"The fool on the hill, sees the sun going round,
and the eyes in his head, sees the world spinning 'round"

QUATERMASS II

Episode Two: The Mark

October 29, 1955

Shit gets real.

Pr. Quatermass and Cpt. Dillon investigate another meteor fall near Winnderden Flats. Quatermass notices that the meteor is identical to the ones that have already fallen on Earth. Moreover, the meteorites are hollow. Capt. Dillon takes a closer look and the meteorite opens up spraying him with some sort of ammonia gas, though Quatermass believes that something else may have been in there. And there's that strange mark on Dillon's hand.

Very soon afterwards, a group of oddly-clad soldiers come 'round and take Captain Dillon with them. The soldiers (in a very we-are-mind-controlled sort of way) then tells Quatermass to piss off.

Looking for help, Quatermass ends up first at the workers' camp for the Winnderden Flats builders, only to be told to piss off once more by the camp's manager. He does, however, note a strange little girls with another weird mark on her hand. He then goes to the police (yeah, like that ever works) and yet again the authorities are no help. Winnderden Flats is a "secret private sector project", so it's hands-off for everyone. Dejected, Quatermass returns to London and whips up his government contact who tells him that the Winnderden Flats project is actually an experimental articifial food plant. Quatermass demands a meeting with the project's board of directors and, not without some difficulty, it is arranged.

At the meeting, Quatermass badgers the BoD with questions they are quite reluctant to answer, until one of them rurns around and reveal that strange mark on his cheek.



Pr. Quatermass, getting
with the program at last

• I failed to note this before, but the title music is an exceprt of Gustav Holst "Mars, the Bringer of War". Pretty neat, I thought.
• John Robinson is picking up the pace this time. I found him pretty non-descript in his first episode but now, he's getting into the act.
• Finally we get to see an alien invasion plan with more that a mere two-weeks preparation. The whole thing has been building up for a year, under everyone's nose and none getting the wiser. So when Quatermass begins to fathom what's really going on, a certain sense of panic and "WTF!!!" creeps up on him. Pretty effective.
• Didn't I tell you Captain Dillon wouldn't last, didn't I!!!! Fools! You all laughed at me back at the university, but who's laughing now? Mwah ha ha. Nothink in ze world kan stop me now.