TV review

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.

Taboo, Darlington Civic Theatre

THIS is a difficult show to review. It's appealing because Boy George is a good songwriter and much of the music and lyrics are his. The singing is excellent, in particular Drew Jaymson as Philip Sallon, Stephen Ashfield as Boy George and Declan Bennett as Billy.

Having said that, the setting is the New Romantic gay scene of the 1980s and if this is an accurate portrayal of what it was like, I'm glad I missed it. The assumption that someone's sexuality is the only thing that's important is shallow and disturbing.

Mark Little's performance as the designer and artist Leigh Bowery could have been described as over the top, were it not for the fact that Bowery really was as extraordinary as Little portrays him, with his grotesque costumes and deliberately shocking make-up.

Stephen Ashfield captured the voice and movements of Boy George to a T, without conveying the innate sweetness the man seemed to have.

There's a lot of innuendo and double entendre, and I suppose some of it is quite amusing, but the characters are so desperate to shock that the whole thing is an uncomfortable experience.

Sue Heath

l Taboo runs until Saturday. Box Office: (01325) 486555

Kungsbacka Trio, All Saints Newcastle

THE Music in the Round series presented by the Sage Gateshead at All Saints, in Newcastle, was brought to a heady conclusion with a superlative performance from the Kungsbacka Trio.

The audience may have been much smaller than usual, but this only added to the magical intimacy of the evening, which began with a recital of Dvorak's Piano Trio in B Major.

The most optimistic of his works, it pulsated with energy under the lead of pianist Jesper Svedberg.

Simon Crawford-Phillips on cello underpinned the score with magnificent bass lines, while violinist Malin Broman thrilled with finely crafted melodies.

The adagio ended with the notes wafting off into the ether, before the trio romped home to the finale with some sparkling keyboard work.

The interval was followed by Brahms' Piano Trio in C Major. Composed towards the end of his life, it is a soulful piece laden with pathos. Svedberg's phrasing was emphatic and sensitive and the andante was invested with a soulful beauty.

The tour de force was Shostakovich's Piano Trio No 2, composed in 1944, shortly after news of the concentration camps emerged. Crawford-Phillips' cello entered crying out with pain, followed by a plaintive violin and sombre piano. The trio extracted every ounce of emotion as the mood swung violently from despair to joy to fury. For the fortunate few to have been there it was an unforgettable experience.

Gavin Engelbrecht