Classic SF TV - Quatermass

[Ubik]

So, in my quest to find good SF TV I find that I am having to travel backwards in time, and dig up classics that I may have missed.

Much of modern SF stuff leaves me a bit cold, so looking backwards seems to be the logical thing to do. Recently I watched Quatermass - The Pit, the original black and white TV serial, not the Hammer Horror film remake, which misses a lot of the nuance and joy of this earlier TV incarnation.

Despite limited buget, sets and FX, it had more charm, ideas and inventiveness than most modern stuff. It’s also VERY British, but being a Brit, I found that quite comforting.

I’ve got ‘The Stone Tapes’ lined up next, seems like Nigel Kneale was a bit of a powerhouse of a writer back in the day.

Are there any old shows you love that you feel really show up a lot of modern stuff?

[JasonDavis]

Don't close the book on Nigel Kneale without watching The Year of the Sex Olympics. The original television production of Quatermass II and the 2005 live performance of The Quatermass Experiment on BBC Four are also worth a look.

Outside of Kneale, An Englishman's Castle is excellent; I suspect it will get more attention in the wake of Amazon's adaptation of The Man in the High Castle.

Though his only outright SF work was the posthumously produced Cold Lazarus, one can't go wrong with nearly anything written by Dennis Potter; The Singing Detective, Brimstone & Treacle, Karaoke, Lipstick on Your Collar all leap to my mind; all are suitably surreal, as is Howard Brenton's Dead Head.

I've just realized that everything on my list is British. Guess I need to wander off and consider some American options...

[Ubik]

Don't close the book on Nigel Kneale without watching The Year of the Sex Olympics. The original television production of Quatermass II and the 2005 live performance of The Quatermass Experiment on BBC Four are also worth a look.

Outside of Kneale, An Englishman's Castle is excellent; I suspect it will get more attention in the wake of Amazon's adaptation of The Man in the High Castle.

Though his only outright SF work was the posthumously produced Cold Lazarus, one can't go wrong with nearly anything written by Dennis Potter; The Singing Detective, Brimstone & Treacle, Karaoke, Lipstick on Your Collar all leap to my mind; all are suitably surreal, as is Howard Brenton's Dead Head.

I've just realized that everything on my list is British. Guess I need to wander off and consider some American options...

Thanks Jason. Noted. Will be sure to check that stuff out.