Echoes from history

On 26th July 1982, the BBC broadcast “ A Guide to Armageddon ” [YouTube] as part of the QED documentary 1 series which ran between 1982 and 1999. The programme was written and produced by Mick Jackson and is clearly an early blueprint for Threads , although Threads was updated following several important scientifically credible ideas particularly that of nuclear winter. The programme was 30 minutes in length and was a detailed investigation into the effects of a nuclear weapon exploding over a large city, London being the chosen example. It theorised what effect a 1 megaton airburst weapon would have and demonstrating vigorous impartiality, the programme cited it sources at the very beginning: Sources for " QED A Guide to Armageddon ": Glasstone, S and Dolan J. D. (1977) J. D. The Effects of Nuclear Weapons . U.S. Department of Defense : U.S. Department of Energy. United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment. (1979) The Effects of Nuclear Weap...

The Waking Point (1951) is a Civil Defence film aimed at increasing recruitment to the now long-abandoned Civil Defence Corps. I think this film is really about covering three main themes; recruiting to Civil Defence; explaining Civil Defence and trying to legitimise it. Unfortunately the film tends to demonstrate all too clearly the limitations of civil defence in the nuclear era. Unintentionally I think it explains that civil defence would break down almost immediately in the face of nuclear attack. Within the film just about all the serious deficiencies of civil defence that's been discussed in the nuclear era are all too apparent. The narrative of the story is set around an "every man" character in Joe Mercer ( John Slater , 1916-1975) who comes to realise that civil defence is universal after a mishap with his son getting trapped in a sandpit. At the end of the film he realises there is "still time" to train in civil defence after he dreams about ...