If... is a series of BBC drama-documentaries broadcast on BBC Two from March to April 2004 and December 2004 to January 2005, each of which considers the unexpected, dramatic or even catastrophic political or social consequences that might arise from current trends in the United Kingdom. Using a drama with interviews from experts, then a discussion of the programme with a panel of experts from both sides of an argument. During the show a televote of opinion is cast.
List of documentaries
Series 1: 2004
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "If... The Lights Go Out" | 10 March 2004 (2004-03-10) | |
| If... The Lights Go Out imagines a near-future scenario in which the UK has become dependent upon imported natural gas supplies to fuel its power stations. A terrorist attack at the compressor station in Vyborg, Russia in late 2010 leads to a disastrous winter blackout when the UK's other energy suppliers can't keep up with demand. | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "If... Things Don't Get Better" | 17 March 2004 (2004-03-17) | |
| If... Things Don't Get Better imagines a near-future scenario in which the UK has gated communities where the rich and the poor are separated by the growing wealth divide. In the story a gated community in London closed off a road to stop crime in the area. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "If... The Generations Fall Out" | 24 March 2004 (2004-03-24) | |
| If... The Generations Fall Out imagines a near-future in the UK where the baby boomers and pensioners from preceding generations fall out over the growing need to pay the number of pensioners their pension. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "If... It Was a Woman's World" | 31 March 2004 (2004-03-31) | |
| If... It Was a Woman's World imagines a scenario in which the UK has become a matriarchy, creating a power imbalance between men and women and causing men's rights organisations such as "Fathers Fight Back" (based on Fathers 4 Justice) to become more common. Using a 21st-century dysfunctional family as an example, the episode focuses on a divorced father working for Fathers Fight Back hacking into a live television broadcast from the (female) President of the United States to spread a message of hope and equality. Meanwhile, his ex-wife uses new cloning/IVF treatments to have a daughter (selected by her) without a father. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "If... We Don't Stop Eating" | 7 April 2004 (2004-04-07) | |
| If... We Don't Stop Eating is a look at what might happen if the obesity epidemic went out of control. | ||||
Series 2: 2004–05
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | "If... Cloning Could Cure Us" | 16 October 2004 (2004-10-16) | |
| If... Cloning Could Cure Us discusses the ethics involved in cloning and stem cell therapy, imagining the fictional trial of Dr. Alex Douglas, who used cloned stem cells that were older than allowed by law to cure a paralysed climber of his paralysis. | ||||
| 7 | 2 | "If... We Could Stop the Violence" | 22 October 2004 (2004-10-22) | |
| If... We Could Stop The Violence uses the story of a boy named Liam, seemingly predisposed to violent behaviour, positing that there may be an element of biological inheritance to a person's behaviour. The episode then goes on to examine the ethics in modifying someone's genetics to prevent such violence from ever occurring. | ||||
| 8 | 3 | "If... Drugs Were Legal" | 12 January 2005 (2005-01-12) | |
| If... Drugs Were Legal visits a future in which all formerly-illicit drugs have undergone legalisation in the United Kingdom. In the episode, two teenage girls die after taking drugs at a nightclub, and an investigation into their deaths is launched. It turns out that the girls were given an unlicensed blend of drugs by an illegal dealer. The drugs were originally made by an anti-drugs campaigner, in an attempt to have drugs recriminalised. | ||||
| 9 | 4 | "If... TV Goes Down the Tube" | 21 March 2005 (2005-03-21) | |
| If... TV Goes Down the Tube details the story of the suicide of Lizzie Alton, a contestant on a reality television programme, and the disturbing new connections between the media industry and the government, who seem to be embracing the use of television as a political tool. Alton's mother, Mary, goes on to uncover a sinister conspiracy between the government and the production company behind the program that influenced her daughter to take her life. | ||||
| 10 | 5 | "If... The Toxic Timebomb Goes Off" | 31 March 2005 (2005-03-31) | |
| 11 | 6 | "If... We Stopped Giving Aid to Africa" | 26 June 2005 (2005-06-26) | |
Series 3: 2006
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 1 | "If... The Oil Runs Out" | 30 May 2006 (2006-05-30) |
Production
The series was filmed with the Panasonic SDX 900 DVCPRO 50 professional camcorder in widescreen 25fps progressive mode.
See also
References
- "DVC Pro 50 Camcorder SDX-900". Archived from the original on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2008.