Prologue The Martian at the Top of the Stairs

IT’S 2003. HAVING RECENTLY TURNED EIGHTY, NIGEL KNEALE LIVES WITH his wife Judith in a leafy-green district of South London. Their neighbours include the actress Geraldine McEwan, the presenter Peter Snow and the composer Howard Goodall. This same house has been the Kneales’ home for over forty years. Their children — daughter Tacy and son Matthew — grew up here, and have since moved away. The Kneales’ living room is a quiet, understated testament to the extraordinary creativity of their family. There’s a discreet shelving unit housing video copies of the many films and TV programmes that Kneale has scripted. There are a host of beautiful works by his artist brother, Bryan — including sculptures in the garden and an impressionistic portrait of Kneale himself above the sofa. Three rows of shelves hold books written by the family; volumes of Kneale’s scripts and stories, the best-selling children’s books that Judith has written over three decades, and the more recent addition of the award-winning novels by their son Matthew. Going right back to the early years of the previous century, there are collections of pieces written by Judith’s father, Alfred Kerr, a German Jew who fled the country during the rise of the Nazis. Recently rediscovered and republished, Alfred’s works are something of a publishing phenomenon in modern Germany.

The stairs leading up are lined with striking photographs taken by Matthew on his travels around the world. On the second floor, at the top of the house, are two workrooms. One is Judith’s, where she still writes and illustrates phenomenally successful children’s books. Right next door is Kneale’s study. Due to his advancing years, he doesn’t get up here much anymore. The room has a wonderful view of a nearby common. It now contains a rocking chair, meant for the Kneales’ new grandson. On the wall, there’s the familiar three-legged emblem of the Isle of Man. There are more rows of books, from volumes on standing stones and Celtic traditions to Elizabeth Bowen novels and the plays of George Bernard Shaw, as well as several issues of New Scientist. There are also many stacks of scripts that Kneale’s written over the years — some produced, some not. There are pictures of his children, and his beloved wife, and there’s a home-made wall-chart, documenting the relative heights of the then-growing Tacy and Matthew through the sixties and seventies.

A martian from BBCTV’s Quatermass and the Pit. One of these models went on to take up residence in the Kneale household.

And then, there in the corner, virtually obscured by the door when it’s open, there’s a Martian.

It stands at a height of three foot, and dates back to the late 1950s.

Why do the Kneales have a Martian living in their top room? Well, it’s quite a story.