Quatermass & The Pit

Televised on BBC1

 (1958-1959)

Directed by Rudolph Cartier 

Written by Nigel Kneale

(6 episodes)

1. The Halfmen (22 December 1958)

2. The Ghosts (29 December 1958)

3. Imps and Demons (5 January 1959)

4. The Enchanted (12 January 1959)

5. The Wild Hunt (19 January 1959)

6. Hob (26 January 1959)

 

 

 

Rudolph Cartier went onto direct the BBC’s ghostly horror-sci-fi TV series Quatermass And The Pit,  about an discovery in a building site of what appear appeared to be an unexploded bomb turned out to be the remains of a five million year old space craft from Mars, Since he remembered Christine's performance from the BBC TV play Midsummer Night's Dream which he directed, he gave her major big break playing Barbara Judd in the TV series bringing her to become a well known face is one of Great Britain's most talked about TV series in history. (Some might even wonder if the character’s surname was inspired by hers since both Judd and Finn contains three consonants, two of which are a double, and a vowel in the same places)

Barbara Judd and Captain Potter

When he offered her the part, she asked "Is this a nice girl or another candidate for the Kennel Club?". Her part in Rudi's last production had been all teeth and claws. So to keep her quiet, he said she couldn't be nicer in the story, conveniently forgetting about the horrible surprise twist in Episode 5 when she came under the influence of something else in the story. She was only allowed to read scripts one to four and he wouldn't show her instalment five until the last moment

Professor Quatermass and Dr Roney

 

 

Christine Finn played the role of Barbara Judd who served as an assistant to paleontologist Dr Roney played by Canadian actor Cec Linder, and would help to work out what to do about the resurrected presence of these dead extra terrestrials with the the remains of an space craft, that had long ago found their way into the DNA of the human race.

 

The series appeared to inspire people such as Dan O’Bannon, Stanley Kubrick and John Carpenter amongst many others in the world of cinema in one way or another.

 

 

Read about it on Wikipedia

Series Cast:

André Morell .... Professor Bernard Quatermass

Cec Linder .... Dr. Matthew Roney

Anthony Bushell .... Colonel James Breen

John Stratton .... Captain Potter

Christine Finn .... Barbara Judd

Michael Ripper ... Sergeant

Harold Goodwin ... Corporal Gibson

Clifford Cox ... First Private

Brian Gilmar ... Second Private

Alexander Moyes ... Narrator

Brian Worth ... James Fullalove

Richard Shaw ... Sladden

Richard Dare ... Private Secretary

Kenneth Seeger ... Sightseer

Sheldon Allan ... Sightseer

Mary Henderson ... Sightseer

John Mahoney ... Sightseer

Monica Rey ... Sightseer

Anthony Roye ... Journalist

John Wilding ... Sightseer

Carlos Williams ... Journalist

Tony Quinn ... News Editor

John Walker ... Private West

Robert Perceval ... Minister

Ian Ainsley ... Police Inspector

Noel Howlett ... Vicar Gilpin

Ruby Archer ... Sightseer

Richard Bidlake ... Sightseer

Norman Chappell ... Man in Crowd

Henry Drew ... Journalist

Nelson Evans ... Journalist

Audrey Foat ... Sightseer

Roderick Griffith ... Journalist

Michael Guest ... Policeman

Diana Halewood ... Sightseer

Raf Jover ... Electrician's Mate

Patricia Kerry ... Sightseer

Ann Kirk ... Sightseer

Raymond Mansell ... Dead Electrician

Bill Matthews ... Sightseer

Desmond Newling ... Sightseer

Alan Page ... Sightseer

Walter Randall ... Sightseer

Rex Rashley ... Sightseer

Roger Rowland ... Dead Journalist

Karen Shaw ... Sightseer

Rosamond Tattersall ... Sightseer

Rowena Torrance ... Sightseer

Elaine Williams ... Sightseer

Harry Wright ... Sightseer

Hilary Bays ... Journalist

Patrick Milner ... Journalist

Edward Burnham ... Official

Allan McClelland ... 1st Journalist

Bill Shine ... 2nd Journalist

Harold Siddons ... Electrician

Bernard Spear ... First Customer

Patrick Connor ... Policeman

Hilda Barry ... Mrs. Anne Chilcot

Victor Platt ... P.C. Ellis

Howell Davies ... Mr. Chilcot

Basil Beale ... Policeman

Tom Cubitt ... Man in Crowd

Terence Greenidge ... Journalist

Norman Miller ... Man in Crowd

Frank Mills ... Journalist

Priscilla Ogier ... Journalist

June Vivian ... Sightseer

Nancy Adams ... Sightseer

Bryn Bartlett ... Man in Crowd

Paul Bogdan ... Man in Crowd

William Lyon Brown ... Journalist

Rodney Burke ... Man in Crowd

Kathleen Cattermole ... Sightseer

Richard Coe ... Man in Crowd

John Dawson ... Man in Crowd

James Duggan ... Journalist

Edward Ellis ... Man in Crowd

Diana French ... Sightseer

Bob Grant ... Man in Crowd

Dorothy Grumbar ... Sightseer

June Hayhurst ... Sightseer

Brian Jackson ... Man in Crowd

Joseph Levine ... Man in Crowd

Kathleen MacAulisse ... Sightseer

Margery Mason ... Crowd at Museum

Ronald Masters ... Coffee Stall Customer

Ronald Mayer ... Dead Photographer

Edwin Morton ... Man in Crowd

Beatrice Ormonde ... Sightseer

Roger Ostime ... Journalist

Joan Price ... Sightseer

Dorothy Robson ... Sightseer

Frank Seton ... Man in Crowd

Cara Stevens ... Sightseer

Joan Weatherley ... Coffee Stall Customer

Michael Wyatt ... Man in Crowd

Van Boolen ... Truck Driver

Lionel Ngakane ... Workman

George Dudley ... Old Workman

John Rae ... Foreman

Malcolm Watson ... Museum Official

Stanley Vine ... First Journalist

Mark Eden ... Second Journalist

Patrick Maynard ... Third Journalist

Keith Banks ... Nuttall

John Hamblin ... Newsvendor

Madge Brindley ... Miss Groome

Arthur Hewlett ... Baines

Frank Crane ... George

Anthony Pendrell ... T.V. Interviewer

Ian Wilson ... 3rd Journalist

Michael Bird ... Armitage

Janet Burnell ... Interviewer

Louise Gainsborough ... Blonde

John Scott Martin ... T.V. Technician

Donald McCollum ... Elderly Librarian

Tony Lyons ... Teddy Boy

Anne Blake ... Woman Journalist

Arthur Brander ... Man in the Blazer

Fletcher Lightfoot ... Abbey Librarian

Anne Bushill ... Teddy Girl

Sydney Bromley ... Tattered Man

Janet Joyce ... Stout Woman

Stuart Nichol ... Newscaster

Budd Knapp ... Pilot

Nan Braunton ... Miss Dobson

Kenneth J. Warren ... Young Constable

Peter Grisewood ... Business Man

John Barrett ... Scientist

Charles Maunsell ... General

Lee Richardson ... Male Assistant

Edward Malin ... War Office Messenger

Harry Drew ... Extra

Frank Phillips ... Radio Newsreader

Norman Atkins ... Publician

Peter Day ... Sladden's Hand

John Herrington ... Coffee Stall Owner

Nigel Kneale ... Narrator

Richard Steele ... Sightseer

Holly Bane ... Grab Operator

Colin Morton ... Extra

Rudolph Cartier Series Producer

Ian Gallaway Series Film Editor

Clifford Hatts Series Production Design

Series Makeup Department

Christine Hillcoat .... makeup supervisor

Series Special Effects by

Peter Day .... special effects assistant

Jack Kine .... special effects

Bernard Wilkie .... special effects

Series Camera and Electrical Department

A.A. Englander .... camera operator

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department

Pamela Glanville .... wardrobe supervisor

Series Other crew

P.J. Hands .... military advisor

Photograph from Radio Times 21-27 1958
(source: Professor Bernard Quatermass page on Facebook)