The Quatermass Experiment Experiment

The Quatermass Experiment was the first live drama on the BBC for over twenty years. A remake of a bona fide classic, it featured some of the best British actors working in television today. And Jason Flemming. A two-hour special so special it only lasted 90 minutes.

So what happened? Did they just cut a huge chunk out at the last minute? Like the end, perhaps? Even in the 50s they tried to show us a monster (OK, it was only Nigel Kneale in some gloves) but here we get... er... hmmm.... um...

And what was up with Mark Gatiss? I don't want to get sued for slander, but what was all that nose rubbing about? Did he have a cold? Was he nervous? Was his character a coke fiend? We may never know...

The most exciting, edge-of-the-seat moment came when Fullalove (what a name!), played by Brian from Teachers (and voice-over work on Challenge TV) completely screwed up. He almost corpsed into hysterics until part of his brain reminded him that millions (well, thousands) of people were hanging on his every word. And his co-star was very helpful, offering nothing more than a panicked series of "Yes?"-es as if that was going to bail him out. Amazing stuff and thank god for Sky Plus.

Another fabulous moment came when David Tennant was running so fast he nearly went flying off the set. Perhaps he could see Russel T Davies off-camera, holding a contract...

Having just purchased the BBC's excellent Quatermass trilogy on DVD I was amazed to discover that there were less mistakes in the 1953 version!

But on the whole, I enjoyed it. It was a brave attempt to hark back at a more innocent time. And the live element did rack up the tension to almost unbearable levels at times (especially when Fullalove was on-screen). Personally, I'm holding out for a live episode of Doctor Who next season. David could handle it...

Comments

[Paul Hayes]

To be fair in 1953 they only had to learn half an hour a week... I was actually quite impressed that the actor playing Fullalove was back together and composed again by his next scene. It was the "Major news story now on BBC News 24" graphics that irritated me.

Oh, and did you spot the cameraman rushing in for the close-up on Flemyng at the end, which you could clearly see while they were still on the wide shot of Quatermass emerging from the building? :-)

[Neil]

To be fair - Fullalove had less than 30 mins of dialogue to learn. And while there are fluffs in the 1953 version they don't start laughing!

[Paul Hayes]

I like the one from "Quatermass II" when Robinson points and cries "Look, there!", waits for the film insert, realises it's not coming, and forlornly carries on with "...and there, and there, and there..."

[Steve Wilson]

I thought it was excellent. As for not showing a monster, I think this was an idea that would have been approved by, if not invented by, Nigel Kneale. In 1953 you might be able to get away with some knobbly gloves representing it, but this is over 50 years later and it was supposed to be live, really live, not a few live bits with filmed bits added on.
Kneale never liked the fact that in the first Quatermass movie they simply electrocuted the monster, whereas in both TV versions Quatermass persuaded it to die. I thought that scene was very daring in the new version. Now, how about Quatermass 2 - which one reviewer I'm quoting from (bad) memory said
"...was based on the entirely reasonable premise that if an alien species wanted to turn the planet into a living hell for all humans they would start by taking over the Conservative Party........"