Quatermass (1979)

A few years ago a girl I was going out with told me about Quatermass.  Quatermass is essentially the granddaddy of X-Files.  It’s about a scientist (Professor Quatermass) investigating crazy crap like alien invasions.  It’s from all the way back in 1953.  We watched some of the episodes from the 1950s & they were pretty great & their influence to Doctor Who is pretty clear.  (It’s worth noting there were some Hammer films made from Quatermass, but I think of those as non-canonical even if they are just essentially the same stories with the plots trimmed down & shot in color with different actors.)  I always assumed we’d eventually watch the rest of the series together, but things kinda fizzled out between us.

So I was super-surprised when I found out there was a version of Quatermass from 1979 (I thought there was just the 1950s stuff) & I stumbled on it from typing “dystopian sci-fi” on YouTube.  It takes place in what I assume is still 1979, but an alternative 1979 where (at least in England) roaming gangs of kids rule the streets killing people for fun & over things like a can of beans.  So a pretty dark place.  Quatermass is asked to make an appearance on television to comment on a joint space mission between the United States & the Soviet Union & he goes on the air saying both super powers are total cocky jackasses & the only reason he is there is to show a picture of his missing granddaughter who’s runaway from home.  In the middle of his rant the USA/USSR spaceship blows up & the story really starts.  Aliens are somehow getting young people to gather at megalith locations & shooting them with giant lasers.  So Quatermass is trying to save the Earth & find his granddaughter at the same time.  I don’t want to give away too much, but the ending is a lot darker than I expected.  It is about 4 hours long & done as a serial & not meant to be watched in a single sitting.  It was made for TV in the 1970s.  There are plenty of things that are introduced & discarded or unexplained.  Still, I think this is top notch & would put it up against any other sci-fi show.