Watch: Full 'The Day Britain Stopped' Mock Doc Drama That Ridley Scott & Steve Zaillian Are Remaking

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by Kevin Jagernauth
July 26, 2012 3:10 PM
1 Comment

With the Olympics gearing up to kick off tomorrow, London's public transit service has been under some serious strain and scrutiny in the past week as the world descends on the city for the games. Numerous delays have already been reported, with traffic in the city only due to increase in the coming days and weeks. So it's a bit ironic to think that nearly a decade ago, this was (sort of) the foundation of a disaster flick.

In 2003, BBC dropped the mock doc drama "The Day Britain Stopped," telling the story of what happens to the country when a train strike and a massive traffic jam are just the beginning in a series of events that bring the entire infrastructure to the breaking point. And Ridley Scott and writer Steve Zaillian see the opportunity to remake it. THR reports the pair have snagged the rights to the movie, from which they will produce a new yarn "inspired" by "The Day Britain Stopped," but not necessarily a straight remake. They are searching for a writer who will take the premise and adapt it to the scale of a global catastrophe. The pair have worked together before on "Hannibal" and "American Gangster" as director and writer, respectively, and on "Welcome to the Rileys," which they both produced.

Watch the full "documentary" below and let us know what you think. Do you want to see this supersized into a big screen movie? Does the concept make sense? Where could it be improved? Your thoughts are welcome below.

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Daniel | July 26, 2012 5:22 PMReply

This fake doc is quite well done, and very affecting in places, which is sort of disturbing in itself. The production is very convincing throughout, and they manage to avoid most giveaways, only rarely giving into mockumentary tropes ('why would anyone keep the camera on,' etc. , or in this case, 'that little kid is sure a great cinematographer'), and has only a couple of faulty VFX shots. Admirably sticking to the form -- even including the clunky title -- this an excellently reserved, utterly compelling piece of TV work, and I look forward to what a few million more bucks can do for the feature.