The Brack Report is a British television drama series created by

Christopher Penfold Christopher Penfold is an English scriptwriter and editor. Television shows on which he has worked include '' Pathfinders'', '' One by One'', '' All Creatures Great and Small'', '' EastEnders'', ''Casualty'', '' The Brack Report'', the second s ...

for

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

looking at concerns about nuclear power, and exploring some

alternative energy sources Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...

. It was broadcast over 10 weeks on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from 6 April 1982 to 8 June 1982 which overlapped with the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

.Space1999.net, Christopher Penfold Interview
/ref> It stars

Donald Sumpter Donald Sumpter (born 13 February 1943) is an English actor who has appeared in film and television since the mid-1960s. Career One of his early television appearances was the 1968 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Wheel in Space'' with Patrick Troug ...

Patricia Garwood Patricia Garwood (28 January 1941 – 24 February 2019) was an English television, film and stage actress who first appeared on film aged 9 in ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' and is best known as playing Beryl Crabtree in five series of the BBC situat ...

and

Jenny Seagrove Jennifer Ann Seagrove (born 4 July 1957) is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and first came to attention playing the lead in a television dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's '' A Woman of Substance'' ...

Plot

After an earthquake causes some damage to a nuclear power station, one of the chief nuclear physicists, Paul Brack, starts to investigate the safety procedures and policies of the station. He is dismayed to discover that there is a lack of real safety processes at the station, and quits his job in disgust. His disillusionment puts a strain on his relationship with his wife, Pat, a fellow researcher and academic. Through a mutual friend, Brack meets and begins to work for energy consultant Harold Harlan, with hopes that Harlan can highlight the issue of nuclear safety, and explore alternative energy sources. Unfortunately Harlan has his own plans for how he can use Brack.

Cast

Main cast

as Paul Brack *

as Pat Brack *

as Angela Brack * Neil Nisbet as Oliver Brack * Robert Lang as Harold Harlan * Toria Fuller as Sophie Ferris * Sue Robinson as Sarah Challen * Antony Carrick as Norman Phillips *

Tom Chadbon Tom Chadbon (born 27 February 1946, in Luton) is an English actor who has spent much of his career appearing on British television. Although principally a character actor, he has occasionally had leading or recurring roles. Chadbon starred in a ...

as Brian Fletcher

Guest cast

Geoffrey Beevers Geoffrey Beevers (born 15 January 1941) is a British actor who has appeared in many different stage and screen roles. Career Theatre Beevers has worked extensively at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond upon Thames, both as an actor (including ...

as Dr. Scheer *

Graham Crowden Clement Graham Crowden (30 November 1922 – 19 October 2010) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric "offbeat" scientist, teacher and doctor characters. Ea ...

as Max Challen *

T.P. McKenna Thomas Patrick McKenna (7 September 1929 – 13 February 2011) was an Irish actor, born in Mullagh, County Cavan. He had an extensive stage and screen career. Career Early years Thomas Patrick McKenna was born at Mullagh, County Cavan, Ireland, ...

as Frank Clements * Daniel Massey as Andrei Tchenkov *

Judy Parfitt Judy Catherine Claire Parfitt (born 7 November 1935) is an English theatre, film and television actress. She made her film debut in a minor supporting part in ''Information Received'' (1961), followed by supporting role in the BBC television se ...

as Ella Smitherson *

Tony Steedman Anthony Francis Steedman (21 August 1927 – 4 February 2001) was an English character actor, perhaps best known for roles in British TV drama series of the 1970s and 1980s, and for his role as Socrates in ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' ...

as Dr. Smitherson *

Wanda Ventham Wanda Ventham (born 5 August 1935) is an English actress with many roles on British television since beginning her career in the 1950s. She played Colonel Virginia Lake in the 1970s science-fiction television series ''UFO'' and had a recurring ...

as Kate Randall *

Jerome Willis Jerome Barry Willis (23 October 1928 – 11 January 2014) was a prominent British stage and screen actor with more than 100 screen credits to his name. Willis had a leading role in the ITV drama series ''The Sandbaggers'' as Matthew Peele. He ...

as John Robertson

Episodes

Production

Writing

The show's creator, Christopher Penfold, was previously a writer on Space: 1999 (a show where a nuclear accident on the Moon causes it to be knocked out of orbit), and he developed The Brack Report as a means of exploring and dramatizing some of the challenges of nuclear power, as well as looking at some of the alternative ways of generating energy.

Music

The theme tune was composed by

Christopher Gunning Christopher Gunning (born 5 August 1944) is an English composer of concert works and music for films and television. Gunning was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where his tutors includ ...

, who had been composing music for film and TV for twelve years when he completed this piece. Other notable work by Gunning includes the themes for Rogue Male (1976),

The Day of the Triffids ''The Day of the Triffids'' is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. Al ...

(1981),

Porterhouse Blue ''Porterhouse Blue'' is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, first published in 1974. A satirical look at Cambridge life and the struggle between tradition and reform, ''Porterhouse Blue'' tells the story of Skullion, the Head Porter of Porterhouse, ...

(1987), Under Suspicion (1991), Lighthouse Hill (2004), and

La Vie en rose "La Vie en rose" (; ) is the signature song of popular French singer Édith Piaf, written in 1945, popularized in 1946, and released as a single in 1947. The song became very popular in the US in 1950, when seven versions reached the ''Billboard ...

(2007).

Filming

Filming of the series took over a year to complete.

, who played Dr. Scheer in Episodes 4 and 7, had to be excused from filming on 17 December 1980 to shoot scenes for the

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 ...

serial "

The Keeper of Traken ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" which had been delayed due to an electricians strike. Some exterior scenes for Episode 7 were filmed in

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon T ...

, including at

Tynemouth Castle and Priory Tynemouth Castle is located on a rocky headland (known as Pen Bal Crag), overlooking Tynemouth Pier. The moated castle-towers, gatehouse and keep are combined with the ruins of the Benedictine priory where early kings of Northumbria were buried ...

. Some exterior scenes for Episode 9 were filmed at the

Rance Tidal Power Station The Rance Tidal Power Station is a tidal power station located on the estuary of the Rance River in Brittany, France. Opened in 1966 as the world's first tidal power station, it is currently operated by Électricité de France and was for 45 ye ...

in Brittany, France. Some interior scenes were filmed at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

Broadcast

* : It was originally broadcast on

in 1982 * : In 1983 it was shown on Australian TV Channel 3 * : In 1983–1984 it was broadcast on ARD * (again): In 2020 it was broadcast by

Talking Pictures TV Talking Pictures TV (TPTV) is a British free-to-air vintage-film and nostalgia television channel. It was launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky channel 343, but later also became available on Freeview, Freesat, and Virgin Media. It is on air for 24 ho ...

Reception

Creator Christopher Penfold commented that the transmission of the series (6 April to 8 June 1982) "''got absolutely swamped by the

''" (2 April to 14 June 1982), and that the show "''would have created a much bigger public stir''" had it not been for that war. Episode One was referred to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission by the

Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Januar ...

. The

UK Atomic Energy Authority The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ...

also expressed their concerns over the series. A contemporary review by

Lucy Hughes-Hallett Lucy Angela Hughes-Hallett (born 7 December 1951) is a British cultural historian, biographer and novelist. In November 2013, she won the Samuel Johnson Prize for nonfiction for her biography of the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio, ''The Pike ...

, 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 ...

'', noted that the weighty subject-matter made for a ponderous narrative: "''artistically…not a great success''" but allowed that it was "''an…intelligent attempt to tackle a difficult subject''". Another contemporary review by Chris Dunkley of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' noted that the show was being broadcast in the same slot that had been previously occupied by drama series ''Muck and Brass'' (starring

Mel Smith Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. S ...

), and he felt those shows were evidence that

have a "''sane and admirable new policy of creating modern drama series dealing with contemporary themes''".

In other media

Books

A 192-page novelization of "The Brack Report", written by Patrick Winter, was released on 15 March 1982 by Arrow Books publishers.Abe Books: The Brack Report novelization
/ref>