The Impossible Planet (short story)

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"The Impossible Planet" was originally published in the October 1953 issue of Imagination. Imagination 195310.jpg
"The Impossible Planet" was originally published in the October 1953 issue of Imagination .

"The Impossible Planet" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in the October 1953 issue of Imagination . It has been reprinted over 30 times, including Brian Aldiss's 1974 Space Odysseys anthology. [1] It was also published in Dutch, French, German and Italian translations. [2] The writer originally submitted it to the Scott Meredith Literary Agency on February 11, 1953, with the title "Legend." [1]

Contents

Plot

A 350-year-old woman asks the captain of an interplanetary ship to take her to Earth. As Earth is believed to be a myth, the captain finds a record of a planet that is not called "Earth" but has one moon, and is in a star system of nine planets. [3] The four main characters take the journey to this inhospitable destination: the captain, his more ethical crew member, the old woman, and the woman's robotic servant. [4]

Adaptation

The story was adapted and directed by David Farr as an episode of the Channel 4/Amazon Video anthology series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams . [5] The script is somewhat faithful to Dick's original story, but with the addition of a romantic sub-story, and with a more ambiguous ending. [6]

Plot

Space tourism guide Brian Norton routinely augments the experiences of tourists with lighting tricks. While not conning the customers, he seeks a promotion and transfer to the tourism agency's corporate offices to please his upwardly-mobile girlfriend, Barbara. [7] Norton and cynical space tourism agency branch manager Ed Andrews are approached by a 342-year-old woman, Irma Louise Gordon. Facing death from a heart condition and nearly completely deaf, [8] Irma offers them each five times their annual salary to take her on a trip to Earth. [9] As they are not sure the planet still exists, having been evacuated centuries before due to solar flares, they head for a similar planet. Irma's protective robot servant, RB29, deduces and maintains the subterfuge. Irma has a very specific dream about her grandparents swimming in a river in Carolina, and wants to re-enact this with Norton, who closely resembles her grandfather. [3]

Cast

References

  1. 1 2 Hyde, David (2007). Pink Beam: A Philip K. Dick Companion. Lulu.com. p. 35. ISBN   9781430324379.
  2. ↑ "Title: The Impossible Planet". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Robertson, Adi (January 16, 2018). "How Electric Dreams updates Philip K. Dick's Cold War stories". The Verge. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  4. ↑ "The Impossible Planet". www.philipkdickfans.com. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  5. ↑ Lodderhouse, Diana (April 7, 2017). "Jack Reynor & Benedict Wong To Star In 'Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams' 'Impossible Planet' Episode". Deadline Hollywood .
  6. ↑ Joy, Nick (September 25, 2017). "Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams: Review: Series 1 Episode 2: Impossible Planet". Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy & Horror!. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Griffiths, Eleanor Bley (September 22, 2017). "Meet the cast of Electric Dreams: The Impossible Planet". Radio Times. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  8. ↑ Steele, Heather (September 26, 2017). "Philip K Dick's 'Electric Dreams' Anthology Episode 2 Review — "The Impossible Planet"". Medium. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  9. ↑ Franich, Darren (January 12, 2018). "Benedict Wong is the best thing about 'Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams': EW review". EW.com. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
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