Quatermass (TV serial)

Professor Bernard Quatermass was created by Manx writer Nigel Kneale in 1953 for the serial The Quatermass Experiment. Its success led to two sequels, Quatermass II (1955) and Quatermass and the Pit (1958).[1] These three Quatermass serials are seen today as seminal 1950s television productions. Kneale, however, became disenchanted with the BBC and went freelance in the late 1950s, producing scripts for Hammer Films and Associated Television.[2]

The notion of bringing Professor Quatermass back for a fourth adventure dated back to at least 1965 when producer Irene Shubik asked Kneale to contribute a new Quatermass story for the first season of the science fiction anthology series, Out of the Unknown.[3] Nothing came of this but the prospect of Quatermass making a reappearance arose again when, following the success of the film version of Quatermass and the Pit in 1967, Hammer was in discussions with Kneale for a new Quatermass adventure.[4] Again, this did not progress beyond the initial negotiation stage. In the meantime Kneale had been coaxed back to the BBC, writing plays such as The Year of the Sex Olympics (1968), Wine of India (1970) and The Stone Tape (1972).[2] Following completion of The Stone Tape, Kneale was commissioned on 21 November 1972 by BBC head of drama serials, Ronnie Marsh, to write a new four-part Quatermass serial.[5]

Assigned to produce the serial was Dixon of Dock Green producer Joe Waters.[6][7] Preliminary filming on Quatermass began in June 1973 at Ealing Studios where special effects designer Jack Wilkie and his assistant, Ian Scoones shot model footage for part one of the serial, of a space station with astronauts working on its hull.[8] At this point the BBC got cold feet about the project; it had become concerned about the cost of mounting the production and had been refused permission to film at Stonehenge, one of the locations at which Kneale had envisaged the Planet People would gather to be reaped by the alien force.[7] Kneale recalled that Stonehenge "had become Big Business and the place was like a factory with tourists there from dawn to dusk... they weren't going to let anyone go near it".[4] Kneale also felt that the BBC was unhappy with the script believing it "didn't suit their image at that time; it was too gloomy".[9] In the end, it was decided during summer 1973 that for financial reasons the BBC would not proceed with the production.[9] However the BBC still had an option on the script until 1975, and retained this until it expired.[7]

At this stage Kneale was working primarily at ITV, having written the play Murrain (screened in the anthology series Against The Crowd, 1975) and the anthology series Beasts (1976) for ATV.[2] In May 1977, Euston Films—a subsidiary of Thames Television best known for The Sweeney (1975–1978)—picked up Kneale's unmade Quatermass scripts.[7] This new production, known either as Quatermass or Quatermass IV, would consist of a four-part serial to be broadcast by ITV which would be recut as a 100-minute film, titled The Quatermass Conclusion, for release in North America and Europe.[7][10] Kneale was dubious about having to craft both a television serial version and a film version of his tale, feeling that "in the end we had two versions, neither of which was the right length for the story".[11] During the rewrites, Kneale transplanted the action at the conclusion of part three from Stonehenge to the more easily available Wembley Stadium.[8] When asked about what differences there were between the Euston Films version and the version originally envisaged for the BBC, Kneale remarked that "the BBC version would have been much more in the studio, whereas the Euston Films version was entirely shot on 35mm film with a great deal of it outside. Much more lavish than either the BBC or I had contemplated".[12]

Kneale began writing the scripts, working to a delivery deadline of February 1973.[13] Much of the setting for the story was influenced by contemporary political events such as strikes, power cuts, the oil crisis and developments in the space race, especially the planned Apollo-Soyuz missions and Skylab.[14] Writing in the listings magazine TV Times to promote the serial, Kneale said: "Quatermass is a story of the future – but perhaps only a few years from now. There are some clues already in the most obvious places: the streets. Pavements littered with rubbish. Walls painted with angry graffiti. Belfast black with smoke and rage. Worst of all, the mindless violence".[15] Concerns about the state of society, especially the "dropout" culture of the youth movement, had been a theme of Kneale's writing for some time. This was seen in such works as The Big, Big Giggle, an unmade play about a teenage suicide cult; The Year of the Sex Olympics, about the consequences of a world with no censorship or inhibitions; and Bam! Pow! Zap! (1969), about teenage delinquents, all of which fed into the world depicted in the new Quatermass serial.[16][17] Kneale said: "I looked at the alarming aspects of contemporary trends. Since then, we'd seen 'flower power' and hippies, so all I did was bring them into the story. It was written in 1972 and it was about the sixties really".[4] Another theme that had crept into Kneale's writing at this time—as seen in Wine of India, about compulsory euthanasia for the elderly, and later the Beasts episode "During Barty's Party", about an elderly couple terrorised by rats—was the consequences of growing old.[16] Kneale later recalled: "The theme I was trying to get to was the old redressing the balance with the young, saving the young, which I thought a nice, paradoxical, ironic idea after the youth-oriented 60s".[18]

Following Quatermass, writer Nigel Kneale developed the sitcom Kinvig (1981) for London Weekend Television. During the 1980s he was courted for scripts by admiring Hollywood directors and producers such as John Carpenter, John Landis and Joe Dante, but with limited success. Returning to television, he adapted Susan Hill's novel The Woman in Black (1989) and wrote episodes of Sharpe and Kavanagh QC. He died in 2006.[2]

John Mills was chosen to play Quatermass (the fourth different actor to play the role in four serials on television), who had appeared in significant roles in many high-profile British films, including The Way to the Stars (1945), Great Expectations (1946) and Ice Cold in Alex (1958), and had won an Academy Award for his role in Ryan's Daughter (1970).[19] Mills, whose only previous television credit at the time was The Zoo Gang (1974), was reluctant to take the part but was persuaded by his wife, who liked the script.[4] Following Quatermass he appeared in Gandhi (1982), Martin Chuzzlewit (1994) and Hamlet (1996), working right up to his death in 2005.[19]

Joe Kapp was played by Simon MacCorkindale, who had previously appeared in "Baby", one of the episodes of Nigel Kneale's Beasts series.[20] MacCorkindale was delighted with the part of Joe Kapp, finding it a break from the typecast romantic roles he was used to playing.[4] Following Quatermass, MacCorkindale appeared in The Riddle of the Sands (1979), and subsequently moved to the United States where, after playing a few guest roles on television, he secured a part in Jaws 3 (1983) and the lead in the short-lived series Manimal (1983). He was then a series regular in Falcon Crest (1984–86), Counterstrike (1990–93) and Poltergeist: The Legacy (1999). He then returned to the United Kingdom, where he played the character of Harry Harper in Casualty between 2002 and 2008. MacCorkindale died in 2010.[20]

Barbara Kellerman, who played Claire Kapp, had previously had a regular role in 1990 (1977–78) and would later portray the White Witch in the BBC adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (1988).[21]

Quatermass also featured many familiar faces from British television and film in supporting roles, including Margaret Tyzack, Bruce Purchase, James Ottaway, Brenda Fricker, David Yip, Kevin Stoney, Gretchen Franklin, Brian Croucher and Chris Quinten, as well as the singer (and later television presenter) Toyah Willcox.[22]

Director Piers Haggard, who was the great-grand-nephew of author H. Rider Haggard,[11] had been directing since the 1960s. Prior to Quatermass, he had directed the acclaimed Dennis Potter drama serial Pennies from Heaven (1978).[23] Commenting on the script, Haggard described it as "a tremendous re-assertion of the importance of people, ordinary people, and how necessary they are in fighting evil".[11] Following Quatermass, he directed The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980) and the Disney Channel TV series Return to Treasure Island (1985).[23]

Executive producer Verity Lambert had first made her mark as producer of the first two years of Doctor Who (1963). Since then she had carved out an impressive career, first at the BBC with programmes such as Adam Adamant Lives! (1966–67) and The Newcomers (1965–69), and then at Thames Television with productions such as The Naked Civil Servant (TV film; 1975) and the series Rumpole of the Bailey (1978–92).[24] She became Chief Executive of Euston Films in 1979; Quatermass was one of the first productions she oversaw in the role, seeing it as a project to make her mark on the company.[4] She had clashed with Nigel Kneale in 1965 on the BBC arts programme Late Night Line-Up, when he attacked her for making Doctor Who too frightening for children.[25] Despite this she held Kneale in high esteem, describing him as "a fantastic writer... hugely imaginative... considering the impact his work has had, I think he's undervalued".[10] Following Quatermass she produced such shows as Danger UXB (1979), Minder (1979–85; 1988–94) and Widows (1983) for Euston before in 1985 forming her own production company, Cinema Verity, which oversaw programmes including G.B.H. (1991), Eldorado (1992–93) and Jonathan Creek (1997–2004).[24] She was awarded the OBE in 2002.[26] She died in 2007.

Producer Ted Childs had begun his career with Euston on Special Branch (1969–74) and had produced episodes of The Sweeney and its film spin-offs Sweeney! (1977) and Sweeney 2 (1978).[27] Childs saw Quatermass as a big gamble for Euston, out of step with the company's usual fare.[4] Childs later remarked that Verity Lambert "didn't want to come in and just do the same old routine – the kick bollock and scramble action adventure stuff that made the early name of the company".[28] He continues to be one of British television's top producers, responsible for such shows as Chancer (1991), Inspector Morse (1987–2000), Sharpe (1993–2006), Kavanagh QC (1995–2001) and Lewis (2006–2015).[27]

Script editor Linda Agran has since acted as producer of such series as Widows, Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013) and The Vanishing Man (1996).[29]

The production took place between 26 August and 23 December 1978[3] at locations around Middlesex and Hertfordshire as well as London, including Wembley Stadium.[30] The budget was £1.25 million (£7.63 million in 2023), making it one of the most expensive undertakings Euston had attempted at that time.[4] Production designer Arnold Chapkis constructed several large and elaborate sets, including those for the megalithic standing stones at Ringstone Round, the Kapps' radio telescope and observatory, and the decaying urban landscape of London; Kneale quipped about the radio telescope set that "it probably would have worked if they'd just aimed it properly!"[16] Associate producer Norton Knatchbull noted that the serial "was the first 'art department' picture Euston has ever been involved in, in the sense that major sets had to be built on location".[30] This led Euston executive Johnny Goodman to joke: "Our biggest problem was finding someone who wanted the two giant telescope dishes after we finished filming. There's not much demand for such things".[15] One aspect where the budget was less than generous was with the model sequences made by Clearwater Films; Johnny Goodman remarked that the cost was less than James Bond producer Cubby Broccoli "would spend on cigars in a week".[31] Post-production was completed in mid-February 1979.[32] Unlike the original BBC Quatermass serials, which had used stock music tracks, the new serial had a specially composed soundtrack by Marc Wilkinson and Nic Rowley which made particular use of the nursery rhyme "Huffity, Puffity, Ringstone Round" devised by Kneale in his scripts.[32]