End Day
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End Day is a 2005 docu-drama produced by the BBC and aired on the National Geographic Channel, on the TV series, National Geographic Channel Presents, that depicts various doomsday scenarios. The documentary follows the fictional scientist Dr. Howell, played by Glenn Conroy, as he travels from his London hotel room to his laboratory in New York City, and shows how each scenario affects his journey as well as those around him, with various experts providing commentary on that specific disaster as it unfolds.
The following descriptions of the program were released by the BBC:
- "Imagine waking up to the last day on Earth..."
- "Inspired by the predictions of scientists, End Day creates apocalyptic scenarios that go beyond reality. In a single hour, explore five different fictional disasters, from a giant tsunami hitting New York to a deadly meteorite strike on Berlin."
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[edit] Scenarios
Below are the various catastrophes depicted in the order they occur in the film:
- In this scenario, a volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma triggers a massive landslide wherein a sizeable portion of the island collapses into the sea, causing a massive mega-tsunami to race across the Atlantic ocean and strike the east coast of the United States, inundating New York City in particular.
Killer Asteroid
- This scenario begins with a mysterious 'missile attack' in a remote area somewhere in the Middle East. The 'missiles' are soon revealed to be small asteroid fragments, the advance guard of a much larger asteroid on a collision course with Earth, threatening central Europe. The asteroid is located and an attempt is made to destroy it using nuclear ICBMs. The attempt fails, resulting in the asteroid being broken into hundreds of smaller pieces which then impact and obliterate Berlin.
Global Pandemic
- In this scenario, a virus similar to SARS or Asian Bird Flu is unleashed, wreaking havoc as it spreads at a phenomenal rate throughout Europe, the UK, and North America, prompting many countries to enact martial law and close their borders in a frantic attempt to contain the spread of the disease.
- This scenario is based on the supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park erupting, causing vast damage to the area 100 km around the volcano, as well as releasing ash into the atmosphere which is predicted to severely cool the earth. This segment has only aired in the UK. This scenario was explored in depth in another BBC docudrama, Supervolcano.
- This scenario is the only one wherein Dr. Howell reaches his laboratory unhindered, with people protesting, and shouting,"STOP THE EXPERIMENT!" outside. Upon arrival, he and his colleagues initiate a highly controversial experiment using the world's largest particle accelerator. The experiment quickly goes out of control, resulting in the creation of a new type of matter called a strangelet, which begins to consume and destroy all matter around it, starting with New York City. The phenomenon wreaks havoc on Earth's weather systems and atmosphere, insinuating that the entire planet will eventually be destroyed.
[edit] Alternate versions
All original official sources cite five different scenarios including a giant volcanic explosion, but the volcanic explosion segment has never been aired in the United States. It has been edited out by the National Geographic Channel for unknown reasons and all references to it on the National Geographic website have been removed. Only the other four scenarios have been aired. However, the BBC website had the super volcano episode until it was removed sometime after May 28. 2006. UKTV History aired the version including the supervolcano segment on January 23, 2007. However, in the original BBC airing each of the scenarios showed the attempts of a family or person to escape the depicted disaster as well as following Dr. Howell, these segments were mostly cut from the UKTV History version aired in 2007.
[edit] In-film references
At one point when Dr. Howell drives off in a taxi at the beginning of the second episode, a front of a cinema is visible behind with "Groundhog Day now showing". In Groundhog Day, the protagonist is stuck in a single day of his life, repeating it time after time with minor variations — similar to the life of Dr. Howell. Transitions between the disasters are shown in such that it turns out that the prior disaster was actually a movie on TV that has been left running overnight and the credits would roll as Dr. Howell's alarm clock goes off.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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