Nigel Kneale was born in Lancashire on 18 April 1922, and brought up on the Isle of Manx where his family originated. He contributed to BBC Radio in the 1940s, and won a prize for his book Tomato Cain. Kneale is best remembered for his character Bernard Quatermass, who appeared in three live BBC series in the 1950s, the second and third of which which were later adapted by Kneale for Hammer Films. When a fourth Quatermass series was abandoned by the BBC during production in the 1970s, Kneale went to the other side and Quatermass (AKA The Quatermass Conclusion) was broadcast on ITV following the 1979 strike. Kneale was the best UK horror/science fiction script writer working in the last half century to have never worked on Doctor Who. Initially sceptical of the series, he saw enough elements of his own work appear on the show to guarantee his hostility towards offers to contribute. A live remake of The Quatermass Experiment was broadcast on BBC Four on April 2 2005.