Quatermass (1979)

Quatermass (also known as The Quatermass Conclusion or Quatermass IV) is a British television science-fiction serial, the fourth and final instalment in the famous Quatermass series. Written by Nigel Kneale, it was produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and broadcast on the ITV network in the autumn of 1979.

Background

Professor Bernard Quatermass had been the hero of three science-fiction serials written by Kneale for BBC Television during the 1950s: The Quatermass Experiment (1953), Quatermass II (1955) and Quatermass and the Pit (1958-59). In each of these highly-regarded productions, Quatermass had battled a variety of alien horrors, and the character became a part of the British popular culture of the time.

Related Topics:
Bernard Quatermass - BBC Television - 1950s - The Quatermass Experiment - 1953 - Quatermass II - 1955 - Quatermass and the Pit - 1958 - 59 - Popular culture

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The success of the serials on television led to Hammer Films buying the rights to make feature film adaptations, and all three of them were re-made for the cinema. After the release of the Hammer version of Quatermass and the Pit in 1967 Kneale, who had written the screenplay for the film himself, proposed to Hammer an idea for a fourth Quatermass film, written directly for the screen. Although they were interested and Kneale wrote up a detailed storyline for the project, the idea went little further before being abandoned, possibly due to the lack of box office success for Quatermass and the Pit.

Related Topics:
Hammer Films - Quatermass and the Pit - 1967

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In the early 1970s, Kneale was once more working regularly in television writing for the BBC, and he took this fourth Quatermass story idea to Ronnie Marsh, who was at that time the BBC's Head of Drama Serials. Marsh was interested, and commissioned Kneale to write the scripts for the serial, which now held the provisional title of Quatermass IV. However, again for a variety of reasons, the project eventually stalled and in 1973 was cancelled by the BBC.

Related Topics:
1970s - Ronnie Marsh - 1973

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Later in the decade, Kneale was working in commercial television, and it was here that the fourth Quatermass serial finally found an outlet. Even though Kneale had been a BBC staff writer when he had created the character in 1953, it was he individually and not the Corporation who held copyright in Quatermass, so Kneale was free to take him wherever he chose. The serial was picked up by Thames Television to be produced by their subsidiary company Euston Films, taking the Professor across to the BBC's rival, the ITV network, for the first time.

Related Topics:
1953 - Thames Television - Euston Films - ITV

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Quatermass, as the serial was finally titled, had far higher production values then any of the previous television serials and even than Hammer's feature film versions. Produced on what was then a very generous budget of £1 million, the serial was made on glossy 35mm film.

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The serial was broadcast on Wednesday nights in four one-hour episodes, from October 24 to November 14 1979. Each episode was described on-screen and in listings as a 'Chapter'. Chapters one and four (Ringstone Round and An Endangered Species) were scheduled in a 9.00-10.00pm timeslot; two and three (Lovely Lightning and What Lies Beneath) slightly later in a 9.10-10.10pm slot. The first episode received particular attention as it was the centrepiece of ITV's first evening back on air following a strike which had blacked the network out for over seventy days. The strike had delayed the broadcast of the serial, which had been ready for some time and had been meant to be shown much earlier.

Related Topics:
October 24 - November 14 - 1979 - ITV - Strike

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For sale and possible theatrical release abroad, an alternative 105-minute movie edit of the serial was prepared, which went under its own title, The Quatermass Conclusion. This greatly annoyed Kneale, as he did not like having to write a story that would need to work in two forms of such massively different length.

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The serial was repeated on ITV as a two-part compilation version in the spring of 1984. Chapters one and two were edited together as Chapter One: Ringstone Round, and chapters three and four simply as Chapter Two with no subtitle. These two compilations were broadcast on successive Wednesday nights, May 9 and May 16 1984, both in 10.30pm-12.25am timeslots.

Related Topics:
ITV - 1984 - May 9 - May 16

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In 2002 the production was released as a DVD box set in the UK, which included both the original four-part serial version and The Quatermass Conclusion movie edit.

Related Topics:
2002 - DVD - UK

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