Science Fiction Theater ran for two seasons in syndication from April 9. 1955, to February 8, 1957, the brainchild of producer Ivan Tors (Flipper, Daktari, Sea Hunt) and Maurice Ziv. Cashing in on the science fiction boom and flying saucer craze, the anthology show was unusual in that the first season was in color and the second in black and white (Tors thought color television would take off earlier than it did). the show's host was Truman Bradley, a rather bland actor whose roles included minor or uncredited appearances and forgettable B movies. It was not the most stirring or sophisticated show, but for a certain eight-year-old kid it was magic.
"Y..O..R..D.." was the fourth episode aired in the series. It featured Walter Kingsford, a British actor perhaps best known for his role as Dr. Walter Carew in the Dr. Kildare movies, as as Dr. H. J. Lawton, and Rachel Ames, a versatile actress best known for her long running role as Audrey Hardy in General Hospital (348 episodes) and Port Charles (235 episodes), as Edna Miner. Also featured were Kenneth Tobey (The Thing from Another World, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Ring of Fear), a young DeForest ("It's worse than that, Jim...He's Dead!) Kelley, Louis Jean Heydt (The Hungry Soldier Holding Beau Wilkes in Gone with the Wind, The Tourist at the Robbery in High Sierra, and The Man Watching Dice Throw in The Glass Key), John Bryant (Doctor Spaulding from television's The Virginian, and The Marlboro Man in 50s and 60s television commercials), and Clark Howat (Dr. Petrie in The Adventures of Fu Manchu)
The crew at a polar weather station have become psychic, each receiving the telepathic message "Y..O..R..D.." The world's leading expert on telepathy (Kingsford) and his assistant (Ames) are rushed to the scene. They discover that "Y..O..R..D.." is a "S.O.S." from aliens in Earth's orbit.
This episode was directed by Leon Benson, who also co-wrote the script with George Van Marter from a story idea from Tors and Van Marter.
It's time to adopt your eight-year-old persona, as I did, and enjoy this episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU3NiK5lVT4
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