The Quanderhorn Xperimentations

By: Rob Grant, Andrew Marshall

Narrated by: Cassie Layton, Ryan Sampson

England, 1952.

Churchill is Prime Minister for the last time. Rationing is still in force. All music sounds like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. People like living in 1952: it's familiar and reassuring, and Britain knows its place in the world.
Few have noticed it's been 1952 for the past 65 years.

Meet Professor Quanderhorn; a brilliant, maverick scientific genius who has absolutely no moral compass. With his Dangerous Giant Space Laser, High Rise Farm, Invisible Robot and Fleet of Monkey-driven Lorries, he's not afraid to push the boundaries of science to their very limit.

Even when it's clearly insane to keep pushing.

Despite the fact he's saved the world from several Martian invasions, the attacks of the Mole People, the Troglodyte Shape-shifters and the Beatniks from Under the Sea, plus countless other sinister phenomena which threatened to rend the very fabric of reality, the Government would like to close him down. Why? Because they're terrified of him. Of his reality-warping experiments, of the mysterious button on his desk which he's constantly threatening to press. Of the unearthly secret locked in his cellar. And yet they're even more terrified it might stop being 1952 and they'll be out of power.

Read by Cassie Layton and Ryan Sampson

(p) Orion Publishing Group 2018©2019 Andrew Marshall

Critic reviews

Daftly satirical... Grant, a co-creator of RED DWARF, and Marshall, writer of 2POINT4CHILDREN, bring their formidable sitcom talents to bear on this parody of Quartermass and Dan Dare.

Funny, but...

I really enjoyed this book ... up until the end,

I laughed out loud at some of the situations. The story is imaginative. The performances are outstanding. The characters are outrageous. With every chapter they seem to be thrown into life-threatening danger and the resolution is usually both creative and silly.

This story is a parody of Quatermas, with a healthy dose of Dr. Who thrown in for good measure. It's co-written by Rob Grant, one of the creators of Red Dwarf, so that should tell you what to expect.

I was ready to give this a glowing review right until I reached the end. Maybe British audiences will like the ending. I'd have liked a different ending. I guess it's up to you. Maybe they were planning a sequel but never got the opportunity.

Anyway, if you like silly British sci-fi comedy, give this a try. Maybe you too will really like it -- right up until the end.

I laughed until it hurt!

If you like Monty Python-esque humor or the Warlock Holmes series, you'll enjoy this one. This book is an awesome parody of the Quartermass Experiments but don't worry if you're not familiar with the original. Anyone who's read or watched any SciFi will get the jokes in this book. Clever and absurd with laughs that will catch you by surprise.

Get the performance "The Quanderhorn Collexion"

While there is more detail in this book version, "The Quanderhorn Collexion" (also available on Audible) is an Absolutely Production for BBC and is a dramatic performance with all the personalities and variety that only a dramatic production can bring.