Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen

*Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen*
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
Genre	Historical drama
Written by	Peter Harness
Story by	Peter Guinness
Directed by	Justin Hardy
Starring	Bill Paterson; Mark Gatiss; Kenneth Cranham; Charlotte Riley
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Patrick Spence
Producer	Susan Horth
Cinematography	Douglas Hartington
Editor	Alastair Reid
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Hardy Pictures ; Hardy and Sons
Original release
Network	BBC Four
Release	5 August 2009

Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen is a 2009 television drama. It is a dramatization of Dr James Niven's attempts to deal with the Spanish flu, a 1918-1920 flu pandemic, in Manchester.^[1]^[2] It was written by Peter Harness and it starred Bill Paterson as Niven, along with Mark Gatiss, Kenneth Cranham and Charlotte Riley. It was first broadcast on BBC Four on 5 August 2009.

Plot

As millions of soldiers return home from the First World War, a new disease begins to sweep through Britain. Focusing on an outbreak in Manchester, its Medical Officer of Health James Niven struggles to combat the pandemic as the public, for various reasons, fail to take action.

Cast

Bill Paterson as Dr James Niven
Mark Gatiss as Ernest Dunks
Charlotte Riley as Peggy Lytton
Kenneth Cranham as MJ O'Loughlin

Reception

The series was broadcast around the time of the 2009 swine flu pandemic, which several reviews noted the timeliness of.^[3]^[4] Tim Teeman of The Times called it 'brilliantly acted and written'.^[5]