Quatermass (series)
Quatermass was originally a series of four horror-science fiction television serials written by Nigel Kneale, focusing on Bernard Quatermass and the British Rocket Group.
Connections with the DWU[[edit] | [edit source]]
Influence and behind-the-scenes connections[[edit] | [edit source]]
The first three aired during the 1950s on the BBC; these were later adapted into film versions by Hammer Film Productions. The last serial, simply entitled Quatermass, aired on ITV in 1979. These would have great influence on Doctor Who serials such as The Web of Fear and Image of the Fendahl. The Lazarus Experiment, in its second half, all but remakes the climax of the end of the first Quatermass story, with even the title alluding to The Quatermass Experiment.
For his part, the creator of Bernard Quatermass, Nigel Kneale, was on record as having hated Doctor Who. He refused to write for the programme when invited.
On 2 April 2005, the BBC aired a live remake of The Quatermass Experiment, as the original does not survive in its entirety. Appearing in the serial were David Tennant and Indira Varma prior to their appearances as the Tenth Doctor and Suzie Costello, respectively. Mark Gatiss, longtime performer and writer of Doctor Who spin-off productions, scriptwriter for the new series and later a guest star in The Lazarus Experiment and other episodes, also appeared in the production.
Crossovers and allusions[[edit] | [edit source]]
Despite Nigel Kneale's stated dislike of Doctor Who as a programme, several Doctor Who stories have suggested that the events of the Quatermass serials actually occurred in the DWU. Remembrance of the Daleks mentioned "Bernard" and his British Rocket Group as being active in 1963 as one of the possible response teams for extra-terrestrial incidents, alongside the Intrusion Counter-Measures Group.
This reference was elaborated upon in Background, a short story meant to act as a prequel to Remembrance, which described the British Rocket Group's activities in the 1950s at some length and explicitly established the events of the first two Quatermass serials as having occurred in 1953 and 1955 in the DWU; however, the Professor himself was not mentioned by name. He made a cameo, but his name was only half-given, in the novel The Dying Days. Finally, his name was stated in full in the audio story The City and the Clock and on television in Planet of the Dead; in the latter story, he was presented as an inspiration to UNIT scientist Malcolm Taylor.
The British Rocket Group also continued to make further appearances in Doctor Who media, including on television in The Christmas Invasion.
In parallel, the Virgin New Adventures novels described an in-universe television series called Nightshade at some length. It was a transparent stand-in for the original Quatermass serials, down to also debuting in 1953.
