Bernard Quatermass

Bernard Quatermass worked alongside Dr. Rachel Jensen in the British Rocket Group (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks). In 1997, paranoid and full of bleak pessimism, he appeared on television with Dr. Patrick Moore in a panel discussion regarding the possibility of life on the planet Mars (NA: The Dying Days)

The Quatermass serials
Quatermass and the British Rocket Group had originally appeared as the protagonist of a series of four horror-science fiction television serials written by Nigel Kneale. The first three aired during the 1950s on BBCtv. (The last serial simply entitled Quatermass aired in 1979 elsewhere.) These would have great influence over Doctor Who over the years. In the Doctor Who Universe, the Nightshade acts as a stand-in for the Quatermass serials.

The character
A number of actors portrayed the character, with none considered "definitive", however Lance Parkin has said that he meant to visualized the elderly, nearly crazed John Mills version as the one appearing in The Dying Days.

The Quatermass saga and the Doctor Who Universe
Quatermass and the Pit presents some difficulties as it deals with yet another explanation for the origin of Humans and another species of intelligent life from Mars. It also features the near-destruction of London. Quatermass fits in well with Cat's Cradle: Warhead (which derived from inspiration from the serial) but does not fit in particularly well with continuity as a whole.