Reach for the Sky (radio serial)

Last updated
Reach for the Sky
Reach for the Sky radio.png
ABC Weekly 2 Oct 1954
Genredrama serial
Running time30 mins [1] (9:00 pm – 9:30 pm)
Country of originAustralia
Language(s)English
Starring Rod Taylor
Created bybook Reach for the Sky by Paul Brickhill
Written by Morris West
Directed byGordon Grimsdale
Original releaseAugust 1954 –
1955
No. of series1
No. of episodes52 [2]

Reach for the Sky is a 1954 Australian radio serial based on the book of the same name by Australian author Paul Brickhill which was a biography of Douglas Bader. It was one of the most acclaimed Australian radio dramas of the 1950s, and a notable success for Rod Taylor who played Bader. [3] [4]

Contents

The novel had been a huge best seller, selling almost 100,000 copies in Australia alone. [5] [6]

The script was written by Morris West who had adapted other Brickhill books for radio such as The Dambusters and The Great Escape , both of which also starred Taylor. [7] [8] [9]

Reception

According to Gordon Grimsdale who directed in the scene where Bader "is informed of the loss of both his legs, a halt in production had to be called to allow several members of the cast to recover from the emotional stress of the scene." [10]

The Advocate wrote "Mr. West has excelled himself in this adaptation... would be a pity to miss such a presentation of so moving and gallant a story." [11]

The Adelaide Mail called it "excellent radio". [12]

The Daily Telegraph said Taylor gave "one of the most moving performances I have yet heard from any radio actor, either here or abroad." [13]

Cast

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References

  1. ↑ "Highlights Of The Week's Radio Programmes". Chronicle . Vol. 97, no. 5, 468. South Australia. 7 October 1954. p. 54. Retrieved 20 November 2023– via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "Bader story for DB". The Herald . No. 24, 161. Victoria, Australia. 3 November 1954. p. 8. Retrieved 20 November 2023– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "Award Winner In Bader Story". The Advertiser (Adelaide) . Vol. 97, no. 29, 934. South Australia. 22 September 1954. p. 17. Retrieved 20 November 2023– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "Personal Items", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., 75 (3893), Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald (published 1880), 22 September 1954, ISSN   0007-4039, nla.obj-535671889, retrieved 20 November 2023– via Trove
  5. ↑ "Bader story for DB". The Herald. No. 24, 161. Victoria, Australia. 3 November 1954. p. 8. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "THE BOOKS AUSTRALIANS READ", Hemisphere., 4 (2), North Sydney, N.S.W: Dept. of Education and Science, February 1960, ISSN   0018-0300, nla.obj-3135886198, retrieved 14 February 2024– via Trove
  7. ↑ "The Radar Story From 5AD". The Advertiser (Adelaide) . Vol. 97, no. 29, 916. South Australia. 1 September 1954. p. 19. Retrieved 20 November 2023– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Must All Radio Toughs Be Foreigners?". The Sun . No. 13984. New South Wales, Australia. 7 December 1954. p. 33 (Late Final Extra). Retrieved 20 November 2023– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ Philp, Peter (2016). Drama in Silent Rooms: A History of Radio Drama in Australia from 1920s to 1970s. Eureka. pp. 402–403.
  10. ↑ "Adults Show They Are Young at Heart". The Sun . No. 13, 882. New South Wales, Australia. 10 August 1954. p. 21 (Late Final Extra). Retrieved 20 November 2023– via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "Radio Film". Advocate . Vol. LXXXVII, no. 5182. Victoria, Australia. 18 November 1954. p. 18. Retrieved 20 November 2023– via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "Still reaching for the air". The Mail (Adelaide) . Vol. 44, no. 2, 204. South Australia. 4 September 1954. p. 77. Retrieved 20 November 2023– via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ "Around the Dial". The Daily Telegraph . Vol. XIX, no. 111. New South Wales, Australia. 29 July 1954. p. 8. Retrieved 20 November 2023– via National Library of Australia.
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