On the 4th October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite, into an elliptical low Earth orbit, thus kicking off the space race between the Cold War superpowers. However, the 1950s wasn’t only the dawn of the Space Age, the decade also saw the beginning of the television age. And it all started with the first adult British Science Fiction television drama, The Quatermass Experiment, written by legendary scriptwriter Nigel Kneale way back in 1953.
Today Nigel Kneale has become a seminal figure among science fiction fans. His three Quatermass serials for the BBC were a seismic event in the 1950s, before finding international success when adapted by Hammer Films for the big screen. Later TV plays, such as The Road, The Stone Tape and The Chopper, skilfully blend elements of science fiction and the ghost story. Later The Year of the Sex Olympics predicted the rise of the real Big Brother in the form of reality TV.
Today all of his surviving TV work remain classics and Kneale’s writing continues to be a great influence on popular culture. Fully revised and updated, this brand new edition of Into the Unknown charts Nigel Kneale’s extraordinary career, beginning with his childhood on the Isle of Man, to his early years at the BBC and strange adventures in Hollywood, including his script work for Halloween III and ultimately abandoned script for a Creature From The Black Lagoon reboot.
A celebration of Kneale’s new status as a cult hero, the book draws on a wealth of research and many hours of interviews with Kneale himself, as well as contemporary filmmakers John Carpenter, Ramsey Campbell, Grant Morrison, Russell T. Davies, and Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson of The League of Gentlemen.
INTO THE UNKNOWN: THE FANTASTIC LIFE OF NIGEL KNEALE (REVISED & UPDATED) / AUTHOR: ANDY MURRAY / PUBLISHER: HEADPRESS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
