They came from Mars – sci-fi serial that gripped a nation

Sue Wilkinsons calls in Professor Quatermass

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Inspired by the screening of Quatermass II – the one about giant jellies from outer space taking over the Earth – on Talking Pictures TV, I sought out the original BBC series.

Daily Motion offers all six episodes of the British sci-fi television serial Quatermass and the Pit, written by Nigel Kneale and first screened in 1958.

I love a creature-feature in the vein of It Came From Mars, The Blob, I Married a Monster from Outer Space and The Body Snatchers – no surprise then that I was hooked from the first dramatic note of the theme tune to the black and white, atmospheric science-fiction series.

Broadcast live, the Quatermass serials are considered foundational texts of British science fiction. They shifted television from straightforward children’s programming to serious, adult-oriented speculative fiction.

The Quatermass Experiment came first and aired in the summer of 1953, introducing Professor Bernard Quatermass, head of the British Experimental Rocket Group.