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''Burn Up'' is a 2008

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Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

dealing with the issues of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and

peak oil Peak oil is the hypothetical point in time when the maximum rate of global oil production is reached, after which it is argued that production will begin an irreversible decline. It is related to the distinct concept of oil depletion; while ...

Plot summary

Episode one

Oil surveyor Masud Khamil narrowly escapes an attack on his camp in the deserts of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and flees with some valuable data. Tom McConnell replaces his father-in-law Sir Mark Foxbay as Chairman of Arrow Oil. At the celebration party,

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

activist Mika Namuvai enters uninvited and serves Tom a writ from her people. The writ decries global warming and its causes, such as Arrow's production facility on the Athabasca tar sands. The shock of Mika's subsequent ejection causes Tom's daughter to have an asthma attack, but she is saved by Holly Dernay, head of renewable energy at Arrow. In testimony before the

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

in Washington, Sir Richard Langham, Tom's former geology professor, testifies on the dangers of global warming, but he is discredited by a pro-oil senator using muck racked up by devious oil lobbyist James "Mack" Mackintosh. Tom confronts Mack, his longtime friend, about the tactics. Mack denies that he spread the story, but he is clearly committed to serving his employers. Back in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Tom wins his court case but then sees Mika set fire to herself on the court steps. Tom and Holly attend Mika's funeral in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, where Sir Richard sends them into the wilderness to see the truth for themselves. Holly pokes a hole in the ice covering a swamp and is able to ignite the methane gas waiting to be released. Later, while overnighting in an isolated shack on the tundra, Tom and Holly become intimate. Meanwhile, British Prime-Ministerial Aide Philip Crowley offers unofficial government assistance to the Green Congress as they prepare for the World Forum on Climate Change (WFCC), a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

conference about global warming in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

, Canada. Masud returns to London and makes contact with Sir Mark, who has spoken with Masud before and agrees to meet to accept some confidential geology data. Sir Mark is clearly conflicted over what to do with the data. Tom and Holly discuss pulling out of Athabasca, which has the most polluting oil of Arrow's many interests, and investing that money in renewables. Phillip confronts Holly with his knowledge that the desert massacre was done by mercenaries for the oil industry and not terrorists. But before she can talk to Tom, Tom finds Mack at her overturned apartment, where Mack reveals that Holly orchestrated Mika's protest at the party. Phillip stops Holly from returning to her apartment, instructing her to lie low. Tom wanders off to visit Sir Mark. Sir Mark hears a noise and goes outside, only to be struck dead in a hit-and-run. Tom and Masud, approaching from different directions, are witnesses. Tom runs to help, and Masud flees.

Episode two

Crowley sends Dernay to the World Forum on Climate Change in Calgary to look for Masud. Mack leads the Open Business Coalition and their friendly countries in moves to scupper

Kyoto II Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. Dernay contacts Masud and tries to go to McConnell but he dismisses her. Crowley gets support within the Open Business Coalition from McConnell and the insurance companies and they win over the

United States Treasury Secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Brent Schlaes. Under pressure from Schlaes the US delegate softens his stance at the conference. Mack feeling under threat from his boss tries to scare off Dernay who has finally convinced McConnell to meet with Masud. At the meeting Masud hands over the data from the survey Foxbay commissioned that proves that the Saudi oil reserves have run out. At a meeting in the

Calgary Tower The Calgary Tower is a free standing observation tower in the downtown core of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally called the Husky Tower, it was conceived as a joint venture between Marathon Realty Company Limited and Husky Oil as part of an ...

Mack warns McConnell of the chaos that will be unleashed if Masud's data is published. The hard-line Robert Cooper is appointed as the new US delegate and goes back on the agreements of his predecessor. The Chinese delegate makes approaches to McConnell and the Green Congress so Crowley brokers a deal with them to sign Kyoto II. Dernay tries to bluff Mack and he warns her off but he is too late and she is killed. Mack confronts his boss who threatens to go after McConnell next to get the data. Cooper agrees a sideline treaty with the Chinese and walks out without signing Kyoto II. Mack confronts McConnell on the roof and after getting the data from him, he smuggles it past his boss's men and hands it over to Crowley for publication.

Cast

Production

BBC Controller of Fiction

Jane Tranter Jane Tranter (born 17 March 1963) is an English television executive who was the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base from 2009 until 2015. From 2006 to 2008, she was the BBC's controller of ...

commissioned the drama for transmission on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. It was produced by Kudos Film and Television in co-production with Canadian production company SEVEN24 Films. Shot in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and

, England, the series is unusual for actually being set in Calgary, prompting Eric Volmers to write in the ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' that "while filming in the city is hardly unique, it's rare for a high-profile project to feature Calgary as Calgary".

Reception

Reviews

Eric Volmers writing in the ''

'' states that, "the opening scene is a suitably violent and tense intro that manages to conjure up both a sinister and international tone to the four-hour Canadian-U.K. co-production," and goes on to say that, "Burn Up asks decidedly unsettling questions about big oil and political expediency, the environmental impact of the Athabasca oil sands and even

American foreign policy The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...

," which he claims, "was perhaps a surprising project to find life amid the "oil-is-good" sentiment of Alberta." Sam Wollaston writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' compliments the character development and interaction that is, "going on all over the place", and credits Whitford and Warren as "the stars of ''Burn Up''", before going on to say Penry-Jones is, "lively in the lead". He claims the series is an improvement on recent docudramas in that, "it has a proper script" and that while, "the across-the-green-line romance is a little embarrassing", "the whole thing skips along", and, "at times it thrills, which is no bad thing in a thriller", but it, "is issue-led, rather than story-led", and overall it feels, "a bit crude", "as opposed to refined". Gareth McLean writing in the same publication said that, "despite the occasional flashy moment, high-octane drama this is not", criticising the series for, "copious amounts of tiresome expositional dialogue and a leaden plot", before concluding, "why not treat yourself and rent

Syriana ''Syriana'' is a 2005 American political thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, loosely based on Robert Baer's 2003 memoir ''See No Evil (Baer book), See No Evil''. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Mat ...

instead?". Tim Teeman writing in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' calls the series, "a consciousness-raising thriller", that, "is trying desperately to do that BBC thing of being sexy and responsible". He states that, "the arguments about oil production and the environment felt clunky and little more than speechifying", that the series was, "in danger of forgetting that drama should be drama, not a lecture, and that characters should be characters, not ciphers", but, "despite the didactic politicking, the pace is unrelenting and the baddies at least are colourful and engaging". He complimented Whitford who, "villainously devoured every scene", for his, "needling chemistry" with the, "brilliant", Warren, and concluded that, "Whitford and Campbell together, him snarling, her looking all impish and button-nosed, had me almost pathetically excited: ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'' and ''

Party of Five ''Party of Five'' is an American television teen and family drama created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox for six seasons from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000. The series featured an ensemble cast led by Sc ...

'' united on screen is pretty near Teeman TV Heaven." David Chater writing in the same publication describes the series as, "highly watchable", thanks to, "a fast-paced, intelligent script and some fine acting", although the, "characters tend to come with labels, and the elements of thriller are there for excitement rather than credibility", he concludes, "it is still an exciting ride in an eco-friendly racer", and, "it's like ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' for grown-ups".

References

External links

Making a climate crisis into a drama
by

Jeremy Leggett Jeremy Leggett is a British social entrepreneur and writer. He founded and was a board director of Solarcentury from 1997 to 2020, an international solar solutions company, and founded and was chair of SolarAid, a charity funded with 5% of Sola ...

in ''

''
Official Press Pack
at BBC Press Office * {{Simon Beaufoy BBC television dramas 2000s British television miniseries 2000s Canadian television miniseries English-language Canadian films Television shows set in Calgary Television shows filmed in Calgary Television shows shot in London Gemini and Canadian Screen Award for Best Television Film or Miniseries winners