The Day Britain Stopped
Encyclopedia
The Day Britain Stopped is a drama documentary produced by Wall to Wall for the BBC
. It is based around a fictional disaster on December 19, 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.
in Edinburgh
leads to the ASLEF and RMT
trade union
s 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 December 19, a crossover accident on the M25 motorway
in Surrey
involving several vehicles forces Inspector Clive Turner, manager 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 controller
s 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 jackknifes
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 in the lorry accident earlier that day, becomes the first fatality when her gridlocked ambulance runs out of necessary medicine.
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
at Old Trafford in Manchester
is cancelled for low attendance, with 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
. As police actions to force people to remain in their cars, particularly on the M25 around Heathrow, is found to be causing hypothermia
, 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.
Air-traffic controller Nicola Evans is forced to work late when 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 forces a complete shutdown of UK airspace.
Nicola Evans is eventually taken to court for multiple-manslaughter
charges for her negligence, though the case is later thrown out after revelations over larger issues in Heathrow's traffic and air-traffic control. The final death toll of the disaster is 100 people (5 from hypothermia, 64 airplane passengers and personnel, 23 ground level victims, and 8 in various rail and road accidents).
.
In December 2003, the M6 Toll
motorway bypassing the congested Birmingham and Wolverhampton stretches of the M6 had only just opened to traffic, although the motorway was still under construction at the time of broadcast and 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.
Traffic is shown to be driving through Central London without any mention of the London 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 - and a friendly would never be played so close to the busy Christmas period, where it's not unknown for even Premier League teams to play four games in ten days (especially against a team who they had just played in a competitive game - England had played Turkey in a Euro 2004 qualifier in October 2003).
While the programme made extensive of various news channels, several had changed their branding and presentation before December 2003.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. It is based around a fictional disaster on December 19, 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
Gabriel Range
Gabriel Range is a British filmmaker, who is probably best known for his fictional political-documentary about the assassination of George W. Bush in Death of a President...
, 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
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
News), foreign news channels (such as France's TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
), radio stations (Radio Five Live), real-life footage (from a train crash site, a speech by Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, and various stock footage of British traffic congestion), and several cameo roles by well-known British personalities.
Plot
Between December 4 and 5, a train accident near Waverley StationEdinburgh Waverley railway station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
leads to the ASLEF and RMT
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a trade union in the United Kingdom which unionises transport workers. It has more than 80,000 members, and its current general secretary is Bob Crow...
trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s to declare a strike due to safety concerns, forcing the heavy Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
rail passenger traffic to use the roads instead. Mick Rix
Mick Rix
Mick Rix is a British trade unionist and politician.-Union career:Rix is the former General Secretary of ASLEF. Rix left school at 16, and started work the next day, with no qualifications...
's decision is heavily criticised by the government, particularly by Junior Transport Minister Tom Walker.
On December 19, a crossover accident on the M25 motorway
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
involving several vehicles forces Inspector Clive Turner, manager 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
M23 motorway
The M23 motorway is a motorway in England. The motorway runs from south of Hooley in Surrey, where it splits from the A23, to Pease Pottage, south of Crawley in West Sussex where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts at junction 7 on what is effectively a spur north from...
. Meanwhile, as British airspace runs over capacity to cope with the Christmas traffic, heavy traffic delays force the air traffic controller
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers are the people who expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of the air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized skills...
s 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 jackknifes
Jackknifing
Jackknifing means the folding of an articulated vehicle such that it resembles the acute angle of a folding pocket knife. If a vehicle towing a trailer skids, the trailer can push it from behind until it spins round and faces backwards. This may be caused by equipment failure, improper braking, or...
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
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
, M2, M3
M3 motorway
The M3 motorway runs in England for approximately from Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, to Southampton, Hampshire and forms an unsigned section European route E05. It is dual three lanes as far as Junction 8 near Basingstoke and then dual two lane until Junction 9 near Winchester and then dual three...
, M11
M11 motorway
The M11 motorway in England is a major road running approximately north from the North Circular Road in South Woodford in north-east London to the A14, north-west of Cambridge.-Route:...
and M20
M20 motorway
The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It runs from the M25 motorway to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is long...
, the major artery-roads leading to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Traffic attempts to drive through Central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, without much success.
Charlie Watson, whose car was hit in the lorry accident earlier that day, becomes the first fatality when her gridlocked ambulance runs out of necessary medicine.
As traffic worsens, Jerry Newell, a pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, is forced to walk to Heathrow Airport in order to reach his flight to Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
. A friendly football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
match between England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
and Turkey
Turkey national football team
The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. They are affiliated with UEFA...
at Old Trafford in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
is cancelled for low attendance, with thousands stranded on the M6
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...
and M40
M40 motorway
The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
, effectively shutting down Manchester and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. The message is delivered by a stunned Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
on Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
. As police actions to force people to remain in their cars, particularly on the M25 around Heathrow, is found to be causing hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
, 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.
Air-traffic controller Nicola Evans is forced to work late when her replacement does not turn up. Overworked, she accidentally sends an Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus Group Plc is the flag carrier of Ireland. It operates a fleet of Airbus aircraft serving Europe and North America. It is Ireland's oldest extant airline, and its second largest after low-cost rival Ryanair...
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
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
plane to Bilbao, sending burning wreckage spread across much of Hounslow
Hounslow
Hounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development situated 10.6 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It forms a post town in the TW postcode area.-Etymology:...
and into London. The resultant disaster forces a complete shutdown of UK airspace.
Nicola Evans is eventually taken to court for multiple-manslaughter
Manslaughter in English law
In the English law of homicide, manslaughter is a less serious offence than murder, the differential being between levels of fault based on the mens rea . In England and Wales, the usual practice is to prefer a charge of murder, with the judge or defence able to introduce manslaughter as an option...
charges for her negligence, though the case is later thrown out after revelations over larger issues in Heathrow's traffic and air-traffic control. The final death toll of the disaster is 100 people (5 from hypothermia, 64 airplane passengers and personnel, 23 ground level victims, and 8 in various rail and road accidents).
Production
The M96 motorway (a converted airfield used for fire service training) was used as a stage for the M25M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
.
Criticism
At the time of broadcast, the programme was criticized for portraying very London-centric transport problems, while only briefly mentioning regions outside southeastern England.Discrepancies
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
M6 Toll
The M6 Toll , connects M6 Junction 4 at the NEC to M6 Junction 11A at Wolverhampton with of six-lane motorway. The weekday cash cost is £5.30 for a car and £10.60 for a HGV...
motorway bypassing the congested Birmingham and Wolverhampton stretches of the M6 had only just opened to traffic, although the motorway was still under construction at the time of broadcast and therefore hardly mentioned. However, during an interview, fictional Junior Transport Minister Tom Walker mentions that 'billions' had been spent on widening the M6
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...
between Birmingham and Manchester.
Traffic is shown to be driving through Central London without any mention of the London congestion charge
London congestion charge
The London congestion charge is a fee charged for some categories of motor vehicle to travel at certain times within the Congestion Charge Zone , a traffic area in London. The charge aims to reduce congestion, and raise investment funds for London's transport system...
, which began operations in February 2003.
Traffic is mentioned to be stuck on the M6
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...
and M40
M40 motorway
The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
when going to Old Trafford, but no mention is made of the much more congested M60
M60 motorway
The M60 motorway, or Manchester Orbital, is an orbital motorway circling Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. It passes through all Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolton...
near the stadium itself - and a friendly would never be played so close to the busy Christmas period, where it's not unknown for even Premier League teams to play four games in ten days (especially against a team who they had just played in a competitive game - England had played Turkey in a Euro 2004 qualifier in October 2003).
While the programme made extensive of various news channels, several had changed their branding and presentation before December 2003.