The Man Who Broke Britain

The Man Who Broke Britain is a 2004 BBC Television drama about a financial collapse triggered by a devastating terrorist strike.

The Man Who Broke Britain
GenreDrama
Docufiction
Written by
Directed byGabriel Range
Starring
  • Will Ashcroft
  • Dean Knowsley
  • Amani Zain
Narrated byTim Pigott-Smith
Composer(s)Samuel Sim
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
Production
Producer(s)Simon Finch
Running time90 minutes
DistributorWall to Wall Media
Release
Original networkBBC Two
Original release9 December 2004
Chronology
Related showsThe Day Britain Stopped
External links
Production website

Plot

A devastating terrorist strike wipes out much of Saudi Arabia's oil production; the same day a trader of Saudi origin disappears from the fictional UK investment bank Sun First Credit (SFCB). Managers soon discover the missing trader, Samir Badr, has built up crippling debts, multiplied a hundredfold by the attacks in Saudi. SFCB, once the toast of the city, is suddenly heading for bankruptcy, taking a whole raft of other banks with it. The resulting market crash and banking crisis will push Britain and the US into a 21st Century recession: pension funds are slashed, unemployment soars and the housing market collapses. Following the discovery that Badr has committed suicide, a new Al-Qa'eda tape surfaces, in which Osama Bin Laden appears to claim responsibility for the financial turmoil. Suspicion grows that Badr was an Islamic extremist who deliberately sabotaged the bank. As the authorities and the media launch a massive investigation into the apparent Al-Qaeda assault on the pillars of the Western Economy, an alternative explanation emerges. Could greed and incompetence be the real cause of the collapse of Britain's economy?

gollark: People might actually look at you as weird if you donate a significant % of your income to effective charities, rather than just £10 a month to WarmFuzzyCharity2000 which helps endangered homeless tigers get food or something.
gollark: As far as I'm aware, you can actually still save lives for something like £500 each by donating money to help with malaria in Africa. But *nobody does this*!
gollark: Because it is! It mostly works fine!
gollark: People talk a lot about how terrible capitalism is, and then generally just... ignore the possibility of charity.
gollark: The market system (roughly) satisfies people's values, and apparently most people's actual values don't include giving up anything to help people they don't directly interact with.


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