Originally broadcast in syndication, 13 December 1953. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The run
- Network
- NBC
- Years active
- 1953–1953
- Surviving broadcasts
- 16
- Genre
- theatre
Joe Webb From October to December 1953 NBC aired a curious historical series, Stroke of Fate . NBC’s inspiration was the successful CBS radio and television series You Are There . That series started in 1947 as CBS is There and soon adopted the more listener-focused name that made it famous. In 1953, the television version of the series started. NBC and others saw an opportunity to do something historical but with a twist. Rather than dropping modern day reporters into historical events, Stroke of Fate offered a cerebral “what if?” approach with dramas of historical persons in hypothetical circumstances. This was an…
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
Every broadcast below carries its own provenance sheet — transfer quality, file source and rights.Archive record: OTRR_Stroke_of_Fate_Singles
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
3 dated broadcasts across 1 years on the air. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
JFMAMJJASOND
1953
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1953, in original transmission order.
- 1. Robert E. Lee · 4 Oct 1953
- 2. Earl of Essex [followed by NBC News] · 11 Oct 1953
- 3. The Burr Hamilton Duel · 18 Oct 1953
Robert E. Lee
4 Oct 1953 · 25 min
Broadcast 4 October 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Earl of Essex [followed by NBC News]
11 Oct 1953 · 28 min
Broadcast 11 October 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
The Burr Hamilton Duel
18 Oct 1953 · 24 min
Broadcast 18 October 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Escape of Marie Antoinette
25 Oct 1953 · 25 min
Broadcast 25 October 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Lincoln's Consular Service
1 Nov 1953 · 24 min
Broadcast 1 November 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Benedict Arnold
8 Nov 1953 · 29 min
Broadcast 8 November 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Germany Invades the Rhineland
22 Nov 1953 · 29 min
Broadcast 22 November 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Battle of Quebec
29 Nov 1953 · 29 min
Broadcast 29 November 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Same night on the air
13 Dec 1953
Everything else the archive still holds from the night of 13 Dec 1953.
Originally broadcast on NBC, 13 December 1953. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Also on NBC
NBC in 1953–1953
Other series the network carried while Stroke Of Fate was on the air.
Same seasons
theatre on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
Theatre of the mind
Full-cast drama with a live orchestra and a studio full of sound effects. Lux Radio Theater and the CBS Radio Workshop are the direct ancestors of scripted podcast fiction.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Stroke Of Fate
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
More to explore
Chosen by the same editors.
