This dramatised documentary follows the meticulous work of air crash investigators as they attempt to uncover the cause of a disaster.
Following a catastrophic air disaster, a team from the Accidents Investigation Branch is dispatched to the scene. Led by Air Commodore Dacre (Michael Culver), the experts face immense pressure to determine the cause of the crash. Their methodical investigation questions the pilot’s actions, the airport’s procedures, and the possibility of a mechanical failure in the aircraft. The team, including investigators Philip St. Clair (John Woodvine) and Norman Taylor (Michael Lees), must piece together evidence from the wreckage to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.
A characteristic work from writer Wilfred Greatorex, After The Crash is a study in procedural discipline. The teleplay takes the methodical, often painstaking work of air accident investigation and builds from it a compelling suspense story. Rejecting easy melodrama, the production focuses on the intellectual rigour and emotional toll of the inquiry, constructing its drama from the assembly of evidence and expert analysis. Broadcast as a single play, it was an early example of the fact-based drama that would become a television staple in subsequent decades. Its examination of a modern technological disaster and the official response was typical of Greatorex’s interest in the workings of state institutions.
Broadcast: BBC, 13 April 1961
Written by: Wilfred Greatorex
Director: John Gorrie
Producer: Mark Shivas
Main Cast: Michael Culver (Air Commodore Dacre), John Woodvine (Philip St. Clair), Michael Lees (Norman Taylor), Frederick Jaeger (Tom Henderson), Shelagh Fraser (Margaret Dacre)
