"I KNOW THERE WAS ONLY
ONE SUPERMAN, BUT WE'VE
GOT FOUR SUPERMEN NOW!"

SUPERMAN -

DOOMSDAY AND BEYOND

(Released 1993)

Audio Adaptation Written & Directed by Dirk Maggs

As Clark Kent and Lois Lane announce their engagement to friends and colleagues at
the Daily Planet, word reaches them that Lex Luthor's private jet has crashed.
Superman is first on the scene, and DNA tests carried out at the site confirm the body
found is that of Lex. But it is a massive subterfuge. Scientists at LexCorp created a
clone which was placed in the pilot's seat. Lex himself escaped in a pod. However,
years of wearing a ring of Kryptonite, with which he had hoped to kill Superman, has
made him seriously ill with radiation poisoning. The scientists save his brain and grow
a new body around him - with certain genetic modifications. Now he is taller, stronger,
has a good head of hair and speaks with an Australian accent. He is reintroduced into
Metropolis society as Lex Luthor II, his sole heir.

Meanwhile, Superman visits a scientist friend of his own and learns that it is Earth's
yellow sun which gives him his powers. Futhermore, although his body builds up great
reserves of strength, they are not inexhaustable. Sustained use of them will weaken his
aura of invulnerability. While Clark Kent finally tells Lois the truth about himself, Lex
Luthor II takes over the reigns at LexCorp and reveals to the world his new associate,
Supergirl. Clark, watching on TV, is stunned. Supergirl, a shape-shifter, was created in
a parallel dimension as a homage to Superman, but he has no idea what she is doing
here. Worse still, she knows his secret identity. In a brief meeting Superman tries to
warn her about the new Luthor, but she won't listen. She assures him she won't reveal
his identity. On his way back to the Daily Planet Superman saves a falling construction
worker, who vows to pay back the favour.

A massive creature with bones emerging
from its hardened skin escapes
incarceration from below ground and
causes devastation across Ohio. The
Justice Leaugue organisation of
superheroes intercept it as Superman is
being interviewed live on TV. As soon as
Superman hears the breaking news he flies
out to help. The Blue Beetle from the
League has already been critically injured,
and their combined efforts have little
impact on the behemoth. Superman
engages the creature named Doomsday by
the press, and becomes embroiled in a
desperate fight to the death. They finally go
head to head, the impact of which opens a
huge crater and creates a shockwave which
is felt throughout Metropolis. Doomsday is
stopped but, as Lois arrives on the scene,
Superman is pronounced dead. Several
attempts to revive him prove unsuccessful.

Double X and Guardian turn up stating they have government approval to claim any
extraterrestrial bodies for study. However, the police refuse to release the body,
because Superman was an American citizen and therefore deserves a hero's burial.
Martha and Jonathan Kent, Clark's foster parents, decide not to attend the media
circus that is Superman's funeral. Instead, they opt to hold their own private ceremony
on their farm in Smallville. While Superman is laid to rest in a special LexCorp-funded
tomb in a security protected area beneath Metropolis, Lois commiserates with the
Kents by phone and they promise to visit her. Lois absorbs herself in her work, taking
on an assignment involving the underground flooding of the city caused by
Superman's battle with Doomsday. She discovers that Superman's body has been
stolen by Double X. Guardian was unaware of the theft and demands he return it.
Double X plans to facimile Superman's body using collected DNA from earlier
encounters, but with no active brain to accompany it, it will not be the same man.

When the Kents learn Superman's body
has been stolen, Jonathan suffers a heart
attack and, as Lois arrives frm Metropolis,
he flatlines. But Supergirl returns the body
and it's sealed in, much to the amusement
of Lex Luthor who sees this as his ultimate
victory. Jonathan regains consciousness,
saying that he has brought Clark back with
him. Lois returns to Metropolis to learn
there are now four Supermen, and no-one
knows if any of them are the genuine
article. The one known as The Man of
Steel is the construction worker who was
saved by Superman. He wears an
armoured suit, thruster-powered boots,
and carries a weapon that fires rivets. He is
taking on the street gangs. The second
Superman is the Cyborg, part machine,
who claims he is the real thing, flies and

uses heat vision. The third is the Last Son of Krypton, who looks identical to Superman
but wears a black uniform and a visor which shields his eyes from a strange aversion to
sunlight, which was the real Superman's energy source. He has different powers and no
compassion. The fourth is Superboy, who wears shades and a leather jacket over his
uniform, and claims he is a clone of Superman. In the Fortress of Solitude in the
Antartic the essence of the real Superman has been preserved, as all things Kryptonian
are, but he wants his body back. As Lex Luthor schemes to get all of the new
Supermen on his payroll, news is reported that Superman's body has gone again.

The Cyborg Superman breaks
through the security of the
scientists who tried to take
Superman's body. He takes the
body of Doomsday into space and
secures it to a rock in an asteroid
field, with a warning signal should
anyone try to claim it. As the
Cyborg and Superboy go after the
loose cannon that is The Last Son
of Krypton a huge cloud moves in
to Coast City. But Superboy (the
clone) has been lured into a trap.
The Cyborg is not what it seems;
he is in fact Mongul, an old enemy
of the genuine Superman, who has
arrived from space with plans to
destroy Metropolis with a carnage
missile - his first step in turning the
Earth into the new War World.
The Last Son of Krypton is The
Eradicator, but he is losing his
energy. The real Superman,
equipped with the Fortress of

Solitude Battlesuit, arrives at Coast City. He is intercepted by Superboy, Supergirl and
The Man of Steel, as Lois arrives on the scene. When they discover the battlesuit
contains the real but weak Superman, they all team-up to go up against Mongul and the
Eradicator. However, Mongul manages to launch the missile, and Superboy is obliged
to ride it all the way to Metropolis before he can manage to ditch it into the bay.
Mongul reveals an asteroid chunk of green Kryptonite to kill Superman, but the energy
has been reversed so that Superman receives blue energy which restores his reserves
of power. Supergirl removes the threat of the Eradicator, while the revitalised
Superman returns to his role of guardian of Metropolis and the Earth.

"I like Superman a lot, there's a lot of conflict about a guy who is always trying to do
the right thing but has to try and live both very publicly and very privately at the same
time. AND cope with godlike powers. It's a potentially explosive combination, and by
dividing him into four, as this story did, we had a chance to explore all facets of his
character. There are powerful undercurrents in Supes. I like him a lot. Clark and Lois
about to be married, Superman killed, carnage on a grand scale, a homicidal monster
... Doomsday has heavier themes than Adventures and Trial for sure. I was made
continually aware that it was a slightly more sober subject. In that regard I enjoyed
writing Adventures more, you could really soar up up and away on that one. But many
people prefer the darker stuff and I enjoyed getting into that. I'm happy with either
really. The Adventures story was from John Byrne's retelling, Man of Steel, in the
1980s, of the Siegel & Schuster original 1938 tale. It was full of sunlight and
confidence and that was very different to the more streetwise Doomsday storytelling
style.

"Doomsday was the project that saved my bacon after the original version of the
Hitchhikers Tertiary Phase nosedived into the ground in 1993. After being originally
broadcast on the 'old' Radio 5 (nobody heard it!), it was repeated in episodic form on
Radio 1 a year or so later, for which we chopped it into roughly 3 minute episodes.
Luckily I was already writing in quick-moving filmic scenes before Radio 1 asked for
short-form drama. DC knew my work from the two series of Adventures I did for
Radio 4 (those were the days!) in 1990-91, and were content that I was not letting the
character down and was adding something new to the stories. The thing about this
project (and Knightfall) was that it was the first time I proposed we run a radio series
at the same time as the comics were published - THAT was the big deal. So as the
series was aired, the comics were coming out. But I couldn't get anyone at the BBC to
pick up on this and try and sell it in to American broadcasters, so the country where
the comics were concurrently appearing could appreciate the fact! (In the UK comics
from the USA seldom appear at the same time as they do in the States - well, not in
those days, anyhow).

"The Superman serials didn't sell as many copies compared with Batman and Spidey,
which I think goes back to many people not knowing Superman as well as those other
characters (despite his high profile). The BBC did however see merit in the character,
or rather the sainted Michael Green, Radio 4 Controller at that time, when he
commissioned the first two series. Doomsday was commissioned by Radio 5 when
they were stuck for a Saturday morning adventure strand, it was a lucky break, but on
that occasion I don't think it was commissioned through enthusiasm for the character
or an appreciation of what we were doing when we were combining both media -
audio and comic books ... I'm very very proud of these, in fact Doomsday And
Beyond has just been re-released in the USA as Superman Lives and I got a copy to
check-listen and stayed with the first cd to the end. I had forgotten how - excuse me
for saying so - bloody good they are, which may explain the awards ...

"I must mention dear Bill Hootkins, totally the BEST Lex Luthor EVER (in TV, Film
or Radio; either playing the original hairless one or - as in Doomsday - the later
Australian one). In the studio he was a powerhouse of good cheer, spouting gruff,
hilarious one-liners. He's been very ill lately but is battling on in true Hootkins style, all
of us from the Superman shows send him our love and look forward to having him
back at the microphone again soon."

Review by Ty Power

"Superman - Doomsday And Beyond was
my first experience of working at The
Soundhouse with Paul Deeley, who I had
found in the course of researching dolby
surround for Hitchhikers tertiary. Paul and I
clicked from the off but making this series
was very tough as we were pushing
ourselves and the technology to the limit. Pro
Tools wasn't as stable a platform then as
now and we'd do huge complicated FX
sequences only to have the computer crash
under the weight of RAM demand, losing
everything. We had many 4am finishes
tracklaying and mixing these; looking back I
cannot believe he was so kind and put in so
many hours, pretty much unpaid. But we
knew we were doing something special, we
were finding a new production style. It was
thrilling and exhausting at the same time.

Dirk Maggs in the studio.

Superman - Doomsday And Beyond
was the last of three visits to the
enduring DC Comics character,
following Superman on Trial and The
Adventures of Superman. Dirk was
planning to do Star Trek with the
original TV cast, but it fell through, as
did his original attempt to dramatise
Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy - The Tertiary
Phase. Dirk was forced to find
something very quickly to fill the gap.
The Death of Superman stories were
still running in the comics at that time,
so Dirk realised it would be quite a
coup to be doing something as the
comics were coming out. Contacting
DC with his idea, with whom he had
developed a good relationship, found

the company reluctant because they were worried he would give all their secrets away,
but when he signed a guarantee they agreed.

The main cast for the previous Superman productions was reassembled. Stuart
Milligan, who was also in Dirk's production of Armistead Maupin's The Night
Listener, played the title roll, with mainstay Lorelei King as Lois Lane and William
Hootkins as Lex Luthor also reprising their roles. Prior to production Dirk had talked
to the BBC Radio group who agreed it would be a real move forward if they could
make the radio serials sound like a movie soundtrack, with crisp sound effects. It
proved a little more difficult persuading certain parties that fifty years of established
radio effects were no longer acceptable for these kinds of productions. The powers
that be were reluctant to adopt digital technology. Superman - Doomsday And
Beyond was first broadcast on the old BBC Radio 5 in five 28 minute episodes
between 11th September and 19th October 1993. It was the first of Dirk's productions
recorded in Dolby Surround sound, after he had recently teamed-up with sound man
Paul Deeley. Dirk proved that there was/is an audience for it, and the pair subsequently
went back and mixed all of Dirk's earlier adventures in the same high quality sound.

I have to confess that I'm not a fan of the Superman character (he's a lot less
accessible than Batman and Spider-Man), and find it rather restrictive in its potential.
However, this is by far the most interesting story for the ikon that I've come across,
and it's certainly the best of Dirk's trio of productions. Whilst not reaching the heights
of Batman - Knightfall, the timing, sound effects and atmospherics are very good, and
the story refuses to rely on the tedious subject matter of Kryptonite, although the plot
resolution does involve it in an almost accidental sense. Reversing the energy? Takes
me back to Jon Pertwee's Doctor Who days of reversing the polarity.

Superman - Doomsday And Beyond, based on stories and situations
created by Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson
and Roger Stern, was released on BBC twin cassette in 1993 (and
under the title Superman Lives! on Time Warner in the US). It was
repeated the following year in 3 minute episodic form to a much wider
listening audience on BBC Radio 1. The US edition of the release won
the Spoken Word Audio of the Year from US Publisher's Weekly, and
the 1994 Audie Award for Best Dramatisation from the American

Booksellers Association. Perhaps the nicest reward for this work came from
Superman editor Mike Carlin, who sent Dirk an autographed Death of Superman
comic with "Thanks for keeping his cape clean!" written on it.

8

As always, let's leave the final words to Dirk...