Quatermass Conclusion

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The real star of any of the Quatermass productions of course is the script by Nigel Kneale. The script for this fourth Quatermass story was originally written several years for the BBC but was unmade until the late 1970s. It might be important to remember that was going in Britain at the time it was written: a miners' strike that put Britain on a three day work week, rolling power cuts, public unrest and a sense that society might be on the brink of collapse. All that feeds into the script by Kneale along with both the rise of hippies, a revived interest in megalithic stone circles along with some of the themes he had explored throughout the scripts of his career (ancient forces terrorizing the present from Quatermass And The Pit and The Stone Tape for example). The result is perhaps the most intriguing of the four Quatermass stories. While all that might make this story seem dated it might be worth keeping in mind the rise of belief in an apocalypse in 2012, the popularity of end time prophecy and the rapture or increasing concerns about the economy. Somehow this Quatermass story seems more relevant than ever. Quatermass met with a generally unenthusiastic critical response. Sean Day-Lewis wrote, "Although Piers Haggard's direction achieves much verisimilitude and the story is certainly enough to command some addiction; I did not feel exactly grabbed; the genre has moved some way since the 1950s and the Professor moves a little slowly for the 1970s". [21] The reviewer in The Daily Telegraph found Professor Quatermass "far too unheroic and unresourceful to carry much interest" while The Times found the serial to be "a so-so affair". [8]More positive was the Daily Mail who thought the serial was "not the best of Nigel Kneale but it equalled any of his earliest Quatermass stories". [8] John Brosnan, writing in Starburstmagazine, found the serial to be "a bitter reaction by a member of an older generation to the younger generation whose apparently irrational behaviour makes them appear to belong to a totally different species. Naturally in the traditions of sf, these failings are exaggerated to the nth degree. Thus muggers and juvenile delinquents become armed gangs and the hippy movement with its emphasis on mysticism, becomes the Planet Church. It's very much a story of Age versus Youth and significantly it's the older people who are impervious to the malign alien influence". [35] This view is echoed by filmmaker John Carpenter who said, "Nigel was very embittered about the way of the world, as was shown, I think, in The Quatermass Conclusion". This was because The Quatermass Conclusion was actually a recut, hundred-minute variation on the 1979 television series Kneale wrote for Thames, a condensed run through of the main points of the original with a smattering of new footage added, mostly violent. The idea was to make money by not only broadcasting it on T.V., but to sell the film overseas as well, yet in the event more people in Britain saw the serial than those abroad actually went to see it in their cinemas. This leaves Conclusion as a curious footnote to a character who was better served elsewhere, and not simply due to the increased time that Kneale had to play with on the small screen - around four hours' worth.

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] The BBC was also pleased with the success of The Quatermass Experiment and in 1955 a sequel, Quatermass II, was broadcast, with John Robinson in the title role following Tate's death. [30] This was followed in 1958 by Quatermass and the Pit, and both serials also had feature film versions made by Hammer. The character returned to television in a 1979 serial, simply titled Quatermass, for Thames Television. [31] Network have released a Blu-ray box set of the TV series including the film version displaying some excellent restoration. Extras include episode recaps, the film's trailer (mute, oddly), a gallery and the chance to watch the series with the music only.] Optional and clearly presented English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired are also available. If it wasn't bad enough that society is in the toilet with violent gangs controlling streets while chanting hippies march in the countryside, the glimmer of hope of progress of the international space station is destroyed live on television. Shortly after the world is hit by a powerful ray of intense light from deep in space. The Planet People are over the moon (so to speak) as they believe it is them being beamed up to the next planet, however Professor Quatermass (who is simply there to find his missing granddaughter) believes something much more sinister is going on.

GIANT MONSTERS

Nigel Kneale does have one weakness with his Quatermass stories. And that is the denouement. In Quatermass 2 (to a lesser extent) Quatermass and the Pit and this one, when the denouement is delivered it goes over people's heads. There is nothing wrong with the denouement in itself, it is just revealed in such an abstruse way, that you need to watch the thing a second or even a third time before you get the message. In this case I had to read the book to make sure I had got it right. The denouement, if you can fathom it, is a good one. Lambert, David (13 February 2005). "Quatermass – Prof. Quatermass' last adventure comes to DVD". www.tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011 . Retrieved 8 September 2008.

As the police chase the rapidly transforming Carroon across London, Quatermass analyses samples of the mutated creature in a laboratory, and realises that it has the ability to end all life on Earth should it spore. A television crew working on an architectural programme locates the creature in Westminster Abbey, and Quatermass and British Army troops rush in to destroy it in the hour just before it will bring about doomsday. Quatermass convinces the consciousness of the three crewmen buried deep inside the creature to turn against it and destroy it. This appeal to the remnants of their humanity succeeds in defeating the organism. Quite how the population became so depleted (roads are empty of vehicles and the communities we do encounter are about the size of a football team) is left largely for us to imagine. Hints are dropped during a teasingly non-specific conversation between Quatermass and District Commissioner Annie Morgan about a youth-led worldwide social collapse, the touchstones of which would have been familiar to a British audience at the time of the series' first screening. But while this attempt at social commentary has the potential to give the series considerable socio-political bite, the sometimes crude nature of its targeting also undermines its effectiveness as drama. Secondary characters in Quatermass are deployed to good effect, and modern film makers should take note about how such characters can be used to fill out a plot and create interesting characters, rather than props or dumb cannon fodder. They are used well to bolster the sense of discovery and revelation about what is happening and treated with intelligence and compassion. On 9 September, 2023, a live script-reading production of Quatermass , was staged at Alexandra Palace in London, with Mark Gatiss playing the role of Quatermass As you might expect, this is the end title sequence without the titles. Or the sound, as it happens.John Mills is excellent as Quatermass. Embracing his role he obviously drew on his age and paternal experience to inject the famous scientist with pathos and real focus.

Quatermass met with a generally unenthusiastic critical response. Sean Day-Lewis wrote: "Although Piers Haggard's direction achieves much verisimilitude and the story is certainly enough to command some addiction; I did not feel exactly grabbed; the genre has moved some way since the 1950s and the Professor moves a little slowly for the 1970s". [32] The reviewer in The Daily Telegraph found Professor Quatermass "far too unheroic and unresourceful to carry much interest" while The Times found the serial to be "a so-so affair". [15] John Brosnan, writing in Starburst magazine, found the serial to be "a bitter reaction by a member of an older generation to the younger generation whose apparently irrational behaviour makes them appear to belong to a totally different species. Naturally in the traditions of sf, these failings are exaggerated to the nth degree. Thus muggers and juvenile delinquents become armed gangs and the hippy movement with its emphasis on mysticism, becomes the Planet Church. It's very much a story of Age versus Youth and significantly it's the older people who are impervious to the malign alien influence". [35] This view is echoed by filmmaker John Carpenter who said that "Nigel was very embittered about the way of the world, as was shown, I think, in The Quatermass Conclusion". [36]Quatermass was originally conceived as a BBC production, but after the corporation lost faith in the project because of spiralling costs, work was halted. The scripts were acquired by Euston Films and Kneale, who was commissioned to rewrite the scripts into two versions: a four-part television serial and The Quatermass Conclusion, a 100-minute film, intended for international theatrical release. BBC FOUR to produce a live broadcast of the sci-fi classic, The Quatermass Experiment". BBC Press Office. 3 March 2005 . Retrieved 27 January 2007. In 2007, Gatiss appeared as the character Professor Lazarus in the Doctor Who episode " The Lazarus Experiment". The Radio Times noted in its preview of the episode that "tonight's story is an enjoyable synthesis of She, The Fly and The Quatermass Experiment—even down to the final battle in a London cathedral". [27] Other media [ edit ]

Brosnan, John (1991). The Primal Screen. A History of Science Fiction Film. London: Orbit. ISBN 978-0-356-20222-8.

In January 2015, BBC Radio 2 broadcast an interview with Hammer Films CEO Simon Oaks, which included news of the development of a new Quatermass series for television.