View source for The Quatermass Experiment

{{Short description|British TV science-fiction serial (1953, 2005)}}
{{about||the 1955 film adaptation|The Quatermass Xperiment|the 2005 remake|The Quatermass Experiment (film)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox television
| image              = Quatexp01.JPG
| caption            = Opening title card
| camera             = [[Multiple-camera setup|Multi-camera]]
| runtime            = Approx. 30 minutes per episode
| creator            = [[Nigel Kneale]]
| developer          =
| executive_producer = 
| starring           = [[Reginald Tate]]
| narrated           = 
| opentheme          = "[[The Planets|Mars, Bringer of War]]" by [[Gustav Holst]]
| endtheme           = "Inhumanity" by [[Trevor Duncan]]
| country            = United Kingdom
| network            = [[BBC One|BBC]]
| first_aired        = {{start date|1953|7|18|df=y}}
| last_aired         = {{end date|1953|8|22|df=y}}
| num_episodes       = 6 (4 missing)
| related            = ''[[Quatermass II]]'' 
}}

'''''The Quatermass Experiment''''' is a British [[Science fiction on television|science fiction serial]] broadcast by [[BBC One|BBC Television]] during the summer of 1953 and re-staged by [[BBC Four]] in 2005. Set in the near future against the background of a [[British space programme]], it tells the story of the first crewed flight into space, supervised by Professor [[Bernard Quatermass]] of the British Experimental Rocket Group.

When the [[Spacecraft|spaceship]] that carries the first successful crew returns to Earth, two of the three [[astronaut]]s are missing, and the third – Victor Carroon – is behaving strangely. It eventually becomes apparent that an [[Extraterrestrial life|alien]] presence entered the rocket during its flight, and Quatermass and his associates must prevent the alien from destroying the world.

Originally comprising six half-hour episodes, it was the first science fiction production to be written especially for a British adult television audience.<ref name="timesobit">{{cite news |title=Nigel Kneale |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2432768.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070211131713/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2432768.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 February 2007 |work=[[The Times]] |date=2 November 2006 |access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref> The serial was the first of four ''[[Quatermass]]'' productions to be screened on British television between 1953 and 1979. It was transmitted live from the BBC's original television studios at [[Alexandra Palace]] in north London, one of the final productions before BBC television drama moved to west London.

Only two episodes survive in the archives, as the other four were not recorded during their live broadcast. In addition to spawning various remakes and sequels, ''The Quatermass Experiment'' inspired much of the television science fiction that succeeded it, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it influenced successful series such as ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and ''[[Sapphire and Steel]]''.<ref name="boffins">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/03/19/btwho19.xml&sSheet=/arts/2005/03/19/ixtop.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908181224/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2005%2F03%2F19%2Fbtwho19.xml&sSheet=%2Farts%2F2005%2F03%2F19%2Fixtop.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 September 2006|title=A tale of British boffins|first=Sinclair|last=McKay|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=19 March 2005|access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref> It also influenced successful [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] films such as ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' and ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]''.<ref name="teleobit">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/03/db0302.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111011310/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F11%2F03%2Fdb0302.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 January 2008|title=Nigel Kneale|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=3 November 2006|access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref>

==Plot==
Along with his laboratory assistants, Professor [[Bernard Quatermass]] anxiously awaits the return to Earth of his new rocketship and its crew, who have become the first humans to travel into space. The rocket is at first thought to be lost, having dramatically overshot its planned orbit, but eventually it is detected by [[radar]] and returns to Earth, crash-landing in [[Wimbledon, London]].

When Quatermass and his team reach the crash area and succeed in opening the rocket, they discover that only one of the three crewmen, Victor Carroon, remains inside. Quatermass and his chief assistant Paterson (Hugh Kelly) investigate the rocket's interior and are baffled by what they find: the space suits of the others are present, and the instruments on board indicate that the door was never opened in flight, but there is no sign of the other two crewmen.

Carroon, gravely ill, is cared for by the Rocket Group's doctor, Briscoe (John Glen), who has been having a secret affair with Carroon's wife, Judith ([[Isabel Dean]]). It is not just Quatermass who is interested in what happened to Carroon and his crewmates; journalists such as James Fullalove ([[Paul Whitsun-Jones]]) and [[Scotland Yard]]'s Inspector Lomax ([[Ian Colin]]) are also keen to hear his story. Carroon is abducted by a group of local gangsters hoping to ransom him back to British Rocket Group but swiftly kills them and escapes. It is clear that there is something critically wrong: Carroon appears to have absorbed the consciousness and physical bodies of the other two crew members and is slowly mutating into a plant-like [[Extraterrestrial life|alien organism]].

As the police chase the rapidly transforming Carroon across London, Quatermass analyses samples of the mutated creature in a laboratory and realises that if allowed to [[spore]], the alien will eventually consume all life on Earth. A television crew working on an architectural programme locates the creature in [[Westminster Abbey]], and Quatermass and [[British Army]] troops rush in to destroy it in the hour just before it will bring about doomsday. Quatermass discovers that the alien has become too strong to be killed by the Army's weapons and persuades the three human minds within it to reclaim their humanity and destroy it from within. Thus, the alien is finally destroyed.

==Cast and crew==
Following the success of ''The Quatermass Experiment'', [[Nigel Kneale]] became one of the best-regarded [[screenwriter]]s in the history of British television.<ref name="indyobit">{{cite news |last=Adrian |first=Jack |title=Nigel Kneale |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1948184.ece |url-status=dead |work=[[The Independent]] |date=2 November 2006 |access-date=26 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128012507/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1948184.ece |archive-date=28 November 2006}}</ref><ref name="knealescreen">{{cite web |last=Angelini |first=Sergio |title=Kneale, Nigel (1922–2006) |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/458926/index.html |publisher=[[Screenonline]] |access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref> In addition to the various ''Quatermass'' spin-offs and sequels, he wrote acclaimed productions such as ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four (UK TV programme)|Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' (1954) and ''[[The Stone Tape]]'' (1972).<ref name="indyobit"/> A tribute article by writer and admirer [[Mark Gatiss]], published on the [[BBC News Online]] website shortly after Kneale's death in 2006, praised his contribution to British television history: "He is amongst the greats—he is absolutely as important as [[Dennis Potter]], as [[David Mercer (playwright)|David Mercer]], as [[Alan Bleasdale]], as [[Alan Bennett]]".<ref name="bbctribute">{{cite web |last=Gatiss |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Gatiss |title=Quatermass creator was 'TV giant' |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6107564.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=1 November 2006 |access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref>

Kneale's actions were represented on screen in the final episode of ''The Quatermass Experiment''. He  manipulated the monster seen in Westminster Abbey at the climax, with his hands stuck through a photographic blow-up of the interior of the Abbey. The monster actually consisted of gloves covered in various plant and other materials, prepared by Kneale and his girlfriend (and future wife) [[Judith Kerr]].<ref name="teleobit"/> The couple kept the gloves as a memento, and still owned them fifty years later, when Kneale wore them again in a television documentary about his career.<ref name="tapes">{{cite episode|title=The Kneale Tapes|series=Timeshift|credits=Producer – Tom Ware; Executive Producer – Michael Poole|network=[[BBC Four]]|airdate=2003-10-15}}</ref>

[[Rudolph Cartier]] had emigrated from Germany in the 1930s to escape its [[Nazi]] regime, and joined the staff of the BBC the year before ''The Quatermass Experiment'' was made.<ref name="cartier1">{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1181098/index.html|title=Cartier, Rudolph (1904–94)|first=Oliver|last=Wake|publisher=[[Screenonline]]|access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref> He collaborated with Kneale on several further productions, and became a major figure in the British television industry.<ref name="cartier2">{{cite news|title=Rudolph Cartier; Obituary|work=[[The Times]]|date=10 June 1994|page=21}}</ref> He directed important productions such as Kneale's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' adaptation, the two further BBC ''Quatermass'' serials, and one-off plays such as ''Cross of Iron'' (1961) and ''Lee Oswald: Assassin'' (1966).<ref name="cartier1"/> His 1994 obituary in ''[[The Times]]'' praised his contribution to 1950s television drama: "At a time when studio productions were usually as static as the conventional theatre, he was widely respected for a creative contribution to British television drama which gave it a new dimension".<ref name="cartier2"/> The same piece also named ''The Quatermass Experiment'' as a high point in his career, calling the serial "a landmark in British television drama as much for its visual imagination as for its ability to shock and disturb".<ref name="cartier2"/>

Quatermass was played by the experienced [[Reginald Tate]], who had appeared in various films, including ''[[The Way Ahead]]'' (1944). He died two years later, while preparing to take the role of the Professor again in ''[[Quatermass II]]''.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Tate was the second choice for the part; Cartier had previously offered it to [[André Morell]], who declined the role.{{sfn|Murray|2006|p=28}} Morell did later play Quatermass in the third instalment of the series, ''[[Quatermass and the Pit]]''. Victor Carroon was played by Scottish actor [[Duncan Lamont]], who later appeared in the film ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' (1962), and as a different character in the film adaptation of ''[[Quatermass and the Pit (film)|Quatermass and the Pit]]'' (1967). He enjoyed working on ''The Quatermass Experiment'' so much that, although he was not required for the final episode, he went to Alexandra Palace to lend moral support. While there, he helped Kneale and Kerr to prepare their 'monster' prop.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Appearing in a small role as a drunk was [[Wilfrid Brambell]], who later appeared as a [[Vagrancy (people)|tramp]] in ''[[Quatermass II]]''.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Brambell, who also appeared in Cartier and Kneale's production of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', later became widely known for his roles in the [[sitcom]] ''[[Steptoe and Son]]'' (1962–74) and the film ''[[A Hard Day's Night (film)|A Hard Day's Night]]'' (1964).<ref name="brambell2">{{cite news|title=Wilfrid Brambell|work=[[The Times]]|date=19 January 1985|page=8}}</ref> The 74-year-old actress [[Katie Johnson (English actress)|Katie Johnson]] played a supporting part; she later became well known and won a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|British Film Award]] for her role as the landlady Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce in the film ''[[The Ladykillers (1955 film)|The Ladykillers]]'' (1955).<ref name="johnson">{{cite news|title=Miss Katie Johnson|work=[[The Times]]|date=9 May 1957|page=12}}</ref>

==Episodes==
{{Episode table |background=#812f09 |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate=  |viewers= |country=UK |episodes=
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 1
| Title           = Contact Has Been Established
| DirectedBy      = Rudolph Cartier
| WrittenBy       = Nigel Kneale
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|1953|7|18}}
| Viewers         = 3.4
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = #812f09
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 2
| Title           = Persons Reported Missing
| DirectedBy      = Rudolph Cartier
| WrittenBy       = Nigel Kneale
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|1953|7|25}}
| Viewers         = 3.5
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = #812f09
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 3
| Title           = Very Special Knowledge
| DirectedBy      = Rudolph Cartier
| WrittenBy       = Nigel Kneale
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|1953|8|1}}
| Viewers         = 3.2
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = #812f09
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 4
| Title           = Believed to Be Suffering
| DirectedBy      = Rudolph Cartier
| WrittenBy       = Nigel Kneale
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|1953|8|8}}
| Viewers         = 4.4
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = #812f09
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 5
| Title           = An Unidentified Species
| DirectedBy      = Rudolph Cartier
| WrittenBy       = Nigel Kneale
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|1953|8|15}}
| Viewers         = 4.1
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = #812f09
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 6
| Title           = State of Emergency
| DirectedBy      = Rudolph Cartier
| WrittenBy       = Nigel Kneale
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|1953|8|22}}
| Viewers         = 5.0
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = #812f09
}}
}}

==Production==
The serial was written by [[BBC]] television drama writer [[Nigel Kneale]], who had been an actor and an award-winning fiction writer before joining the BBC.<ref name="timesobit"/> The BBC's Head of Television Drama, [[Michael Barry (television producer)|Michael Barry]], had committed most of his original script budget for the year to employing Kneale.<ref name="screen">{{cite book|title=The Intimate Screen: Early British Television Drama|first=Jason|last=Jacobs|location=[[Oxford]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=0-19-874233-9|year=2000}}</ref> An interest in science, particularly the idea of 'science going bad',{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} led Kneale to write ''The Quatermass Experiment''. The project originated when a gap formed in the BBC's schedules for a six-week serial to run on Saturday nights during the summer of 1953, and Kneale's idea was to fill it with "a mystifying, rather than horrific" storyline.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

[[Rudolph Cartier]], one of the BBC's best-regarded directors, directed the serial. He and Kneale had collaborated on the play ''[[Arrow to the Heart]]'', and worked closely on the initial storyline to make it suit the television production methods of the time.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Kneale claimed to have picked his leading character's unusual last name at random from a [[London]] [[telephone directory]].{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} He chose the character's first name, Bernard, in honour of astronomer [[Bernard Lovell]].{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} The working titles for the production were ''The Unbegotten'' and ''Bring Something Back...!'', the latter a line of dialogue spoken in the second episode.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Kneale had not finished scripting the serial's final two episodes before the first episode was broadcast. The production had an overall budget of just under £4000.<ref name="bfi">{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/471469/index.html|title=Quatermass Experiment, The (1953)|first=Gavin|last=Collinson|publisher=[[Screenonline]]|access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref><ref name="value">Equivalent to approximately £100,000 {{as of|2014|lc=y}}, according to the [http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/Pages/resources/inflationtools/calculator/flash/default.aspx Bank of England inflation calculator tool] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006173059/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/Pages/resources/inflationtools/calculator/flash/default.aspx |date=6 October 2014}}. By comparison, the BBC's [https://web.archive.org/web/20111013024358/http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/briefs/tv/browse-by-genre/drama-1/drama-on-bbc-one.shtml drama commissioning notes for independent producers], {{as of|2014|lc=y}}, specify a budget of £500,000 – £800,000 per hour for a drama airing at 9pm on [[BBC One]], five to eight times more than the amount spent on the whole of ''The Quatermass Experiment''.</ref> The theme music used was the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]]'s 1945 recording of "Mars, Bringer of War" from [[Gustav Holst]]'s ''[[The Planets]]'', conducted by [[Adrian Boult]].

Each episode was [[Rehearsal|rehearsed]] from Monday to Friday at the Student Movement House on [[Gower Street (London)|Gower Street]] in London, with camera rehearsals taking place all day on Saturday before transmission. The episodes were then transmitted [[live television|live]]—with a few pre-filmed [[35mm movie film|35mm film]] inserts shot before and during the rehearsal period—from Studio A of the BBC's original television studios at [[Alexandra Palace]] in London.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} It was one of the last major dramas to be broadcast from the Palace, as the majority of television production was soon to transfer to [[Lime Grove Studios]], and it was made using the BBC's oldest television cameras, the Emitrons, installed with the opening of the Alexandra Palace studios in 1936.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} These cameras gave a (by modern standards) poor-quality picture, with areas of black and white shading across portions of the image.<ref name="restoration">{{cite web|url=http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/quatermass-article.htm |title=Quatermass |publisher=[[Doctor Who Restoration Team]] |first=Steve |last=Roberts |date=January 2005 |access-date=27 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806171559/http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/quatermass-article.htm |archive-date=6 August 2007}}</ref>

''The Quatermass Experiment'' was transmitted weekly on Saturday night from 18 July to 22 August 1953. Episode one ("Contact Has Been Established") was scheduled from 8.15 to 8.45 p.m.; episode two ("Persons Reported Missing"), 8.25–8.55 p.m.; episodes three and four ("Very Special Knowledge" and "Believed to be Suffering"), 8.45–9.15 p.m.; and the final two episodes ("An Unidentified Species" and "State of Emergency") from 9.00 to 9.30 p.m. Due to the live performances, each episode overran its slot slightly, from two minutes (episode four) to six (episode six). The long overrun of the final episode was caused by a temporary break in transmission to replace a failing microphone.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Kneale later claimed that the BBC's transmission controllers had threatened to take them off the air during one significant overrun, to which Cartier replied, "Just let them try!"{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Some BBC documentation suggests that at least one transmitter region did cut short the broadcast of the final episode.

The BBC intended that each episode be [[telerecording|telerecorded]] onto 35mm film, a relatively new process that allowed for the preservation of live television broadcasts. Sale of the serial had been provisionally agreed upon with the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]], and Cartier wanted the material available to use for [[trailer (film)|trailers]] and [[:wikt:recapitulation|recaps]].{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Only poor-quality copies of the first two episodes were recorded before the idea was abandoned,<ref name="restoration"/> although the first of these was later shown in Canada.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} During the telerecording of the second episode, an insect landed on the screen being filmed, and can be seen on the image for several minutes.<ref name="restoration"/> It is highly unlikely that material from the third to sixth episodes of the serial will ever be recovered to the BBC's archives.<ref name="missing">{{cite book|title=Missing, Believed Wiped — Searching for the Lost Treasures of British Television|first=Dick|last=Fiddy|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|year=2001|location=[[London]]|isbn=0-85170-866-8}}</ref> The two existing episodes are the oldest surviving examples of a multi-episodic British drama production, and some of the earliest existing examples of British television drama at all, with only a few earlier one-off plays surviving.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

In November 1953, it was suggested that the existing two episodes could be combined and followed with a condensed live production of the latter part of the story for a special Christmas [[Omnibus (broadcast)|omnibus]] repeat of the serial. This idea was later abandoned. Although Cartier and star [[Reginald Tate]] were keen to make an all-film omnibus version for television, this also did not come to fruition.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} In 1963, one of the existing episodes was selected as a representative of early British programming for the Festival of World Television at the [[National Film Theatre]] in London.<ref name="festival">{{cite news|title=Around World TV in Nine Days|work=[[The Times]]|date=30 November 1963|page=5}}</ref>

==Reception and influence==
''The Quatermass Experiment'' achieved favourable viewing figures in 1953, opening with an estimated audience of 3.4 million for the first episode, increasing to 5 million for the sixth and final episode, and averaging 3.9 million for the entire serial.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} ''[[The Times]]'' estimated that one year before ''The Quatermass Experiment'' was broadcast, in August 1952, the total television audience consisted of about 4 million people.<ref name="audience1">{{cite news|title=Television's long reach|work=[[The Times]]|date=13 August 1952|page=5}}</ref> In March of that year, the BBC estimated that an average of 2.25 million people watched BBC programmes each evening.<ref name="audience2">{{cite news|title=Television audience of 2,250,000|work=[[The Times]]|date=12 March 1952|page=10}}</ref>

In 1954 [[Cecil McGivern]], the Controller of Programmes at BBC Television, referred to the success of the serial in a memo discussing the impending launch of a new commercial television channel, ending the BBC's [[monopoly]]: "Had competitive television been in existence then, we would have killed it every Saturday night while ''The Quatermass Experiment'' lasted. We are going to need ''many'' more 'Quatermass Experiment' programmes".<ref name="mcgivern">Quoted in {{cite book|title=Telefantasy|url=https://archive.org/details/telefantasy0000john|url-access=registration|first=Catherine|last=Johnson|year=2005|location=London|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/telefantasy0000john/page/21 21]|isbn=1-84457-076-2}}</ref> Following Kneale's death in 2006, film historian Robert Simpson said that the serial had been "[[event television]], emptying the streets and pubs for the six weeks of its duration".<ref name="bbcobit">{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6105578.stm|title=Quatermass creator dies, aged 84|publisher=[[BBC News Online]]|date=1 November 2006|access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref> When the [[digital television]] channel [[BBC Four]] remade the serial in 2005, the channel's controller, [[Janice Hadlow]], described the original as "one of the first 'must-watch' TV experiences that inspired the water cooler chat of its day".<ref name="remakepo">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/03_march/03/quatermass.shtml|title=BBC FOUR to produce a live broadcast of the sci-fi classic, The Quatermass Experiment|publisher=[[bbc.co.uk|BBC Press Office]]|date=3 March 2005|access-date=27 January 2007}}</ref>

Viewers' responses were generally positive. Letters praising the production were sent to the BBC's [[listings magazine]], the ''[[Radio Times]]'', while the writer and producer were also applauded by readers of ''TV News'' magazine, which nominated them for one of the publication's "TV Bouquet" awards.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Looking back at ''The Quatermass Experiment'' in a 1981 article for ''The Times'', journalist Geoffrey Wansell highlighted the finale:<blockquote>"Westminster Abbey undoubtedly dominated television during the summer of 1953 but it was not just the [[Coronation of Elizabeth II|Coronation of the Queen]] that sticks in my mind now. It is also the memory of Professor Bernard Quatermass grappling with the pulsating giant plant that threatened to destroy the world from its rooting place in the Abbey's nave… ''The Quatermass Experiment'' frightened the life out of a vast new generation of television viewers whose sets had been acquired in order to watch the Coronation… Quatermass was one of the first series on British television to make life seem potentially terrifying".<ref name="wansell">{{cite news|first=Geoffrey|last=Wansell|title=After Quatermass... terror and style|work=[[The Times]]|page=XII|date=1981-09-04}}</ref></blockquote> Subsequent audience research showed that technical problems interrupting the final episode's broadcast had a negative impact on audiences' views of the serial; the audience felt that the climax had been spoiled.<ref name="bfi"/>

Despite such problems—and the existence of only the first two episodes in the archives—''The Quatermass Experiment'' continued to earn critical praise in the decades following its transmission. The [[British Film Institute]]'s "[[Screenonline]]" website describes the serial as "one of the most influential series of the 1950s", adding that "with its originality, mass appeal and dynamism, ''The Quatermass Experiment'' became a landmark of science fiction and the cornerstone of the genre on British television".<ref name="bfi"/> The website of the [[Museum of Broadcast Communications]] praises the serial's underlying themes as its most effective feature: "''The Quatermass Experiment'''s depiction of an Englishman's transformation into an alienated monster dramatized a new range of gendered fears about Britain's postwar and post-colonial security. As a result, or perhaps simply because of Kneale and Cartier's effective combination of science fiction and poignant melodrama, audiences were captivated".<ref name="mobc">{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/Q/htmlQ/quartermass/quartermass.htm |title=Quatermass |first=Robert |last=Dickinson |publisher=[[Museum of Broadcast Communications]] |access-date=26 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302221228/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/Q/htmlQ/quartermass/quartermass.htm |archive-date=2 March 2007}}</ref> The website also points to the programme's influence on the British science-fiction television productions that followed, claiming that "with [''The Quatermass Experiment''] began a British tradition of science fiction television which runs in various forms from ''Quatermass'' to ''[[A for Andromeda]]'' to ''[[Blake's 7]]'', and from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' to ''[[Red Dwarf]]''".<ref name="mobc"/>

Kneale disliked ''Doctor Who'' - the most successful of the British science-fiction programmes - saying that it had stolen his ideas. An article for ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' in 2005 described ''Doctor Who'' as the "spiritual successor" to the ''Quatermass'' serials,<ref name="boffins"/> and [[Mark Gatiss]], a scriptwriter for ''Doctor Who'', wrote of his admiration of Kneale in an article for ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2006: "Kneale wrote that [1953] was 'an over-confident year' and he piloted his hugely influential tale like a rocket into the drab schedules of Austerity Britain… What sci-fi piece of the past 50 years doesn't owe Kneale a huge debt?"<ref name="gatiss">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/nov/02/broadcasting.arts1|title=The man who saw tomorrow|first=Mark|last=Gatiss|author-link=Mark Gatiss|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2 November 2006|access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref>

In 2007, Gatiss appeared as the character Professor Lazarus in the ''Doctor Who'' episode "[[The Lazarus Experiment]]". The ''Radio Times'' noted in its preview of the episode that "tonight's story is an enjoyable synthesis of ''[[She (novel)|She]]'', ''[[The Fly (1958 film)|The Fly]]'' and ''The Quatermass Experiment''—even down to the final battle in a London cathedral".<ref>{{cite journal|title=Saturday 5 May – Today's Choices – Doctor Who|first=Mark|last=Braxton|journal=[[Radio Times]]|date=5–11 May 2007|issue=4334|volume=333|pages=68}}</ref>

Quatermass was an influence on Rebellion Developments' 2025 videogame Atomfall.

==Other media==
The popularity of ''The Quatermass Experiment'' gained the attention of the [[film]] industry, and [[Hammer Film Productions]] quickly purchased the rights to make an adaptation. It was released in 1955, and starred the American actor [[Brian Donlevy]], supported by the English actor [[Jack Warner (actor)|Jack Warner]], with [[Val Guest]] directing and co-writing the screenplay. Nigel Kneale was unhappy with the result,<ref name="knealescreen"/> and was especially displeased with the casting of Donlevy as Quatermass: "[Donlevy] was then really on the skids and didn't care what he was doing. He took very little interest in the making of the films or in playing the part. It was a case of take the money and run. Or in the case of Mr Donlevy, waddle". The film was titled ''[[The Quatermass Xperiment]]'' to emphasise its [[X-rated#United Kingdom|X-certificate]] status.<ref name="xrated">{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=115586&section=filmfact|title=The Quatermass Xperiment|publisher=[[Channel 4|Channel4.com]]|access-date=27 January 2007}}</ref> In America the film was renamed ''The Creeping Unknown'' after the title ''Shock!'' was considered for that territory, and an alternative opening title sequence with that name was prepared.<ref name="xperiment">{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/47472?view=synopsis|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113081323/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/47472?view=synopsis|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 November 2007|title=The Quatermass Xperiment|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref>

The BBC was also pleased with the success of ''The Quatermass Experiment'' and in 1955 a sequel, ''[[Quatermass II]]'', was broadcast, with [[John Robinson (English actor)|John Robinson]] in the title role following Tate's death.<ref name="quatermass2">{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/441212/index.html|title=Quatermass II (1955)|first=Mark|last=Duguid|publisher=[[Screenonline]]|access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref> This was followed in 1958 by ''[[Quatermass and the Pit]]'', and both serials also had feature film versions made by Hammer. The character returned to television in a 1979 serial, simply titled ''[[Quatermass (TV serial)|Quatermass]]'', for [[Thames Television]].<ref name="q79">{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/442672/index.html|title=Quatermass (1979)|first=Mark|last=Duguid|publisher=[[Screenonline]]|access-date=26 January 2007}}</ref>

A script book of ''The Quatermass Experiment'', containing several production stills from the missing episodes, was published by [[Penguin Books]] in 1959. To coincide with the broadcast of the Thames serial, it was republished in 1979 with a new introduction by Kneale.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

In April 2005, [[BBC Worldwide]] released a [[box set|boxed set]] of all their ''Quatermass'' material on [[DVD]], containing digitally restored versions of the two existing episodes of ''The Quatermass Experiment'', the two subsequent BBC serials, and various extra material,<ref name="dvd">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/news/cult/2005/03/31/18177.shtml |title=Cult Television – Quatermass DVD Review |date=31 March 2005 |publisher=[[BBC]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310143125/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/news/cult/2005/03/31/18177.shtml |archive-date=10 March 2012 |access-date=4 October 2014}}</ref> including [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] files of photocopies of the original scripts for episodes three to six, but the quality of these photocopies is in some cases quite poor.<ref name="scripts">{{cite web |url=http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/59045/the-quatermass-collection.html |title=The Quatermass Collection – DVD Video Review – Film @ The Digital Fix |last=Couzens |first=Gary |date=31 October 2005 |website=The Digital Fix |access-date=4 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006183534/http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/59045/the-quatermass-collection.html |archive-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The missing episodes were also semi-reconstructed using production stills, with subtitles to describe the actions depicted in the photographs.

On 2 April 2005, the [[digital television]] channel [[BBC Four]] broadcast a live remake of the serial, abridged to a single special, also entitled ''[[The Quatermass Experiment (film)|The Quatermass Experiment]]''.

On 9 September 2023, a live script-reading production of ''The Quatermass Experiment'' was staged at Alexandra Palace in London, with Mark Gatiss playing the role of Quatermass.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Murray |first=Andy |title=Into the Unknown: The fantastic life of Nigel Kneale |edition=paperback |year=2006 |location=London, UK |publisher=Head Press |isbn=1-900486-50-4 <!-- 192 pages -- only cite pages as places, never book size -->}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|date=2005-10-29|The_Quatermass_Experiment.ogg}}
* {{cite web |url=http://geocities.com/TelevisionCity/8504/qhome.htm |title=The Quatermass Home Page |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804161719/http://geocities.com/TelevisionCity/8504/qhome.htm |archive-date=4 August 2009 |type=Fan Site}}
* {{BBC programme}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0045436|title=The Quatermass Experiment (1953)}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0450315|title=The Quatermass Experiment (2005)}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.ws/linwood//cine/Cinema%20Britain1/quatermass.html |title=The Quatermass Trilogy – A Controlled Paranoia}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/quatermass/intro.shtml |publisher=[[BBC]] |title=I Love Quatermass}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/quatermass/ |publisher=[[BBC]] |title=Cult website for both versions}}

{{Quatermass}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quatermass Experiment, The}}
[[Category:BBC television dramas]]
[[Category:Lost BBC episodes]]
[[Category:Lost television shows]]
[[Category:1950s British drama television series]]
[[Category:1950s British television miniseries]]
[[Category:Quatermass]]
[[Category:1953 British television series endings]]
[[Category:1953 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:Television shows adapted into films]]
[[Category:Television shows adapted into radio programs]]
[[Category:1950s British science fiction television series]]
[[Category:British science fiction television shows]]
[[Category:Films directed by Rudolph Cartier]]