of Kin (1942). After the end of the war he continued to perform for theatre and increasingly for television. He met the Austrian television director Rudolph Cartier when Cartier cast him in his BBC production of It Is Midnight, Dr Schweitzer in February 1953. Cartier was impressed with Tate's performance, and later that year offered him the lead role in The Quatermass Experiment, a science-fiction serial he was directing, written by BBC staff scriptwriter Nigel Kneale. Tate was the second choice for the part of Professor Bernard Quatermass; Cartier had previously offered it to his co-star It Is Midnight, Dr Schweitzer, André Morell, who declined the role. Morell would later play Quatermass for the third instalment of the series, Quatermass and the Pit. Tate however was a success in the part, and in a 1986 interview Nigel Kneale named him as his favourite of all the actors to have played the character. The serial itself was also a success, with the British Film Institute later describing it as "one of the most influential series of the 1950s." Tate took an increased interest in television, and later in 1953 enrolled on the BBC's staff training course to become a television producer. He also began to spend much of his spare time teaching acting classes at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), feeling that he had experience which might be useful to younger actors. Death When the BBC commissioned a second Quatermass serial in 1955, Tate was eager to participate and play the Professor again. Production was due to begin in September, and on 7 August 1955 he produced his first television play, Night Was Our Friend. Only sixteen days after this, late at night on 23 August, he collapsed outside his home in London. He had suffered a heart attack, and despite being rushed to hospital in Putney he died soon afterwards. Selected filmography Tangled Evidence (1934) – Ellaby Whispering Tongues (1934) – Alan Norton The Riverside Murder (1935) – Hubert Perrin The Phantom Light (1935) – Tom Evans The Man Behind the Mask (1936) – Allan Hayden Dark Journey (1937) – Mate of Q-Boat For Valour (1937) – Chester Too Dangerous to Live (1939) – Collins Poison Pen (1939) – Rev. Rider It Happened to One Man (1940) – Ackroyd The Next of Kin (1942) – Maj. Richards The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) – van Zijl