The Quatermass Experiment was the first drama shown live on the BBC for 20 years. Were you on the edge of your seat or nodding off?

Send us your comments using the form on the right and we will publish a selection below.

Just watched the remake of the 1953 episode of Quatermass. Didn't quite work for me. Loved the live aspect of the show. The acting was great, but what you didn't capture was the 1953 aspect. The original was based after the war, with space travel new to the public. Being set today, it lost some of the original punch of the show. The episode should have been set in the 1950s instead of the present day. If you decide to remake any more Quatermass episodes, take a chance and set the programme back when it was originally made. Two things could come of this: it could end up like a bad 50s B movie or, if done well and the scene properly set, could end up a new classic.
Shaun Studholme, Bury

It's unfortunate that BBC Four gave a repeat showing of The Quatermass Experiment. What with its glottal-stopping 'good luck guys' Americanisms, terrible script and atrocious acting - better it had been purposely lost in the BBC vaults. Best stick to Doctor Who. We just can't do grown-up sci-fi. Nice music though.
Clay, London

Live action rules! It's really great to see such a contrast against the bland perfectionism of many current programmes.
Alex, Southampton

A bit of a long-shot idea, but if there'd been a label in the corner of my screen saying 'Live' (as in news reports, etc) I might have had a better appreciation of the programme. I shall watch it again on BBC iPlayer, bearing this fact in mind, which might allow me to see it in a better light than I thought when I caught it by accident on TV, without knowledge of its live status.
Marion, Surrey

Brilliant, quite brilliant. Is there going to be a DVD release? I hope so, if only to erase those annoying BBC News 24 straplines which came close to spoiling my enjoyment of the piece. It certainly spoiled it on viewing the drama again on tape. It also needs a commercial release before the BBC loses it as they did the original. Just joking, but please take my point. Well done to all.
Scott Fraser, Sheffield

Having grown up with Quatermass on the page rather than the screen (my first introduction was watching the ITV 'Conclusion' with my Dad, before finding the Arrow script books) I have long wondered just what it would be like. And now I know just what I was missing: the drama, the tension, the reliance on people and performances over CGI, it just doesn't get better than this. Hearty congratulations to all involved, particularly those responsible for keeping so much of Kneale's original script. The ending was odd, but the overall programme was a true joy to behold. I loved it, as did all those I managed to tell of its existence beforehand. Thank you.

And to those who seem confused about the whole 'live' thing, this was to pay homage to the original and pre-1960s television as a whole. TV was once a fully live medium and it is sometimes a good idea to remind people of just how different that makes things. If you failed to see the point of this programme and Kneale's original story (it seems like a cliché because so many tried to copy the original, and never got it right), go and watch the Hammer film version. It's truly awful, but you'll probably enjoy it more.
PJ Kennard, Chesham

What a travesty of the original Quatermass. We watched through to the end with a sense of disbelief that you could sell it as anything like the original, and somewhere along the line in the term "live" was used. Unless we have missed something, we do not recall any elements of the original being like a soap. The mutation scenes were really laughable. The general tenor of the show was worse than Deep Space Seven, and to manage that is some sort of achievement. No more can I say, for once, I am totally at a loss to describe what poor value in drama, science fiction, tension overall production it was. This was a total waste of licence payers money. Please get your act together, or sell it to ITV.
David White, Pendle

Many people have commented about the shortcomings of this production, naturally comparing it with the original film and the 1953 TV series. They all seem to have missed the point that this was a live production, and minor errors will occur. It is so different to modern day TV and should be viewed uniquely. These critics could never have produced such a brilliant performance, even if given the chance. My only (slight) criticism was that the actor who played Professor Quatermass was a little 'laid back' and I needed to sometimes turn up the volume during his dialogue. I would have expected a slightly more stressed delivery. However, this was an absolutely brilliant production. Well done BBC!
Chris Blackburn, Bristol

I felt sorry for the actors having to try and be serious with such a pathetic, weak script. I loved the original Quatermass but this was just dreadful. When the 'patient' escaped what did they do? He ran back to the press conference. Showing shuttle tanks and booster rockets as the spaceship was daft as well. The sort of people who watch science fiction are probably going to know what the shuttle parts look like! A nice teaching tool perhaps for producers and scriptwriters, in how NOT to entertain. Please don't try this again. This was not quality TV.
Brian Morgan, Dunfermline, Fife

In a world where people ask questions of the licence fee, The Quatermass Experiment answers them in spades. Truly superb television, produced live in a world or pre-recorded edited output, this is the first programme in years to really suck me in so that I couldn't stop watching. Brilliant from beginning to end. Now I'm going to lock the front door...
Paul Furness, Woking, Surrey

Fantastic. I was so terrified for the actors, dreading something awful going wrong at any moment. At times I had to have a cigarette in the next room to get away from the tension - especially after the enormous crashing sound at the end of the lab scene.
Michael Stow, Bury St Edmunds

Steve Greatorix [see below] seems let down by the fact that there were several pre-recorded 'inserts' in the play - but this is exactly the same as it was for the 1950's productions, except that back then they were stored on film rather than VT. The cast and crew need time to get from one set to the next! I would agree that the Quatermass character lacked weight, though.
John, Oldham

Exactly in what sense was this 'live'? Were the cast and crew actually at Tate Modern on Saturday evening? Surely Jane Hill, the newscaster, was recorded? And there were other segments that were recorded too, weren't there? I'm afraid it didn't work for me. The script was leaden. And even though I knew what the major news announcement was when it flashed up at 9 o'clock, I still switched over to News 24 because Quatermass just didn't hold me at all.
Steve Greatorex, Devon

Putting on a broadcast of this nature was admirable but the end result was pretty dire. I really wanted to like this Quatermass Experiment but I just couldn't. The script didn't hold any water today. The production was riddled with time period incongruities. Why set it in modern times with modern news reports and then throw in a 1950's newspaper office, complete with pork-pie hat wearing editor and a reporter with a teddy-boy hairstyle? I imagine the designers were trying to hark back to the original broadcast but to do it in this way was pointlessly confusing.

Airing the programme live hampered the sense of time passing for the audience. The story takes place over several days but everything seemed to be happening on the same night which meant the sense of reality was lost. One minute we've got rockets landing in Surrey, the next the world is about to end. It was all too quick. By the sequence in the Turbine Room at the end, my heart went out to poor Jason Flemyng who was acting his socks off, but my toes were curling in embarrassment for him. Only David Tennant maintained any semblance of credibility. Everyone else was acting as if in an awful am-dram production.

Watching the actors hugging and congratulating each other as the credits rolled, I couldn't help wondering whether they were still 'in character' or just expressing relief that such a dreadful performance was over - I suspect the latter.

All that said, well done to the Beeb for having a go at this. If you don't try it, you don't know what will happen. 10/10 for trying, but 3/10 for the result.
Colin Bordley, Wallasey

Just wanted to say thanks to BBC Four and the cast and crew of The Quatermass Experiment, who must have worked their socks off to make this live production so thoroughly entertaining. It was not without the odd flaw, but few live dramas ever were. Without doubt the best evening's viewing I have experienced in years. A welcome reminder as to why I pay my licence fee!
Andrew Hutchings, London

Were we all watching the same programme? As one of the kids who hid behind the sofa at the time of the original Quatermass, all I can say is that I was so embarrassed by this inept attempt at a remake that I bailed halfway through. Where was the professor's gravitas? Where was the tension? A spacecraft landing in England to lie on a carefully dug pile of soil? Dodgy scenery, dodgy delivery. Word of advice - leave the classics to moulder peacefully in our memories, where they at least are unassailable.
James Dorrian, Crewe, Cheshire

Any lack of technical polish or minor fluffs and gaffs was more than made up for by the tension generated by this being live. Yes, there was a bit of dodgy science, but this was supposed to be an exciting drama, not a documentary, so who cares? I thought it was very exciting and edgy, something a recorded programme would have had difficulty capturing. To anyone who asks "Why bother when we have the technology to pre-record and edit", why do people still go to see live theatre, musicals, and live concerts? Because they have an excitement that can never be recreated by a polished recording. Well done to all involved.
John Myhill, Northampton

This is the best piece of programming I've ever seen from the BBC, the acting was amazing, kept me on the tip (much further than the edge) of my seat the whole time. I'd like you to convey my round of applause to the actors involved and the technical staff for pulling off such an experience in television. It's a shame the BBC hasn't done more like this over the last few years. I doubt that Mike Longworth [below] truly understood the enormity of your undertaking here. Well done the Beeb, Hip, Hip, Horah!
Karl Lattimer, Maidstone

Considering contemporary safe approaches to modern drama and the use of effects over plot and character, it was a breathtakingly courageous move to show a whole programme live in BBC Four's Quatermass Experiment. And it worked. Solid performances and strength of storytelling carried the momentum to the end. Truly this is 'theatre in the home'. I hope the experiment continues, not only with Quatermass. Well done BBC Four.
Math, Portsmouth

Sorry - but this was terrible. It didn't help that the script was flat, no one spoke normally, it was a series of speeches. It wasn't helped by a set of one-dimensional characters. The direction was abysmal - there was no sense of the timescale over which the action(!) was taking place - every actor wearing the same clothes day after day. What was the point of the couple in the car when the ship crashed? If they were married then why were they doing what they were doing? Sorry, but the original was far better. Even third-rate sci-fi series were better than this effort. Please don't try to repeat the exercise.
Mike Longworth, Yateley, Hampshire

A very small thing completely spoiled this for me - Mark Gatiss put his hand in front of his mouth or rubbed his nose virtually every time he spoke. Having done some acting in the past I'm well aware that controlling your hands can be a problem, but I found it so distracting that I couldn't concentrate on anything else.
Sue Berwick, Staines

I thought it was atrocious - the acting was very hammy, script so 50s it just didn't fit. Frustrating, disappointing. A missed opportunity to remake well.
Steph Llewellyn, Sheffield

Wonderful actors, a fine concept, and we really, really need some new and adult science fiction on TV. Though I think there were quite a few problems with the script used for this drama (and for live TV, surely, getting the script right is the one thing you have to do), I really hope this will only be the beginning of a longer experiment!

My main gripe is that the science was very weak in places. The way the sick astronaut was treated wasn't plausible, nor was the investigation into the mystery of the crash at all convincing. Perhaps it would have done better if the drama had stayed in the 1950s where it probably belongs... But please don't give up on the brave idea of making literate interesting sci-fi programmes! There's a huge audience out here ready to enjoy them.
Sophie Smout, St Andrews

We were supposed to laugh at this weren't we? It was certainly the funniest thing on TV since the end of Phoenix Nights. We certainly know too much about the reality of space science to accept anything served up here. The Art Dept looked as though they'd spent 7/6 of the 10-bob budget on the 'rocket' the other 2/6 was spent at Woolies and then they went home early! Show all the originals and let's have a look at some really innovative television.
Ken Starkey, London

Loved it! Sat on the edge of our seats, tense as anything. An incredibly ambitious production, with the poor actors probably having to literally run from scene to scene, from studio to OB. No idea how they managed to do this. Please, please have a run at Quatermass II next!
Mike Maddox, Chorleywood

Very brave of the BBC to try live broadcasting, reminded me of my days in Am Dram. One of the actors fluffed his lines and I loved the bit where Quatermass fell over the scenery. Did the bit where Adrian Dunbar picked up the phone to be cut off with an exterior shot mark a big gap in the script? Loved it when the announcer got cut off at the end, because she commented that the aliens had been despatched sooner than expected. Great home-grown TV!
Marian Spade, Brentwood, Essex

I agree with John Lloyd [below] on this one. It's pointless to do drama live on TV these days. It's like theatre - an anachronism. Even though I do praise the cast and crew for pulling this off, it just didn't work in my opinion. This disaster just proves how important editing is when presenting a story on screen. Mood and atmosphere can be enhanced with good editing and lacklustre performances can be removed. And Jason Flemyng was so miscast. Take a tip from me, Auntie. Record the next one.
English Bob, London

I saw the original Quatermass series when I was a child. Apart from references to celebrity makeover and terrorists nothing grated. I thought it worked very well both as a recreation and also as something new. It was much better than the new over-hyped Doctor Who which so far is not a patch on any of its predecessors.
Douglas Mcleod, Brecon

Bravo! I thought we were in for a disaster but it was a triumph, the production team thankfully realising that in Kneale's screenplays, the fear comes from the characters rather than shock effects or gore. Perhaps Jason Flemyng was a little on the lightweight side for the title role, but I very much enjoyed the whole thing. I hope this success will lead on to Q2 and finally 'the Pit'?
Andrew Howlett, Cheshire

BBC Four: No definite plans at the moment.

Well done to all those involved with the recreation of The Quatermass Experiment. Overall it was a quality performance by all with very few slip-ups - I doubted that the industry still retained the knowledge of how to stage a live televised drama in this day and age of editing suites and multiple takes.

One comment, however, the aerial shots of London, which I assume were to give time to set the next scene, were overly long and ultimately detracted from the pace of the show. Apart from that, though, you all deserve a massive round of applause.
Dave, Somerset

Oh dear, Auntie boobed this time I'm afraid. I am old enough to remember watching the original on black and white steam TV, which would probably seem old hat if I watched it again now, but that latest remake was atrocious. The acting was disjointed, the continuity was laughable, the sound inaudible and continuously variable between shots. I got fed up turning the volume up and down with every scene. Where was the continuity when Quatermass was across town and told to 'come in' and appeared practically before the handset rested? Really Auntie, please don't do any more 'live' plays - they are so last decade! Stick to film and video where the sound can be equalised and silly errors can be edited out. As for the storyline, it was old B-movie stuff. Come on Beeb, you can do better than this!
John Lloyd, Warrington

I really enjoyed this - it was so British! Bernard was talking monsters to death years before Jim Kirk in Star Trek. The tension of the live broadcast gave the whole production tremendous energy, and it finished 20 minutes early! The actors drove the story along on a wave of energy you just don't get normally. I don't think live drama can return to the 'old days' but as special one-offs it's great.
Jules, Telford

Putting on this production was a brave and ambitious operation which, on the whole, paid off, even if the story tended towards the melodramatic at times. There were a few hitches - actors forgetting lines, someone apparently crashing into the props in one of the laboratory scenes - but on the whole it flowed well. The big showdown in the art gallery at the end between Quatermass and the alien - without an alien in sight was carried off reasonably well. I thought it might have been better to have spread the story over two nights or a few weeks to add a bit of tension. Full marks for effort; eight out of ten for direction, nine out of ten for the acting, perhaps more of a six or seven for the script.
Antony Clay, Bradford

This was wonderful television; enthralling from start to finish. Being live added to the tension and despite the lack of special effects it was at times disturbing even horrific. Congratulations to the cast and crew. Please can we have more?
Philip King, Weston-super-Mare

More like it please - now let's have the sequels!
Stephen Reed, Grimsby

A very brave attempt to remake a classic. I am too young to have seen the old TV version but have seen and loved the films (and the ITV series, repeated on the Sci Fi channel). I thought that the BBC Four live action interpretation was fantastic. Well done!
Simon, Halesowen

A strange mix of time periods: the technology seemed to be of the present-day, but the press conference and the chemist's at the UCM could have been straight from 1953! This made it difficult to 'place' in one's mind. Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed the play, but missed the cliff-hangers that would have been possible with the original multi-part format. I would have preferred to see someone a bit older and 'weightier' in the part of Bernard Quatermass, though.
Ian, Stalybridge

I thought this was the best programme I have ever watched on digital. It will stay with me forever - simply brilliant. But having said that, there was something wrong - the lack of advertising it got. I found out about it by accident from a small news article in the back of a newspaper. I have seen a lot of commercials on BBC One and Two about the programmes on digital and why we should get it, but I haven't seen or heard anything about the first live television drama on the BBC in 20 years. After looking for it, I have found a small article in the Radio Times about it. How come the new Doctor Who got a pull-out booklet and Quatermass just got a page? Anyway, the show was excellent and I hope there will be more, it was well worth the price of a set top box.
Andrew Grice, Wolverhampton

BBC Four: The return of a new Doctor Who was obviously a big event - but of course not everything can be publicised to the same extent. It's a difficult balance to get right.

I'm not old enough to have seen the original series, but my Dad still talks about it. I really enjoyed this programme and the entertainment was enhanced by the knowledge that it was live and that 'anything could go wrong'. I'd be interested to know which bits (if any) weren't live? I'm sure the aerial sequences weren't, but what about all of the outdoor scenes and Tate Modern?
Alex, Fawley, Hampshire

BBC Four: We'll see if we can find out. They certainly filmed little inserts so that the actors could get from one set to another.

Why did it finish early? Did something get missed? I was enjoying it but it pulled up sharply. Shame the reporter fluffed his lines! Still better than Doctor Who though.
Jim Wood, Swadlincote

BBC Four: It is difficult to predict how long a live performance is going to be. It was a case of everything speeding up on the night rather than sections being missed out.

When it's possible to record a drama and 'get it right', I can't see the point in doing a live transmission with all the limitations that imposes. Is the audience meant to be sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for the actors to fluff their lines like the fellow playing the reporter did? It's not exciting it's cringe-making. Nice idea to re-shoot this 1950s classic, but doing it live was misguided and in truth an opportunity missed. The ending with no monster was a complete let-down.
Emma Hampson, Brighton

Wow! I was not expecting it to be that good, having never seen a live TV drama before, but it was well scripted, tightly run, brilliantly acted and made use of fear without the use of CGI for a change. Well done to all concerned. When can we expect Quatermass and the Pit?
Heather, Merseyside

Congratulations on the best piece of television I've seen for many years. My only complaint about this programme is that it should have been on BBC One so more people could have enjoyed it. An excellent piece of drama, excellent cast and an excellent adaptation and thank you for using the original ending and not the cop out that ruined the film version. Are there any plans to perform the other three Quatermass stories in the same way?
Leonard Hazell, Stockton On Tees

I saw the original in 1953 as a 13-year-old. Last night's drama was a let-down for several reasons. They never showed the monster - the highlight of 1953. The chemist's shop scene was not as dramatic: the chemist did not take one look and faint backwards into all his bottles. Because it was not split into six episodes, you hardly ever heard the overpowering theme tune (Holst - Mars). Somehow there was too much talking and not enough action, the good story was difficult to follow unless you already knew it.

Westminster Abbey was switched to 'an aircraft hanger with lights turned out'. So the most vivid line of all from 1953 was missed out: the man in charge of BBC outside broadcast saying "Pan up to Poet's Corner" to gradually reveal that frightful Thing hanging high up on the wall. I'm sorry for those under 60 who were too young to be terrified by the 1953 broadcast. I enjoyed the live broadcast (proved by the man who fluffed his lines), and no adverts for the whole 2 hours! Six out of 10 BBC. And please, more live acting, it's so much more vivid.
John Palmer, Dorset