The BBC airs the third episode of Nigel Kneale’s trend-setting science fiction series The Quatermass Experiment, starring Reginald Tate as Prof. Bernard Quatermass. This episode was not archived and does not exist in the BBC’s archives.
The questioning of surviving astronaut Victor Carroon continues, and he reveals not only a fluent grasp of German, but knowledge of fellow astronaut Green’s life as well. The cockpit voice recorder from the rocket is found and its tape played back, revealing an unearthly sound that accompanied the rocket going off course. Though Detective Inspector Lomax dismisses the sound as that of “the rocket motors”, Quatermass knows it’s not the sound of the engines. When the tape is played back with Carroon and Lomax present, its obvious that the astronaut is not a murder suspect…but the victim of whas Quatermass believes was “like a cosmic ray, but alive”…
written by Nigel Kneale
directed by Rudolph Cartier
music not creditedCast: Reginald Tate (Professor Bernard Quatermass), Isabel Dean (Judith Carroon), Duncan Lamont (Victor Carroon), John Glen (Dr. Gordon Briscoe), Ian Colin (Detective Inspector Lomax), Frank Hawkins (Detective Sergeant Best), Hugh Kelly (John Paterson), Paul Whitsun-Jones (James Fullalove), Philip Vickers (American Reporter), Edward David (Indian Reporter), Katie Johnson (Miss Wilde), Lewis Wilson (Walters)
Notes: The BBC, unsatisfied with its experimental telerecording technique, only recorded the first two episodes of The Quatermass Experiment. This synopsis and the remainder of this guide to The Quatermass Experiment, out of necessity, is based upon the original scripts and remaining production paperwork.
LogBook entry by Earl Green