Disaster Series 3 (6 Programmes)
- Synopsis
- The third DISASTER series examines six major technological catastrophes, using original BBC footage, recreations and interviews with key decision-makers. These include: the 1989 sinking of the Marchioness on the River Thames, grave errors made in cervical smear testing, the Japan air flight JAL 123 crash in 1985 and follows the horrifying fire discovered in Britain’s first nuclear reactor at Windscale in 1957. The programmes’ powerful and detailed approach provides an effective health & safety training resource.
- Language
- English
- Country
- Great Britain
- Year of production
- 1999
- Subjects
- Engineering; Health & safety; Technology
- Keywords
- accident investigation; disasters
Distribution Formats
- Type
- DVD
- Format
- Region 2 PAL
- Price
- £1,170 series or £195 each
- Availability
- Sale
- Duration/Size
- 6 x 30 minutes
- Year
- 2012
- Type
- VHS
- Format
- PAL
- Price
- £1,1750 series or £195 each
- Availability
- Sale
- Duration/Size
- 6 x 30 minutes
- Year
- 2012
Sections
- Title
- Marchioness
- Synopsis
- 51 people lost their lives when the ‘Bowbelle’ dredger collided with this passenger boat. The design of both vessels was criticised. Numerous warnings about the inevitability of such an accident had gone unheeded for years.
- Duration
- 30 mins
- Title
- Severn Tunnel
- Synopsis
- In December 1991, two passenger trains collided in the 6.5km long tunnel under the River Severn in England, 185 people were injured. Rescuers did not reach the train until two hours after the accident.
- Duration
- 30 mins
- Title
- JAL 123
- Synopsis
- In August 1985, Japan Air Flight 123 crashed into the side of a mountain northwest of Tokyo. It was the largest single aircraft fatality in history. 520 people died. A poor repair was the cause.result in d
- Duration
- 30 mins
- Title
- Cancer in the System, A
- Synopsis
- In 1993, scientist Neil Woodward noticed that there was a problem with the way the Kent and Canterbury hospitals’ laboratories were screening cervical smear slides. It took three years and a leak to the national press before any action was taken.
- Duration
- 30 mins
- Title
- Deadly Metal
- Synopsis
- When a Mexican warehouseman dismantled an unused hospital X-ray machine and sold it for scrap, he had no idea he was causing a radioactive spill 100 times worse than that at Three Mile Island. Six thousand pellets of cobalt-60 were spread across the USA and Mexico. The disaster was only discovered by accident.
- Duration
- 30 mins
- Title
- Windscale Fire
- Synopsis
- Britain’s first nuclear reactor at Windscale caught fire in 1957. One error, however slight, can result in deaths.
- Duration
- 30 mins
Production Company
- Name
BBC Television
Distributor
- Name
BBC Active Video for Learning - now BBC Learning
- Contact
- Carolina Fernandez Jeremy Wilcox (CF - for educational enquiries JW - channel sales manager)
- BBCStudiosLearning@bbc.com
- Web
- https://www.bbcstudioslearning.com/ External site opens in new window
- Phone
- +44 (0) 20 8433 1009
- Address
- BBC Studios Limited
Television Centre
101 Wood Lane
London
W12 7FA
UK - Notes
- The BBC Active company has now been absorbed within BBC Learning, a division of BBC Studios. It was originally a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Pearson Education. Formerly known as ‘BBC Worldwide Learning Studies’ and before that as ‘Videos for Education & Training’
Record Stats
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