Written by Nigel Kneale
Starring Sir John Mills, Barbara Kellermann, Simon MacCorkindale
Directed by Piers Haggard
1979
3 DVD set (Region2)
In 1953, a young writer (Nigel Kneale) penned a serial for the BBC and called it The Quatermass Experiment. Mixing horror and SciFi it was an instant hit with the audience but dismissed by the critics. Another serial and 3 Hammer films later seemed to signal the end for Kneale’s creation. Professor Bernard Quatermass led the experimental British Rocket Group and was a very scientific hero – scientific in the sense that he would sift through the evidence, analyse the data…and finally reach his (usually horrific) conclusion. Not for him the ways of James T. Kirk – he of the torn shirt, too much eyeliner and teacher of kisses to mega-breasted female aliens. Not for Bernard the sonic screwdriver and time travelling phone box of the Doctor. He thought his way in and out of trouble.
In 1979 Nigel Kneale put pen to paper and created Bernard’s final adventure into the unknown. And how the world has changed for him. The intervening years he has spent in retirement until the day his grand daughter goes missing. Invited to sit on a panel to discuss the latest venture into space, he travels south from his highland home to London, intent on using the opportunity to search for his lost grandchild. He finally witnesses for himself the chaos at the end of the 20th century. It is a world of decay and violence, a place of gang warfare and street fighting Paycops, of power cuts and financial ruin. And among all this, the young are turning in their thousands to join a new cult called The Planet People. Following the ley lines, they gather in ancient places where they wait to be taken to some wonderful new world. At one such place called Ringstone Round, Bernard Quatermass watches in horror as hundreds of young people are obliterated by some unknown force. It soon becomes clear that this is not an isolated event and, all over the world, tens of thousands of young people are being slaughtered by this phenomenon. It seems that Quatermass must step forward and attempt to save civilisation one last time.
Given a lukewarm reception on its initial release, it’s easy to see why. Nigel Kneale extrapolated much of the troubles from the 70s and came up with a quite depressing picture of our future. Still, it is as usual, thought provoking stuff. It is important, however, to view this in the context of its own time (for example: the USSR still exists at the end of Kneale’s millennium) to make sense.
Performances are pretty decent, the effects are nothing special by today’s standards but fairly decent for a TV show of that time. Where this set falls down is on the transfer. The mini-series is spread across two discs (also included is the 1.5 hour re-edited theatrical version on the third disc). The picture quality is poor with drab colouring and the audio sounds like it was recorded through a wet sock. I would hazard a guess that this was a video-to-DVD transfer with little or no tidy-up along the way.
Still, it’s Quatermass and that’s good enough for me. So, if you fancy a bit of thought provoking, old-fashioned 70s style SciFi, give it a spin. Bernard never got the same fan base that stuff like Doctor Who or Blakes 7 received but, as much as I like those two series, dear old Quatermass and his rocket group was always my favourite.
If you like this, try these……
The Quatermass Experiment
Quatermass 2
Quatermass And The Pit
And also by Nigel Kneale The Stone Tape
Starring Sir John Mills, Barbara Kellermann, Simon MacCorkindale
Directed by Piers Haggard
1979
3 DVD set (Region2)
In 1953, a young writer (Nigel Kneale) penned a serial for the BBC and called it The Quatermass Experiment. Mixing horror and SciFi it was an instant hit with the audience but dismissed by the critics. Another serial and 3 Hammer films later seemed to signal the end for Kneale’s creation. Professor Bernard Quatermass led the experimental British Rocket Group and was a very scientific hero – scientific in the sense that he would sift through the evidence, analyse the data…and finally reach his (usually horrific) conclusion. Not for him the ways of James T. Kirk – he of the torn shirt, too much eyeliner and teacher of kisses to mega-breasted female aliens. Not for Bernard the sonic screwdriver and time travelling phone box of the Doctor. He thought his way in and out of trouble.
In 1979 Nigel Kneale put pen to paper and created Bernard’s final adventure into the unknown. And how the world has changed for him. The intervening years he has spent in retirement until the day his grand daughter goes missing. Invited to sit on a panel to discuss the latest venture into space, he travels south from his highland home to London, intent on using the opportunity to search for his lost grandchild. He finally witnesses for himself the chaos at the end of the 20th century. It is a world of decay and violence, a place of gang warfare and street fighting Paycops, of power cuts and financial ruin. And among all this, the young are turning in their thousands to join a new cult called The Planet People. Following the ley lines, they gather in ancient places where they wait to be taken to some wonderful new world. At one such place called Ringstone Round, Bernard Quatermass watches in horror as hundreds of young people are obliterated by some unknown force. It soon becomes clear that this is not an isolated event and, all over the world, tens of thousands of young people are being slaughtered by this phenomenon. It seems that Quatermass must step forward and attempt to save civilisation one last time.
Given a lukewarm reception on its initial release, it’s easy to see why. Nigel Kneale extrapolated much of the troubles from the 70s and came up with a quite depressing picture of our future. Still, it is as usual, thought provoking stuff. It is important, however, to view this in the context of its own time (for example: the USSR still exists at the end of Kneale’s millennium) to make sense.
Performances are pretty decent, the effects are nothing special by today’s standards but fairly decent for a TV show of that time. Where this set falls down is on the transfer. The mini-series is spread across two discs (also included is the 1.5 hour re-edited theatrical version on the third disc). The picture quality is poor with drab colouring and the audio sounds like it was recorded through a wet sock. I would hazard a guess that this was a video-to-DVD transfer with little or no tidy-up along the way.
Still, it’s Quatermass and that’s good enough for me. So, if you fancy a bit of thought provoking, old-fashioned 70s style SciFi, give it a spin. Bernard never got the same fan base that stuff like Doctor Who or Blakes 7 received but, as much as I like those two series, dear old Quatermass and his rocket group was always my favourite.
If you like this, try these……
The Quatermass Experiment
Quatermass 2
Quatermass And The Pit
And also by Nigel Kneale The Stone Tape
