This week we’re listening to a very modern adaptation of a classic story of sci-fi and horror, “Who Goes There?” from the BBC series, Chillers! The script is adapted from the novella of the same name written by John W. Campbell, Jr. (under the pen name Don A. Stuart). This tale of a small group of scientists in Antarctica who discover an alien creature frozen in the ice has been adapted and copied many times in many different ways. How will this version compare to its predecessors? Who among these men can be trusted? If you take the good, take the bad, take them both…what do you have there? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!
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You were speaking about dr who you should watch the episode titled “midnight” it is legitimately frightening like this episode with the idea of unseen horror.
Seconded. It’s “Doctor Who” does “The Twilight Zone.”
There are two Tom Baker stories that draw heavily on “Who Goes There?” “The Horror of Fang Rock” is about a shape-shifting alien blob lurking amongst a small group of survivors trapped in a lighthouse. And “The Seeds of Doom” pretty much rips off the 1951 “Thing” for its first two episodes, with alien seed pods found in the Antarctic permafrost and defrosted at an isolated research base.
I enjoyed this a great deal. It does a great job of packing the entire novella into a half hour.
As you note, the original story as written ends with humanity saved by a close call, when the alien is torched just as it prepares to use the anti-gravity harness it’s been tinkering together to escape to the outside world. This adaptation definitely appears to be drawing from the final scene of the 1982 film.
Spoiler Alert! This was great to listen to and quite enjoyable. To Joshua’s point about the action scenes being confusing: I wasn’t clear why the last two fellows burned the guy in the shed. I thought they were going to administer the test to him. They were talking with him through the door about the test and then they were crashing the wall down and setting the building on fire. Eric why weren’t you complaining about the inconclusive ending this time? It worked, but like Eric often says these ambivalent endings can feel incomplete at times and for me it… Read more »
Best. Episode. EVER! …If not for the show, for the commentary. It was so great to hear Eric so happy about a show – and especially one based on a movie I love, which he’d never seen! Eric, PLEASE, ya gotta watch the movie (I’m partial to the John Carpenter version). It’s got Wilford Brimley!!! (That ought to seal the deal right there.) It’s awesome and has all the chaotic and thrilling elements you enjoyed in this radio presentation. Yes, there’s some gore, but it’s worth it to sit on the edge of your seat as the paranoia unfolds! I’m… Read more »
Edge of my seat the whole time.
I had this moment of “they must have talked about this episode before, ’cause I really remember this title,” but then my brain caught up and was like “no, you watch one of the adaptions annually!! You love this story!” Great version of “Who Goes There?” I will look this up every Halloween going forward and add to my spooky consumption.