Doomwatch (film)
Encyclopedia
Doomwatch is a 1972 science fiction
/thriller film directed by Peter Sasdy
. The film is based on the BBC
series Doomwatch
. The screenplay was written by Clive Exton
.
, is sent to the island of Balfe, to file a report on the effects of a recent oil tanker spill. He becomes fascinated with the mysterious behavioural disorder
s of the locals who display rudeness and random aggression and a strange genetic prevalence of thick lips and sloping brows. Investigation shows that the villagers have been suffering over a prolonged period from hormonal disorders, which are being caused by leaking drums of growth stimulants that have been dumped offshore. The islanders have been eating contaminated fish and are in turn developing acromegaly
, a disorder of excessive hormonal growth, usually the result of family interbreeding, which produces aggression and eventually madness. Rather than seek help from the mainland they hide those who are deformed from any newcomers...
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/thriller film directed by Peter Sasdy
Peter Sasdy
Peter Sasdy is a British film and TV director.As well as numerous TV credits, notably the Nigel Kneale-scripted The Stone Tape , he directed several horror films for Hammer, including Taste the Blood of Dracula , Countess Dracula and Hands of the Ripper...
. The film is based on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series Doomwatch
Doomwatch
Doomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC One between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist , responsible for investigating and combating various...
. The screenplay was written by Clive Exton
Clive Exton
Clive Exton was a British television and film screenwriter, sometime playwright, and former actor. He is best known for his scripts of Agatha Christie’s Poirot, P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster, and Rosemary & Thyme.-Early career:He was born Clive Jack Montague Brooks in Islington, London,...
.
Synopsis
The waters surrounding an island become contaminated by chemical dumping, and people who eat fish caught in those waters become deformed and violent.Plot
An outsider visits a remote isolated village that has seemingly shunned the modern life. Doctor Del Shaw, an investigator from the British ecological watchdog group nicknamed DoomwatchDoomwatch
Doomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC One between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist , responsible for investigating and combating various...
, is sent to the island of Balfe, to file a report on the effects of a recent oil tanker spill. He becomes fascinated with the mysterious behavioural disorder
Personality disorder
Personality disorders, formerly referred to as character disorders, are a class of personality types and behaviors. Personality disorders are noted on Axis II of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-IV-TR of the American Psychiatric Association.Personality disorders are...
s of the locals who display rudeness and random aggression and a strange genetic prevalence of thick lips and sloping brows. Investigation shows that the villagers have been suffering over a prolonged period from hormonal disorders, which are being caused by leaking drums of growth stimulants that have been dumped offshore. The islanders have been eating contaminated fish and are in turn developing acromegaly
Acromegaly
Acromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, a disorder of excessive hormonal growth, usually the result of family interbreeding, which produces aggression and eventually madness. Rather than seek help from the mainland they hide those who are deformed from any newcomers...
Cast
- Ian BannenIan BannenIan Bannen was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.-Early life and career:Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the son of Clare and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College,...
as Dr. Del Shaw - Judy GeesonJudy GeesonJudith Amanda "Judy" Geeson is an English actor.-Early life:Geeson was born in Arundel, Sussex, England on 10 September 1948. She came from a middle class family; her father edited the National Coal Board magazine. Her sister, Sally Geeson, is also an actress and is known for her roles in British...
as Victoria Brown - John PaulJohn Paul (actor)John Paul was a British actor.He is best known for his television roles, particularly as Dr Spencer Quist in Doomwatch and Marcus Agrippa in I, Claudius , both for BBC Television....
as Dr. Spencer Quist - Simon OatesSimon OatesSimon Oates was an English actor best known for his roles on television.Born in Canning Town, east London, and subsequently moving to Finchley in his teens, Oates trained as a heating engineer for his father's firm, before becoming an actor...
as Dr. John Ridge - Jean Trend as Dr. Fay Chantry
- Joby Blanshard as Colin Bradley
- George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
as The Admiral - Percy HerbertPercy Herbert (actor)Percy Herbert was an English character actor who often played soldiers, most notably in The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Wild Geese and Tunes of Glory. However, he was equally at home in comedies and science fiction...
as PC Hartwell - Shelagh FraserShelagh FraserShelagh Fraser was a British actress.She was best-known for her role as Luke Skywalker's ill-fated aunt, Beru Lars in Star Wars...
as Mrs. Betty Straker - Geoffrey KeenGeoffrey KeenGeoffrey Keen was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many famous films.-Early life:Keen was born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom...
as Sir Henry Leyton - Joseph O'ConorJoseph O'ConorJoseph O'Conor was an Anglo-Irish actor and playwright.- Early years :O'Conor was born in Dublin on 14 February 1916, the son of Frances and Daniel O'Conor. His family moved to London, where he attended the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, the University of London and RADA...
as Vicar - Norman BirdNorman BirdNorman Bird was a British character actor. Often sporting a moustache and an air of worried resignation, he seemed to specialise in downtrodden roles...
as Brewer - Constance ChapmanConstance ChapmanConstance Chapman was an English character actor working in theatre and television. She also made occasional film appearances....
as Miss Johnson - Michael BrennanMichael Brennan (actor)Michael Brennan was an English film and television actor.Born in London, Brennan was married to actress Mary Hignett. He appeared in such films as Nicholas Nickleby, Thunderball, The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders, Tom Jones, and The 39 Steps...
as Tom Straker - James CosmoJames CosmoJames Cosmo is a prolific Scottish actor, with numerous credits in film and television since the late 1960s and Cosmo is still currently acting. Cosmo was born in Clydebank, Scotland, the son of actor James Copeland...
as Bob Gillette