This is a BBC docudrama featuring several scenarios that could herald the end of civilisation as we know it . The premise sees a scientist involved with particle acceleration waking up and catching a plane to a conference in New York only to have his travel plans disrupted because of several different scenarios
1 ) A volcanic eruption in the Atlantic causes a massive tsunami to hit the Esatern seaboard of America killing millions
2 ) A series of explosions in the Middle East aren't the work of terrorists but are in fact fragments of an approaching meteor that crashes in to Berlin killing millions
3 ) A passenger arriving from the Far East is found dead at Heathrow airport , the first victim in Britain of a virus that will eventually decimate continents
4 ) A supervolcano erupts at Yellowstone park throwing thousands of tons of soot and ash in to the atmosphere leading to a " volcanic winter "
5 ) The particle acceleration experiment goes ahead leading to the creation of a black hole that will eventually destroy the planet
It's interesting in hindsight that one scenario , the one involving a particle accelerator has been and gone with no bad consequence to humanity where an experiment took place with the Haldron Collider in Switzerland in March 2010 which is something the programme pointed out . There's always a fear of the unknown where science is concerned and science always gets a bad rap since it tells humanity things they don't want to hear such as God is not only dead but he never existed in the first place . Likewise bad things happen such as viruses , earthquakes and meteors that can destroy whole species but science will probably never evolve enough to defeat these forces of nature
Certainly it's a thought provoking docudrama but perhaps pulls it punches a little too much . None of the scenarios apart from the speculation of the particle accelerator leads to what scientists describe as an " extinction event " where mankind dies out overnight . It's within the realms of possibility that a extinction event of any kind could happen within our lifetimes however remote this might be but didn't seem hammered home enough
1 ) A volcanic eruption in the Atlantic causes a massive tsunami to hit the Esatern seaboard of America killing millions
2 ) A series of explosions in the Middle East aren't the work of terrorists but are in fact fragments of an approaching meteor that crashes in to Berlin killing millions
3 ) A passenger arriving from the Far East is found dead at Heathrow airport , the first victim in Britain of a virus that will eventually decimate continents
4 ) A supervolcano erupts at Yellowstone park throwing thousands of tons of soot and ash in to the atmosphere leading to a " volcanic winter "
5 ) The particle acceleration experiment goes ahead leading to the creation of a black hole that will eventually destroy the planet
It's interesting in hindsight that one scenario , the one involving a particle accelerator has been and gone with no bad consequence to humanity where an experiment took place with the Haldron Collider in Switzerland in March 2010 which is something the programme pointed out . There's always a fear of the unknown where science is concerned and science always gets a bad rap since it tells humanity things they don't want to hear such as God is not only dead but he never existed in the first place . Likewise bad things happen such as viruses , earthquakes and meteors that can destroy whole species but science will probably never evolve enough to defeat these forces of nature
Certainly it's a thought provoking docudrama but perhaps pulls it punches a little too much . None of the scenarios apart from the speculation of the particle accelerator leads to what scientists describe as an " extinction event " where mankind dies out overnight . It's within the realms of possibility that a extinction event of any kind could happen within our lifetimes however remote this might be but didn't seem hammered home enough