The Quatermass Experiment

The Quatermass Experiment is a British television science-fiction serial, transmitted by BBC Television in the summer of 1953, and re-staged by BBC Four in 2005. Originally comprised of six half-hour episodes, it was the first science-fiction production to be written especially for an adult television audience. Previous written-for-television efforts such as Stranger from Space (1951–52) had been aimed at children, whereas adult sci-fi dramas had been adapted from literary sources, such as R.U.R. (1938 and again in 1948) and The Time Machine (1949). It was the first of four Quatermass serials to be screened on British television between 1953 and 1979.

2005 remake

On Saturday 2 April 2005, the BBC's digital channel BBC Four broadcast a live remake of the serial, abridged to a single one-hour-forty-minute special from the original six thirty-minute episodes, although it was scheduled in a two-hour slot—underrunning whereas most of the original episodes had overrun. Adapted from the original scripts by Executive Producer Richard Fell, the new broadcast was directed by Sam Miller. Kneale acted as a consultant, and the production was the BBC's first live drama broadcast for over twenty years apart from a 2003 production of Richard II, which was televised theatre as opposed to a made-for-television drama.

Related Topics:
2 April - 2005 - BBC Four - Richard Fell - Sam Miller - 2003 - Richard II - Theatre

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Actor Jason Flemyng played Quatermass, with Mark Gatiss as Paterson, Andrew Tiernan as Carroon and David Tennant as Briscoe. The broadcast suffered only a few errors with some fluffed lines, several on- and off-camera stumbles, background sounds occasionally obscuring the dialogue, and, at the programme's end, a cameraman and sound man in shot. On two occasions near the middle of the broadcast a large on-screen graphic advising viewers that a major news story—the death of Pope John Paul II—was being covered on BBC News 24 was overlaid onto the action.

Related Topics:
Jason Flemyng - Mark Gatiss - Andrew Tiernan - David Tennant - Pope John Paul II - BBC News 24

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The story was basically identical to the original, although set in the present day. The climax was moved from Westminster Abbey to Tate Modern (as the latter was easier to replicate in studio) and there is no visible monster.

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Although the broadcast was live, the colour and contrast were manipulated to make the picture look more like film—a common practice in modern videotaped drama, but one that could be seen as ironic in this case. Drawing an average audience of 482,000, The Quatermass Experiment became BBC Four's second-highest rated programme of all time, behind The Alan Clark Diaries.

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