Quatermass and the Pit

Long before watching this, I had seen the Hammer film version and had enjoyed it a great deal as I found it to be quite thoughtful and intelligent while also being creepy and a bit unnerving. Sitting to complete the DVD box-set by watching the third series over a few nights, I was surprised to find just how strong it was and how very well it has stood up to the effects of time. The main reason for this is the plotting and the delivery thereof. The story sees the gradual discovery of something in the earth below London – at first the missing link, then an unexploded bomb and then something much odder indeed. Within a few hours this story has taken us from a group of builders unearthing a skull, through to the brink of man's destruction – a journey that manages to be convincing, engaging and thrilling, even though it is a 1950's BBC TV drama driven mostly by people talking in front of a big plastic pipe sticking out of the ground. I don't mean to sound like a heretic in front of sci-fi fans, but this is sort of what this series is. But yet it works incredibly well.

The story builds excellently. The dialogue isn't clunky and actually draws you in with its precision and thoughtful discussions of what is going on – an approach that makes the dramatic moments all the more dramatic by virtue of contrast. What really drives it though are the ideas and it is here that I almost wish I had the ability to see it as someone watching on television when it was first broadcast. Thanks to the mainstream success of sci-fi horror films down the years and shows like X-files, the idea of an alien presence being on Earth before humans and shaping and guiding life is not shockingly new – nor does any religious group get particularly offended when a sci-fi suggests a plot of that nature, however this Quatermass and the Pit was made in the late 50's and it was a very different world then.

I particularly wonder how the effects went down because watching with my cynical "seen it all" eye from the comfort of 2012, I was still genuinely unnerved by the excellent sense of foreboding creeping across the film and a little scared by the images and events of the final few episodes (the wild hunt sticking in my mind the most). When older fans speak about their memories of hiding behind the sofa, I can believe it because this is pretty strong stuff in regards the ideas. OK, we don't see a lot of what we "know" is happening, but because the story, place and characters have all been build so well by dialogue and atmosphere, the viewer is bought into it and it is a small ask to do the work that the cameras cannot. That said I was still impressed by the effects – indeed so impressed that I yet again had to turn to Google just to confirm that this show was mostly broadcast live. The standard of acting and seamless transitions between scenes is impressive enough in this regard but the more dramatic action towards the end is all the more impressive for being done once in front of cameras.

The cast are very good throughout. It took me a minute to get used to yet another actor playing Quatermass (and playing him as a different type of character again) but within one episode I was loving Morell. He doesn't cling too much to the scientific professor and he allows his love of the unknown to show, thus allowing other emotions to come later on. Linder is not quite as good but still works – I think him having an American accent put me off a little but otherwise he was OK. Bushell is good with his one-note character but Finn impressed me the most. In Quatermass II we had a supporting actress who looked like she was in a finishing school parade, but here Finn really lets herself go and her terror and her reactions later are unnerving for just how real she makes they seem. Some very small roles are a bit wooden here, but otherwise everyone is very good – and again, remember this was all done live for the camera.

Quatermass and the Pit was hyped to me, fellow reviewer Theo Robertson would frequently comment on any sci-fi I said was good with "ah yes but you've not seen Quatermass and the Pit", so I did have it in my mind that I should expect something good. Although this preconception normally hurts the reality, here it did no such thing as even though I expected it to be good, I was still surprised by how good it was. A strong script delivers a story brimming with influential ideas and commentary in a technically impressive live delivery. I said I had planned to watch this series over a couple of nights? Never made it – too compulsive to stop, it was gone in one evening.

A remarkable 6-part television "mini-series" from the 1950s, this programme is an object lesson in how much can be achieved with comparatively little. By modern standards the special effects are almost non-existent, the camera work is poor and often badly focussed, the continuity between episodes is occasionally bad, the acting is a little sloppy, etc. However none of these mere technical problems matter because they are all forgotten as the viewer is swept away by the intelligence, ingenuity and originality of the plot, which becomes totally involving. The shadowy black-and-white scenes and the excellent (often electronic) soundtrack create a brooding and tense atmosphere which is just right. At 3 hours in length (with an intermission break in the middle) this makes a perfect night's viewing for science fiction fans who can appreciate a good story well told.

Quatermass and the Pit was remade 9 years later and although it is a much leaner, faster film (at only 90 minutes in length) it also has much to offer. See both and enjoy both.

I first watched this when it was first broadcast during the autumn/winter 1958/1959 and it had me on the edge of my seat throughout. I bought the video a few years ago and even though the editing spoiled the end of episode cliffhangers it is still worth seeing. This was BBC Drama at its best. Made on a low-budget, it was wonderfully produced and acted. Who could ever forget those special moments: The Corporal who saw a ghost walk through the wall; the opening of the missile revealing three long dead Martians; and the drill operator running through the streets of London as if was being pursued by real Martians; and the final scenes of the Devil hovering above a ruined London. A classic indeed.

The line above, uttered by Professor Bernard Quatermass in the abandoned and derelict building in Hob's Lane, Knightsbridge, remains one of the most chilling moments of dialog ever uttered on either the television or theatrical screen. I was twelve at the time and came as close to wetting my pants that night as I have since. (with the possible exception of the day I received a letter postmarked R.A.A.C. telling me I had been conscripted into the Australian Army in 1967 - THINK about it!)

So far ahead of its time QUATERMASS AND THE PIT, Nigel Kneale's third installment in the Quatermass series, was a brilliant pot-pourri of horror, sci-fi, mysticism, the occult and just plain scripted genius. It was estimated that more than 3/4 of Britain were tuned-in to the 6th and final episode - the rest we presume, didn't have television!

Distinguised British actor Andre Morell WAS the perfect Quatermass, Senior Government scientist and head of Rocket Research, assigned to an investigation of the presumed 'unexploded bomb' unearthed during a routine archaeological 'dig' at Knightsbridge, subsequent upon the discovery of a human skull during building excavation there. Following the unearthing of the object virtually unmarked, yet located BELOW the skull, since carbon-dated as being at least five million years old, extreme paranormal occurrences are recorded which in 1958 were simply terrifying. Their power can still be seen even in the creaky and grainy old B & W video re-edit that was released some years ago and which I regularly watch, probably as much to re-capture my youth as to be thrilled once again.

This was a cerebral trip, Neve Campbell really wouldn't have slotted in here! It was a DIFFERENT fear back then...cabalistic markings, disturbing sounds, ghosts and demons you couldn't see, but KNEW were there (that awesome utterance in the summary!) and the biggest fright of all - the dead martian as it rustled and slipped through that web of decaying strands that had held it in place all those centuries! The big-screen color re-make FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH was OK but lost all the POWER of the TV original and remains a pale imitation.

To have been able to watch this epic piece of film-making AT THE TIME was a great privilege, I don't think today's audience are going to feel quite the same about Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees in 2046. (although I HAVE to say, I rather LIKE these guys...they're almost family now!)

I've only found this site today, and it's tremendous to know that so many commentators felt about the BBC 1958 original in exactly the same way that I did. (I was far too young to watch it - only ten! - and spent most of the episodes peering out from behind the armchair...) I read recently that the classic scary moment when one of the disinterred Martians suddenly falls through its supports was actually a repeat of an accident that took place in rehearsal, and which the special effects people kept in the final version. I would personally highlight the title and incidental music, by Trevor Duncan (who was also the composer of the "Dr Finlay" theme music), which seems to me to be the final vital ingredient in creating the chilling atmosphere we all experienced. It's marvellous news that BBC Worldwide are going to release a DVD set of all the surviving episodes of all three BBC Quatermass serials in April 2005. If I can only dare to watch them!