The Quatermass Experiment remake...

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After having watched it at least once, having watched the two surviving episodes and read the scriptbook of the original serial, I am going to review the remake of The Quatermass Experiment.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGA-_zq0RjE[/youtube]

The first thing you should keep in mind when watching The Quatermass Experiment that, like the original, it was done live, like a play on television. Long periods of stock footage aren't there as filler as much as for actors to have a chance at getting to another set on time (the whole thing was shot on a former military base, with the exception of a few pieces of footage shot around London).

Another thing you should realise is that it was originally written in 1953, during the Cold War.

And finally (spoiler alert), unlike the original, you never actually see the monster.

But despite all of this, this is easily one of the best science-fiction dramas of all time.

The first note is the cast. Of the cast, I had only actually heard of Indira Varma (from Torchwood and Rome, she played Judith Carroon in this), Mark Gatiss (who made a nice dramatic role as Paterson, as a change from the comedic roles in The League of Gentlemen) and David 'Doctor Who' Tennant (as Doctor Briscoe).

Included are Jason Flemyng as a younger (than usual) Professor Bernard Quatermass, Adrian Dunbar as MOD inspector Lomax, Andrew Tiernan as doomed astronaut Victor Carroon, Adrian Bower as reporter James Fullalove, and Isla Blair (the wife of Julian Glover, who appeared in the Hammer Horror version of Quatermass and the Pit) as a female version of government bureaucrat Blaker.

I have to say that the cast are great, especially Flemyng as Quatermass, Tennant as Briscoe, Varma as Judith Carroon, and Gatiss as Paterson. My major complaint is of Tiernan as Carroon. Duncan Lamont, the actor who played Carroon in the original, managed to imbue his character with a wonderful pathetic nature that made you feel sorry for the poor sod. However, Tiernan seems to exude nothing but menace rather than a pathetic nature. You get the feeling he is actually a threat more than in the original, something which I did not like.

The modifications to the script itself are quite good. Cutting out the kidnapping subplot was a good idea, given the fact that the Cold War (and the West-East space rivalry) had finished, but gone was the cute satirical interlude where Carroon hides out in a cinema playing a B-movie! But the script itself was very fast-paced compared to the original, but without losing the essential flavour of the original.

So what about the performance itself? If I had to pick a strong point for example, it'd be the ending. Yes, you don't get to see the monster, but believe me, Jason Flemyng's performance more than makes up for it, and watching a live production (even though bits have been edited for DVD) is about performance rather than special effects.

Overall: 8.5/10