Seconds From Disaster

Last updated

Seconds from Disaster
Logo of Seconds From Disaster.png
Title card used between 2011 and 2018
Genre Documentary
Based onHistorically relevant man-made and natural disasters from the 20th century
Narrated by Ashton Smith
Richard Vaughan
Peter Guinness
Country of originUnited States / United Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes69 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time30/40–50 minutes
Production company(s) National Geographic Society
Darlow Smithson Productions
Distributor National Geographic
Release
Original network National Geographic
Original releaseJuly 6, 2004 (2004-07-06) – February 22, 2018 (2018-02-22)
Chronology
Preceded by Seismic Seconds
Followed by Critical Situation
External links
Website

Seconds from Disaster is a US/UK-produced documentary television programme that investigates historically relevant man-made and natural disasters from the 20th century. Each episode aims to explain a single incident [1] by analyzing the causes and circumstances that ultimately effected the disaster. The program uses re-enactments, interviews, testimonies, and CGI to analyze the sequence of events second-by-second for the audience.

Contents

Seconds from Disaster was first broadcast on the National Geographic Channel in 2004 and originally consisted of 45 episodes over three seasons. Following its original conclusion in 2007, the show was put on a four-year hiatus and later replaced with Critical Situation . In 2011, National Geographic revived the show and aired another 22 episodes over three seasons until the following year. Narrators of the show are Ashton Smith (American narrator for seasons 1 to 3), Richard Vaughan (British narrator for every season except 3), and Peter Guinness (British narrator for season 3).

Critical Situation was an American documentary television series. Produced in conjunction with the National Geographic Channel, the series examined various disasters or violent incidents. It replaced Seconds From Disaster, a similar program with a more forensic approach. The main tagline of the show reads, "This is Situation Critical," or some variation thereof. As of November 2007, 13 episodes have been aired.

Ashton Smith is an American voice actor who has recorded voice overs for many movie trailers, television commercials, and network promotions. He served as the narrator for the documentary series Seconds From Disaster on the National Geographic Channel for seasons 1 to 3.

Peter Guinness (actor) British actor

Peter Guinness is an English film, television and theatre actor.

The show was revived again, with the first episode of season 7 airing on February 15, 2018. [2] Its return has been paired with the 17th Season UK Premiere of Air Crash Investigation, which aired back to back beginning on February 15 at 8PM on National Geographic UK's channel. [3]

Format

Seconds from Disaster is characterised by an emphasis on chronological sequencing (in accordance with the show's name), the use of CGI technology and its blueprint-like CGI format. The show has little or no dialogue for the actors in the re-enactments, but instead is almost entirely dominated by the narrator.

Blueprint document reproduction produced by using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets

A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid, and accurate, production of an unlimited number of copies. It was widely used for over a century for the reproduction of specification drawings used in construction and industry. The blueprint process was characterised by white lines on a blue background, a negative of the original. The process was not able to reproduce color or shades of grey.

Historical reenactment activity where people recreate aspects of a historical event

Historical reenactment is an educational or entertainment activity in which people follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge presented during the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire period, such as Regency reenactment or The 1920s Berlin Project.

Each episode begins with a chronological re-enactment of the disaster, which is always cut into several scenes displaying critical moments in the unfolding of the disaster with a clock appearing at the beginning of each scene. After the sequence of events, the show "winds back" the scenes to analyse the causes and events leading up to the disaster. The series uses blueprint-formatted CGI in every episode to reveal the anatomy of the disaster and the structures involved but in season 3, the blue formatting of the CGI is not used on the background and is replaced with a white background. From season 4 onwards, they used a sepia-like background. The show concludes with the original disaster scenes being rewind and played again; but this time, the clock is being replaced by a countdown timer and the conclusions reached from the analysis being put together with the sequence. Most often, the show finishes with a short moment of sentimentality (where those involved often speak of their emotions on the disaster) followed by the technological advances made to prevent similar disasters from happening again.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 13July 6, 2004 (2004-07-06)October 26, 2004 (2004-10-26)
2 19June 28, 2005 (2005-06-28)July 11, 2006 (2006-07-11)
3 13July 25, 2006 (2006-07-25)March 7, 2007 (2007-03-07)
4 6September 5, 2011 (2011-09-05)October 10, 2011 (2011-10-10)
5 6March 11, 2012 (2012-03-11)April 22, 2012 (2012-04-22)
6 10July 22, 2012 (2012-07-22)December 29, 2012 (2012-12-29)
7 2February 15, 2018 (2018-02-15)February 22, 2018 (2018-02-22)

See also

Blueprint for Disaster is a Canadian documentary television series that premiered in 2004 on Discovery Channel Canada. Produced by Temple Street Productions, the program investigates why and how various disasters have happened. Toronto-based Voice Artist Adrian Bell provided the narration for the first series. The show also aired in the UK under the title Seconds from Disaster. As of 2008, two seasons have been produced.

Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation in Australia, South Africa, United Kingdom, Asia, and some European countries, and Air Emergency and Air Disasters in the United States, is a Canadian documentary television program investigating air crashes, near-crashes, hijackings, bombings, and other disasters. Mayday uses re-enactments and computer-generated imagery to reconstruct for its audiences the sequence of events leading up to each disaster. In addition, aviation experts, retired pilots, and crash investigators are interviewed explaining how these emergencies came about, how they were investigated and how they could have been prevented. It premiered 3 September 2003 on Discovery Channel Canada.

Seismic Seconds is a documentary television series that aired in the late 1990s on the National Geographic Channel. The program analysed the causes of six incidents, five involving the loss of human life. The better-known sequel to Seismic Seconds, Seconds From Disaster, was spun off from the series.

Related Research Articles

Closing credits At the end of a movie: a list of people who have worked in and for a movie

Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a work. A full set of credits can include the cast and crew, but also production sponsors, distribution companies, works of music licensed or written for the work, various legal disclaimers, such as copyright and more. Some long-running productions list "production babies".

Red Dwarf Remastered was an attempt in the mid-1990s to bring the first three series of the BBC's cult sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf up to date. A collaborative effort between BBC Worldwide and Grant Naylor Productions, it was hoped that remastered versions of the episodes would prove more appealing to broadcasters in international territories. Only Series I-III were remastered, although the BBC had commissioned for the remastering of Series IV and V as well. Doug Naylor decided to put the project on hold and wait for technology to catch up with their vision.

<i>Modern Marvels</i> a television series on the History Channel and H2

Modern Marvels is an American worldwide television series that formerly aired on the History Channel. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in modern society. It is among History's first, and longest-running programs, having first aired on History's first day of broadcasting on January 1, 1995, and its last episode aired on April 11, 2015.

Zero Hour is a Canadian/British documentary-style television series, which aired on The History Channel in the United States, History Television in Canada, and on the BBC in the United Kingdom. Zero Hour has also aired on Channel Seven in Australia ; on Discovery Channel in Africa, Asia, New Zealand, Brazil, and the Netherlands. The program focuses on retelling the details of tragic man-made disasters which each unfolded in less than an hour.

Forensic Files is an American documentary-style television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was originally broadcast on TLC, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, distributed by FilmRise, in association with truTV Original Productions. It broadcast 406 episodes from its debut on TLC in 1996 as Medical Detectives until 2011. Reruns shown on HLN were initially retitled Mystery Detectives before settling on the main title of the show in 2014.

<i>Worlds Most Amazing Videos</i> television series

World's Most Amazing Videos was a reality television series that showcases accidents, disasters, police chases and other extraordinary events that are caught on video camera. These videos normally shown anybody involved in these aforementioned incidents survive nonetheless. Although it is similar in content to the other series Real TV and Maximum Exposure, it takes a more serious tone. Originally, the show appeared on NBC as a timeslot filler program. A new series of episodes of the show were created in 2006 first-run for Spike, after a six-year hiatus from the NBC stint.

BOAC Flight 781 Fatal crash of de Havilland Comet passenger jet near Elba, 10th Jan 1954

BOAC Flight 781 was a de Havilland Comet passenger jet, operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation, that crashed on 10 January 1954 after suffering an explosive decompression at altitude. The Comet crashed into the sea near Elba Island, off the Italian coast, killing all 35 people on board. The aircraft, registered G-ALYP, had taken off shortly before from Ciampino Airport in Rome, en route to Heathrow Airport in London, on the final leg of its flight from Singapore.

South African Airways Flight 201

South African Airways Flight 201 (SA201), a de Havilland Comet 1, took off at 18:32 UTC on 8 April 1954 from Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy, en route to Cairo, Egypt, on the second stage of its flight from London, England to Johannesburg, South Africa. The flight crashed at around 19:07 UTC, killing all on board. The flight was operated as a charter by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) using the aircraft G-ALYY, with a South African crew of seven, and carrying fourteen passengers.

The National Geographic Channel is a British pay television channel that features documentaries produced by the National Geographic Society. It features some programming similar to that on the Discovery Channel such as nature and science documentaries. The channel was launched in Europe in September 1997 and time shared initially with the failing NBC Europe until NBC Europe's demise in 1998, at which point it began timesharing with Fox Kids ; with analogue transmission of the channel ending, and the sale of Fox Kids to Disney, timesharing was eventually superseded by 24-hour broadcasting. It was later launched worldwide including in Asia and the United States. Today, the channel is available in over 143 countries, seen in more than 160 million homes and in 25 languages.

<i>Man vs. Wild</i> American television program

Man vs. Wild, also called Born Survivor: Bear Grylls, Ultimate Survival, Survival Game, Real Survival Hero or colloquially as simply Bear Grylls in the United Kingdom, is a survival television series hosted by Bear Grylls on the Discovery Channel. In the United Kingdom, the series was originally shown on Channel 4, but later series were broadcast on Discovery Channel UK. The series was produced by British television production company Diverse Bristol. The show was first broadcast on 10 November 2006 after airing a pilot episode titled "The Rockies" on 10 March 2006.

Trapped was a documentary television series that premiered on November 7, 2007 on the National Geographic Channel. Produced in association with the National Geographic Channel and Cineflix, the program examined various actual incidents or disasters in which victims were trapped on the site.

Raging Planet is an American documentary television series that originally aired in 1997 and 2009 on the Discovery Channel. The program focuses on natural disasters. It currently airs periodically on the Science Channel.

The Hindenburg disaster has featured in a variety of popular culture films, TV programs and books.

References

IMDb Online database for movies, television, and video games

IMDb is an online database of information related to films, television programs, home videos and video games, and internet streams, including cast, production crew and personnel biographies, plot summaries, trivia, and fan reviews and ratings. An additional fan feature, message boards, was abandoned in February 2017. Originally a fan-operated website, the database is owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.

TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. It emphasizes user-generated content. Australia and UK versions of the website are also available, at au.tv.com and uk.tv.com, respectively.