Alternative 3 (1977)

Most viewers missed - or chose not to take notice of - the last minute note that Alternative 3 had been delayed from its original broadcast date of April 1st and fell for this clever and expertly realised hoax. Posing as an expose of a worldwide governmental cover-up, Alternative 3 played on the then emerging public fears of the greenhouse effect and global warming.

According to the show, three alternatives had been considered by the scientific and governmental communities to combat these growing problems - a reduction in the population, a reduction in consumption or simply abandoning the ailing planet to its fate. In the course of their investigations, reporters from Anglia's (genuine) popular science show Science Report were supposed to have uncovered a plot to carry out alternative three while investigating the mysterious disappearance of some 400 scientists, supposedly spirited away to hidden bases on the far side of the moon and on Mars during the last days of the Apollo program.

The program caused outrage when it was first screened, so much so that Alternative 3 has never been broadcast again. Oblivious to the cast list that rolled at the climax, thousands of concerned viewers flooded the ITV switchboards. The uproar was similar to the outcry that greeted Screen One's exemplary Ghostwatch (1992), though Alternative 3 enjoyed a wider audience than its superior successor - it was broadcast in many countries, though the main US networks declined, fearing a repeat of the infamous Orson Welles War of the Worlds radio broadcast.
KEVIN LYONS

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009