The Day Britain Stopped
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The Day Britain Stopped is a drama documentary produced by Wall to Wall for the BBC. It is based around a fictional disaster - in which a train crash is the first in a chain of events that lead to a meltdown of the country's transport system. The programme is set in late 2004 or early 2005, looking back on the fictional events of December 19, 2003. Directed by Gabriel Range, who wrote the script with producer Simon Finch, the film first aired on BBC2 in May 2003.
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[edit] Notable features
The drama made use of various British television news services and their newsreaders, such as Sky News, Channel 4 News, and even foreign channels (such as France's TF1). Radio Five Live was also featured several times. There were some minor continuity problems as various news channels changed their branding and presentation before December 2003, when the drama was set. It also featured the M96 motorway (a converted airfield used for fire service training) as a stage for the M25.
Several clips from real life events were edited to produce footage for the drama - including footage of a train crash site, a speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair, and various stock clips of traffic congestion on British roads.
The main characters are fictional, but several cameo roles by well known British faces are used throughout the drama to add to the sense of realism.
[edit] Chronology
December 18:
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 Rixs decision is heavily criticised by the government, particularly Junior Transport Minister Tom Walker.
December 19:
A crossover accident on the M25 motorway in Surrey involving several vehicles forces Inspector Clive Turner, who has the task of managing 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.
Traffic that managed to work its way through the diversion route past the Surrey accident suffers a further setback when a chemical tanker lorry jack-knives on the M25 near to Heathrow Airport, causing a pile-up and further tailbacks, resulting in a second closure on the M25, and heavy delays on the M1, M2, M3, M11 and M20, the major artery-roads leading to London. Traffic attempts to drive through Central London, without much success.
Charlie Watson, whose car was hit by the lorry accident earlier in the day, dies on the way to hospital, since paramedics run out of medicine while stuck in traffic.
As traffic worsens, Jerry Newell, a pilot, is forced to walk to Heathrow Airport in order to reach his flight to Bilbao. A friendly football match between England and Turkey in Manchester is cancelled, leaving thousands stranded on the M6 and M40, effectively shutting down Manchester and Birmingham. The message is delivered by a stunned Gary Lineker on Match of the Day.
A police action to force people to remain in their cars, particularly on the M25 around Heathrow, is found to be causing hypothermia, and so Operation Gridlock, (a fictional secret plan to deal with such a situation) is implemented, with people most at risk airlifted to tent cities being set up on fields.
Nicola Evans, an air-traffic controller, is forced to work late as her replacement does not turn up. Overworked, she accidentally sends an Aer Lingus jet into the path of a Czech freighter plane. She issues an instant instruction to 'Go-Around' to the Czech jet, which does so, avoiding the Aer Lingus plane, but colliding with the British Airways plane to Bilbao, sending burning wreckage spread across much of Hounslow and into London.
The resultant disaster causes a complete shutdown of UK Airspace until further notice.
[edit] Aftermath
Nicola Evans is taken to court for multiple-manslaughter charges for her negligence. However, these are thrown out and she later attends a memorial service.
The total death-toll was 100:
- 5 died of hypothermia,
- 64 died on the planes,
- 23 died on the ground from the burning wreckage.
- The rest died in the rail and road accidents.
[edit] Criticism
The programme was criticised at the time of broadcast for whilst claiming to tell the story of Britain becoming gridlocked only very brief mention was made of regions outside south eastern England and overall portraying a very London-centric view of such potential transport problems.
[edit] Discrepancies and continuity
As the drama was filmed in late 2002 with an airdate in May 2003, there are several discrepancies with real life events.
In December 2003, the M6 Toll motorway bypassing the congested Birmingham & Wolverhampton stretches of the M6 had only just opened to traffic, although the motorway was still under construction at the time of broadcast and is therefore hardly mentioned. However, during an interview, fictional Junior Transport Minister Tom Walker mentions that 'billions' had been spent on widening the M6 between Birmingham and Manchester. As of 2006, the Highways Agency are still planning this work.
Traffic is shown to be driving through Central London without any mention of the Congestion Charge, which began operations in February 2003.
Traffic is mentioned to be stuck on the M6 and M40 when going to Old Trafford, but no mention is made of the much more congested M60 near the stadium itself.
[edit] Similar programmes
If..., a drama documentary series, portrayed several possible calamitous events, one of which was if the United Kingdom's gas supplies were to be cut, with much the same results.
