The
lowdown: 'The Quatermass Experiment' is a classic science fiction
serial drama created for the BBC
by Nigel Kneale, and first
broadcast (live to air) in 1953. In 2005, the BBC produced a new and updated
version,
and again broadcast live
to air, on BBC Four on 2 April 2005. The plot was basically the same, but
updated to
put it in a modern context,
such as references to terrorism. The only major change is that the final
confrontation
occurs in the Tate Modern
rather than Westminister Abbey. This version stars Jason Flemyng as Quatermass,
David Tennant as Dr Gordon
Briscoe, Mark Gatiss as Quatermass's colleague, John Paterson, and Indira
Varma
as Victor's wife Judith,
who is having an affair with Briscoe.
The plot centres on Britain's
first privately financed manned space rocket, which was launched by the
British
Experimental Rocket Group,
headed by Professor Bernard Quatermass. When the rocket returns to Earth,
only
one of the three astronauts
- Victor Carroon - is inside. However, he has been changed by the experience,
and
not just psychologically.
Quatermass and his team discover that Carroon can suddenly speak German,
when he
couldn't before, while one
of the missing astronauts was German. It transpires that Carroon has been
infected by
an alien organism, and has
become a gestalt entity with the memories of all three astronauts. Carroon
is rapidly
evolving into something
that is not human; Quatermass and his team must find a way to stop the
transformation
before the hybrid creature
kills all life on Earth. Carroon escapes from quarantine and attacks a
pharmacist,
consuming a cocktail of
chemicals that would kill a normal human. However, Dr Gordon Briscoe deduces
that
Carroon is using the chemical
as a catalyst to accelerate his transformation. The final scene sees Quatermass
appeal to the human part
of Carroon that still remains, in a last desperate bid to save the world.
The verdict: The production
values are excellent and the cast gives a superb performance, especially
given the
challenges of producing
a 90-minute drama live to air. The ocassional forgotten line and stumbles
on the set can
be forgiven, and indeed
the actors largely deliver their lines without incident. At times there
is a tendency for the
background music to be a
bit intrusive, but overall the live production works very well. The fact
that the viewer
never gets to see the transformed
Carroon (except for his arm) also works well, as this is a psychological
drama.
And the story still works
today, over 50 years after the original production.
Quote:
Quatermass:
I have brought upon the Earth what is possibly the most terrible
thing ever known. What came out
of that rocket wasn't a
man... Over the last three days it has developed the means to ensure that
it only shall exist.
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