BBC Release nuclear war script

[Camy]

A script written by the BBC and the government to be broadcast in the event of a nuclear attack has been published.

The script, written in the 1970s and released by the National Archives, included instructions to "stay calm and stay in your own homes".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7648042.stm

Here's cheery!

Sadly the threat still remains - though the concept of 'duck and cover' has been proven somewhat fallacious.

[Trab]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053137/

This kinda tells it all. I'm glad I can more easily put it aside now, but of course that's probably because I've lived past the age I ever expected to get too.

I don't care what anyone says, I'm convinced the whole drug culture and free love of that era (70's) was a direct result of doom, gloom and desperation. I suspect the reason we have so much drug use now, and even an upswing of HIV is for the very same reason. Subconsciously, everyone thinks that there is just no point in struggling. Very sad.

[Adam Donaldson Powell]

Cheer up Bucko!

Things are tough, and will get tougher yet. However, there are many signs that several persons are starting to "wake up" and change their values, thoughts, words and actions to create a better world and more healthy and holistic collective consciousness. I am actually thankful for the economic crisis because that is usually what it takes for most people to stop just thinking about themselves (unfortunately). Every day the human race has a new chance to turn things around. I believe in humanity and humanoids in the end.

[JamesSavik]

Who would nuke the English when the French are available?

[Trab]

The Scots, the Welsh, the Irish, for three.

[Cole Parker]

The Scots, the Welsh, the Irish, for three.

Internecine warfare. That's be bad for your group and England.

Easier and more efficient to just nuke the French.

C

[Camy]

Notice how quiet I'm being?

[JamesSavik]

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Tonight's weather is expected to be punctuated with random bright flashes and falling nuclear weapons. It will be partly cloudy with occasional bouts of hard radiation and deadly fallout. There is a radioactive Firestorm warning in effect in London and the Midlands until midnight which we expect to be renewed through dawn.

Official sources report that the situation is grim and advise you to put your head between your legs, keep a stiff upper lip and kiss your ass goodbye.

[Cole Parker]

What, you mean duck and cover won't work?

Darn.

C

[JamesSavik]

Only in a tornado

[DesDownunder]

WARNING, post in bad taste:

Will all residents please note that it is advisable to stay outdoors and survey the skies for incoming missiles. If you see one, run as fast as you can towards its likely point of impact and detonation. You really don't want to survive a nearby nuclear explosion.

If you can manage to take the pets with you and assist the elderly to get to somewhere near the explosion you will be awarded a medal for community service, (posthumously of course, that is assuming anyone remains, who cares.)

In the meantime, think loving thoughts towards your fellow Earthlings, (It can't hurt.)

[Cole Parker]

Dark, dark humor, Des.

Positively inky.

C

[Marty]

I have memories dating back to around 1980, when I was a card carrying member of the "Eco" Party (a precursor to the Green Party), of

• taking part in a demonstration in (I think) the Peace Gardens, in central Manchester, during which we sheltered under a couple of doors leant against a kitchen table - as instructed by a government pamphlet that had been sent to all householders with instructions as to what to do in the event of a nuclear attack, and
  
• the Eco Party hosting a public showing of a film (what would nowadays be called a docu-drama), about the likely outcome of a nuclear attack on Britain, that the BBC had made but decided against showing on the grounds that it was too scary.
  

My biggest memory of the showing of that film was a survivor of Hiroshima giving an impromptu talk to the audience afterwards, and then, like any true Japanese tourist, taking out his Pentax camera and taking photographs of the proceedings.

I also remember sneaking the film projector belonging to the school I taught in at the time out of school for the showing of the film. I somehow thought the headmaster would not have given me official leave to borrow it for the reason I wanted it.

Marty (once a rebel, always a rebel)

[colinian]

Ray Bradbury in his short story August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains written in 1950 tells it all. This is one of my favorite SF short stories. You can read it here. Highly recommended.

Colin