 The serial was a success , with the British Film Institute later describing it as " one of the most influential series of the 1950s . " The following year the BBC 's Controller of Programmes , Cecil McGivern — who had initially feared that viewers would not accept such an unusual name for the leading character — noted in reference to the impending launch of the rival ITV network that : " Had competitive television been in existence then , we would have killed it every Saturday night while [ The Quatermass Experiment ] lasted . We are going to need many more ' Quatermass Experiment ' programmes . " 
