The Quatermass Experiment

For television programmes that have been going on for quite some time, the idea of a "gimmick" to bring viewers back to the fold, or simply to generate interest, is not unusual, and chief amongst these gimmicks is the "live broadcast" idea. It's ironic that when live broadcasts were made, there was no real desire to do them, but now in an era of pre-filmed everything, the live broadcast is something novel and interesting.

When BBC4 found themselves with a historial television retrospective and a desire to actually commission something that would be unique to the digital channel, it was curious that The Quatermass Experiment was the programme they chose to remake, and their decision to to do the serial live came less from the wont to gimmick, and more from a desire to capture the feel of the original which, due to the time of broadcast meant that it no longer existed because of live broadcast.

Modern actors and directors are not really used to the rigours of a live broadcast. For the actors it is more akin to being on stage and being in England becomes something of an advantage as the majority of actors there are used to having been on stage at some point. For directors it is more difficult, used as they are to single camera filming and having the opportunity to go back and reshoot something if they were unhappy with the take or the camera angle. Not so much with a live broadcast.

The Quatermass Experiment is an unusual beast, following closely to the story of the original but taking into account the sensibilities of the modern audience. In 1953 there was no issue in the final episode when the monster that comes back to Earth in Quatermass' rocket turns out to be a glove puppet crashing through a model - black and white covers a multitude of sins. These days the audiences want their monsters to look completely convincing and the best way of doing that is in post-production which is a luxury that a live broadcast simply doesn't have. Consequently the ending of the new version of TQE is somewhat different to the original being more pyschological thriller than B-movie climax.

Additionally the cast is at least, on average, ten years younger than the original. Jason Flemying, perhaps best known for his portrayal of a dodgy cockney chef in Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, is Bernard Quatermass, an intense and pragmatic, if somewhat dramatic, leader of the British Experimental Rocket Group who is behind the experiment in question, and feels very responsible for missing crew members of the rocket on its return. He is joined by Adrian Dunbar as the down-to-earth Defence ministry investigator; Mark Gatiss as the embittered second of the BERG; Indira Varma as a scientist on Quatermass' team; and David Tennant as the medical officer. At the time it was a group of little known actors, but the majority have proven themselves in a vast array of other fields, be they Gatiss in The League Of Gentlemen, or Tennant in Doctor Who.

In truth the whole production is very schmick and extremely engaging. Perhaps my one gripe is the decision not to release the DVD version showing the actual live broadcast - warts and all - but a hybrid version, replacing errors with rehearshal versions. It sort of defeats the purpose of what we were seeing.
Nonetheless as an experiment in live television, using half a century-old material, it succeeds marvellously.

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