MovieChat Forums > Quatermass and the Pit (1958) Discussion > Why did the BBC start a Quatermass seria...

Why did the BBC start a Quatermass serial just before Christmas?

posted 9 years ago by minastirith
3 replies | jump to latest

I was living at home in England, and we had a TV. I saw part of an episode (3 or 4?) in January 1959. For 55 years I have been wondering how I could possibly have missed this serial. Now I know. At Christmas time, people watch comedy shows and movies with the extended family (Quatermass isn't exactly family entertainment, and in those days people didn't have multiple TVs or VCRs), go to Granny's, have parties etc. In my case, I also had to go to Bristol to sit a university entrance exam in January so would miss the episode after the one I saw.

I have just ordered the DVD (along with Quatermass 2)from Amazon (.com, so it will be region 1, as I now live in the US), and will finally be able to enjoy the original "full" version. Note that I have all the Quatermass movie "remakes" issued on DVD, and the 1979 one (ITV) which I believe is the 4 part serial.

[–] louiseculmer 7 years ago

the earlier series had been extremely popular, attracting very large audiences for those days. Pethaps it seemed a good idea to show it at Christmas. and the idea of certain programmes being appropriate to Christmas might not yet have become as fixed an idea as it was later.

[–] DavidW1947 7 years ago

Also at that time, if I remember correctly, the BBC used to show a ghost story or horror story around Christmas time and "Quatermass and the Pit" filled both those bills. At that time, I was 12 years old and remember watching every episode of the serial. I thought it was very frightening and it was, at that time, considered not suitable for children or those of a nervous disposition.

[–] louiseculmer 7 years ago

That makes sense. Ghost stories for Christmas were a tradition before TV, Charles Dickens always used to write a ghost story for Christmas.