"Quatermass and the Pit" (1958) TV series

User Rating:

9.0/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

22 December 1958 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Horror | Thriller

Plot:

A team of scientists search for the origin and purpose of a mysterious capsule found on a building site.

Plot Keywords:

Martian | Professor | Colonel | Live Television | Sequel

Cast

André Morell	...	Professor Bernard Quatermass (6 episodes, 1958-1959)
Cec Linder	...	Dr. Matthew Roney (6 episodes, 1958-1959)
Anthony Bushell	...	Colonel James Breen (6 episodes, 1958-1959)
John Stratton	...	Captain Potter (6 episodes, 1958-1959)
Christine Finn	...	Barbara Judd (6 episodes, 1958-1959)
Michael Ripper	...	Sergeant (5 episodes, 1958-1959)
Harold Goodwin	...	Corporal Gibson (5 episodes, 1958-1959)
Clifford Cox	...	First Private / ... (5 episodes, 1958-1959)
Brian Gilmar	...	Second Private / ... (5 episodes, 1958-1959)
Alexander Moyes	...	Narrator (5 episodes, 1958-1959)
Brian Worth	...	James Fullalove (4 episodes, 1959)
Richard Shaw	...	Sladden (4 episodes, 1959)
Richard Dare	...	Private Secretary / ... (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
Kenneth Seeger	...	Sightseer / ... (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
Sheldon Allan	...	Sightseer / ... (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
Mary Henderson	...	Sightseer / ... (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
John Mahoney	...	Sightseer / ... (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
Monica Rey	...	Sightseer / ... (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
Anthony Roye	...	Journalist / ... (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
John Wilding	...	Sightseer / ... (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
Carlos Williams	...	Journalist / ... (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
Tony Quinn	...	News Editor (3 episodes, 1959)
John Walker	...	Private West (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Robert Perceval	...	Minister / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Ian Ainsley	...	Police Inspector (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Noel Howlett	...	Vicar Gilpin (3 episodes, 1959)
Ruby Archer	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Richard Bidlake	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Norman Chappell	...	Man in Crowd / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Henry Drew	...	Journalist / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Nelson Evans	...	Journalist / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Audrey Foat	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Roderick Griffith	...	Journalist / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Michael Guest	...	Policeman / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Diana Halewood	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Raf Jover	...	Electrician's Mate / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Patricia Kerry	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Ann Kirk	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Raymond Mansell	...	Dead Electrician / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Bill Matthews	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Desmond Newling	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Alan Page	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Walter Randall	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Rex Rashley	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Roger Rowland	...	Dead Journalist / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Karen Shaw	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Rosamond Tattersall	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Rowena Torrance	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Elaine Williams	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Harry Wright	...	Sightseer / ... (3 episodes, 1958-1959)
Hilary Bays	...	Journalist / ... (3 episodes, 1959)
Patrick Milner	...	Journalist / ... (3 episodes, 1959)
Edward Burnham	...	Official (2 episodes, 1959)
Allan McClelland	...	1st Journalist / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Bill Shine	...	2nd Journalist / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Harold Siddons	...	Electrician (2 episodes, 1959)
Bernard Spear	...	First Customer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Patrick Connor	...	Policeman (2 episodes, 1959)
Hilda Barry	...	Mrs. Anne Chilcot (2 episodes, 1958)
Victor Platt	...	P.C. Ellis (2 episodes, 1958)
Howell Davies	...	Mr. Chilcot (2 episodes, 1958)
Basil Beale	...	Policeman (2 episodes, 1958-1959)
Tom Cubitt	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1958-1959)
Terence Greenidge	...	Journalist / ... (2 episodes, 1958-1959)
Norman Miller	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1958-1959)
Frank Mills	...	Journalist / ... (2 episodes, 1958-1959)
Priscilla Ogier	...	Journalist / ... (2 episodes, 1958-1959)
June Vivian	...	Sightseer (2 episodes, 1958-1959)
Nancy Adams	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Bryn Bartlett	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Paul Bogdan	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
William Lyon Brown	...	Journalist / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Rodney Burke	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Kathleen Cattermole	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Richard Coe	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
John Dawson	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
James Duggan	...	Journalist / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Edward Ellis	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Diana French	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Bob Grant	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Dorothy Grumbar	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
June Hayhurst	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Brian Jackson	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Joseph Levine	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Kathleen MacAulisse	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Margery Mason	...	Crowd at Museum / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Ronald Masters	...	Coffee Stall Customer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Ronald Mayer	...	Dead Photographer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Edwin Morton	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Beatrice Ormonde	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Roger Ostime	...	Journalist (2 episodes, 1959)
Joan Price	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Dorothy Robson	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Frank Seton	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Cara Stevens	...	Sightseer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Joan Weatherley	...	Coffee Stall Customer / ... (2 episodes, 1959)
Michael Wyatt	...	Man in Crowd / ... (2 episodes, 1959)

Also Known As:

The Pit (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

30 min (6 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

BBC Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

The original filmed inserts were edited into a two part compilation for a repeat broadcast in 1960 and still exist today.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the cliffhanger of Episode Two ("The Ghosts") the interior of the capsule is still streaked with dirt and clay. When this scene is reprised at the start of Episode Three ("Imps and Demons") the capsule is completely clean, even though no time is supposed to have elapsed.

Quotes:

Sladden: Yeah, I reckon this'll cut through pretty well anything that exists. I did steel armor plate with it six inches thick, just like that! Oh, it was legal. Bloke shut in a strong room, I got him out. Secret job, like this one.
Col. Breen: Then I'm glad you don't talk about it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Alchemists of Sound (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

With Noble Purpose

The Greatest Sci-Fi Production In The History Of Television

The Hammer version of this BBC teleplay used to scare the sh*t out of me as a child . The BBC broadcast episode 3 as part of a 50th celebration for the corporation in November 1986 and I was very impressed but also rather sad that the rest of the series wasn't shown . Jump forward to May 1988 and I was flicking through The Radio Times ( the BBC's TV guide ) and there was a page advertising the latest video releases from the BBC with the teleplay of QUATERMASS AND THE PIT being one of them . This astounded me because I thought the beeb would have released it in a blaze of publicity , we are talking about a television legend that used to empty the streets when broadcast in the 1950s so what was it doing being released along with a bunch of anonymous series on video ? I sent off for the video and bit my fingernails waiting for it to arrive . You know when you're a child you look forward to Xmas ? Well that was me as a 21 year old adult in the spring of 1988 ( The most bitter sweet year of my life but that's another story ) I only hoped I wasn't going to be disappointed with this television masterpiece

After seeing it I wasn't disappointed at all , it was every bit as good as I possibly expected and more . Nigel Kneale has written the most thought provoking science fiction drama in the history of television . Unlike his previous teleplay QUATERMASS 2 there's no episodic quality to the serial , there's no over ambitious set pieces . He has written a beautifully paced script with a mind blowing subtext on human nature . Look at the scene in the middle of the first episode where a radio broadcast tells of violence around the world and this is forgotten about until it ties in with the final scene where Quatermass addresses the nation on the original sin of humanity . It's amazing that Kneale included this because no one watching QUATERMASS AND THE PIT at home in 1958 could have remembered this apparently throwaway line but it's important to the subtext of the story . Mr Kneale you are a genius

I said this was a science fiction drama but maybe I should state that it's a drama first and foremost . Like all of the Quatermass serials there's little in the way of pitched battles between soldiers and bulletproof aliens all so common in 1950 sci-fi movies . There's little action but watching the character interaction between Quatermass and Roney on one side and Col Breen and the war office on the other is a joy to watch . Nigel Kneale has a reputation for writing good dialogue in all of his teleplays and he exceeds himself here . Some classic lines include:

" And then , and then you can't see this world anymore "

" A blind man with a dog "

And my own personal favourite line: " Mister Fullalove , a day or two ago you were enquiring into the activities of ghosts and demons . Did you get their opinion too ? "

That last line was spoken by Col Breen my all time favourite character from the QUATERMASS serials and his character interaction with Quatermass seems to have been resurrected in an inverted manner in early 70s DOCTOR WHO . It should be remembered that because of the war and national service much of the audience would have been able to relate to the character far more than today's audience ever could

Some people watching this for the first time might possibly be disappointed by it especially if they've seen the Hammer version . Yes I do concede that the original is less spectacular but once again it's not intended as a Hollywood blockbuster and the film version is inferior over all . The acting and characterisation is superior here with Captain Potter being a major figure unlike in the film with James Fullalove being absent in the cinema version and Col Breen is certainly more memorable here . I did notice that Anthony Bushell ( Who always forever cast as army officers - Check out his resume ) goes OTT in one scene namely when he reads the newspaper headline but he is superb as a narrow minded Breen . It can be argued that Cec Linder might have been taking too much coffee when playing Doctor Roney but perhaps his character is supposed to be slightly hyperactive and for me Andre Morrell is the definitive Bernard Quatermass . The only performance in the movie that surpasses that of their TV counter part character is probably Barbara Shelley as Miss Judd

This is a masterwork from both Rudolph Cartier and Nigel Kneale . As soon as Quatermass finishes his television broadcast he walks off camera , the stirring music ends and so ends the greatest drama under the banner of telefantasy . Other sci-fi dramas have tried to emulate the dramatic realism of this , the very best of the QUATERMASS saga but only a few like DOOMWATCH and the very best stories of DOCTOR WHO have come close . None have surpassed it