After mistakenly being allowed to watch 'Quatermass and the Pit' in the late 50's when I was about 7 years old, I've been a Kneale fan. His stories are not only unsettling, but often quirky and challenging too. 'The Stone Tape' falls into the same category, but for some reason the BBC opted to produce it for about £50, and it shows. The whole thing feels flat and 'numb', with the actors doing their best to show how freaked out they are by the stones of the building playing back events from the past. The climax is er...an anticlimax, with more over-acting and a very cheap special effect spoiling the show. With a bit of expansion and shot on film (and a considerably bigger budget), this could have made a decent teleplay. Sadly it was not to be.
Review of The Stone Tape
