"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:

Michael Gough was on the shortlist for Captain Potter. The role eventually went to John Stratton.

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:

Private West: It was... it was a kind of figure. ... It went through the wall!

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Mutations No. 2

I'm totally envious!

Like most of the reviewers here I watched this originally when I was a kid. We got our first TV in 1957, a year before this series aired and I remember being glued to the set, eyes bulging. The images still haunt me to this day, especially the specter of the devil over London. Unfortunately this series has not been released on DVD or tape in North America so I have to rely on my memories. This is classic story telling, the kind of SF I love, based in the present (1958 that is). I do have the '60s film version which I do enjoy, it still creeps me out when the characters are in the abandoned house on Hobs Lane, I refuse to go in to any abandoned building to this day without the hairs on the back of my neck standing up!! Even the word "hob" has evil connotations in its very sound.

This could easily be remade today, but only if the producer and director treats it seriously. The topics and questions postulated are thought provoking and would be ruined if it just became a special effects event movie. Done with care and with attention to the narrative this could be a major movie on par with 2001.