The Quatermass Experiment: The Making of TV's First Sci-Fi Classic Hardback

THIS IS A PRE-ORDER: RELEASE DATE MAY 12

Special edition casebound hardback with cover artwork by Robert Hack. Limited to 250 numbered copies.

Witness the birth of TV science-fiction!

The six-part serial The Quatermass Experiment — broadcast live from Alexandra Palace in 1953 — was a landmark television event. Unleashed in the wake of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the conquest of Everest, Nigel Kneale’s story of a doomed space flight captivated the burgeoning television audience with high-quality, suspenseful science fiction. The Quatermass Experiment was not cult television; this was mainstream drama which tapped into contemporary concerns.

For the first time, the full inside story of the development and making of this classic programme can be told — pieced together from production paperwork, Nigel Kneale’s private archive and never-before-published interviews with cast and crew, illustrated with previously unseen photographs from the Nigel Kneale Estate.

Foreword by Peter Harness; Afterword by Jon Dear

Toby Hadoke has been researching Quatermass and the works of Nigel Kneale for over 30 years. He is also an award-winning writer, actor, comedian and broadcaster, regularly contributing to The Guardian and Radio 4 Extra.

Casebound Hardback: 156mm x 244 format; 320 pages in black and white, plus 36-page photo insert

There will also be two launch events for the paperback edition:

Sunday 11 May 2025, 4.00pm
53Two, Arch 19, Watson Street, Manchester, M3 4LP.
The Quatermass Experiment — Book Launch and Q&A

Blue Peter presenter Abby Cook interviews Toby Hadoke, who has written a definitive account of the making of The Quatermass Experiment, followed by an audience Q&A and book signing (copies will be available to purchase). Tickets £5 (all ticket money goes to support the venue, 53Two, an independent community arts hub which receives no subsidy)
Ticket link: https://wegottickets.com/event/654142

Monday 19 May 2025, 6.30pm
BFI Reuben Library, BFI Southbank, London SE1 8XT
The Quatermass Experiment — Book Launch and Q&A

Lisa Kerrigan, senior curator of television at the BFI National Archive, interviews TV historian Toby Hadoke, who has written a new book about the making of The Quatermass Experiment. Questions will be thrown open to the audience, followed by a book signing (copies will be available to purchase). 
Tickets £6
Ticket link: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/