For 30 years an astronomer in the University of Wales has fought to prove that the seeds of life arrived on earth from the vastness of space. The programme tells the story of his often-lonely struggle to be taken seriously and how his ideas - once scorned - are increasingly being accepted.
Wales This Week travels with Chandra Wickramasinghe to his native island of Sri Lanka, where his passion for astronomy grew from his boyhood gazing at the clear, tropical skies. He shows how the Buddhist religion influenced his belief that the earth is only a small corner of a living cosmos.
In an exclusive interview, filmed at his home in Sri Lanka, the world-famous Science Fiction writer, Arthur C Clarke explains why he is convinced that the cosmos is teeming with life and why Prof Wickramasinghe's research is so important.
He also discusses the prospects for space exploration following the Shuttle disaster and predicts that a Space Elevator - made popular by one of his novels - will provide a cheap vehicle to carry scientists and tourists.
The American space agency, NASA, are seriously investigating the space elevator concept as an alternative to rocket flight. And the search for life in the solar system and the wider universe is now a central plank of NASA's mission.
Later this year, experiments by Prof Wickramasinghe and his colleagues could provide the definitive proof that life is still arriving on earth from outer space. If they are proved right, the basic textbooks of biology will have to be rewritten - and the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos will move from the realms of science fiction into science fact.
Wales This Week tells the story of the man who first questioned the accepted wisdom about the origins of life on earth and how - against all the odds - he stands on the brink of being proved right.
Wales This Week embarks on a space odyssey, investigating the earth-shattering claims of a Welsh scientist about the origins of life in the universe.
