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| Quatermass II | |
|---|---|
 Title card for Quatermass II | |
| Created by | Nigel Kneale |
| Starring | John Robinson Monica Grey Hugh Griffith John Stone |
| Opening theme | "Mars, Bringer of War" by Gustav Holst |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Rudolph Cartier |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | Approx. 30 minutes per episode |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC |
| Release | 22 October – 26 November 1955 |
| Related | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Quatermass II is a British science fiction serial, originally broadcast by BBC Television in the autumn of 1955. It is the second in the Quatermass series by writer Nigel Kneale, and the oldest of those serials to survive in its entirety in the BBC archives.
The serial sees Professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Experimental Rocket Group being asked to examine strange meteorite showers. His investigations lead to his uncovering a conspiracy involving alien infiltration at the highest levels of the British government. As even some of Quatermass's closest colleagues fall victim to the alien influence, he is forced to use his own unsafe rocket prototype, which recently caused a nuclear disaster at an Australian testing range, to prevent the aliens from taking over mankind.
Although sometimes compared unfavourably to the first and third Quatermass serials,[1] Quatermass II was praised for its allegorical concerns of the damaging effects of industrialisation and the corruption of governments by big business.[2] It is described on the British Film Institute's Screenonline website as "compulsive viewing".[3]
- ^ "Quatermass DVD". bbc.co.uk. 31 March 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
- ^ Sangster, Jim; Condon, Paul (2005). "The Quatermass series". TV Heaven. London: HarperCollins. pp. 596–601. ISBN 978-0-00-719099-7.
- ^ Duguid, Mark. "Quatermass II". Screenonline. Retrieved 4 February 2007.