Verdict from Space

S1, E1: Gordon Kent is put on trial for theft and murder. He is accused of robbing and murdering Professor Sykes in order to get money to build a blowtorch capable of cutting through anything. Gordon claims that he is innocent. He says that Sykes came to him looking for a blowtorch to cut open a metal door hidden in a secret cavern. Inside the room was an ancient machine that has been recording all significant physical disturbances on the planet Earth for millions of years. When he disovered the machine Gordon thought it might be a transmitter to someplace else and he worries that it might still be transmitting.