The Quatermass Experiment

monkeyfudge

Did anyone else catch this on BBC 4 this evening?

It was a new updated version of The Quatermass Experiment done live on TV the way it was originally done back in 1953.

I thought it worked very well, you get a great vibe out of a live drama. Although I couldn't help cringing when some of the actors muddled up their lines.

I wasn't too crazy about Jason Flemyng as Quatermass either, he came across very bland and he seemed far too young for the part.

Andrian Dunbarr and David Tennent were excellent though.

Wertz

I'm unfortunately restricted to terrestial analogue, but Quatermass pwns in those couple of films. Scared the bejaysus out of me when I was a kid, like nothing else...

monkeyfudge

The original recording of Quatermass was one of the shows that the BBC threw out in the bin.

But the films that were made were quite good too.

Quatermass and the Pit was very good. That's the one were they find an ancient alien space ship while digging the London Underground.

The BBC seems too be really getting back into doing science Fiction again, what with this and Doctor Who on the same night.

SkepticOne

It wasn't perfect. Some of the video inserts seemed to go on a lot longer than needed, presumably to allow scene changes. I agree that the actor playing Quatermas was a bit too young for the rather portentious lines he had to deliver. I'm not sure how well the updating of the story went. It seemed a little like those stagings on Shakespear in a modern setting to me.

On the whole, it worked well. There was comparitively little fluffing of lines, I thought. The scene changes worked well. The live nature did give the thing a bit of a buzz it wouldn't otherwise have had.

I would like to see more stuff like this. I think they could probably do more live dramas on a less ambitious scale and keep within a budget. Apparently the Bill was broadcast live for the 20'th aniversary and it cost twice what it would normally cost. I would have thought it would be more than this. If it was done on a regular basis, the cost could probably be reduced to close to the cost of taping.

mike65

Only caught the last 15 mins of it, but will try to catch a repeat.

The only Quatermass I've seen previously were the Hammer film of "...and the Pit" which was exellent and Quatermass IV with John Mills back in 1979 which at the time I liked.

The time is right for a Nigel Kneale revival. That and the return of Blakes 7

Mike.

foxybrowne

I think they messed up at the end with the special effects and had to end the show prematuraly.