Quatermass and Lomax then turn to journalist Jimmy Hall (Sid James), who is skeptical of their story, but asks to visit Winnerden Flats. At the local community centre, they receive a hostile reception from locals employed to do heavy construction and other work at the complex but told anything more than they need to know. The mood changes, however, when one of the meteorite-missiles crashes through the building roof, injuring barmaid Sheila (Vera Day). Armed guards arrive and gun down Hall after he telephones the press. The villagers form a mob that marches on the complex. Rushing the gates, Quatermass, Lomax and the villagers barricade themselves in the pressure control room.