BBC4 Does The Quatermass Experiment
So, you're going to remake an old TV serial of which only 1/3 is around on tape. And you're going to do it live.
Usually, the words "science fiction"* and "post-production" spend a lot of time together. Which is why you don't generally tend to try and pull this sort of thing off live. Sadly, the DVD has cut out the bits where people fluff their lines. That actually sads me, because half the joy is the liveness, surely? (You do however get Mark Gatiss getting stuck in a door and David Tennant having a brief struggle with the Earth's gravity. And there's some boom shadows. Huzzah!)
Thing is, what you have here is a remake of something that everyone's ripped off (sorry, "paid homage to") since. So the alien is taking people over, and then it's in the walls, and then they appeal to its humanity. And everyone frets about the dangers of meeting aliens in the immediate vicinity of the Earth. To handle this, there's a sort of weird semi-retro thing going on visually. Which sort of works. Except for when the exterior bits lean a bit too far into the realm of the lame. Also, the ending's a bit... low-key. (Still beats that S8 Stargate episode with the Russians, mind.) But then everyone hugs each other. Huzzah! And I really liked the bit that's just Quatermass standing in a bit empty room.
The not-really-retro stuff manages to cover the odd bits of dialogue that don't entirely fit, which is A Good Thing. Though you can feel them not wanting you to see the monster. Cue people gazing at screens you can't see and yelling about... sproglets or whatever it was. Also is it just me or is Quatermass doing his "WE'RE ALL DOOMED! IT'S MY FAULT! I GOT HUBRIS!" speech on the news a bit... odd? And what was with that chemistry lab?
(*Nigel Kneale says it isn't skiffey. It's just a drama with science and aliens and stuff like that in it.)
Meanwhile, I am up to the end of part two in Edge of Darkness, and, dude, what's with the incest? O_O
Usually, the words "science fiction"* and "post-production" spend a lot of time together. Which is why you don't generally tend to try and pull this sort of thing off live. Sadly, the DVD has cut out the bits where people fluff their lines. That actually sads me, because half the joy is the liveness, surely? (You do however get Mark Gatiss getting stuck in a door and David Tennant having a brief struggle with the Earth's gravity. And there's some boom shadows. Huzzah!)
Thing is, what you have here is a remake of something that everyone's ripped off (sorry, "paid homage to") since. So the alien is taking people over, and then it's in the walls, and then they appeal to its humanity. And everyone frets about the dangers of meeting aliens in the immediate vicinity of the Earth. To handle this, there's a sort of weird semi-retro thing going on visually. Which sort of works. Except for when the exterior bits lean a bit too far into the realm of the lame. Also, the ending's a bit... low-key. (Still beats that S8 Stargate episode with the Russians, mind.) But then everyone hugs each other. Huzzah! And I really liked the bit that's just Quatermass standing in a bit empty room.
The not-really-retro stuff manages to cover the odd bits of dialogue that don't entirely fit, which is A Good Thing. Though you can feel them not wanting you to see the monster. Cue people gazing at screens you can't see and yelling about... sproglets or whatever it was. Also is it just me or is Quatermass doing his "WE'RE ALL DOOMED! IT'S MY FAULT! I GOT HUBRIS!" speech on the news a bit... odd? And what was with that chemistry lab?
(*Nigel Kneale says it isn't skiffey. It's just a drama with science and aliens and stuff like that in it.)
Meanwhile, I am up to the end of part two in Edge of Darkness, and, dude, what's with the incest? O_O