While it may be slow, overly-intellectual, and deficient in CGI for younger, ADD-prone viewers, this remake is all the more admirable for sticking to its roots. This is live TV modernized but not homogenized... assembled using the best of current technology, but with the emphasis still very firmly on script and performance. Could it have had a big green CGI monster at the end? Yeah, yeah, sure. But thankfully it avoids such tired clichés.<br /><br />While the original Quatermass is lost, this version goes a long way toward recapturing its impact, and the unique vitality of the live format. The story has been parceled out differently, but quite reasonably; the two new episodes offer an adequate running time, considering all the recaps and redundant credits that are omitted compared to the original shorter episodes. So the careful pacing remains largely intact. Scientific revelations accumulate at an accelerating pace, leading up to the same unnerving climax.<br /><br />The performances are all superb. The younger take on Prof Quatermass is perhaps the biggest shock, but it works. This new Quatermass is very much the kind of scientist you see in all those direct-from-NASA broadcasts. He effectively combines the quick wit and moral sensitivity of the original character with the reality of modern life.<br /><br />I'd love to see more of this kind of thing - not just the rediscovery of lost masterpieces like Quatermass, but the immediacy of TV as a live medium, a direct link between performers and audience. TV just doesn't get any better than this. More, more, more!