I picked up this series on I-Player and just had to watch it almost 60 years after it was first broadcast. I wasn't allowed to watch it as a child since Quatermass II had given me the screaming abdabs, and my mother put her foot down. Like many others, I did see the Hammer movie version and thought it pretty ace, and it did make me want to see the tv serial.
Having seen the movie I was familiar with the plot; builders and archaeologists uncover early human remains and a strange capsule carrying giant insects which, it is deduced, come from Mars! So the shock factor was somewhat diminished. However, you do realise what a gifted writer Nigel Kneale was. His weaving of folklore, science and pre-history is positively inspired. In a tv interview I heard him say there are three basic sci-fi plots:-
1) We go to them. 2) They come to us. 3) They were here already
which cover his three Quatermass serials. Andre Morell always gives value for money, and is ideally cast as the Prof. Anthony Bushell (a former army officer) is tailor -made for the part of the dislikeable Colonel Breen, and Cec Linder gives a sterling performance as the,ultimately, self-sacrificing Roney, who simply wants to get on with his dig. The rest of the cast are a who's who of British character actors who regularly graced the large and small screen . Viewers are inevitably reminded of Dr Who. Right down to the wobbly sets, and it is easy to forget that this was produced for an adult audience. Once you get into the story, which involves ancient, implanted mind control, a creeping sense of unease results. A big surprise is when the Prof succumbs to the inbred Martian malevolence and good old Roney has to snap him out of it by reminding him of a fishing trip! It is a fact that the Wild Hunt racial purge deliberately mirrored the contemporary Notting Hill riots and this portrayal of mob mentality would surely have made for uncomfortable viewing (or would it?) The screenplay contains other surprises. Quatermass is appalled at the idea of missile bases on the Moon; something referred to with relish by Breen as "The Dead Man's Deterrent." Not too far removed from Ronald Reagan's Star Wars initiative some 30 years later. Kneale certainly had his finger on the pulse, but even when superior Martian technology is defeated by a folklore solution (Roney throws an iron chain at the demonic image energy mass, earthing it), and the Prof delivers his plea for international co-operation and brotherly love - we know no-one was listening. The Martians are still in control!
1) We go to them. 2) They come to us. 3) They were here already
which cover his three Quatermass serials. Andre Morell always gives value for money, and is ideally cast as the Prof. Anthony Bushell (a former army officer) is tailor -made for the part of the dislikeable Colonel Breen, and Cec Linder gives a sterling performance as the,ultimately, self-sacrificing Roney, who simply wants to get on with his dig. The rest of the cast are a who's who of British character actors who regularly graced the large and small screen . Viewers are inevitably reminded of Dr Who. Right down to the wobbly sets, and it is easy to forget that this was produced for an adult audience. Once you get into the story, which involves ancient, implanted mind control, a creeping sense of unease results. A big surprise is when the Prof succumbs to the inbred Martian malevolence and good old Roney has to snap him out of it by reminding him of a fishing trip! It is a fact that the Wild Hunt racial purge deliberately mirrored the contemporary Notting Hill riots and this portrayal of mob mentality would surely have made for uncomfortable viewing (or would it?) The screenplay contains other surprises. Quatermass is appalled at the idea of missile bases on the Moon; something referred to with relish by Breen as "The Dead Man's Deterrent." Not too far removed from Ronald Reagan's Star Wars initiative some 30 years later. Kneale certainly had his finger on the pulse, but even when superior Martian technology is defeated by a folklore solution (Roney throws an iron chain at the demonic image energy mass, earthing it), and the Prof delivers his plea for international co-operation and brotherly love - we know no-one was listening. The Martians are still in control!