you again, Grandmother. Mrs. Hingston. Yes.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

The more I See, Captain?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

No, no. I just want to ask you a question, Mrs. Hingston. Yes? Is Mars heaven?

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Nonsense. No, it's just a place where we get a second chance. Like another Earth. How do we know there wasn't one before Earth?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

That's a good question, John. Well. Well, maybe we better get back to ship, Sam. Good night, Mrs. Hingston. Thanks for the tea.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Oh, you'll be back? Of course. For supper, I mean. We're having.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

I beg your pardon, Miss Sink. Come here. Hey, what do you know? John? A prize with the best ban on everything. My crew. My crew. Look at them. But they're heroes to these people. They're being made welcome. The abandoned ship. They had orders. Our court martial, every one of them. John, listen to me. They found old relatives and friends. They had their orders. What? But you obeyed orders. I would have missed. Tama. Tama. I. I don't believe it. It's impossible.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

John. They said I would find you here.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Delicious.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Of course, darling.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Phyllis.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Of course. Who did you think it was?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

This is Phyllis, Sam.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

We're waiting for you. Me, your mother and father.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

They're here waiting for you at your.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Old house on Oak Knoll Avenue.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

You heard that, didn't you, Sam? It's Phyllis. It's Phyllis talking. And she said mother and dad and the orphan. You understand now? I mean the crew. The same thing that's happened to them. Yeah. No. No. This is all a dream. When I open my eyes, it'll all be gone. Phyllis will be gone.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Open him, John.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Oh, Phyllis. Phyllis.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Oh, my darling.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

It's good to see you children dancing together again. Your mother would have enjoyed it so much, John. I must have worn her out with all my questions, dad. Don't worry about it, son. She'll get a good rest tonight, then the morning, the days after. We have so much time. Now we'll all be together again. Yes. Yes.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Don't go away from me, John. Hold me closer. Oh, I've dreamed so long of dancing with you, Phyllis.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

No.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

No more questions. Just accepted that your mother and father were once dead. That I was killed 10 years ago in a horrible accident. And now I'm alive and in your arms. Tight, John. Only tight.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Well, think I'll run along to bed now. You little children won't forget to turn out the light. Good night, fellas.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Good night, dad.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Good night, dad. Good night. Good night. Good night, dad.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Shall we go out on that porch, John, like we used to? Come with me, John. Here, let's sit here on this step. Remember that gray barber you built It. I remember you hurt your hand and I cried. And you're very silent. John. Is there anything wrong, Phyllis?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

I just had a crazy notion.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

What, darling?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Suppose this were Mars.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

But it is.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Or humor me for it. Suppose it were Mars indeed. And the Martians saw our ship coming and saw us inside our ship and hated it. And they wanted to destroy us, but in a very clever way.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Yes.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Well, what would be the best weapon a Martian could use against us? With our atomic bombs, our hydrogen. Let me finish. The answer is interesting. The Martians would use telepathy, hypnosis, memory, imagination.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

John, don't question us anymore.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Suppose this town in some other shape. A Martian shape. But by playing on my memory and my desires and my wants, they've made it what I wanted it to be.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Go on, John.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

I suppose my mother and father weren't that at all. But two Martians, incredibly brilliant. Keeping me under this dreaming hypnosis, as other Martians have done to my men, to Sam.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

You've had your arms around me. You've kissed me. We shared old secrets. Was that a Martian hypnosis, John?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Phyllis.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

Yes, what is it, John?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

I'm going inside. I'm thirsty. I want to get a drink of water.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

You're not thirsty? Stay here with me.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

I'm going inside.

[Captain John Blackmaster]

You're not thirsty, John?

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Phyllis, my gun. Where did you put down that gun? Phyllis?

[Captain John Blackmaster]

You think too much, John.

[Dr. Samuel Hingston]

Oh, no, no, not Phil. That was right. You're. In the morning, the brass band played a mournful dirge. From every house in the street came little solemn processions bearing long bucks. And along the sun filled street, weeping and changing, came the Martian grandmas and grandfathers and mothers and sisters and brothers. Walking to the churchyard where there were open holes dug freshly and new tombstones installed. 15 holes in all, and 15 tombstones. Two of the tombstones said Captain John Black and Samuel Hingston. The mayor made a little sad speech, his face sometimes looking like the mayor's, sometimes looking like something else. Mother and Father Black were there too, and Philip. And they cried, their faces melting now from a familiar face into something else. Grandma Hingston was there, weeping, her face also shifting like wax, shivering as a thing does in waves of heat on a summer day. The coffins were lowered. Somebody murmured about a job well done and the sudden death of 15 fine men. During the night, earth was shoveled in on the coffin. After the funeral, the brass band plays slammed and banged. And they all marched back into town. And everyone took the day off. The ABC Radio Workshop has presented Mars Is Heaven, a story from the science fiction classic the Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. The radio adaptation was made by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. Starring in the role of Captain Black was Bill Hudson, with Francis Urie as Dr. Hingston. Other members of the cast included Monty Himmelbaum as Lt. Lustig, Mary Dean Moss as the woman at the door, Marion Richmond as Grandma Hingston, Joellen Chambers as Phyllis, Kurt Converse as Father Black and Roy Schumann as Westfall. Tape editors were Franklin Brazee and Vern Green. Broadcast engineer Hank Newman. Your announcer is Dick Westfall.

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