As some of you may know, this Quatermass reboot was talked about last year, and apart from a few snippets I haven't heard any news on how it's progressing. I'd certainly be interested in seeing it.
2005 BBC 4 remake of The Quatermass Experiment which starred a youthful looking 39 year old Jason Flemyng as Prof. Bernard Quatermass , a 34 year old David Tennant as Doctor Gordon Briscoe, and the versatile Mark Gattiss, (who, when he's not writing them, appears in just about every cult thing these days),was also 39 at the time. All, I hasten to add, are fine actors and highly successful, and I'm certainly not criticising their respective performances, but to my mind everyone just appeared too young to me.
It's worth noting that Andrew Keir who played Quatermass in Hammer's Quatermass and The Pit was a more convincing 40 year old when that was made in 1967.
That's really interesting Scoop. I didn't know that. I agree about the ages. They look too young to me as well. Quatermass is a world-renowned rocket expert with years of experience giving him a healthy cynicism for the 'Government'. The reboot actors could never convince me they are any of these things. Still, as it's meant to air on my birthday I would certainly give it a whirl!
ReplyDeleteIm always a little skeptical of 'reboots', the much vaunted Spiderman film reboot had to be rebooted twice and it never did the Fantastic Four any favours either. Quatermass is very much a product of its time and did not work at all well with the Gatiss/Flemyng version, cardboard sets and faltering dialogue aside, there was simply no monster at all, a definite staple of the series. The 'Bring Something Back' idea has been stretched to extremes these days, the latest example being the rather enjoyable 'Life'. But ill be excited to see a nrew iteration, even thought the BBC America tag fills me with dread, no offence to our transatlantic readers, but Quatermass is an acutely British creation and im concerned how it might be treated by a US production crew. Look at the BBCs seminal Life on Mars and what it was transformed into for the US screenings...
ReplyDeleteHas there already been a Gatiss/ Flemyng version Scoop?
ReplyDeleteYes, 2005 That's the one I've mentioned.
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