Rent The Quatermass Experiment (2005)

An Interesting TV SciFi Experiment - The Quatermass Experiment review by DJ

I missed the original showing of this live on BBC Four in 2005 and so was catching up with the DVD. There were many technical restrictions with this film because it was broadcast almost completely live and the different sets all had to be near each other, so it was kept fairly simple and it has a live quality with racing adrenaline for the viewer whilst watching, will they pull it off? They really do pull it off with hardly any mistakes (they go over the mistakes in the audio commentary). It has great actors involved and some were not so well known then but now big names, for example David Tennant who got the role of Doctor Who during this, in the broadcast one actor changes his lines to refer to say "Good to have you back, Doctor" as a reference to this. Quatermass as a character feels a bit miscast but all the other characters are very good.

It tells the story of the original Quatermass Experiment well with some changes and updates it to modern times, the sets and feel of this is a funny mix of both the 50's and 2000's but I quite like it and it needed to be updated if they were remaking it. The first 3/4 of the tv film is great. it rushes along with a narrative plot and great acting but the end is disappointing for me. It does feel like a crescendo of energy from the live element of it in the last quarter and it feels less structured and rehearsed somehow with a more just going with what happens feel, where as the rest is very structured and must have been rehearsed over and over. They move the ending scene from Westminster Abbey in the original to the Tate Modern to update it and the huge hanger at the end does really seem like the turbine hall in the Tate but it has a disappointing ending with pleading to the humanity of the monster (which isn't actually shown at the end and it's left to your imagination). It was right to update it to modern times and not have a person dressed in a green rubber suit with sponges glued on but somehow the ending didn't reflect the energy of the live build up, it wasn't a crescendo of a conclusion but leaves you flat. It's worth a watch though and I wish they made more live broadcasts of drama, think of it like theatre rather than expensive cgi sci fi because it really isn't that. An interesting experiment, they made Andromeda live after this but wish they did so many more! Great actors, good attempt, doesn't entirely work out (but not the live aspect of it) and probably not as good as older versions of this. The DVD also has a good audio commentary and making of feature about how it was made and what went wrong and right!