Nigel Kneale

Nigel Kneale has died.

If you don't know the name, he's the man who created Quatermass.

At one time, the entirety of the UK would shut down to get home for Quatermass night. I've many friends and family that recall everything from markets to pubs being made into ghost towns on those nights.

Quatermass made all sorts of adult science-fiction possible. While the pulp trade had enjoyed such stories for awhile, it remained "pulp". Kneale's efforts truly helped to elevate it. Quatermass remains a seminal work in the genre. It pulled no punches, it held little back. Yet, no matter how dark or grisly the situation, Bernard remained a gentleman.

To say, "If not for Quatermass..." may sound a bit hollow, as we tend to hear things like that a lot. But if not for Kneale and Quatermass, we'd not have had work like Doctor Who or possibly even Star Trek...or those that followed. Quatermass changed things.

If you're not familiar with Quatermass, you're in for a treat. You can find fiction and vid for most of it. There were also some radio plays you can find during some time with Google.

I'm sure the BBC will be releasing a lot of material for the public over the next few days. They have a lovely setup for such things, making most of their content available online (in their country at least).

I owe quite a bit to Nigel Kneale, as I'm sure most of what I enjoy watching and reading would be very different or absent without his influence.