| The Day Britain Stopped | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Drama Docufiction Pseudo-documentary |
| Written by |
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| Directed by | Gabriel Range |
| Narrated by | Tim Pigott-Smith |
| Composer | Alan O'Duffy |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | Simon Finch |
| Editors |
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| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
| Release | 13 May 2003 |
| Related | |
| The Man Who Broke Britain Heatwave | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Day Britain Stopped is a dramatic pseudo-documentary produced by Wall to Wall Media for the BBC. It depicts a fictional disaster on December 19, 2003, in which a train strike is the first in a chain of events that lead to a fatal meltdown of Britain's transport system. Directed by Gabriel Range, who wrote the script with producer Simon Finch,[1] the film first aired on Tuesday, May 13, 2003, on BBC Two.
The drama makes 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 archival footage (from a train crash site, a speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair and various stock footage of British traffic congestion) and cameo roles by well-known British personalities. Accompanying music includes excerpts from the film soundtracks of The Shawshank Redemption, The Sum of All Fears, Requiem for a Dream, Heat, and 28 Days Later.