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Dimension X - "There Will Come Soft Rains - Zero Hour" (1950) · Old Time Sci-Fi Radio | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: An automated house keeps to its schedule, though no one
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: is there to hear the clock speak or breakfast appear. Then,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: in a quiet future neighborhood, children gather around a game
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: with rules their parents do not understand. From NBC's Dimension X,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: this is episode 11, broadcast June 17, 1950, Ray Bradbury's
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: There Will Come Soft Rains and Zero Hour, adapted for
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: radio by George Lefferts. Norman Rose narrates the first story.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Denise Alexander, Rita Lynn, and Roger DeKoven are heard in
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: the second. Two visions of 1985 presented in one half hour.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: We now take you back to the original broadcast.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Adventures in time and space. Told in future tense. Dimension X.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Can you predict the future? Can you tell what will
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: come in 100 years? Or in 10? Or in the
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: next minute? Tonight we present two ventures into the unknown.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Two fantasies of a future chosen from the works of
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: one of our most brilliant young science fiction writers, Ray Bradbury.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: First his story entitled, There Will Come Soft Rains. The
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: house was a good house, planned and built to be
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: lived in in the year 1980. The real estate agent
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: had told them all about it.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: Now, this is the bedroom.
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: Of course, it contains all the latest devices, self-warming blankets,
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: and there's a brand new feature, beds which make themselves. Now,
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: if you'll just step this way through the library, we
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: can see the latest in talking book recorders, self-building fireplace,
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: self-cleaning robot dust disposal.
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: Oh, these little mouse-like.
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: Things come out of the wall and take away all
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: the good.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Now, over this way, there's.
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: A complete robot kitchen, of course.
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: Just set the menu for the week and the stove
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: does the rest. Then there's the automatic hydroponic garden. Self-sprinkling
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: fire protection. See, the house is fully automatic. Why, you
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: could go away for a year and it would run itself.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: And so the family took the house, the man and
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: the woman and the two children, a boy and a girl.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: And they lived contentedly, enjoying music and poetry and the rich,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: warm things in life. And the house fed them and
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: slept them and entertained them. It made a good life
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: for them. Until one day... There were 10,000 explosions, and
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: the world shook, and red fire and ashes and radioactivity
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: fell from the sky. The happy time was over.
• 3:40
  Speaker 6: Tick-tock, seven o'clock.
• 3:43
  Speaker 5: Time to rise.
• 3:45
  Speaker 6: Open your eyes.
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: Tick-tock, seven o'clock. Time to rise.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Open your eyes.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: But the house lay empty. The clock talked to the
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: empty morning. In the kitchen, the stove sighed and ejected
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: from its warm interior eight eggs, sunny side up, twelve
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: bacon slices, two coffees, and two cups of hot cocoa.
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: Seven-nine, breakfast time.
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: Come and dine.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Seven-nine.
• 4:16
  Speaker 6: Today is April 28th, 1985. Today, remember, is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Insurance, gas,
• 4:25
  Speaker 6: atom heat, and electricity bills are due.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: In the walls, relays clicked. Memory tapes glided under electric eyes.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Recorded voices moved beneath steel needles.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Eight, one, run, run, off.
• 4:40
  Speaker 7: To school, off to work, run, run, tick, tock.
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: Eight o'clock, eight o'clock.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: But no door slammed. No carpet took the quick tread
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: of rubber heels. At 8.30, the eggs began to shrivel.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: An aluminum wedge scraped them into the sink.
• 5:00
  Speaker 6: 9.15, time to clean.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: 9.15, time to clean. Out of the wall, hundreds of
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: tiny mechanical mice started. The rooms were a crawl with small,
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: cleaning animals, all rubber and metal. They sucked up the
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: hidden dust and dirt and popped back into their burrows.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: At 10 o'clock, the sun came out from behind the reins.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: The house stood alone on a street where all the
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: other houses were rubble and ashes. At night, the ruined
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: town gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: for miles. At 10.15, the garden sprinkler filled the soft
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: morning air with golden fountains. The water tinkled over the
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: charred west side of the house, the side which had
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: been facing the blast. It was black, except in five places.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: One of the five places was a silhouette of a
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: man mowing a lawn. Just as he'd been, the instant
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: the radioactivity burned his image into the side of the house.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Over there, a woman bent to pick flowers. Still further over,
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: their images burned into the wood, where a small boy,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: hands flung into the air, higher up the image of
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: a thrown ball, and opposite, a girl, her hands raised
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: to catch a ball, which never came down. Five people.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Five spots of paint. On the front porch, the dog
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: whined and shivered. The front door recognized the dog's voice
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: and opened. The dog padded in wearily, thin to the bone,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: covered with sores. It ran to the kitchen and pawed
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: the kitchen door wildly. Behind the door, the stove was
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: making pancakes, which filled the house with their odor, as
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: prescribed by the automatic preset menu selector. The dog frogged,
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: ran insanely, spun in a circle, biting its tail, and died.
• 7:10
  Speaker 8: One o'clock, one o'clock.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Delicately sensing decay, the regiments of mice hummed out of
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: the walls, soft as blown leaves, their electric eyes glowing.
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: One-fifteen. The dog was gone.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Bridge tables unfolded from the walls of the patio. Playing
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: cards fluttered onto pads. Martinis appeared on an oaken bench.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: But the tables were silent, the cards untouched.
• 7:45
  Speaker 7: Five o'clock, six o'clock, seven o'clock, eight.
• 7:50
  Speaker 8: O'clock, nine o'clock.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Dinner was made, ignored, flushed away.
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: Dishes were washed.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: In the study, the tobacco stand produced a cigar with
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: half an inch of gray ash upon it, smoking, waiting, waiting.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: The hearth fire bloomed out of nothing. The beds began
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: to warm their hidden circuits, and the phonograph spoke from
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: beside the fireplace.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Mrs.
• 8:15
  Speaker 6: McClelland, what poem would you like to hear this evening?
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: Mr. McClelland?
• 8:23
  Speaker 6: Since you express no preference, I shall select at random
• 8:27
  Speaker 6: from among your favorites. Sarah Teasdale, There Will Come Soft Rains.
• 8:36
  Speaker 8: There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground.
• 8:40
  Speaker 8: and swallows circling with their shimmering sound, and frogs in
• 8:44
  Speaker 8: the pools singing at night, and wild plum trees in
• 8:48
  Speaker 8: tremulous white. Robins will wear their feathery fire, whistling their
• 8:53
  Speaker 8: whims on a low fence wire, and not one will
• 8:57
  Speaker 8: know of war. Not one will care at last when
• 9:00
  Speaker 8: it is done. Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
• 9:06
  Speaker 8: if mankind perished utterly. And spring herself, when she woke
• 9:13
  Speaker 8: at dawn, would scarcely know that we were gone.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: The phonograph finished the poem. The empty chairs faced each
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: other between the silent walls. At ten o'clock that evening,
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: the house began to die. The wind blew the bow
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: of a falling tree into the kitchen window, smashing it.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: A bottle of cleaning fluid crashed on the stove. Water
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: pump shot down from the ceiling. But the solvent spread
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: under the doors, making fire as it went. Other voices
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: in other.
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: Rooms taking up the alarm.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Help!
• 9:58
  Speaker 7: Help!
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: Help!
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Help!
• 9:59
  Speaker 6: Help!
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: The windows broke with the heat and the wind blew
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: in to help the fire. The fire crackled upstairs at paintings,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: lay hungrily on the beds, devoured the rooms. The house
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: began to shudder. The bared skeleton began to cringe in
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: the heat. The wires revealed as if a surgeon had
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: torn the skin off. Voices screamed in every room.
• 10:19
  Speaker 9: Help!
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Windows snapped open and shut like undecided mouths. I'm tired.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: A thousand things were happening at once, like the interior
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: of a clock shop at midnight. All the clocks were striking,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: making a merry-go-round of squeaking, whispering, and rushing. In the kitchen,
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: the stove hissing hysterically was making breakfasts at a psychopathic rate.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Ten dozen pancakes, six dozen loaves of toast. Then, there
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: was silence. The film spools were burned out. The wires
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: withered and the circuits cracked. Then the house began to
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: breathe its last. The beams began to give at the foundations.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Long cracks appeared in the concrete. The seams were burst
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: from the heat. And finally, with a huge rumble, it
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: crashed into dust and rubble.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: The End.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Dawn shone faintly in the east. In the ruins of
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: the house, only one wall remained standing. And within the wall,
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: even as the sun rose to shine upon the burning rubble,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: a voice spoke again and again and again.
• 11:54
  Speaker 8: No one would mind, neither bird nor tree. if mankind
• 11:59
  Speaker 8: perished utterly, and spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
• 12:04
  Speaker 8: would scarcely know that we were gone. That we were gone.
• 12:10
  Speaker 8: That we were gone.
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: That we were gone.
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: Today is April.
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: 29, 1985.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Strange are the uses of providence. Is this how the
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: end will come for mankind, with ten thousand explosions and
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: a flash of radioactive gas? Or will destruction come more subtly,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: extended to us gently and innocently in, oh, let's say,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: the hand of a child? Who knows in what manner
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: zero hour may arrest the world we know? It was
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: a perfect summer day in the year 1985. The streets
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: were lined with green, peaceful trees. Businessmen sat in their
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: quiet offices, taping their voices or watching televisors. Rockets hovered
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: like darning needles in the blue sky. There was the
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: universal quiet conceit and easiness of men accustomed to peace,
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: quite certain that there would never be war or trouble again.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: There were no traitors among men, no unhappy ones, no
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: disgruntled ones. The world was upon stable ground. Sunlight illumined
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: the suburbs, and the town drowsed on a tide of
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: warm sunlit air. On the lawns the children played, catapulting
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: this way and that across the green grass, shouting at
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: each other, holding hands, flying in circles, climbing trees and laughing.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: And in the homes, busy mothers prepared for the evening
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: arrival of their husbands.
• 14:07
  Speaker 9: Excuse me, Mom.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Good heavens, Mink, what's all the excitement?
• 14:10
  Speaker 9: We're playing a game, Mommy, the most exciting game ever.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: What are you doing in that cabinet?
• 14:15
  Speaker 9: I need some tools from Daddy's kit.
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: Your father may not like it.
• 14:18
  Speaker 9: Oh, I'll take good care of them, Mom, I promise.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: Very well. Don't you lose anything.
• 14:22
  Speaker 9: Oh, thank you, Mom.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: You want a glass of milk?
• 14:24
  Speaker 9: Can't stop now, Mom.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: What's the name of the game, Mink?
• 14:27
  Speaker 7: Invasion.
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: Invasion. What will they think of next?
• 14:35
  Speaker 10: Now this and this and this and this.
• 14:49
  Speaker 9: Now put that there and bring that over here. Oh, no,
• 14:53
  Speaker 9: you ninny. Now get back while I fix this. Yeah,
• 14:57
  Speaker 9: they want it this way, see?
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: Here, just let me fix.
• 15:00
  Speaker 9: Hey, Mink.
• 15:01
  Speaker 11: Oh, Mink, it's that smarty-pants Joseph Connors. Don't let him play.
• 15:05
  Speaker 9: He's 12 years old. Don't worry, I won't. What you playing, Mink?
• 15:09
  Speaker 9: None of your business, smarty-pants.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: I want to play.
• 15:11
  Speaker 9: Can't.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: Why not?
• 15:13
  Speaker 9: You're too old. Just because you're only eight. No, you'd
• 15:16
  Speaker 9: only laugh at us and spoil the invasion. Make him
• 15:18
  Speaker 9: go away, Mink.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: Go away?
• 15:20
  Speaker 9: This is my backyard.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: Who wants to play with you and your old fairies anyway?
• 15:25
  Speaker 9: They aren't fairies. And next to you. I don't want
• 15:29
  Speaker 9: to play anyone.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: Good riddance.
• 15:32
  Speaker 9: I'm glad you didn't let.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: Him play, Mink.
• 15:34
  Speaker 11: He'd only laugh. Now, we'd better talk to Drill and
• 15:37
  Speaker 11: get some more instructions, Art. Now, here's your pad and pencil.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: Where is Drill? Drill?
• 15:43
  Speaker 9: Hey, Drill.
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: Drill? Well, he's in the.
• 15:46
  Speaker 9: Rosebush, I think. I'll talk to him myself and you
• 15:48
  Speaker 9: write it down in the pad.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: Drill? Drill?
• 15:51
  Speaker 5: Drill?
• 15:55
  Speaker 9: Okay. Drill wants you to write down triangle. What's a triangle?
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: Never mind.
• 16:00
  Speaker 11: Drill will tell us when he wants us to know.
• 16:03
  Speaker 11: It helps the invasion. How do you spell it?
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: Hmm.
• 16:07
  Speaker 9: Well, that's Drill. Drill, how do you think that... Here's
• 16:09
  Speaker 9: your mother, looking out the window. Mink? Yes, Mother?
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: Who are you talking to?
• 16:14
  Speaker 9: The rosebush, Mom. Only it's not really a rosebush. That's Drill.
• 16:18
  Speaker 9: Who's Drill? He's planning the invasion.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: Oh, I see.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: Well, you better come in and clean up for supper.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: Your daddy will be home soon.
• 16:25
  Speaker 9: In just a second, Mom. You got that, Art? Let's
• 16:28
  Speaker 9: see now. Four, nine, seven, and A, and B, and X...
• 16:35
  Speaker 9: and a fork, and.
• 16:37
  Speaker 11: Some string, and a hexagonal droopy.
• 16:42
  Speaker 9: Come on, Mink. Supper's in ten minutes.
• 16:45
  Speaker 7: Okay, Mom. Just a minute.
• 16:47
  Speaker 9: I have to tell Drill. I wish we didn't have
• 16:50
  Speaker 9: to eat.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: Go.
• 16:51
  Speaker 9: It holds up the invasion.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: Okay. Mink, for heaven's sake, slow down. You'll choke on
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: that soup.
• 17:09
  Speaker 9: I can't. It's a matter of life and death.
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: What's a matter of life and death?
• 17:13
  Speaker 9: The invasion.
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: What invasion is that?
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: Just some silly game the children have been playing.
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: Well, whatever it is, Mink, it'll wait until you've finished
• 17:21
  Speaker 5: your supper, I'm sure.
• 17:22
  Speaker 9: I don't want any more.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: You've barely touched anything.
• 17:25
  Speaker 9: Oh, but Drill is waiting for me, Daddy.
• 17:27
  Speaker 5: Drill? Whose drill?
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: He lives in a rose bush in our backyard. Imagination, Henry.
• 17:34
  Speaker 5: Such nonsense.
• 17:35
  Speaker 9: I've got to run now.
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: You'll sit through dessert, young lady.
• 17:38
  Speaker 9: Oh, gee, Daddy.
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: And while you're at it, tell me more about this
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: new game.
• 17:43
  Speaker 9: It's Martians invading Earth, Daddy. What? Well, we're not exactly Martians, Daddy.
• 17:49
  Speaker 9: They're from... Well, gee, I don't know, from.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: And from inside that little head of yours.
• 17:55
  Speaker 9: You're laughing at me. Drill said you would. You'll kill
• 17:58
  Speaker 9: Drill and... and everybody.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: Well, I didn't know you could kill a Martian.
• 18:04
  Speaker 9: But it's not really a Martian, Mom. Maybe it's from
• 18:07
  Speaker 9: Jupiter or Venus, even.
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: Imagine.
• 18:11
  Speaker 9: They couldn't figure out a way to attack the Earth.
• 18:13
  Speaker 9: We are impregnable.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: Impregnable, dear.
• 18:17
  Speaker 9: Well, that's the word Drill said.
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: Impreg.
• 18:19
  Speaker 9: Well, anyway, that was the word, Mom, the same word. Anyway,
• 18:22
  Speaker 9: so we're helping them.
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: Who's helping who?
• 18:24
  Speaker 9: Well, the kids are helping the Martians.
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: Oh, a fifth column, eh?
• 18:28
  Speaker 11: Well, Drill says in order to make a good fight,
• 18:30
  Speaker 11: you've got to have a new way of surprising the people.
• 18:32
  Speaker 9: That way you win. And he says also you've got
• 18:35
  Speaker 9: to have help from your enemy.
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: Pretty slick, those Martians, using the kids for a fifth column, eh, Mary?
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: And hiding under rose bushes, too, Henry. Don't forget that.
• 18:43
  Speaker 9: Well, that's because grown-ups never look under rose bushes.
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: Only kids. Oh, I see. Well, finish your fruit, darling.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: You can play for an hour afterward.
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: Mary.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Oh, it's so nice out, Henry, and there's no school tomorrow.
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: Very well. Till 8 o'clock.
• 18:58
  Speaker 11: Trill says after the invasion we can stamp this latest run.
• 19:02
  Speaker 9: No more bats, either.
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: Oh, is that so?
• 19:05
  Speaker 9: We can watch all the grown-up televisor shows.
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: I don't wonder this invasion has caught on among the kids.
• 19:09
  Speaker 11: Well, some of the kids are giving us trouble, like
• 19:12
  Speaker 11: Dale Brits and Petey Jarek. They're growing up, so they
• 19:15
  Speaker 11: won't believe in the invasion. They make fun.
• 19:18
  Speaker 9: Worse than parents, even. I hate them worst. We'll kill
• 19:22
  Speaker 9: them first.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: I hope you're saving your father and me for last.
• 19:26
  Speaker 9: But Drill says you're dangerous.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: What?
• 19:28
  Speaker 11: But I think they'll let me keep you because I'm
• 19:31
  Speaker 11: helping so much. I'll talk to Drill. Maybe we won't
• 19:34
  Speaker 11: have to kill you.
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: Mary, I think this nonsense has gone far enough.
• 19:37
  Speaker 9: Can I go out now, please?
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: Run along, dear.
• 19:44
  Speaker 9: Don't worry, Dad. I won't let them hurt you.
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: Mary, I think the child's taking this game and too seriously. Invasion.
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: Now, Henry, you know how Mink is. Besides, all children
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: have their aggressions. Better to get them out in the open,
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: I suppose.
• 19:59
  Speaker 5: Maybe you're right. Um, I was wondering about Bridge with
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: the Jacksons tonight, Mary.
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 20:06
  Speaker 7: Do.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: You look tired, dear. Why don't you sit in the
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: relaxer for a while and get a massage? I'll sew
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: for a while until it's time to... Oh, I wanted
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: to call my sister Helen.
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: Oh, good. Find out when her husband's going to return
• 20:19
  Speaker 5: my golf clubs.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Televisor.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: Would you please connect me with Mrs. Helen Rogerson on
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: channel 7, 2Z, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: What is your channel, please?
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: 817X, New Rochelle, New York.
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: Just a moment.
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: Go ahead. You can see your party now. Hello, Mary.
• 20:53
  Speaker 8: How are things in New York?
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: Fine, Helen. How are things in Pittsburgh? You look tired.
• 20:59
  Speaker 12: Oh, I've been having a terrible time with the children.
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: See?
• 21:01
  Speaker 12: No, just underfoot. They've got a new game that's got
• 21:05
  Speaker 12: me just about crazy.
• 21:06
  Speaker 8: It's called Invasion.
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: Did you say Invasion? That's right. Well, isn't that strange?
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: My Mink is playing it, too.
• 21:14
  Speaker 12: My boy Tim is all involved with some imaginary fellow
• 21:17
  Speaker 12: named Drill who's running the Invasion.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: Must be a new password. Mink likes him, too.
• 21:22
  Speaker 12: How do you suppose these games start? My backyard looks
• 21:25
  Speaker 12: like a scrap drive. They've got every conceivable kind of
• 21:28
  Speaker 12: mechanical gadget arranged out there. I talked to Josephine Schiller
• 21:32
  Speaker 12: in Boston, and she says her kids are wild about it, too.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: It's sweeping the country. Remember when it was the Roomba?
• 21:38
  Speaker 8: Please, dear, I'm not that old.
• 21:41
  Speaker 7: Mommy!
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Oh, please, Minky, I'm on the televisor. Come on, see
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: your Aunt Helen. Hello, Ming. Hi, Aunt Helen.
• 21:47
  Speaker 9: Look what I've got.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: What is it, honey?
• 21:49
  Speaker 9: Well, it's a yo-yo. Look what I enrolled in.
• 21:53
  Speaker 7: See?
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: Well, Helen, look, it vanished. Where did it go?
• 21:58
  Speaker 9: Into another dimension. Dim... Dim.
• 22:01
  Speaker 8: She means dimension. I'll say the darn thing. My Timmy
• 22:04
  Speaker 8: brought one home, too.
• 22:06
  Speaker 12: I can't figure out how they work.
• 22:08
  Speaker 9: Make it reappear, honey.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: There.
• 22:11
  Speaker 9: It's easy.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Where'd you get it, dear?
• 22:13
  Speaker 9: Jill gave it to me, Mom.
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: Mink?
• 22:16
  Speaker 9: Bye, Aunt Helen. Gotta run now.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: Mink, you come back here. I want to talk to you. Can't, Mom.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: Zero hours.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: Five o'clock. Mink.
• 22:22
  Speaker 7: Bye.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: Oh, I can't understand it. The child's never been so unruly. Helen...
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: Do you suppose that.
• 22:30
  Speaker 9: What?
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: Oh, nothing.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: Just a wild thought that... Say, the reason I called,
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: I want to get that black and white cake recipe.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: And Henry wants his golf clubs. I don't know what he'll...
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: What was that? I don't know. One of the children
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: must have been hurt. I'll have to run and see.
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: Call me back tonight, will you? All right, Mary.
• 22:55
  Speaker 5: Bye.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: Mink, come here.
• 22:56
  Speaker 9: Yes, ma'am.
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: What is it? Who screamed?
• 23:01
  Speaker 9: Peggy Ann.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: All right, what happened?
• 23:03
  Speaker 9: Well, she got scared and went home.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: Did you hit her?
• 23:07
  Speaker 9: No, she just got scared.
• 23:09
  Speaker 11: She's a scared baby anyway. We won't let her play anymore.
• 23:13
  Speaker 11: She's getting too old.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Now, Mink, tell me why she cried.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: No, I can't.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: Mink, you'll answer me this instant or come inside. I've
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: had enough of this nonsense.
• 23:23
  Speaker 9: Gee, I can't quit now, Mom. It's almost zero hour.
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: Then tell me what frightened Peggy Ann.
• 23:29
  Speaker 9: Okay, she saw Drill.
• 23:32
  Speaker 7: Drill?
• 23:32
  Speaker 9: He almost came through. He was just testing.
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: Through what?
• 23:36
  Speaker 9: Those pipes and things we set off. She looked into
• 23:39
  Speaker 9: one of the pipes and screamed. I guess she saw Drill.
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: And no one hit her?
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: Uh-uh. Very well, Mink.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: I'll call Peggy Ann's mother and see how she is.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: And I'll call you for your bath in half an hour.
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: Your father and I want to go out tonight.
• 23:54
  Speaker 9: You won't be able to go out, Mom.
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: Why not?
• 23:57
  Speaker 11: Zero hours, five o'clock, Mom.
• 24:04
  Speaker 10: Hello, dear.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: Oh, you're home already, Henry?
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: Yes, I thought I'd relax a little before we went
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: to theater. Where's the little one?
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: Out back.
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: Same game?
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: Same game. They've got a stack of pipes and hammers
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: and spoons a mile high out there.
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: Children, children, why do we have them?
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: They are strange little creatures, aren't they? Even Mink Henry.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: She's a part of us, and... And yet, what do
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: we really know about how she thinks and feels?
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: I didn't mean to start a philosophic discussion.
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: Kids are such a queer mixture of love and hate, though.
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: Even normal, healthy kids... They need you and they're dependent
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: on you, and yet they resent that dependence.
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: You sound like a child psychology course I once took.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: I wonder if they ever really forgive the whippings and
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: the commands we have to give them sometimes. I wonder
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: if we ever forgot them when we were children.
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: Look, I'd like to discuss this with you, dear, but
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: we do have a theater date and it's almost five
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: o'clock now. What's happened to the kids? They're so quiet.
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: When children are quiet, you know there's some mischief.
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: What's that sound? I don't know.
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: Those kids aren't playing with anything electrical, are they?
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: I'm sure they aren't.
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: At least I don't... Just the same. I'd better go out. Henry.
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: Tell them to put off the invasion.
• 25:33
  Speaker 5: Mary, don't get upset. It's just a game. Good Lord,
• 25:43
  Speaker 5: what's that? Look out the window, Mary.
• 25:45
  Speaker 9: What is it?
• 25:49
  Speaker 5: Where are the children? Mary, why are you shaking? What
• 25:52
  Speaker 5: did you see? Henry, quick.
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: Up to the attic.
• 25:55
  Speaker 5: They aren't in the attic.
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, the attic.
• 25:57
  Speaker 9: Quick.
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: Mary, come back here.
• 26:00
  Speaker 12: Mary.
• 26:02
  Speaker 6: Mary, don't go up.
• 26:03
  Speaker 5: They aren't up there. Mary, are you out of your mind?
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: There's no one up here.
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: We shut the door. Lock it. Lock it.
• 26:14
  Speaker 5: But there's nothing up here. What is wrong with you? Mary,
• 26:18
  Speaker 5: come to your senses.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Henry.
• 26:21
  Speaker 5: What are you talking about?
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: I saw it through the window, Henry.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: It was horrible.
• 26:26
  Speaker 9: What?
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: It is an invasion.
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: For heaven's sake, let's get down out of this attic
• 26:32
  Speaker 5: and talk this over sensibly. I want to find out if.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: Mink is all right. She's all right. I saw her.
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: She was leading them around the corner of the house.
• 26:40
  Speaker 7: Lady.
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: Oh, the kids. Shh. Shh.
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: It's nothing.
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: Oh, listen.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: Listen. The front door.
• 26:54
  Speaker 5: They're coming.
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: Good Lord, those.
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: Those kids sound like 50 men with boots on.
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: Oh, no, not men.
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: Oh, please, God, don't let them find us.
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: Don't let them find us.
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: I don't understand. Who's there?
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Shh, don't shout. Who's down there?
• 27:16
  Speaker 9: I demand that you answer me.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: They're coming.
• 27:20
  Speaker 9: The whole house is shaking. Who? Who's there?
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: Shh, please, be quiet.
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: They might go away. Henry?
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: Henry?
• 27:34
  Speaker 5: Mom?
• 27:35
  Speaker 8: Dad?
• 27:38
  Speaker 9: Are you in the attic?
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: Henry, listen.
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: It's me.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: Hank.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: Hank.
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: We've got to save her.
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: Henry, you don't understand. She's leading them. What?
• 27:49
  Speaker 9: She's leading them.
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: She's on their side.
• 27:52
  Speaker 9: Oh, please, God, forgive them.
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: The children on their side?
• 27:57
  Speaker 11: She told us, but we wouldn't believe her.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: Henry, they're coming out.
• 28:09
  Speaker 9: Mom, Dad, we know you're in there. Well, I guess
• 28:14
  Speaker 9: you better melt the lock, Trill.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: The lock!
• 28:22
  Speaker 9: It's melting!
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: The lock!
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: Oh, dear God!
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: Mom? Dad?
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: Oh, I see you now.
• 28:27
  Speaker 9: Pick a ball!
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Oh!
• 28:54
  Speaker 7: You have just heard another adventure into the unknown world
• 28:58
  Speaker 7: of the future.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: The world of.
• 29:01
  Speaker 7: Dimension X!
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: Next week, Destination Moon. A preview of the movie which
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: is soon to have its world premiere in New York.
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: Telling the Robert Heinlein story of man's first trip to
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: the moon.
• 29:26
  Speaker 7: Tonight's adventure is in Dimension X. There will come soft rains.
• 29:31
  Speaker 7: And Zero Hour were written by Ray Bradbury and adapted
• 29:35
  Speaker 7: for radio by George Lefferts. Featured in the first story
• 29:38
  Speaker 7: as narrator was your host.
• 29:40
  Speaker 6: Norman Rose.
• 29:41
  Speaker 7: The leading players in Zero Hour were Denise Alexander as
• 29:45
  Speaker 7: Mink and Rita Lynn as the mother, Roger DeKoven as
• 29:49
  Speaker 7: the father. Music by Albert Berman, engineer Don Abbott. Dimension
• 29:54
  Speaker 7: X is produced by Van Woodward and directed by Edward King.
• 29:59
  Speaker 5: Robert Warren speaking.
• 30:00
  Speaker 7: Programs, get your programs here. For a new thrill in
• 30:14
  Speaker 7: detective listening, join the saint tomorrow as he reaps a
• 30:16
  Speaker 7: harvest of criminals in a thrilling adventure with the underworld.
• 30:20
  Speaker 7: Make the saint a Sunday listening habit and keep tuned
• 30:22
  Speaker 7: thereafter for adventures of the greatest detective of them all,
• 30:26
  Speaker 7: Sam Spade. Tomorrow, hear High Adventure, now Truth or Consequences
• 30:30
  Speaker 7: on NBC.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: That was Dimension X with Ray Bradbury's There Will Come
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: Soft Rains and Zero Hour. Good evening and thank you
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: for joining us. Follow Old Time Sci-Fi Radio for more
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: classic science fiction broadcasts.