For the weeks April 17 1964 to May 29 1964 1964, readers of the TV Times were treated to an adaptation of the episode The Evil Eye Of Venus, written by Roberta Leigh herself.

Billed as 'A splendid new fantasy in space by Roberta Leigh', the series of installments are unique in presenting the only 'novelisation' of an actual episode and features many notable facts about the series, as well as some interesting variations from the televised storyline.

Interestingly, The Evil Eye Of Venus would already have aired in the London region but to readers in the Midlands and north of England the story would have been new, with the episode being held back until the autumn of 1966.

Presented here for the first time since their original publication, are parts one and two of:

The Evil Eye Of Venus

Roberta Leigh started to make a puppet world come alive when she created a rabbit called Hoppity for her son Jeremy. Others were to follow - including Torchy the Battery Boy, and Twizzle. Here Roberta begins a Space Patrol adventure story out among the planets which she has written specially for TV Times.

Part One

April 2 in the year 2100 began like any other day for Colonel Raeburn. As soon as he entered his office he began a routine check on all Galaspheres patrolling the Universe.

Each one was crewed by three men: an Earthman, a Venusian and a Martian, for it was these three planets which had joined together to form the United Gallactic Organisation, of which Raeburn was the head.

A sudden fare up of sun spots had interfered with all sonar beam communication, and it was not until noon that he was able to contact Galasphere 347, operated by Larry Dart and his crew - Slim the Venusian and Husky the Martian.

“We’ve been waiting for your call all morning,” Dart said as his face filled the video screen in Raeburn’s office.

The Colonel grunted. “Have you anything to report?”

“No sir. As a matter of fact we’re due for leave and I was wondering if you’d allow us to spend a weekend on Venus. Slim hasn’t been home for a year.”

“Very well,” Raeburn replied. “Take your weekend - but not a day longer. And just in case there’s an emergency, where will you be staying?”

“In Cresta, the capital.”

The video screen went blank , and Raeburn’s desk swung round till he was facing the door. It was his duty to keep peace between all the planets in the universe; no easy task this, for the creatures who inhabited Uranus and Neptune were constantly trying to take control, and though Raeburn and his men had thwarted them many times, there was always the fear that, one day, they would not be successful.

A buzzer sounded and the wall on his left went translucent showing Marla his beautiful secretary.

“The President of Venus wishes to converse with you,” she said in the lilting voice and pedantic speech of the Venusian.

“Put him on,” the colonel sighed. “Presidents don’t like being kept waiting.”

Once more the Colonel’s desk swung round to face the video screen, and a bearded man in flowing robes appeared on it.

“Good morning, Mr. President,” Raeburn said. “I hope nothing’s wrong?”

“On the contrary,” came the reply. “I have good news for you. Borra, the most gifted scientist on my planet, had invented a mechanical Eye which will blow up anything that comes within three miles of it.”

“How does it work?”

“Every metal that comes from friendly planets like Earth, Mars and Venus, have been given a special code number and these numbers have been put inside the Eye’s brain.”

“Does that mean the machine won’t destroy any metal that comes from these three planets?”

“Exactly,” the President replied. “But it will destroy metal that comes from anywhere else.”

For a moment Raeburn was silent. At last it seemed someone had discovered a foolproof method of defence. “Where is the Eye?” he asked.

“Professor Borra has placed it on a hill overlooking Cresta. If any alien forces try to land near our capital they will be destroyed.”

“I’d like to see a demonstration,” Raeburn said.

“I knew you would.” There was a hint of amusement in the President’s voice. “We have made some rockets of Uranus steel and these will be fired at the Eye. When they are three miles away from it the Eye will destroy them. If you will get your video screen trained on to Cresta you -”

“Stop!” Raeburn suddenly leapt to his feet. “You’ve got to stop the Eye working. One of my Galaspheres is on its way to Cresta now.”

“What has that got to do with the demonstration?”

“Everything. Galapheres are made of Plutonite and that comes from Pluto. You’ve just told me that the Eye destroys any metal that doesn’t come from Earth, Mars or Venus.”

For a moment the President was speechless. Venusians prided themselves on being more clever than Earthmen or Martians.

“I apologise for the error,” he said stiffly. “We will stop the Eye and fit a code for Plutonite into it. it will be done within two hours.”

“That's too late!” Raeburn’s fist pounded the desk. “Galasphere 347 will reach Cresta in ten minutes.”

“Then you had better divert it,” the President said.

Colonel Raeburn swung round his chair to face Marla. “contact Larry Dart and tell him not to land on Cresta.”

Marla’s slanting eyes glittered with tears. “I have already tried but the sun spots make communication impossible.”

The colonel’s face lost its ruddy colour, and when he spoke his voice was so quiet it was barely audible. “Keep trying, Marla. If we don’t get Dart in the next five minutes he’ll be blown to pieces.”


NEXT WEEK
The Evil Eye strikes - as Captain Dart and his crew hurtle towards Cresta.



The Evil Eye Of Venus: Part Two

Part Two of the exciting space fantasy by ROBERTA LEIGH

Captain Larry Dart and his crew are hurtling towards Venus in Galasphere 347 for a gay weekend leave. But they do not know that on a hill overlooking Cresta, the capital, the Evil Eye is waiting to destroy them.

Unaware that they were heading towards death, Captain Dart and his crew were hurtling to Venus at a speed of 800,000 m.p.h.

Husky, the 7ft. Martian, sat in front of the observation screen and switched on the Yobba rays.

At once the television eyes of his video screen penetrated the clouds around Venus and the planet was seen as a golden orb revolving against a velvety, black sky.

“It looks good enough to eat,” he exclaimed, and this from Husky was the highest praise, for his appetite was notorious.

Slim, the navigator, though only half Husky’s size was, like all Venusians, quicker in action and thought than either Martains or Earthmen, and now he was venting his anger on the sun spots that were making all radio communication impossible.

“We have been unable to contact headquarters for ten minutes. I do not like it,” he said.

“Don’t worry,” Dart replied. “In a few moments we’ll be landing on Cresta.” His chair slowly glided down the aisle, past the panel of flashing control lights. “Change to primary drive, Slim. We must slow down for landing.”

Twenty-six million miles away on Earth, Colonel Raeburn was in the radio room, his face puckered with anxiety as the radio officer tried Dart’s Galasphere.

“Two minutes and thirty seconds to go,” the officer said, “and the Galasphere will be in range of the Eye.”

Suddenly the sonar beam screen flashed on and the President of Venus appeared.

“Have you managed to contact Captain Dart?”

“No.”

“Borra has found a way of stopping the Eye.”

“In how many hours,” Raeburn said bitterly.

“At once,” the President replied and moved away from the screen.

His place was taken by another Venusian with darker hair, but the same pointed head and slanted eyes.

“I regret my disastrous oversight,” Professor Borra said. “But I have a special ray in my laboratory and I may be able to stop the Eye.”

“What sort of Ray?”

“Another invention of mine. It is still in the experimental stage. If I beam it towards the Eye it might be possible to blow up the mechanism.”

“Do it at once,” Raeburn ordered. “There’s not a second to spare.”

The screen went blank and Raeburn anxiously paced the floor while behind him the radio officer continued to send out a sonar beam call to Larry Dart.

Suddenly there was a crackle on the screen and Dart’s face, with its Viking blue eyes and blond beard, became visible to them.

“Dart!” Raeburn exclaimed. “Thanks heavens we’ve got you. Change course immediately and don’t land on Cresta. I’ll explain later.”

“Very well, sir.”

The screen darkened and Raeburn heaved a sigh of relief for he knew that Dart, like all the cosmonauts in Space Patrol, was trained to obey instantly, without any question, the commands of a superior officer.


NEXT WEEK
Disaster for the Venusians - Professor Borra is killed trying to stop the Evil Eye.


© 1964 TVTimes & Roberta Leigh
No infringement of copyright intended.

To be continued...

Original Features

Space Patrol - The Website wishes to acknowledge, with grateful thanks, the help from Mike Noon and Andrew Pixley in researching this feature.