The Day Britain Stopped
| The Day Britain Stopped | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Mockumentary |
| Written by |
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| Directed by | Gabriel Range |
| Narrated by | Tim Pigott-Smith |
| Composer(s) | Alan O'Duffy |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Simon Finch |
| Editor(s) |
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| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Distributor | Wall to Wall |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two |
| Original release | 13 May 2003 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Man Who Broke Britain |
| External links | |
| Website | news |
| Production website |
www |
The Day Britain Stopped is a dramatic mockumentary produced by Wall to Wall for the BBC. It is based on a fictional disaster on 19 December 2003, in which a train strike is the first in a chain of events that lead to a meltdown of the country's transport system. Directed by Gabriel Range, who wrote the script with producer Simon Finch, the film first aired on BBC2 in May 2003.
The drama made use of various British television news services and newsreaders (such as Sky News and Channel 4 News), foreign news channels (such as France's TF1), radio stations (Radio Five Live), real-life footage (from a train crash site, a speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair, and various stock footage of British traffic congestion), and several cameo roles by well-known British personalities.
Between 4 and 5 December, a train accident near Waverley Station in Edinburgh leads to the ASLEF and RMT trade unions to declare a strike due to safety concerns, forcing the heavy Christmas rail passenger traffic to use the roads instead. Mick Rix's decision is heavily criticised by the government, particularly by Junior Transport Minister Tom Walker.
On 19 December, a crossover accident on the M25 motorway in Surrey involving several vehicles forces Inspector Clive Turner, manager of the M25, to close the motorway in both directions from the site of the accident. The resulting traffic congestion spreads at such a rate that, within minutes, the motorway is blocked at the junction with the M23. Meanwhile, as British airspace runs over capacity to cope with the Christmas traffic, heavy traffic delays force the air traffic controllers to work double- and triple-shifts. Meanwhile, Julian Galt and his family are travelling into central London en route to Heathrow Airport, for their Christmas holiday to Bilbao, with their twelve-year-old son recording their adventures on a video camera.
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Wikipedia