Is That Really You Professor?
IS THAT REALLY YOU PROFESSOR?
The fifties' Quatermass serials have often been acclaimed the
forerunner of Doctor Who since they are both BBC SF serials when in
fact this is only partly true. In technical terms the series did
pioneer a lot of the TV techniques with which the later programme
would be realized, thus making Doctor Who a practical proposition;
but conceptwise there is quite a gulf between the two; at least in the
Hartnell years. Doctor Who was very much a family show whereas the
adventures of Professor Quatermass were "unsuitable for children and
those of a nervous disposition." This is why Nigel Kneale, the creator
of Quatermass, refused to write for the former programme; dismissing it
as childish nonsense. Nevertheless, in subsequent years, various
production teams have returned to the Quatermass template when
looking for a successful production because of its reputation as an
audience winner.
This template owes something to Fifties SF themes. It sets the force
of human scientific endeavor against hostile alien might in a
contemporary setting. In the movies this usually means the heroic
scientist (and his daughter and her square-jawed boyfriend) inventing
a gadget that exploits their foes' one weakness. Also there is the
"things are not always what or who they seem" paranoia device so
successfully exploited by the likes of Invasion of the Body Snatchers
and It Came From Outer Space. However whereas in the films the issues
are pretty clear-cut and the resolutions are final, in the more
downbeat world of British SF, the heroes are often frustrated by
officialdom, superstition and self-doubt. The Quatermass stories
always demonstrated that science and the frontiers of research are
heavily affected by politics and personal frictions; they are much
closer to the realities of life and the rights and wrongs of situation
are not so obvious. Futhermore Professor Quatermass was always
outside the establishment, always having to fight for funding and
credibility. Unusually for a fictional scientist, he was often the
voice of the common man in a world of red tape and political
conveniences. Most of his contemporaries were portrayed as uncaring
about 'the man in the street' who 'would not understand' his work.
Apart from this grounding of the unearthly in the 'real world' the
other most obvious part of the formula is the threat of losing
control. All the BBC TV serials feature people being taken over by
alien intelligences; either bodily in Quatermass Experiment;
parasitically in Quatermass II; or via prehistoric Martian DNA in
Quatermass and the Pit. The fourth ITV Quatermass serial shows the
whole of humanity losing its grip due to the influence of an alien
machine . Lost of freedom, of our own minds is a central theme of
most horror stories, Quatermass articulates it brilliantly.
Professor Bernard Quatermass and the Doctor are both seekers of
knowledge and truth but at the same time they recognise that knowledge
without feeling and moral judgement is dangerous. However an
important difference between them is that the Professor has a family
to care about but the Doctor is very much alone, even with a 'grand
daughter'.
The early years of Doctor Who were too concerned with establishing its
own identity to look over its shoulder at its predecessors. It was
fresh, vibrant and besides it had the Daleks to grab audiences.
Probably the first story to feel Quatermass's shadow was Dalek
Invasion of Earth. For the first time the alien threat was directed
towards our own recognisable world, even if it was 2167. To emphasise
this effect the Daleks are seen cruising around London landmarks, just
as the monster in Experiment headed for Westminster Abbey and in Pit,
Hob hovered over East End terraces. Furthermore the adventure shares
Kneale's dim view of human nature, there are Dalek collaborators, the
rebels bicker amongst themselves. In particular the opening episode
with the discouraging poster "It is forbidden to dump bodies in the
river"; the roboman throwing himself into the Thames and eerie
peacefulness; conjures up the same 'it looks normal but there is
something VERY wrong here' feel of the early episodes of II where the
Professor investigates the synthetic food plant and its workers'
estate.
It is hardly a revelation to state that the programme really entered
the contemporary world in The War Machines. However the story only nods
in passing to the Quatermass style. Although the plot involves people
being taken over by a foreign intelligence, it is an artificial mind
created by science so there is not that feeling of humanity versus the
unknown. Furthermore the Doctor is far to chummy with the
establishment, spending most of his time coordinating officials and
soldiers. Professor Quatermass was a reluctant member of committees at
best and more frequently had to strike out on his own against
officialdom. So the programme makers successfully avoided making
their present day story into a surrogate Quatermass.
The Faceless Ones is the first adventure where the Doctor could be
fairly easily replaced by Bernard Quatermass. Here the themes of loss
of control, connivance of the authorities, struggles to convince the
establishment and an unknown alien threat come together in a story
that would have made a ideal situation for the Professor. The story
demonstrates how the characters wilful ignorance of the existence of
alien life is exploited by the Chameleons, just as the parasitical
creatures of II did. However the episodes still contain much of the
programme's house style as well, Polly and Ben as hostages, poison gas
cliffhangers and the sometimes comedic behaivour of Troughton. Nigel
Kneale left comic relief to the small part players and kept Professor
Quatermass pretty straight faced. Both this story and Quatermass
emphasise the bizarre elements by contrasting them with the mundane,
for example the dour Inspector Crossland incredulous discovery that an
entire complement of passengers has disappered or the down-to-earth
workman who encounters savage psionic forces in Pit.
The alien threat was much more blatant of course in Web of Fear and
the government was actively combating it. Although mind-control is a
feature of this series, the whole tone is one of pulp fantasy and the
Professor would have looked uncomfortable in such an action
orientated story. So although this is SF in a everyday setting, it
is undeniably a Doctor Who adventure with the aliens already known to
the viewer from their previous appearance.
Troughton's era comes closest to Quatermass in the scary,
intelligently written, Fury from the Deep. Here we have the classic
build up of revelations about a totally alien force from our own
pre-history. Once again the Professor would have looked quite
comfortable in the Doctor role, trying to convince everyone of the
Weed's dangers, before saving the day with a simple scientific
solution. It's not just storywise that Fury borrows from Quatermass.
The scene where Van Lutyens descends into the refinery's impeller
shaft; to be greeted by a writing mass of seaweed; recalls the classic
moment from II when the Professor looks into the main dome and sees
the repulsive amoeboid aliens. The terror reaches as far as gas
cookers in everyday homes and to complete the II parallels, many of
the refinery personnel are taken over by parasitic weed, just as the
parasites in II subjugate their human victims.
The era when the two programmes melded together most clearly was,
you've guessed it, season seven. Anxious to revive the programme from
the doldrums, the production team did not just borrow ideas from the
former success; they lifted practically the whole format; grafting the
ratings winner UNIT on top. Any of the four stories could have been
creditable Quatermass stories, although Inferno would have to return
to its original four part concept, sans parallel Earth. The only main
difference between the first Pertwee season and Quatermass is that the
hero was working on behalf of the establishment; a trait which was alien
to the Doctor of old and awkward for the Professor. But then the
authority figures in these series were all contemptuous of aliens or
working with them; so the change in the character was not as noticeable
on a first viewing. Spearhead from Space was uncannily similar to II.
Derek Martinus has said he was unaware of the parallels between it and
II but the twos' synopsis were too close for comfort. Both started with
a radar station detecting mysterious meteorites; involved an industrial
plant that proves to be a bridgehead for an invasion; mind-control and
a plan which featured the infiltration of government and military. On
a qualative level; Spearhead was the superior version because it is
tighter and has a greater scope; its invasion reached the streets of
the Britain whilst II's remained within the refinery.
The rest of the season's stories were all along the lines of science
probing the unknown and encountering things that challenge accepted
wisdom. The Doctor was the voice of reason in often emotional events.
These stories were concerned with the human reaction to the unknown
which unfortunately ran from xenophobia to exploitation.
By season eight however the Letts/Dicks partnership had established
their own identity on the show. The gritty, psuedo Quatermass approach
was jettisoned in favour of a more family atmosphere and as a result,
Terror of the Autons was a halfway house. Its storyline was heavily
influenced by the previous season but its execution was so jolly and
brightly coloured than scenes that sounded terrifying on paper, fell
flat on the screen. In place of the 'aliens in the real world' feel
came a fantasy world of secret agents, seventies pop designs and Jo
Grant. Introducing the timelords and the Master into the formula
finally severed the link between the two programmes. Doctor Who, for
better or worse, was its own show again.
Nevertheless Quatermass elements keep cropping up. Claws of Axos
began with another radar scene and it is possible to see the
Professor in this story, once again trying to prove the truth to his
blinkered colleagues. As with Terror it is an alien contact story in
the old style, adapted into the cheerful Letts/Dicks idiom.
The central Pit idea, aliens being responsible for man's evolution and
being remembered as the devil, was given another airing in The
Daemons. It even has the Doctor using practically the same dialouge as
the Professor, speaking of horned imagery and psionic forces. To
draw further parallels; both series featured a mysterious sealed room;
an archaeological site that uncovers a spaceship and supernaturally
animated objects (tools and cables in Pit, winds and creepers in
Daemons). The alien himself was unsubtly depicted as a physical devil
whereas the Martians in Pit were horned insects with vaugely gargoyle
faces. A major difference however was that with UNIT, the military
was on the Doctor's side, rather trying to gag him as the obnoxious
Colonel Breen tried to do to the Professor in Pit. The opening of
the barrow was very reminiscent of the unleashing of Martian power at
the climax of Pit and both were 'televised' in the story.
Finally for the Third Doctor; Sea Devils and Green Death both had
parts of the Quatermass formula though by now the elements were
equally identifiable as Doctor Who's house style.
At the climax of Experiment, the Professor battled a mutant being that
resembled a heap of vegetation. In season thirteen the Doctor faced a
similar creature in Seeds of Doom. Oddly, in both cases the threat
was the same; that the creature was about to spread its spores all
over world; thus dooming civilisation as we know it. This story was
another that shared the same mood as its forerunner. The threat was
firmly set in our world and the heroes must deal with a creature which
subjugates not only people but flora to its will; menace from the
seemingly ordinary. However this story also featured a superb,
charismatic villain, a dramatic element missing from the Quatermass
canon where humanity's foes were always too alien and inscrutable to
present any definite personality.
The Pit has provided a template for a second Doctor Who story, Image
of the Fendahl. In both stories a skull that seems to prove man's
existence a few million years earlier than known is discovered; this
skull acts as a channel for alien forces in the same way the alien
spacecraft did in Pit; attacking characters and producing a bizarre
sound. Both stories reveal that an ancient alien race has used to
mankind to preserve itself by modifying the apes it found back in the
past, thus 'creating' humans. The gist of the story is science versus
unearthly/superstitious agencies, the Quatermass principle. The
series also features local people who provide clues, just as the East
End inhabitants do in Pit. In both versions science and the occult
meld together at the climax to form a terrible power, one which is
defeated by a simple scientific idea revealed by folk tales; iron and
water discharging energy in Pit; rock salt killing the slug-like
Fendahleen; both methods supposed to be defences against the devil.
Fendahl is the closest the programme comes to Quatermass.
Graham Williams returned to the science/occult question next season in
Stones of Blood. Unlike the fourth Quatermass series; the story makes
no direct link between stone circles and aliens but does feature an
extraterrestrial masquerading as a pagan deity; again the influence of
Pit. Although this series fills most of the formula in principle its
overall comedy style negates any real Quatermass atmosphere and goes
instead for Night of the Demon.
Since it shares more than a little with The Daemons, The Awakening can
be said to have a Quatermass quality to it. Certainly the idea of the
whole community unwittingly hiding an alien purpose is reminiscent of
II but then villages with something to hide is a staple of drama.
Again the hero faces an alien from the past which uses humans as
puppets. Another point of comparison is that both the Malus and the
Harvester in the fourth Quatermass series are in fact machines running
a program which was set by some alien race thousands of years ago, as
a result neither can be bargained with.
In Remembrance of the Daleks, there is that throwaway line about the
Britsh Rocket Group and the intriguing idea that the Professor exists
in the Doctor Who universe.
When rumours about season 26 were in the air, Battlefield sounded as
though the programme was going to return to the Quatermass formula
again with a group of scientists investigating a sword that would turn
out to be an alien weapon. In the actual version, although an
archaeological site appears ala Pit, the influences were Arthurian
rather than SF.
Another alien from the past that disguised itself in a myth was Fenric
from Curse of Fenric. It also manipulated human history, though in a
less fundamental way, in order to achieve its purpose and it took over
characters. But Fenric is to fantastical and melodramatic a being to
really qualify as the kind of threat the Professor would be able to
deal with. Fenric is driven by a lust for misery and revenge whereas
all the aliens Kneale invented were merely interested in survival of
their species, except the aliens in the fourth series whose motives
remain unknown. On a more personal note, Curse has far too many plot
holes in it to be based on any kind of formula.
Now some will argue that things I have identified as part of a formula
are in fact too common to SF in general to count but nevertheless I
feel there are enough similarities to make a connection between
Quatermass and Doctor Who. As for which programme is better, the
question is a non-starter because as Kneale observed at the beginning;
they represent; if not opposite poles; two different lines of drama.
Where these two lines have crossed they have usually enriched each
other. Let's just hope that we will watch programmes like them in the
future.
Return to the Articles