sawyl | Planetary - Quatermass intersections (Reply)

Spent the morning mapping the Quatermass Experiment links in Planet Fiction with

drspleen. Here are some random thoughts and vague conclusions.

After the immediate recovery of the fiction ship, a technician is shown wearing retro headphones reporting on the state of the occupants of the ship. This is very suggestive of the scene where Paterson attempts to take control of the crash landed ship using something described in the screenplay as being "like a large field telephone". The technician reports that the ship has picked up a presumably fictional hitch hiker, "We confirm; one more crew member than departed", who could well be inspired by Kneale's astronaut/monster Victor Carroon (something I've since discovered that Ellis has confirmed on a message board).

The unnamed villain is shown standing in a control room with his two associates, Miss Bourke and Mr Davis whilst in the background, technicians are shown in the hunched over computer terminals. This is very similar to a moment in The Experiment where the Professor, Judith Carroon and Paterson attempt to take remote control of the rocket to prepare it for reentry, right down to the technicians who are described in the screenplay as being "hunched over the computors — the steel cases have been removed to facilitate immediate access — their faces are lit by the dim glow from cabinets." Is it possible that the villain is actually an evil eigenself of Professor Quatermass? Could Bourke and Devis be Judith and Paterson? The villain claims to have created the fictional universe, so could he be an evil eigenself of Nigel Kneale? Or could he be someone who's written his universe as an homage to Kneale?

When Jakita finally confronts the villain, she forces his gun into the flesh of his hand, leaving him cradling a weird hybrid. Could this be another allusion to Victor Carroon? In The Experiment, he starts his transformation into a monster after merging his hand with a cactus.