Blackout: thought-provoking Channel 4 'what if?' cyber-attack drama

Channel 4's Blackout explores the devastating effects of a cyber-attack on Britain's national grid.

Watch the trailer for Channel 4's Blackout here © Channel 4

What if the lights went out? Not just in your house or your street. What if the lights went out all over the country? And what if it was caused by a cyber-attack?

That's the question confronted head-on by Channel 4's feature-length drama Blackout, which racked up a very decent overnight average of nearly 2 million, including viewers who watched on Channel 4 +1.

A temporary power cut is unsettling if one is unprepared: the search for the torch, the hope it doesn't require fresh batteries, trying to remember where the candles are and if any matches are to hand. And what to do about the food in the fridge and the freezer?

Now imagine that feeling extended over days and days: how would everyone react? Would we help each other and show a bit of bulldog spirit or would Britain descend into anarchy? If Blackout's anything to go by, we'll film first and act later.

Depicting the first five days that immediately follow the catastrophe, we watched as ordinary people struggled to do the basics without power, such as feeding themselves and their families and getting to work and school.

The disastrous impact on the country's infrastructure, how it would affect hospitals, transport, food, water supply and law and order, is all too clear.

The clever weaving of real footage recorded during actual power cuts and other emergencies into its story immediately enhanced the feeling of utter calamity in Blackout.

And to underline the eerie realism, there was even an appearance from the current prime minister. Thanks to recordings appropriated from previous events, David Cameron was on hand to spout stern words at looters and reassure a frantic public.

Blackout will join a long line of dramas that, intentionally or not, end up scaring the heck out of its viewers. It's nothing new, as the likes of 1966's The War Game (about a nuclear attack on Kent) or notorious 1984 nuclear apocalypse scare-a-thon Threads (about a nuclear attack in Sheffield) demonstrate.

On Twitter, the message was hitting home. ‏@dancingstarlisa tweeted: "#Blackout is such a crazy programme. Loving it, scary though because it seriously could happen!" ‏@leahanna28 posted: "Watching last night's #Blackout... scary stuff and a bit too realistic... time to invest in a generator and some more tins food lol."

‏@markgloverOSH mused: "After watching C4's excellent #Blackout docudrama last night, it makes me wonder how much we are really prepared for such an event." ‏@cupofteague tweeted: "Shouldn't have watched #Blackout now. I just want to go out and buy generators and tinned beans."

Not all the responses were positive, ‏@jadeaaaustin posted: "#Blackout was so badly acted and very unrealistic (unless people are actually that stupid), but I liked the overall theme. Makes you think."

Following this dramatisation, I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see a surge in sales of generators in the next few days.