Professor Quatermass, the most famous creation of legendary Manx screenwriter Nigel Kneale, will be celebrated at the Manx Museum this Friday night (September 25).

As part of this year’s Manx Litfest, the organisers have brought Nigel’s son, the author Matthew Kneale, to the Island and he will talk about his father’s life and career. The event, kindly sponsored by ManSat Ltd, starts at 7.15pm, entry is free, and (by kind permission of the BBC) there will also be a screening of Contact Has Been Established, the first episode of The Quatermass Experiment.

Broadcast by the BBC in 1953, the six-part serial was set in the near future and told the story of the first manned flight into space. On its return to Earth, two of the three astronauts are missing, and the third is behaving strangely - and it becomes clear that some kind of alien presence has returned with the astronaut. The serial influenced many of the sci-fi novels and movies that followed, such as Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Matthew is the author of several novels, but is perhaps best known for English Passengers, which won the Whitbread Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2000.

Festival Director John Quirk said: ‘We have been planning this event for the last couple of years, and it’s an honour to have Matthew with us for this year’s festival. Nigel Kneale passed away in 2006, having forged a successful screenwriting career, on both sides of the Atlantic. But Quatermass is the character that most people will remember him for. Our thanks go to ManSat, for supporting the event, and to Paul Weatherall and the team at Manx National Heritage, who have pulled out all the stops to help make this happen.’

Nigel Kneale’s personal archive is held in the National Archives at the Manx Museum.

ManSat has been and continues to be at the forefront of the Manx space industry and since 2000 has worked under contract with the Isle of Man Government’s Communications Commission to carry out satellite filings for the Island.

Chris Stott, CEO of ManSat, said: ‘Nigel Kneale was a giant of the screenwriting world, and we are proud to support an event celebrating his life and work. The Quatermass Experiment, first broadcast by the BBC in 1953, was groundbreaking and further series, and films, followed. Truly seminal and absolutely fantastic.

‘Today, we have Manx satellites providing broadband to one billion people around the world. We have a piece of Tynwald Hill flown to the International Space Station and back; thanks to Dr. Helmut Kessler, Manx-made optics are the eyes of the robots exploring Mars; Manx has been spoken live from space; and Manx students routinely study at NASA. And there is so much more. We are living in a world of science fiction made science fact… and there would be no science today without science fiction; it was the work of the early science fiction writers, both novelists and screenwriters, which helped inspire the scientific breakthroughs we have seen during the last 50-60 years. Nigel Kneale is truly one of the greats.’

Manx Litfest got underway on Tuesday, September 22 and runs through until Sunday, September 27.

English Passengers has a strong Manx connection, in particular to Peel, and Matthew will talk about the book, and its links to the Island, at 11.30am on Saturday (September 26) at the House of Manannan. Tickets are ?6 and available from the Villa Gaiety box office.

The full schedule for this year’s festival can be seen on www.manxlitfest.com and printed programmes and event flyers have been distributed around the Island. You can also keep up to date with the festival on www.facebook.com/manxlitfest and www.twitter.com/manxlitfest. 

Manx Litfest is a registered charity (#1100) and has been supported each year by Isle of Man Arts Council and Culture Vannin, along with several corporate sponsors.

Photo- The cover of the script for Quatermass and the Pit.