Independence Day UK
Encyclopedia
Independence Day UK is a one-hour BBC Radio 1
science fiction
special, first broadcast on August 4, 1996. The show is a spin-off
of the movie Independence Day
and depicts the movie's alien invasion
from a British
perspective. None of the original movie cast appear in the radio show.
The movie's producer Dean Devlin
gave Dirk Maggs
permission to produce an original radio
adaptation provided that he did not reveal certain details of the movie's plot, and that he did not depict the British as saving the day. Maggs wrote, produced and directed the programme, with Devlin credited as "Creative Consultant".
In order to achieve authentic aircraft sounds, Maggs' crew recorded actual aircraft and cockpit interior sounds at an RAF
base.
Tagline: It's the Battle of Britain
all over again, but this time our enemies aren't just unstoppable. They're inhuman.
-style opening announcement, recalling Welles' notorious radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds
, the programme begins with a 20th Century Fox
fanfare. The first 25 minutes take the form of a live "UFO watch" broadcast hosted by Radio 1 DJ
Nicky Campbell
and veteran TV astronomer
Patrick Moore
(of The Sky at Night
) aboard an RAF Sentry
aircraft. Campbell and Moore and the RAF crew deliver authentic reactions to the news that a large object is approaching the Earth
. The object is subsequently revealed to be an alien
spacecraft
.
When the alien mothership disgorges dozens of smaller ships that take up position over the world's cities
, the broadcast switches to a press conference called by Prime Minister
John Major
and Opposition Leader
Tony Blair
to announce the formation of an emergency coalition government
. DJ Mark Goodier
reports from a rooftop on the alien ship's approach to London
until it fires its weapon and the broadcast goes silent.
After a brief pause the story continues in Maggs' trademark "audio movie" style, with original music from the film and sound effects and dialogue in Dolby
Surround
.
Aboard the RAF sentry, Moore and Campbell are shocked to learn that London has been destroyed. The alien ships launch fighters and the RAF Tornado
pilots Chris and Becky engage them.
Moore draws upon his vast scientific knowledge to advise the pilots on how to combat - or at least evade - the aliens.
The fighters are then called upon to defend a BBC
traffic helicopter
that is attempting to carry the British Royal Family
to safety.
The RAF succeed in bringing down one of the alien fighters, and Moore has a close (and given his age, surprisingly violent) encounter with the alien pilot. Meanwhile Wing Commander Reginald engages the aliens in a prototype Eurofighter
.
At the end of the show we learn that the Royal Family are safe and have invited Becky - a staunch republican - for tea at Balmoral
. The surviving military forces of Europe
and the Middle East
are preparing to regroup in the Beqaa Valley
. One of the RAF men comments that "when this is all over and we've defeated these monsters, the Yanks'll take the credit for it, you wait and see."
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
special, first broadcast on August 4, 1996. The show is a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of the movie Independence Day
Independence Day (film)
Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance counterattack on July 4 – the same...
and depicts the movie's alien invasion
Alien invasion
The alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial life invades Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under a colonial system, harvest humans for food, steal the planet's resources, or destroy the planet altogether.The...
from a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
perspective. None of the original movie cast appear in the radio show.
The movie's producer Dean Devlin
Dean Devlin
Dean Devlin is an American screenwriter, producer, television director and former actor. He is the founder of the production company Electric Entertainment.-Personal life:...
gave Dirk Maggs
Dirk Maggs
Dirk Maggs, a freelance writer and director working across all media, is principally known for his work in radio, where he evolved radio drama into "Audio Movies," a near-visual approach combining scripts, layered sound effects, cinematic music and cutting edge technology. He pioneered the use of...
permission to produce an original radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
adaptation provided that he did not reveal certain details of the movie's plot, and that he did not depict the British as saving the day. Maggs wrote, produced and directed the programme, with Devlin credited as "Creative Consultant".
In order to achieve authentic aircraft sounds, Maggs' crew recorded actual aircraft and cockpit interior sounds at an RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
base.
Tagline: It's the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
all over again, but this time our enemies aren't just unstoppable. They're inhuman.
Story
After a brief Orson WellesOrson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
-style opening announcement, recalling Welles' notorious radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds (radio)
The War of the Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker...
, the programme begins with a 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
fanfare. The first 25 minutes take the form of a live "UFO watch" broadcast hosted by Radio 1 DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Nicky Campbell
Nicky Campbell
Nicholas Andrew Argyll "Nicky" Campbell is a Scottish radio and television presenter and journalist. He is known for his time presenting on programmes such as the consumer affairs programme Watchdog...
and veteran TV astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
Patrick Moore
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...
(of The Sky at Night
The Sky at Night
The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The...
) aboard an RAF Sentry
E-3 Sentry
The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system developed by Boeing as the prime contractor. Derived from the Boeing 707, it provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications, and is used by the United States Air Force , NATO, Royal Air Force , French Air Force...
aircraft. Campbell and Moore and the RAF crew deliver authentic reactions to the news that a large object is approaching the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. The object is subsequently revealed to be an alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
.
When the alien mothership disgorges dozens of smaller ships that take up position over the world's cities
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
, the broadcast switches to a press conference called by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
and Opposition Leader
Leader of the Opposition (UK)
The Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads the Official Opposition in the United Kingdom. There is also a Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
to announce the formation of an emergency coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
. DJ Mark Goodier
Mark Goodier
-Early career:Mark Goodier was born in Rhodesia . His family moved to the UK when he was a child, eventually settling in Scotland. He was educated at George Heriot's School, in Edinburgh. He became a mobile DJ in Edinburgh and then joined local station Radio Forth at the age of 19...
reports from a rooftop on the alien ship's approach to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
until it fires its weapon and the broadcast goes silent.
After a brief pause the story continues in Maggs' trademark "audio movie" style, with original music from the film and sound effects and dialogue in Dolby
Dolby Laboratories
Dolby Laboratories, Inc. , often shortened to Dolby Labs, is an American company specializing in audio noise reduction and audio encoding/compression.-History:...
Surround
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
.
Aboard the RAF sentry, Moore and Campbell are shocked to learn that London has been destroyed. The alien ships launch fighters and the RAF Tornado
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...
pilots Chris and Becky engage them.
Moore draws upon his vast scientific knowledge to advise the pilots on how to combat - or at least evade - the aliens.
The fighters are then called upon to defend a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
traffic helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
that is attempting to carry the British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
to safety.
The RAF succeed in bringing down one of the alien fighters, and Moore has a close (and given his age, surprisingly violent) encounter with the alien pilot. Meanwhile Wing Commander Reginald engages the aliens in a prototype Eurofighter
Eurofighter Typhoon
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole combat aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of three companies: EADS, Alenia Aeronautica and BAE Systems; working through a holding company, Eurofighter GmbH, which was formed in 1986...
.
At the end of the show we learn that the Royal Family are safe and have invited Becky - a staunch republican - for tea at Balmoral
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences of the British Royal Family since 1852, when it was purchased by Queen Victoria and her...
. The surviving military forces of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
are preparing to regroup in the Beqaa Valley
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
. One of the RAF men comments that "when this is all over and we've defeated these monsters, the Yanks'll take the credit for it, you wait and see."
Cast and selected credits
- Nicky CampbellNicky CampbellNicholas Andrew Argyll "Nicky" Campbell is a Scottish radio and television presenter and journalist. He is known for his time presenting on programmes such as the consumer affairs programme Watchdog...
- Himself - Patrick MoorePatrick MooreSir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...
- Himself - Mark GoodierMark Goodier-Early career:Mark Goodier was born in Rhodesia . His family moved to the UK when he was a child, eventually settling in Scotland. He was educated at George Heriot's School, in Edinburgh. He became a mobile DJ in Edinburgh and then joined local station Radio Forth at the age of 19...
- Himself - Toyah WillcoxToyah WillcoxToyah Ann Willcox is an English actress and singer. In a career spanning more than thirty years Toyah has had 13 top 40 singles, released 22 studio albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays and ten feature films, as well as voicing and presenting numerous television shows...
- Flight LieutenantFlight LieutenantFlight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Becky Johnson - Simon TrevesSimon TrevesFrederick Simon Treves, known as Simon Treves, is an English actor, director and writer probably best known for playing Harold 'Stinker' Pinker in three series of ITV's Jeeves and Wooster.-Biography:...
- Wing CommanderWing Commander (rank)Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
John Reginald - Colin BakerColin BakerColin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
- Group CaptainGroup CaptainGroup captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
Phil Johnson - Peter SerafinowiczPeter SerafinowiczPeter Szymon Serafinowicz is an English actor, comedian, writer, composer, voice artist and occasional director.-Early life:Serafinowicz was born in Liverpool, England. He attended Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Primary School and St Francis Xavier Secondary School...
- Flight Lieutenant Max Brett - Toby LongworthToby LongworthToby Longworth is a British actor who has appeared on film, radio and television. He is originally from Somerset, where he attended King Edward's School, Bath...
- Flight Lieutenant Chris Thomson - Mark CourtneyMark CourtneyMark Vincent Courtney is an English former motorcycle speedway rider who rode in the British League for several teams between 1978 and his retirement in 1993...
- Sentry Technical Director - William HootkinsWilliam HootkinsWilliam Michael Hootkins was an American character actor, most famous for supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as Star Wars, Batman and Raiders of the Lost Ark.-Early life:...
- Orson Welles - Dannii MinogueDannii MinogueDanielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
- Special alien effect
- Produced, written and directed - Dirk Maggs
- Original music - Mark RussellMark Russell (composer)Mark Russell is a British composer whose works include music for the television series Cold Feet, Murder City and Kingdom. He presented Mixing It on BBC Radio 3 from 1990 to 2007, when the programme ended...
- Movie music - David ArnoldDavid ArnoldDavid Arnold is an English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films, the 1994 film Stargate, the 1996 film Independence Day, and the television series Little Britain.-Film and television career:...
- An Audio Movies Limited / 20th Century Fox Production for BBC Radio 1