In the critically acclaimed and influential 1950s TV series created by Nigel Kneale, Quatermass and the Pit, depictions of supernatural horned entities, with specific reference to prehistoric cave-art and shamanistic horned head-dress are revealed to be a " race-memory " of psychic Martian grasshoppers, manifested at the climax of the film by a fiery horned god.

* Quatermass and the Pit ( 1958 – 1959 ) – A British television serial in which a crashed spacecraft is discovered in London, which reveals that humanity on Earth is the result of experiments by a Martian civilisation, now long dead.

Their significant early output included creating effects for the popular science-fiction serial Quatermass and the Pit and memorable comedy sounds for The Goon Show.

* The object discovered in Quatermass and the Pit was made of a material of extreme hardness, such that diamond-tipped drills and acetylene torches would not damage it.

Quatermass and the Pit, a 1958 TV sequel to The Quatermass Experiment by Nigel Kneale, postulates that ancient Martians inspired the supernatural, demonic Wild Hunt as a form of genetic purging.

The BBC also used the studio facilities at Ealing for filmed inserts where the electronic studio could not be used, such as for the excavation site in Quatermass and the Pit ( 1958 – 59 ), The White Rabbit ( TV mini-series, 1967 ), Colditz ( 1972 – 74 ) and the communal sequences in Porridge ( 1974 – 77 ).

The writer and critic Kim Newman has cited another influence on the novel, saying that in it King had " more or less rewritten Quatermass and the Pit ," a 1950s BBC television science-fiction serial involving the excavation of a long-buried alien spacecraft, and the growing influence of the dormant machine on surrounding human beings.

# REDIRECT Quatermass and the Pit

At the beginning of the third serial, Quatermass and the Pit ( 1958 – 59 ), Quatermass's funding is being cut back and the Rocket Group is being handed over to military control, much to his disgust.

André Morell, the third actor to play the role on television, in Quatermass and the Pit ( 1958 – 59 ).

Titled Quatermass and the Pit and again produced and directed by Cartier, this was eventually broadcast in December 1958 and January 1959.

Of the TV serials, Quatermass II and Quatermass and the Pit have been preserved in full.

Andrew Keir as Quatermass in the Quatermass and the Pit ( film ) | Quatermass and the Pit ( 1967 ) film.

Hammer also purchased the film rights to Quatermass and the Pit ( released in the USA as Five Million Years to Earth ), as it had done with the previous two TV serials, although they did not release their version until 1967.

The Guardian newspaper wrote in 1997 that: " Keir also made many films ... most gratifyingly, perhaps, the movie version of Quatermass and the Pit ( 1967 ), when he finally replaced the absurdly miscast Brian Donlevy.

Soon after the release of the Quatermass and the Pit film, Kneale was approached by Hammer about writing a fourth Quatermass story directly for them, but the idea came to nothing.

This was followed by similar releases of Quatermass II and Quatermass and the Pit, both published in 1960.

Near-future settings work well for science fiction on television ; shows such as The Six Million Dollar Man, TekWar, Quatermass, Star Cops, Mutant X, and Fringe allow budget conscious producers to use street clothes and contemporary locations, using only minimal props and effects to foster viewers ' suspension of disbelief.

As a consequence of the contract with Robert Lippert, American actor Brian Donlevy was imported for the lead role, and the title was changed to The Quatermass Xperiment to cash in on the new X certificate for horror films.

As production began on Quatermass 2, Hammer started to look for another U. S. partner willing to invest in and handle the American promotion of new product.

John Robinson ( actor ) | John Robinson, who took on the role of Quatermass for Quatermass II ( 1955 ) following Tate's death. Little is revealed of Quatermass's early life during the course of the films and television series in which he appears.

It is not clear what happens to the Rocket Group immediately after this: the next time Quatermass is seen on screen ( Quatermass, 1979 ) he has long been retired, living in retreat in the Scottish Highlands.

Nigel Kneale conceived the character of Quatermass in 1953, when he was assigned in his capacity as a BBC television staff drama writer to create a new six-part serial to run on Saturday nights in July and August.

" Despite this success, Kneale was unsure about whether the character would ever return, later telling an interviewer: " I didn't want to go on repeating because Professor Quatermass had already saved the world from ultimate destruction three times, and that seemed to me to be quite enough.

This time John Mills played Quatermass in an expensive and high-profile production, which was screened on the ITV network.

In 1995, BBC radio producer Paul Quinn approached Kneale with the idea of making a new radio series based around Quatermass, and the resulting project was produced and aired as the five-part serial The Quatermass Memoirs on BBC Radio 3 in the spring of 1996.

The Quatermass Memoirs was repeated several times on digital radio station BBC7 from 2003, and the serial was released on CD in 2006.

All of the various film and surviving television productions featuring Quatermass have been released on DVD.

The writer and critic Kim Newman went further, explaining in a 2003 television documentary on Nigel Kneale's career that he believed Quatermass to be not only a representation of science but of humanity itself.

Former script editor and producer Derrick Sherwin admitted on a DVD documentary that the idea of setting more serials on contemporary Earth in the early 1970s was to recall a Quatermass feel.

Carpenter had also directed the 1982 film The Thing, based on the 1938 John W. Campbell novella Who Goes There ?, but which also has similarities to Quatermass and the Pit: scientists discover a UFO frozen in Antarctica, and the still-alive alien found inside survives by mimicking dogs and humans, so that the humans are unable distinguish the murderous creature from those it has devoured.

Another notable production was a live re-make of the 1953 science-fiction serial The Quatermass Experiment, adapted from the original scripts into a single, two-hour version ( though on the night it in fact underran considerably, lasting less than 1 hour 40 minutes ), broadcast on the evening of Saturday 2 April 2005.

According to the BBC's research figures, Quatermass and the Pit gained an audience of 7. 6 million people for its opening episode, jumping to 9. 1 million for the second and increasing sequentially each week, with the exception of episode four, until it concluded with a viewing figure of 11 million for episode six, just under 30 % of the potential audience.

The Quatermass Experiment achieved favourable viewing figures in 1953, opening with an estimated audience of 3. 4 million for the first episode, building to 5 million for the sixth and final episode, and averaging 3. 9 million for the entire serial.

Transmissions were finally restored on Wednesday, 24 October 1979 and the first episode of Quatermass was duly broadcast that night at 9 pm.

In the meantime, Kneale had written a new Quatermass serial for the BBC, titled Quatermass II, which was broadcast on BBC Television in October and November 1955.

Quatermass ( also known as The Quatermass Conclusion or Quatermass IV ) is a British television science fiction serial produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and broadcast on the ITV network in October and November 1979.

Following completion of The Stone Tape, Kneale was commissioned on 21 November 1972 by BBC Head of Drama Serials, Ronnie Marsh, to write a new four-part Quatermass serial.

* Quatermass and the Pit ( Hammer Film Productions, 1967 ), released in the USA as Five Million Years to Earth

* 1967 Quatermass and the Pit ( Workman )

* Quatermass and the Pit ( 1967 ) – Col. Breen

Later film scores included Quatermass and the Pit ( 1967 ) and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb ( 1971 ), both for Hammer.

* Quatermass and The Pit, Hammer Films ( 1967 )

) Victor Carroon was played by Scottish actor Duncan Lamont, who later appeared in the film Mutiny on the Bounty ( 1962 ), and as a different character in the film adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit ( 1967 ).

As a result, it would be ten years before Hammer adapted the next Quatermass serial for the cinema with Quatermass and the Pit in 1967.

For this reason, although Nigel Kneale had written a new Quatermass serial for the BBC, Quatermass and the Pit ( broadcast December 1958 to January 1959 ), Hammer did not acquire the rights until 1961 and the film version did not appear until 1967.

Quatermass and the Pit ( US title: Five Million Years to Earth ) is a 1967 British science fiction horror film.

By the time Quatermass and the Pit finally entered production Val Guest was occupied on Casino Royale ( 1967 ), so directing duties went instead to Roy Ward Baker.

Nothing came of this but the prospect of Quatermass making a reappearance arose again when, following the success of the film version of Quatermass and the Pit in 1967, Hammer announced they were in discussions with Kneale for a new Quatermass adventure.

He is most remembered for starring as Professor Bernard Quatermass in Hammer's film version of Quatermass and the Pit ( 1967 ).