Nigel Kneale; 1922 - 2006 October 31, 2006
Posted by John Hodson in : Television, General, Film General , trackbackOne of the most perceptive and imaginative writers of science fiction, for the movies, but chiefly for British television, Nigel ‘Tom’ Kneale has died, aged 84.
Kneale’s contribution to a genre that encompasses both the ridiculous, but in his case, nearly always the sublime, is almost incalculable. He influenced whole generations of film makers, not just in this country, but round the world with his unique blend of science fiction, science fact, horror and prescience that matched the lauded H.G. Wells in its scope, it’s fierce intelligence and mind-boggling creativity.
I’ll point you first at HammerWeb, who appear to be among the first to have picked up the news with their Tribute to Nigel Kneale:
‘Hammer’s decision to make The Quatermass Xperiment was probably the most important the company would ever make. Director Val Guest cut the script down from a three hour epic to a taught [sic] 80 minute chiller, pitting Brian Donlevy’s Quatermass against the creeping unknown that comes to earth in the space rocket. The company’s first X picture proved a runaway success and would cause Hammer to look towards further macabre projects kickstarting the gothic horror cycle with The Curse of Frankenstein…’
But for anyone not too familiar with his work, a quick glance at IMDB and his Wiki entry shows that Kneale was much more than that. I have a vivid memory of quaking with fear at the creepy, atmospheric The Abominable Snowman as a child, yet at the same time, being captivated by what was so much more than a mere creature feature. On top of his three famous Quatermass films and TV series (even the fourth has much to merit it), his TV plays The Year of The Sex Olympics (which set Mary Whitehouse a twitter; I suspect the title was enough) and The Stone Tape still have a startling profundity (in the case of the former) and the power to make the skin crawl (in the case of the latter).
I’ve been thinking much about the man recently (see Something Wicked This Way Comes), it is, after all, that time of year. At his best, Kneale had the ability to chill the viewer to the very marrow.
Just last year, the BBC broadcast a ‘live’ version of his original The Quatermass Experiment script; though I love the Hammer film dearly, there is no slightly tacky macro shot of a doomed cephalopod here, no publicity drive to make the most of that ’X’ certificate - his original vision was, I thought, beautifully captured. Class is timeless.
God bless him; we’ll never see the like again.
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