If... The Lights Go Out (BBC2): AS gloom and doom scenarios go, this comes near the top of the list. The scenario - the year was 2010 and nationwide power blackouts put Britain on the brink of disaster - was fiction, but the interviews and issues raised were real.

Fictional scenes of Government ministers and the public reacting to the emergency were intercut with facts, figures and predictions from experts, ranging from a Centre for Disaster Management spokesman to top power industry officials.

What became clear was that the "catastrophic collapse" depicted in If... could happen. It was suggested that, unless we make decisions now, in five years our electricity will run out. The arguments were certainly persuasive.

I'm not sure that dramatising the plight of a single mother, trapped in the London Underground, and her daughter, home alone in a darkened tower block, added that much. The mutterings of the fictional Energy Minister were not half as convincing as those of the experts.

The premise of this power crisis was that in 2010, the terrorist bombing of a Russian gas compression plant had repercussions in Britain that led to a breakdown of the National Grid and left the country without light and heat in the coldest winter for 30 years.

This was like an old-fashioned disaster movie with the added knowledge that it could really happen. If it did, someone pointed out that emergency plans were not robust enough to cope. Predictably, lack of funds was preventing plans being put into place.

We're consuming more electricity than ever, 1.5 per cent more year on year. Electricity is provided through burning gas and coal, through nuclear power and a very small amount through "renewables" like wind power.

More and more, we need gas to make power. Running out of our own, we have to import it from Russia. About ten of our large power stations are coming to the end of their useful life. Only two replacements are in the pipeline. Safety fears made nuclear power stations unpopular with the public, with three-quarters due to close by 2014 and no new ones planned.

Coal is considered a dirty fuel and new EU rules mean coal-fired stations will need to fit expensive, clean-up equipment.

Because power companies need to make money, they're careful about spending any. Neither the Government nor the industry regulator will take responsibility for ensuring enough new stations are built.

So disruption to the gas supply from Russia could result in a major electricity failure. The further the gas has to come, the more vulnerable the pipelines from terrorist attack.

It all sounded horribly convincing to me. The fact that there was spare capacity in the North after the South-East was shut down in the fictional scenario was no consolation.

I suppose the BBC will be accused of scare-mongering, but If... - and there are more episodes to come - did a good job of putting forward the facts in an entertaining, if alarming, manner. Now go and switch off that light and save electricity.

Published: 11/03/2004