Book:Only You Can Save Mankind

Only You Can Save Mankind
Cover by David Scutt
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s)
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	September 1992
ISBN	0385403089
Pages
RRP
Main characters	Johnny Maxwell, Wobbler, Yo-Less, Kirsty
Series	Johnny Maxwell Series
Annotations	View
Notes
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Blurb/synopsis

Twelve-year-old Johnny receives a pirate edition of the new video game Only You Can Save Mankind from his friend Wobbler. However, he hasn't been playing for long when the ScreeWee Empire surrenders to him. After accepting the surrender he finds himself inside the game in his dreams, where he must deal with the suspicious Gunnery Officer as well as the understanding Captain, and work out exactly what they're all supposed to do now.

This might all be the result of an over-active imagination except that the ScreeWee have disappeared altogether from everyone else's copy of the game. With the help of another player, Kirsty, who calls herself "Sigourney" (as in Weaver), Johnny must try to get the ScreeWee home.

Adaptations

Radio

In 1996, Only You Can Save Mankind was adapted into a three-part radio drama on BBC Radio 4. Adapted by Bob Hescott, directed by Brian Lighthill.

Cast:

Tim Smith: Johnny Maxwell
Janet Dale: Scree-Wee Captain
Michael Angelis: Gunnery Officer
Akhbar Karim: Wobbler
Marian Kemmer: Johnny's Mother
Laurence Rew: Johnny’s Father
Tessa Harrison: Scree-Wee Crew-member
Terry Pearson: Newscaster
Peter Dalton: Yo-Less
Michael Perestrello: Bigmac
Natalie Moore: Kirsty
Renu Setna: Mr Patel, Newscaster
Tina Grey: Kirsty’s Mother

Musical

In 2004, a musical adaptation for the stage was premiered at the Edinburgh Festival, with music by Leighton James House and lyrics by Shaun McKenna. The album was released online November 23, 2009. A national CD release came out in April 2010.