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The Quatermass Experiment: The Making of TV's First Sci-Fi Classic
Witness the birth of TV science-fiction!
The six-part serial The Quatermass Experiment—broadcast live from Alexandra Palace in 1953—was a landmark television event. Unleashed in the wake of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the conquest of Everest, Nigel Kneale’s story of a doomed space flight captivated the burgeoning television audience with high-quality, suspenseful science fiction. The Quatermass Experiment was not cult television; this was mainstream drama which tapped into contemporary concerns.
For the first time, the full inside story of the development and making of this classic programme can be told—pieced together from production paperwork, Nigel Kneale’s private archive and never-before-published interviews with cast and crew, illustrated with previously unseen photographs from the Nigel Kneale Estate.
Foreword by Peter Harness; Afterword by Jon Dear.
Toby Hadoke has been researching Quatermass and the works of Nigel Kneale for over 30 years. He is also an award-winning writer, actor, comedian and broadcaster, regularly contributing to The Guardian and Radio 4 Extra.
The six-part serial The Quatermass Experiment—broadcast live from Alexandra Palace in 1953—was a landmark television event. Unleashed in the wake of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the conquest of Everest, Nigel Kneale’s story of a doomed space flight captivated the burgeoning television audience with high-quality, suspenseful science fiction. The Quatermass Experiment was not cult television; this was mainstream drama which tapped into contemporary concerns.
For the first time, the full inside story of the development and making of this classic programme can be told—pieced together from production paperwork, Nigel Kneale’s private archive and never-before-published interviews with cast and crew, illustrated with previously unseen photographs from the Nigel Kneale Estate.
Foreword by Peter Harness; Afterword by Jon Dear.
Toby Hadoke has been researching Quatermass and the works of Nigel Kneale for over 30 years. He is also an award-winning writer, actor, comedian and broadcaster, regularly contributing to The Guardian and Radio 4 Extra.
320 pages, Paperback
Published May 12, 2025
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About the author
Toby Hadoke
49 books2 followersToby Hadoke is an English actor, writer and stand-up comedian. He is particularly well known for his work on the Manchester comedy circuit, where he performs regularly. He runs the multi award winning XS Malarkey comedy club, and is involved with many of the more experimental and financially accessible nights in the region. His comedy tends towards the topical and/or political, and his trademark high octane rants are particular favourites with his regular audience.
His first one man show, Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, was a critical and popular success at The 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Charting his passion for the television series Doctor Who in an autobiographical manner, it received many favourable write ups, including one on the internet forum on Outpost Gallifrey from Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat. During the 2008 London run, David Tennant provided a vocal cameo for the show which has been included in all subsequent performances. A full cast adaptation of Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf was recorded in May 2007 and broadcast on digital channel BBC7 in July, prior to a BBC Audiobooks CD release. It featured Hadoke as himself narrating, with guest appearances from Doctor Who actors Colin Baker and Louise Jameson, plus comedian Alfie Joey and Early Doors actor James Quinn as The Voice Of The BBC. It received a five star review from SFX magazine and was nominated as Best Drama in the 2008 Sony Awards.
In 2009, Hadoke collaborated with writer Rob Shearman to watch and comment on every episode of Doctor Who from the programme's debut in 1963 to David Tennant's final story. The resulting discussions are being published as Running Through Corridors: Rob and Toby's Marathon Watch of Doctor Who, a three-volume series from Mad Norwegian Press. The first volume, covering the 1960s, was published in 2010; the second volume, covering the 1970s, is scheduled for release in November 2011.
Hadoke has written for The Guardian and The Independent and is a frequent broadcaster on BBC Radio.
Hadoke runs the award-winning XS Malarkey Comedy Club in Manchester. Hadoke is the regular compere for the night, which he runs on a non-profit making basis. Acts who have played there include Peter Kay, Mick Miller, Chris Addison, Dave Spikey, Jimmy Carr, Reginald D Hunter, Sarah Kendall, Seymour Mace and John Oliver. The club also gave early breaks to Alan Carr, Justin Moorhouse and Jason Manford. He has performed as part of Robin Ince's Book Club on several occasions, including at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In 2008 he won the Chortle Award for Best Off-Stage Contribution for his work promoting comedy in the North West and at XS Malarkey.
His first one man show, Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, was a critical and popular success at The 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Charting his passion for the television series Doctor Who in an autobiographical manner, it received many favourable write ups, including one on the internet forum on Outpost Gallifrey from Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat. During the 2008 London run, David Tennant provided a vocal cameo for the show which has been included in all subsequent performances. A full cast adaptation of Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf was recorded in May 2007 and broadcast on digital channel BBC7 in July, prior to a BBC Audiobooks CD release. It featured Hadoke as himself narrating, with guest appearances from Doctor Who actors Colin Baker and Louise Jameson, plus comedian Alfie Joey and Early Doors actor James Quinn as The Voice Of The BBC. It received a five star review from SFX magazine and was nominated as Best Drama in the 2008 Sony Awards.
In 2009, Hadoke collaborated with writer Rob Shearman to watch and comment on every episode of Doctor Who from the programme's debut in 1963 to David Tennant's final story. The resulting discussions are being published as Running Through Corridors: Rob and Toby's Marathon Watch of Doctor Who, a three-volume series from Mad Norwegian Press. The first volume, covering the 1960s, was published in 2010; the second volume, covering the 1970s, is scheduled for release in November 2011.
Hadoke has written for The Guardian and The Independent and is a frequent broadcaster on BBC Radio.
Hadoke runs the award-winning XS Malarkey Comedy Club in Manchester. Hadoke is the regular compere for the night, which he runs on a non-profit making basis. Acts who have played there include Peter Kay, Mick Miller, Chris Addison, Dave Spikey, Jimmy Carr, Reginald D Hunter, Sarah Kendall, Seymour Mace and John Oliver. The club also gave early breaks to Alan Carr, Justin Moorhouse and Jason Manford. He has performed as part of Robin Ince's Book Club on several occasions, including at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In 2008 he won the Chortle Award for Best Off-Stage Contribution for his work promoting comedy in the North West and at XS Malarkey.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 22, 2025
The Quatermass Experiment is something I know shamefully little about, but have always meant to investigate. Toby Hadoke’s exhaustive book is exactly what I needed, giving an introduction to Nigel Kneale and Reginald Tate (writer and actor respectively) as well as other important figures in the programme’s orbit, such as firebrand director Rudolph Cartier.
Hadoke focuses on the facts, giving detailed breakdowns of the production and each episode — and where those episodes evolved over time, and then again in print, and then again in a translated print abroad, those differences are carefully noted. It feels like every fact you could possibly find about it is here, which is sure to make this an Aladdin’s Cave for aficionados. It is a tad overwhelming for the uninitiated reader, but to be fair, it’s weird that someone like me hasn’t bothered to investigate the story until reading this book.
A sense of history is baked into it as well as the specific nature of Kneale and Cartier’s production. For instance, television was still young in 1953, and such things as TV recordings were even younger — I didn’t know that the episodes of Quatermass we can no longer see (3 to 6) are not “missing” because they were wiped, they were simply never recorded at all. Indeed, it’s a stroke of luck that someone encouraged them to record even two episodes. With that in mind, the infinitesimal level of detail here is a boon, leaving you feeling immersed in the story even where it’s impossible to watch it. You’ll know it inside and out.
The book is a repository of all sorts of weird creative details that went into making Quatermass, some of which have been debated over time simply because most of it hasn’t been seen in over 70 years. It all points to the fledgling nature of serial drama, and certainly sci-fi drama for television.
It’s an essential read for fans of TV history. As for established Quatermass addicts, I’m sure contact has already been made.
Hadoke focuses on the facts, giving detailed breakdowns of the production and each episode — and where those episodes evolved over time, and then again in print, and then again in a translated print abroad, those differences are carefully noted. It feels like every fact you could possibly find about it is here, which is sure to make this an Aladdin’s Cave for aficionados. It is a tad overwhelming for the uninitiated reader, but to be fair, it’s weird that someone like me hasn’t bothered to investigate the story until reading this book.
A sense of history is baked into it as well as the specific nature of Kneale and Cartier’s production. For instance, television was still young in 1953, and such things as TV recordings were even younger — I didn’t know that the episodes of Quatermass we can no longer see (3 to 6) are not “missing” because they were wiped, they were simply never recorded at all. Indeed, it’s a stroke of luck that someone encouraged them to record even two episodes. With that in mind, the infinitesimal level of detail here is a boon, leaving you feeling immersed in the story even where it’s impossible to watch it. You’ll know it inside and out.
The book is a repository of all sorts of weird creative details that went into making Quatermass, some of which have been debated over time simply because most of it hasn’t been seen in over 70 years. It all points to the fledgling nature of serial drama, and certainly sci-fi drama for television.
It’s an essential read for fans of TV history. As for established Quatermass addicts, I’m sure contact has already been made.
September 5, 2025
Non-fiction as time travel. There is so much immersive detail about early 1950s TV production in this book that you almost feel transported back there as an invisible bystander. I especially like the career background sections, a great reminder of the scale of activity in British theatre in the mid 20th century - a lost age of fully offline and in-person entertainment.
There is also a fascinating thread that positions Kneale as part of the HG Wells tradition in British science fiction, as someone trying to make science fiction 'mature' again. It has interesting parallels to the revisionist comics movement of the 1980s (Alan Moore et al). So even with all this detail, there is more to be written!
There is also a fascinating thread that positions Kneale as part of the HG Wells tradition in British science fiction, as someone trying to make science fiction 'mature' again. It has interesting parallels to the revisionist comics movement of the 1980s (Alan Moore et al). So even with all this detail, there is more to be written!
November 18, 2025
The world’s premier authority on the Quatermass phenomenon has given us everything we need to know about the making of this groundbreaking slice of television history. Sadly, only the first two episodes out of the six remain, but the author provides a complete picture of the contents of parts 3-6. Exhaustive research and valuable production stills are brought to life by the authors analysis and information gleaned from archival sources. Worth every penny and then some!
September 7, 2025
Exhaustively researched and brilliantly written, Toby Hadoke should be very proud of what he has written here.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews