What a shame that this is one of the lost episodes of Hancock. However, the soundtrack was recently discovered, and so at least it can be listened to. The script is relatively wordy, and there aren't too many purely visual moments. Broadcast a mere four days after the final episode of Quatermass and the Pit, the Nigel Kneale horror serial that gripped Britain, The Horror Serial spoofs it brilliantly and respectfully. One would probably need to have sat enthralled through Quatermass to understand most of the jokes in this, but what a treat if, like me, you know the serial backwards.
Hancock has just watched the final episode with Sid's mum, and has terrified himself. Back at Railway Cuttings, he and Sid find a mysterious piece of metal in the garden. Hancock thinks its an alien spaceship, millions of years old; Sid thinks it's a piece of an old mangle. A bone is found below it. Scratches are found on the walls of the house next door. Soldiers, led by John le Mesurier, are brought in to see what it might be. Perhaps it's an unexploded bomb, of an unknown type. Hancock now believes that everyone will be possessed by the Martians, but despairs of persuading the unimaginative military mind. "It's Hob's Lane all over again!"
Virtually every key moment of Quatermass has its analogue in Railway Cuttings. Worthy of special mention is the incidental music, presumably by Wally Stott. A shame that we can't see Hancock's facial expressions of terror that no doubt accompanied every dramatic burst.
Hancock has just watched the final episode with Sid's mum, and has terrified himself. Back at Railway Cuttings, he and Sid find a mysterious piece of metal in the garden. Hancock thinks its an alien spaceship, millions of years old; Sid thinks it's a piece of an old mangle. A bone is found below it. Scratches are found on the walls of the house next door. Soldiers, led by John le Mesurier, are brought in to see what it might be. Perhaps it's an unexploded bomb, of an unknown type. Hancock now believes that everyone will be possessed by the Martians, but despairs of persuading the unimaginative military mind. "It's Hob's Lane all over again!"
Virtually every key moment of Quatermass has its analogue in Railway Cuttings. Worthy of special mention is the incidental music, presumably by Wally Stott. A shame that we can't see Hancock's facial expressions of terror that no doubt accompanied every dramatic burst.