Scientists at the South Pole are forced to flea when a calamity threatens the entire earth.

This one is hilarious - the science in it is worse than in the movie, "The Core." It starts off making zeros sense and just gets less comprehensible as it proceeds. I suppose the business about the ending was thought to be very clever, and it could have been if the overall story made a bit more sense.

Same ending as in an early 1960s Twilight Zone episode -- which one TV critic complained was a sci-fi cliche from the 1930s. Yes, I guess the "surprise" ending. You can figure it out, by the careful way the characters avoid saying anything too identifying. Even then, they slip-up by mentioning "the 1970s," which would have been quite a coincidence, considering the ending.

Good episode but Arnold Moss somehow doesn't know the difference between a star and a planet.

I rate this episode ★★★☆☆ for AVERAGE. Arnold Moss wrote a decent Sci-Fi Mystery, but I think that the storyline in ACT-1 was kind of slow. Plus, the characters were ordinary with little character development. Although, things did pick up in the final Act and I liked the surprising ending; it sort of reminded me of the ending of “Third From The Sun” (the 14th episode of the TWILIGHT ZONE). The title of this story is OK, but a better title would be “Beta Epsilon 203” because of the ship they go on. Or call it “What Lies Ahead” because they don’t know what to expect. The sound effects of the motorboat, airplane, fish splashing, windy blizzard, explosion of the ice breaking, computer beeping, more explosions, slaps, the mothership soaring, pressing phone buttons, rocket ship taking off, gun shot, laser gun, and flipping of the book pages were highly useful. The music, however, there was less of it in the 1st half of the story and more of it during the 2nd half. In our Host’s dialogue, E.G. Marshall begins with the conjecturing of what the 21st Century will be like (too bad he didn’t get to see this century since he passed way in 1998). In ACT-1, after knowing that our characters are living in the future, he states that man begins to live only when he treats a new day as if were his last. In ACT-2, he quotes the passes from Genesis 1 and 2. And in ACT-3, it’s the 5th chapter of the Book of Revelation. In the end, he says Godspeed to the remaining characters that survived. In his Epilogue, E.G. Marshall mentions Polar Studies and Space Flight in the 1970’s. Our Host made pretty good statements, but if only there were more suspenseful explanations in his narrations about space flight or how Man is able to survive in predicaments such as this one. Now onto our cast: Tony Roberts (as Bob McDonald), Kristoffer Tabori (as J.J. Porter), William Griffis (as Mike Gonzalez and General Dukes), and Robert Maxwell (as Dr. Burns and the Flight Attendant over the speaker). All 4 of them have done excellent work in many episodes previously, but as I said before, the characters that they portrayed had little character development. Plus, Robert Maxwell’s character of Dr. Burns didn’t sound evil enough. In my opinion, Fred Gwynne, John Lithgow, Russell Horton, and Norman Rose should’ve played these parts. If you enjoy Sci-Fi mysteries, then check this story out. Until next time…pleasant dreams. =0]

Loved this episode

A favourite of mine with a plot that borders on surreal. One flaw is that it lacks any female characters. Anyway, some men struggle with an energy crisis thst results in global cooling and other bizarre plot twists, yet somehow they have the power to escape to the stars. The characters are written in a way that is curiously disaffected, but still well-acted. One character is given to poetic turns of phrase which are particulary good. Scientific terms are thrown around with abandon. Full of planet-destroying action, yet somehow subdued and quiet, with a nice ambience. Recommended if you are having trouble sleeping as it is so strange and dream-like.

One of my favourites! I Love these old CBS Mystery Theatre radio Shows. They scared me as a kid in the 70’s! Fun to hear them again almost 50 years later!!!

If by "the entire earth" you mean "their entire world," heh-heh.