Nigel Kneale

Nigel Kneale (born Thomas Nigel Kneale on April 18, 1922 in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, UK) is a Manx television and film scriptwriter, who has worked mostly in the UK. He is best known for his creation of the character of Professor Bernard Quatermass, who has appeared in three serials for BBC Television, one for Thames Television and three feature film adaptations of the BBC serials for the Hammer company.

1950s and Quatermass

Lasting for six weeks over July and August, The Quatermass Experiment tells the story of Professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Experimental Rocket Group, and the consequences of him sending the first manned mission into space when a terrible fate befalls the crew and only one returns. It was a huge popular and critical success, and Cartier and Kneale became the No. 1 team of BBC drama.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They worked on literary adaptations of Wuthering Heights and most famously Nineteen Eighty-Four together, in the latter case creating a television production which became almost as famous as the book itself, being labelled both horrific and subversive, provoking death threats and raising questions in Parliament.

Related Topics:
Wuthering Heights - Nineteen Eighty-Four - Parliament

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A second Quatermass serial, Quatermass II, arrived in 1955, the same year in which Hammer released their adaptation of the Professor's first outing, The Quatermass Xperiment, the spelling changed to play on the film's X-certificate for its horrific content. Kneale was displeased with the adaptation, however, on which he had been able to do no work as his BBC staff contract prohibited it.

Related Topics:
Quatermass II - 1955 - Hammer - The Quatermass Xperiment - X-certificate

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However, soon after this he left the BBC, and was thus able to pen the screen plays of both the Hammer adaptation, Quatermass 2, and their version of another of his BBC collaborations with Cartier, The Creature, filmed as The Abominable Snowman.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Despite no longer being on the staff of the BBC he still wrote for them, in 1958 penning what many believe to be the greatest of all the Quatermass serials, Quatermass and the Pit. A sophisticated tale of racial tension, the origins of mankind and primaeval fears, it drew much critical acclaim and a huge audience for the time, allegedly emptying the pubs on the night of its final episode. There was no way Kneale could top that, and it proved to be the character's last BBC television outing, although Hammer did produce another film adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit, again with Kneale adapting his own script, in 1967.

Related Topics:
Quatermass and the Pit - 1967

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~