Episode 1

Synopsis

Three-part series combining archive footage and eye-witness accounts to tell the dramatic narrative of North Sea oil and gas from the 1960s to the present. It charts the decades when the country made the most of its North Sea windfall, with scarcely a thought about where it came from or of the men and women who brought it to us. Through the story of oil, the series offers a fresh perspective on British politics and society and a timely insight into the state of our economy today.

Forty years ago, Britain was poised on the brink of an extraordinary discovery - oil, billions of gallons of it, deep beneath the harsh waters of the North Sea. This opening edition gives a voice to some of the men who made that discovery and who risked their lives in the North Sea to get the oil ashore.

Theirs is a tale of dramatic risk-taking and high politics as the government and the oil companies raced to get their hands on the bonanza. The promise of enormous riches inspired technical innovation on a scale never seen before, but did the haste of the North Sea project put at risk the lives of men who were working in some of the most extreme conditions in the world?

Credits

Executive Producer

Bill Lyons

Broadcasts

1. Thu 18 Jun 2009
   21:00
   BBC Four
2. Thu 18 Jun 2009
   23:30
   BBC Four
3. Fri 19 Jun 2009
   03:10
   BBC Four
4. Sat 20 Jun 2009
   19:00
   BBC Four
5. Sun 21 Jun 2009
   03:40
   BBC Four
6. Fri 3 Jul 2009
   00:30
   BBC Four
7. Mon 10 Aug 2009
   22:30
   BBC Four