The Quatermass Experiment (2005) (TV)

Director:

Sam Miller

Writers:

Richard Fell (adaptation)
Nigel Kneale (creator)

Release Date:

2 April 2005 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A contemporary adaptation of Nigel Kneale's seminal 1953 science fiction serial. |

Plot Keywords:

Alien Possession | Rocket | Reporter | Infidelity | Spacecraft Accident

Cast

Jason Flemyng	...	Professor Bernard Quatermass
Adrian Dunbar	...	Detective Lomax
Mark Gatiss	...	John Paterson
David Tennant	...	Doctor Gordon Briscoe
Indira Varma	...	Judith Carroon
Andrew Tiernan	...	Victor Carroon (as Andy Tiernan)
Adrian Bower	...	James Fullalove
Isla Blair	...	Blaker
Paul Broughton	...	News Editor
Stephen Boxer	...	Colonel
Matthew Flynn	...	Charles Greene
Carsten Hayes	...	Ludwig Reichenheim
Jane Hill	...	Newsreader
Tracy O'Flaherty	...	Louisa Greene
Greg Sheffield	...	Boy

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

This production was originally broadcast only three weeks before the death of Sir John Mills, who had played Professor Bernard Quatermass in the ITV serial "Quatermass" (1979). His death leaves Jason Flemyng as the only one of the seven actors to have played the character who is still alive.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When they show Victor the film in the hospital, we are looking through the transparent screen towards Victor. But the countdown numbers at the start of the film appear the right way round to us so they'd be the wrong way round for those watching from the other side of the screen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead" (2009)

Quatermass BBC 4

Like the previous poster, I too was impressed by the Quatarmass drama aired live on BBC4 on April 2nd. Though I am too young to remember the original and its various adaptations, I had heard enough about it to convince myself that this would be some schlock 1950s-style "creature feature" sci-fi fest. Instead, the BBC served up a couple of hours live science fiction, that although short on special effects was not short on tension and creditable performances. Jason Flemyng's performance as the eponymous Professor was one that captured well the scientist's terror at what his experiment unleashed combined with the cool, detached analytic mind of the scientist trying to sort it all out. The mix of studio and location settings in a live drama was ambitious and cuts between them were seamless, the use of VT was a bit of a cheat, but hey they used to do it in Z cars all the time. This was, nevertheless a triumph for live television, a credit to all those involved.