Quatermass (TV serial)
| Quatermass | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Written by | Nigel Kneale |
| Starring |
John Mills Simon MacCorkindale Barbara Kellerman Brewster Mason Margaret Tyzack Ralph Arliss |
| Theme music composer | Nic Rowley Marc Wilkinson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Verity Lambert |
| Producer(s) | Ted Childs |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | c. 50 minute episodes |
| Production company(s) |
Euston Films Thames Television |
| Distributor | Fremantle Media |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | Film PAL (576i) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | 24 October – 14 November 1979 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Quatermass and the Pit |
Quatermass (also known as The Quatermass Conclusion or Quatermass IV) is a British television science fiction serial produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and broadcast on the ITV network in October and November 1979. Like its three predecessors, Quatermass was written by Nigel Kneale. It is the fourth and final television serial to feature the character of Professor Bernard Quatermass. In this version, the character is played by John Mills.
Influenced by the social and geopolitical situation of the early 1970s and the hippie youth movement of the late 1960s, Quatermass is set in a near future in which large numbers of young people are joining a cult, the "Planet People", and gathering at prehistoric sites, believing they will be transported to a better life on another planet. The series begins with Professor Quatermass arriving in London to look for his granddaughter, Hettie Carlson, and witnessing the destruction of two spacecraft and the disappearance of a group of Planet People at a stone circle by an unknown force. He investigates this force, believing that Hettie may be in danger. As the series progresses, it becomes apparent that the Planet People are being harvested rather than transported.
Quatermass was originally conceived as a BBC production, but after they lost faith in the project, due to spiralling costs, production was halted. The scripts were taken by Euston Films and Kneale, then working for Independent Television, 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.
Professor Bernard Quatermass was created by Manx writer Nigel Kneale in 1953 for the serial The Quatermass Experiment. Its success led to two sequels, Quatermass II (1955) and Quatermass and the Pit (1958). These three Quatermass serials are seen today as seminal nineteen-fifties television productions. Kneale, however, became disenchanted with the BBC and went freelance in the late nineteen-fifties, producing scripts for Hammer Films and Associated Television.
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