UK, 18 July 1953-22 August 53
1 series, 6 episodes, average 33m each
broadcast live; two episodes survive as telerecordings
black and white, 4:3
mono, English
A British television science fiction serial written by Nigel Kneale and produced by Rudolph Cartier. It was the first of Kneale’s Quatermass serials and was remade for the big screen by Hammer in 1955 and again for television in 2005.
Premise
A British space mission returns to Earth with two of the crew missing and the third infected by an alien lifeform that threatens to eradicate all life on the planet.
Credits
Regular Crew
BBC
Production by: Rudolph Cartier
Written by: Nigel Kneale
Designed by: Richard R. Greenough
Regular Cast
Reginald Tate (Professor Bernard Quatermass)
Isabel Dean (Judith Carroon)
Hugh Kelly (John Paterson)
Paul Whitsun-Jones (James Fullalove)
Episodes
Contact Has Been Established (18 July 1953)
With: Duncan Lamont (Victor Carroon), Moray Watson (Peter Marsh), Eugene Leahy (police inspector), Neil Wilson (policeman), Katie Johnson (Miss Wilde), Oliver Johnston (news editor), Patrick Westwood (first reporter), Dominic Le Foe (second reporter), Aubrey Danvers-Walker (photographer), W. Thorp Devereux (Blaker), Van Boolen (Len Matthews), Iris Ballard (Mrs Matthews), Colyn Davies (fireman), Nicholas Bruce (BBC newsreader), Pat McGrath (BBC interviewer), Macgregor Urquhart (sandwichman), Denis Wyndham (reveller)
Persons Reported Missing (25 July 1953)
With: Duncan Lamont (Victor Carroon), Moray Watson (Peter Marsh), John Glen (Doctor Gordon Briscoe), Ian Colin (Detective Inspector Lomax), Frank Hawkins (Detective Sergeant Best), Christopher Rhodes (Doctor Ludwig Reichenheim), Oliver Johnston (news editor), Patrick Westwood (first reporter), Dominic Le Foe (second reporter), Eugene Leahy (police inspector), Neil Wilson (policeman, Wimbledon), Peter Bathurst (Charles Greene), Enid Lindsey (Louisa Greene), Stella Richman (hospital sister), Maurice Durant (policeman, Scotland Yard)
Very Special Knowledge (1 August 1953)
With: Duncan Lamont (Victor Carroon), Katie Johnson (Miss Wilde), John Glen (Doctor Gordon Briscoe), Ian Colin (Detective Inspector Lomax), Frank Hawkins (Detective Sergeant Best), Christopher Rhodes (Doctor Ludwig Reichenheim), Philip Vickers (American reporter), Lewis Wilson (Walters), Edward David (Indian reporter)
Believed to Be Suffering (8 August 1953)
With: Duncan Lamont (Victor Carroon), Katie Johnson (Miss Wilde), Oliver Johnston (news editor), John Glen (Doctor Gordon Briscoe), Ian Colin (Detective Inspector Lomax), Frank Hawkins (Detective Sergeant Best), Philip Vickers (American reporter), Lewis Wilson (Walters), Anthony Green (boy), Richard Cuthbert (chemist), Bernadette Milnes (usherette), Darrell Runey (photographer), Jack Rodney (Ramsay), Lee Fox (cinema manager), Janet Joyce (cinemagoer), Keith Herrington (space lieutenant), Pauline Johnson (space girl)
An Unidentified Species (15 August 1953)
With: Duncan Lamont (Victor Carroon), John Glen (Doctor Gordon Briscoe), Ian Colin (Detective Inspector Lomax), Frank Hawkins (Detective Sergeant Best), Anthony Green (boy), Richard Cuthbert (chemist), Bernadette Milnes (usherette), John Kidd (Sir Vernon Dodds), Josephine Crombie (secretary), Christie Humphrey (Janet), John Stone (Ted), Frank Atkinson (park keeper), Reginald Hearne (police inspector), Wilfrid Brambell (drunk)
State of Emergency (22 August 1953)
With: John Glen (Doctor Gordon Briscoe), Ian Colin (Detective Inspector Lomax), Frank Hawkins (Detective Sergeant Best), John Kidd (Sir Vernon Dodds), Josephine Crombie (secretary), Keith Pyott (cabinet minister), Andrew Lawrence (Major O’Neill), Peter Franklin (army sergeant), Kenneth Midwood (policeman), Arnold Diamond (man in crowd)
Alternative Titles
Bring Something Back…! – working title
The Unbegotten – working title
Links
Sequels
Quatermass II (1955)
Quatermass and the Pit (1958)
Quatermass (1979)
Remakes
The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
The Quatermass Experiment (1967)
The Quatermass Experiment (2005)
Extracts included in
Shades of Grey (2009)
See also
Quatermass 2 (1957)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
References
Periodicals
- Epi-Log no.16 pp.35-37 – episode guide, credit
- Time Screen no.7 [revised] p.22 – note
- TV Zone Special no.25 p.10 – illustrated article
- TV Zone no.106 pp.38-43 – illustrated article
Books
- The Complete Directory to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Television Series p.635 – episode, credits
- The Encyclopedia of TV Science Fiction (3rd edition) pp.352-354 – episode guide, credits, short article
- The Kaleidoscope BBC Television Drama Research Guide 1936-2011, first digital edition, September 2011 pp.1750-1751 – credits
- Serials on British Television 1950-1994 by Ellen Baskin p.10 – episode guide, credits
