after go after go, so crippled with drink he hardly knew who he was”. Val Guest has denied Kneale's claims, saying “So many stories have been concocted since, about how he was a paralytic. It's absolute balls, because he was not paralytic. He wasn't stone cold sober either, but he was a pro and he knew his lines”. Guest also recalled, “By after lunch he would come to me and say “Give me a breakdown of the story so far. Where have I just been before this scene?” We used to feed him black coffee all morning but then we discovered he was lacing it. But he was a very professional actor and very easy to work with”. John Longden as Inspector Lomax: The role of Lomax had originally been played by Jack Warner in The Quatermass Xperiment. When Warner proved unavailable for the sequel, the role was recast and the part given to John Longden. Longden had been a major star of British silent films and had also appeared in several early Alfred Hitchcock films including Blackmail (1929), Elstree Calling (1930) and The Skin Game (1931). Nigel Kneale greatly preferred Longden's authoritative take on the character to Jack Warner's more comedic "breezy sergeant" in the first film. Sid James (credited as "Sydney James") as Jimmy Hall: At the time, James was known as a character actor, specialising mainly in "tough guy" roles, with credits in films such as No Orchids for Miss Blandish (uncredited, 1948), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and Hell Drivers (1957). James plays the character of Jimmy Hall in a much more comedic manner than Roger Delgado's interpretation of the equivalent journalist character Hugh Conrad in the television version; Guest cast James in order to "lighten the story a bit". He later went on to enjoy widespread fame in many comedy roles including Hancock's Half Hour (1956–60), the Carry On series of films, and sitcoms such as George and the Dragon (1966), Two in Clover (1969–70) and Bless This House (1971–76). Bryan Forbes as Marsh: Forbes had appeared in a number of supporting roles in films, including The Small Back Room (1949), An Inspector Calls (1954) and The Colditz Story (1955). However, he later became better known as a director, with films such as Whistle Down the Wind (1961), The L-Shaped Room (1962) and The Stepford Wives (1975) among his best-known credits. Forbes later recalled of