Requiem
Author: Robert A. Heinlein
Originally aired: 22 September 1951
Report on the Barnhouse Effect
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Originally aired: 22 April 1950
Plot synopsis: When a professor develops incredible telekinetic powers, which allow him to control objects even at great distances, he soon attracts the interest of the military. Based on a short story first published in Collier's magazine, on 11 February 1950; and later in Kurt Vonnegut's short-story collection Canary in a Cat House, in 1961.
Favourite line: 'Gentlemen, as the first superweapon with a conscience, I'm removing myself from your national defense stockpile.'
Review: This episode is based on Kurt Vonnegut's very first published story, so is significant for this reason alone. It's an anti-war tale, with a clever enough idea at its heart - a man with amazing mental powers uses them to try to bring about an end to war - but at the same time, it's not that inventive or entertaining. The plot is quite simple and straightforward, and nothing especially exciting happens. Indeed, once the main character, Professor Barnhouse, goes missing, there is quite a dull period in the middle when everyone is searching for him, in which not a great deal of significance happens. The fundamental problem, perhaps, is that we have seen and heard so many stories since this episode was broadcast about characters with astonishing powers that nothing here is terribly startling for a modern audience. None of this is to say that the episode doesn't possess merit, as there are some good lines of dialogue, and a decent ending, just that it doesn't really stand out as exceptional.
Rating: * * *
[Other adaptations: Radio - BBC Radio non-dramatized version (2007)]
