Blackout

Swiss National TV SRF dedicated a 9-hour special to the scenario of a long-lasting power failure comprising not only Switzerland but central Europe as a whole. The delineated series of events is fictional, but based on several in-depth studies. The chances of a long-lasting power failure may be remote, but if a blackout of this scale became a reality, the consequences would be tantamount to a national disaster. A series of fictional documentaries depicted how a big power failure deprived Switzerland and the whole of Central Europe of electricity around Easter 2016. The narration is based on interviews with actors on the one hand and on real crisis managers pretending to reflect the fictional series of events on the other. To make the plot palpable, the crew filmed during crisis trainings and staged certain scenes with actors, thereby sticking closely to official contingency plans. Each episode represents one day of this blackout scenario. The fictional documentaries alternate with live studio segments where experts put the blackout scenario drawn up in the documentaries into perspective. Additional elements emphasize the live character of the programme, e.g. an ethical hacker trying to infiltrate a critical infrastructure during the day.