Smallpox 2002 Silent Weapon
Pearl, 9.35pm
Made in the style of a documentary, this drama tells the fictional story of the greatest act of mass murder in history - the smallpox pandemic of 2002.
All but eradicated by the end of the 20th century, officially the smallpox virus is confined to two laboratories in the United States and Russia. As the World Health Organisation debates whether to destroy these remaining samples, there are no international sources of smallpox vaccine and the world population has never had so little residual immunity to the disease.
Then disaster strikes - a bioterrorist attack in London and New York releases the virus gained from the former Soviet Union. Thanks to air travel, by the time it is diagnosed it is too late to stop it spreading across the globe. Most countries have no emergency plans and no vaccine.
Produced before the anthrax attacks in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, this BBC drama was intended as a wake-up call for governments to prepare for this kind of bioterrorism. Scary stuff.
