Editing If... (TV series)

{{Short description|British television series}}
{{Other uses|If (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Italic title}}

'''''If...''''' is a series of [[BBC]] [[Docudrama|drama-documentaries]] broadcast on [[BBC Two]] from March to April 2004 and December 2004 to January 2005, each of which considers the unexpected, dramatic or even catastrophic political or social consequences that might arise from current trends in the United Kingdom. Using a drama with [[interview]]s from [[expert]]s, then a [[discussion]] of the programme with a panel of experts from both sides of an [[Logical argument|argument]]. During the show a [[televote]] of opinion is cast.

==List of documentaries==
===Series 1: 2004===
{{Episode table |background=#000070 |overall= |series= |title= |airdate= |episodes=
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1
| EpisodeNumber2 = 1
| Title = If... The Lights Go Out
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|3|10|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = ''If... The Lights Go Out'' imagines a near-future scenario in which the UK has become dependent upon imported [[natural gas]] supplies to fuel its [[power stations]]. A terrorist attack at the [[compressor station]] in [[Vyborg]], [[Russia]] in late 2010 leads to a disastrous winter [[power outage|blackout]] when the UK's other energy suppliers can't keep up with demand.
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}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 2
| EpisodeNumber2 = 2
| Title = If... Things Don't Get Better
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|3|17|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = ''If... Things Don't Get Better'' imagines a near-future scenario in which the UK has [[gated community|gated communities]] where the rich and the poor are separated by the growing wealth divide. In the story a gated community in [[London]] closed off a road to stop crime in the area.
| LineColor = 000070
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 3
| EpisodeNumber2 = 3
| Title = If... The Generations Fall Out
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|3|24|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = ''If... The Generations Fall Out'' imagines a near-future where the UK's [[aging population]] sparks tensions between the [[baby boomers]] and the generations who came before them, sparked by the increasing number of elderly people receiving a [[Pension|state pension]].
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}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 4
| EpisodeNumber2 = 4
| Title = If... It Was a Woman's World
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|3|31|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = ''If... It Was a Woman's World'' imagines a scenario in which the UK has become a [[matriarchy]], creating a power imbalance between men and women and causing [[men's rights]] organisations such as "Fathers Fight Back" (based on [[Fathers 4 Justice]]) to become more common. Using a 21st-century [[dysfunctional family]] as an example, the episode focuses on a divorced father and member of Fathers Fight Back [[Broadcast signal intrusion|breaking into a live television broadcast]] from the (female) [[President of the United States]] to spread a message of hope and equality. Meanwhile, his ex-wife uses new cloning/[[IVF]] treatments to have a daughter (selected by her) without a father.
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}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 5
| EpisodeNumber2 = 5
| Title = If... We Don't Stop Eating
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|4|7|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = ''If... We Don't Stop Eating'' is a look at what might happen if the [[obesity]] epidemic went out of control.
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}}
}}

===Series 2: 2004–05===
{{Episode table |background=#500050 |overall= |series= |title= |airdate= |episodes=
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 6
| EpisodeNumber2 = 1
| Title = If... Cloning Could Cure Us
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|10|16|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = ''If... Cloning Could Cure Us'' discusses the [[ethics]] involved in cloning and [[stem cell therapy]], imagining the fictional trial of Dr. Alex Douglas, who used cloned stem cells that were older than allowed by law to cure a paralysed climber of his paralysis.
| LineColor = 500050
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 7
| EpisodeNumber2 = 2
| Title = If... We Could Stop the Violence
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|10|22|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = ''If... We Could Stop The [[Violence]]'' features the story of a boy named Liam, seemingly predisposed to violent behaviour, positing that there may be an element of [[Heredity|biological inheritance]] to a person's behaviour. The episode then goes on to posit that [[genetic modification]] could remove a person's tendency towards violence, and examines the ethics involved.
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}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 8
| EpisodeNumber2 = 3
| Title = If... Drugs Were Legal
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|1|12|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = ''If... Drugs Were Legal'' visits a future in which all formerly-illicit drugs have undergone [[Drug liberalization|legalisation]] in the United Kingdom. In the episode, two teenage girls die after taking drugs at a nightclub, and an investigation into their deaths is launched. It turns out that the girls were given an unlicensed blend of drugs by an illegal dealer. The drugs were originally made by an anti-drugs campaigner, in an attempt to have drugs recriminalised.
| LineColor = 500050
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 9
| EpisodeNumber2 = 4
| Title = If... TV Goes Down the Tube
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|3|21|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = ''If... TV Goes Down the Tube'' details the story of the [[suicide]] of Lizzie Alton, a contestant on a [[reality television]] programme, and the disturbing new connections between the media industry and the government, who seem to be embracing the use of television as a political tool. Alton's mother, Mary, goes on to uncover a sinister conspiracy between the government and the production company behind the program that influenced her daughter to take her life.
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}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 10
| EpisodeNumber2 = 5
| Title = If... The Toxic Timebomb Goes Off
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|3|31|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = 500050
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 11
| EpisodeNumber2 = 6
| Title = If... We Stopped Giving Aid to Africa
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|6|26|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = 500050
}}
}}

===Series 3: 2006===
{{Episode table |background=#000000 |overall= |series= |title= |airdate= |episodes=
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 12
| EpisodeNumber2 = 1
| Title = If... The Oil Runs Out
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2006|5|30|df=y}}
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = 000000
}}
}}

== Production ==
The series was filmed with the Panasonic SDX 900 [[DVCPRO#DVCPRO|DVCPRO&nbsp;50]] professional camcorder in widescreen 25fps progressive mode.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vmi.tv/equipment/product-details/?pid=11 |title=DVC Pro 50 Camcorder SDX-900 |access-date=5 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230202412/http://www.vmi.tv/equipment/product-details/?pid=11 |archive-date=30 December 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[The Day Britain Stopped]]''
*''[[Oil Storm]]''

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/if/default.stm If... website]

*{{IMDb title|id=0405551|title=If…}}

[[Category:2004 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:2006 British television series endings]]
[[Category:2000s British documentary television series]]
[[Category:BBC television docudramas]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]