History Franchise / Quatermass

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Gustav Holst's "Mars: Bringer of War" from ''The Planets'' is the theme for the first two serials and the 2005 remake.

''The Quatermass Experiment'' was remade for television by the BBC in 2005 as a single feature-length drama, with the spy subplot and some comic material edited out to save time. For added conformity to the original, this version was broadcast live (the first live drama broadcast on the BBC for many years, with the exception of filmed stage plays) with no special effects that would have been unavailable for TV in 1953. Notable amongst the cast is a pre-''[[Series/DoctorWho Who]]'' Creator/DavidTennant.

* SinisterSubway: ''Quatermass and the Pit''.

The Quatermass serials were very successful, and broke the ground for original science fiction on television (previous TV SF had either been children's telefantasy or adapted from literature). As one instance of the series' influence, 1970s ''Series/DoctorWho'' owes a huge debt to Kneale and Quatermass, both in the types of stories being told and in the willingness of BBC executives to let the series tell them.

** The three 1950s serials, as was usual in those days because the video recorder hadn't been invented yet.[[note]]The first videotape machines were used in the US in 1958, the same year as the third ''Quatermass'' serial, but the BBC didn't acquire some until a few years later.[[/note]] The second and third serials did include some scenes that were filmed in advance, with the film being played back and fed into the live broadcast feed at the appropriate point.

The first three serials were successfully remade as films by Franchise/{{Hammer|Horror}}, two of which were scripted by Kneale himself. The fourth was re-edited directly into a film-length version, titled ''The Quatermass Conclusion'', and given a limited theatrical release.

The first three serials were successfully remade as films by [[HammerHorror Hammer]], two of which were scripted by Kneale himself. The fourth was re-edited directly into a film-length version, titled ''The Quatermass Conclusion'', and given a limited theatrical release.

* AccidentallyAccurate: In ''Quatermass and the Pit'' (1967), the protagonists uncover remains of primitive humans from five million years ago. The characters state that no such remains have ever been found back that far in time before. In 1974, Lucy would be found and she would be the oldest human/hominid remains at 3.2 million years until even earlier specimens were found, making the concept of humans being in existence five million years ago well within possibility.

* CircleOfStandingStones:
** In the forth serial, standing stones and other ancient sites turn out to be warning markers at places where an alien device killed people in the past - and is doing so again.
** In the miniseries/movie ''The Quatermass Conclusion'' young people are drawn to stone circles and apparently ascended to a higher plane. But all is not as it seems.

''The Quatermass Experiment'' was remade for television by the BBC in 2005 as a single feature-length drama, with the spy subplot and some comic material edited out to save time. For added conformity to the original, this version was broadcast live (the first live drama broadcast on the BBC for many years, with the exception of filmed stage plays) with no special effects that would have been unavailable for TV in 1953. Notable amongst the cast is a pre-''[[Series/DoctorWho Who]]'' DavidTennant.

* BroadcastLive: The three 1950s serials, as was usual in those days because the video recorder hadn't been invented yet. [[note]]The first videotape machines were used in the US in 1958, the same year as the third ''Quatermass'' serial, but the BBC didn't acquire some until a few years later.[[/note]] The 2005 remake of ''The Quatermass Experiment'' was also done live, [[LiveEpisode as a gimmick]], although it backfired slightly because the live footage was treated to look like film.
** Not entirely in the case of the second two serials: both were a mixture of live material broadcast from the studio and pre-filmed location (and sometimes studio) scenes.
** The film recordings of third serial episodes also include some retakes. If the director wasn't happy with a live scene he had the actors do it over with the recording machines still running after the live broadcast had finished.

* InfantImmortality: Averted ''HARD'' in ''Quatermass''.
** On the other hand, in ''The Quatermass Experiment'' a young girl encounters the infected astronaut and comes away unharmed.

* JustifiedTitle: ''Quatermass II'' features the Professor's experimental rocket, known as the Quatermass II.
** [[WordOfGod Kneale later confessed]] that he only wrote in that connection because he couldn't think of a better title for the second serial than "Quatermass II", and he had to justify it to himself.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Colonel Breen and the Minister in ''Quatermass and the Pit''.

* InsufferableGenius: Quatermass comes across as one in ''The Quatermass Xperiment'', refusing to listen to criticism from anyone.

* InsufferableGenius: Quatermass comes across as one in ''The Quatermass Experiment'', refusing to listen to criticism from anyone.

* AdultFear: The plot runs on this in ''Quatermass''-- teens and young adults under an alien influence become violent; scientist Joe Kemp [[spoiler: loses his wife and children in one of the alien attacks.]]

* HostileTerraforming via AtmosphereAbuse: Part of the aliens' plan in ''Quatermass II''.

* MissingEpisode: Part 3-6 of ''The Quatermass Experiment''. The first two episodes were recorded on film, but the expense and poor technical quality scotched the project. Fortunately the second and third serials were recorded in their entirety.

* BroadcastLive: The three 1950s serials, as was usual in those days because the video recorder hadn't been invented yet. [note]The first videotape machines were used in the US in 1958, the same year as the third ''Quatermass'' serial, but the BBC didn't acquire some until a few years later.[/note] The 2005 remake of ''The Quatermass Experiment'' was also done live, [[LiveEpisode as a gimmick]], although it backfired slightly because the live footage was treated to look like film.

* BroadcastLive: The three 1950s serials, as was usual in those days because the video recorder hadn't been invented yet. The 2005 remake of ''The Quatermass Experiment'' was also done live, [[LiveEpisode as a gimmick]], although it backfired slightly because the live footage was treated to look like film.

** Not entirely in the case of the second two serials: both were a mixture of live material broadcast from the studio and pre-filmed location scenes.

* DecoyProtagonist: In ''Quatermass and the Pit'', Roney actually achieves a lot more when it comes to understanding and neutralising the alien menace than Quatermass. This is, in its way, FridgeHorror; Quatermass had been established by two entire serials as being highly intelligent and highly capable, but ''even he'' is vulnerable to the hive-purge influence. [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped And if he can be affected by it, so can you...]]

* DecoyProtagonist: In ''Quatermass and the Pit'', Roney actually achieves a lot more when it comes to understanding and neutralising the alien menace than Quatermass. This is, in its way, FridgeHorror; Quatermass had been established by two entire serials as being highly intelligent and highly capable, but ''even he'' is vulnerable to the hive-purge influence. [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped And if he can be affected by it, ''so can you...]]''

* DecoyProtagonist: In ''Quatermass and the Pit'', Roney actually achieves a lot more when it comes to understanding and neutralising the alien menace than Quatermass. This is, in its way, FridgeHorror; Quatermass had been established by two entire serials as being highly intelligent and highly capable, but ''even he'' is vulnerable to the hive-purge influence. [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped And if he can be affected by it, ''so can you...'']]

* DecoyProtagonist: In ''Quatermass and the Pit'', Roney actually achieves a lot more when it comes to understanding and neutralising the alien menace than Quatermass.