Quatermass And The Pit (1958-59)

A problem for Professor Quatermass (Andre Morell) and War Office experts.

Quatermass And The Pit was the third serial in NIGEL KNEALE's Quatermass saga.

Following the success of The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and Quatermass II (1955) the BBC decided to commission a third serial in early 1957. Kneale had left the BBC shortly before, but was hired to write the new scripts on a freelance basis.

For the third time in as many serials the title role was played by a different actor, this time by ANDRE MORELL; the part had initially been offered to Alec Clunes (father of Martin Clunes), but he declined.

For the first time, Kneale used a character from a previous serial other than Quatermass himself: the journalist "James Fullalove" from The Quatermass Experiment. PAUL WHITSUN-JONES was unable to reprise the role and he was replaced by BRIAN WORTH.

Again, the serial was broadcast live with pre-filmed inserts. All six episodes were preserved for a possible repeat by being telerecorded, and have all survived. The serial was repeated in edited form as two 90-minute episodes, entitled "5 Million Years Old" and "Hob", on December 26, 1959 and January 2, 1960.

Once again, the film rights to the serial were purchased by Hammer Film Productions. Quatermass And the Pit was released in 1967 and starred ANDREW KEIR in the title role. In the US, it was re-named Five Million Years To Earth.

The third episode, "Imps and Demons", was re-shown on BBC 2 in 1986 as part of the "TV50" season, celebrating 50 years of BBC television.

When a strange capsule is unearthed at an archaeological excavation in London, an unexploded bomb is initially suspected. However, with a history of supernatural events in the area going back many centuries and with events at the dig site about to take an unexpectedly alien turn, the origins of the capsule are soon revealed to be far more distant than anyone could have imagined. When the capsule is finally opened, something is unleashed upon the streets of London that nobody can control and mankind's past and future collide with devastating consequences.

The music was credited to TREVOR DUNCAN whose music was obtained from stock discs. The opening theme was called "Mutations". IMDb has identified music tracks used inthe serial.

Main cast

Main crew

*credited for the omnibus editions

**credited initially for episode 6 but later for the omnibus editions

Quatermass

ANOTHER ADVENTURE INTO THE UNKNOWN

Nigel Kneale reintroduces Professor Quatermass who returns to Television in a new scientific thriller 'Quatermass and the Pit'

SINCE I first invented him, I have found Professor Bernard Quatermass a phenomenon of increasing interest. For in spite of moving among remarkable events, in spite even of facing such notorious scene-stealers as forms of life from outer space, he has managed to win himself a considerable personal following. Obviously most of the credit must go to his interpreters, of whom Andre Morell will be the third. But there may be another factor...the changing world around us.

Quatermass's origin was casual enough. Producer Rudolph Cartier and I picked his name at random from the telephone directory. It had the unusual quality that seemed to fit the director of a Rocket Group which was to send a man-carrying missile into space and bring it back to earth. Unusual...because that was 1953, when such things were still fiction.

As some viewers may remember, the Quatermass Experiment brought the world to the brink of disaster-which only the Professor himself was able to avert at the last, critical moment. Perhaps it was the spectacle of a scientist having to clear up the mess he had made that struck a welcome note. At any rate his audience took to him kindly.

Since then, by sputnik and by ICBM, we have all been shot into a factual Space Age. Time has caught up with Quatermass. That first experiment of his could form the contents of tomorrow's papers, commonplace in a week. But as a character he is not obsolete: far from it. Since men of his profession have evolved from creatures of fiction into having real power over our lives, we may hope they show some of his pangs of conscience and loathing of bureaucracy. At the opening of this new serial, we find him still a troubled man in a troubled world, resisting the planners of a grisly rocket-project known as the Dead Man's Deterrent. But then comes an interruption...

'The Pit ' of the title is an ordinary excavation at Knightsbridge, dug in preparation for the building of an office block. The sort of giant hole-in-the-road where people stop to gaze...and occasionally wonder what those grabs might uncover in the London clay.

Episodes

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1: "The Halfmen"

Broadcast(s)

During excavation work at a building site in Hobbs Lane, London, workmen discover a skull and other fossilised bones. But are they really remains from a five million-year-old skeleton as claimed by Dr Roney, or something altogether more sinister? Meanwhile, Professor Quatermass, head of The Rocket Group, is resisting government plans to install missiles on the Moon, in a menacing project known as the Dead Man’s Deterrent.

Military specialist Captain Botter (played by John Stratton), is called to investigate the mystery in 'The Pit'.

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2: "The Ghosts"

Broadcast(s)

Excavation work at a building site in Hobbs Lane, London, unearths fossilised bones and a strange projectile. Colonel Breen believes the projectile to be a bomb, but then terrifying manifestations begin.

Cec Linder

as Dr Roney in the second episode of 'Quatermass and the Pit'

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3: "Imps And Demons"

Broadcast(s)

When Quatermass investigates the history of Hobbs Lane in Knightsbridge, he finds accounts dating back to medieval times about devils and ghosts, all centred on incidents where the ground was disturbed. Meanwhile, the team succeeds in opening a sealed compartment in the capsule.

Anthony Bushell

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4: "The Enchanted"

Broadcast(s)

Dr Roney and Quatermass develop their theory about the Martians' visit to Earth, whilst in the pit strange forces are conjured up.

Man with a delicate job

Played by John Stratton, the Captain is further involved in the mystifying happenings in the Pit

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5: "The Wild Hunt"

Broadcast(s)

A brain scanner reveals alien pictures in Barbara Judd's mind of 'the Wild Hunt' - the frenetic purging of the Martian hives. In the pit, a technician is killed as the capsule starts to glow.

The Girl in the Pit

Barbara Judd (played by Christine Finn) takes a hand in 'The Wild Hunt'

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6: "Hob"

Broadcast(s)

Chaos reigns in the pit and the long-dormant Martian inheritance begins to assert itself in many people in the area - including Quatermass himself - driving them to a new racial purge.

Additional cast

Additional crew