Krakatoa: The Last Days
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| Krakatoa: The Last Days | |
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 Cover art of BBC DVD. |
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| Genre | Docudrama History Disaster |
| Distributed by | BBC |
| Directed by | Sam Miller |
| Produced by | Alan Eyres Greg Smith |
| Written by | Colin Heber-Percy Michael Olmert Lyall B. Watson |
| Starring | Rupert Penry-Jones Olivia Williams Kevin McMonagle |
| Cinematography | Giulio Biccari |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Release date | May 7, 2006 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Official website | |
Krakatoa: The Last Days (also titled Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction in the U.S. on the Discovery Channel) is a BBC Television docudrama that premiered on May 7, 2006 on BBC One. The program is based upon a selection of four eyewitness accounts of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, an active stratovolcano between the islands of Sumatra and Java, present day Indonesia.
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[edit] Production
The series was produced by the BBC in co-production with Discovery Channel, RTL Television, and France 2.
[edit] Ratings
The film was broadcast on BBC One on 7 May 2006 and drew 6.4 million viewers (27% audience share)[1]
[edit] Synopsis
The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa is the second greatest volcanic eruption in recorded history (after Mount Tambora, only 68 years earlier), erupting more than 18 cubic kilometres of tephra in less than 48 hours, and killing about 36,500 people. A subplot concerning Rogier Verbeek (played by Kevin McMonagle), a Dutch geologist who had surveyed the area two years earlier and laid the basis for modern vulcanology with his research after the eruption, adds a scientific touch and a helpful map to the computer-generated imagery that convincingly portrays the ash cloud, collapse of the mountain, pyroclastic flows, and tsunamis. The film also portrays a family trying to escape the devastating volcano and a ship with more than 100 passengers trapped at sea when the eruption reaches its height.
[edit] Cast
- Rupert Penry-Jones as Willem Bejjernick
- Olivia Williams as Johanna Beijerinck
- Kevin McMonagle as Rogier Verbeek
- Bill Flynn as Gerrit Schuit
- Darrell D'Silva as Captain Lindeman
[edit] Trivia
- Just after Captain Lindeman leaves the cargo bay and heads to the ship's deck, one of the girls begins to sing a song to calm down the nervous passengers. The song is "Płonie ognisko w lesie", a popular Polish scout song. It was written in 1922, 39 years after the Krakatoa eruption.
[edit] References
- ^ Sweney, Mark (2006-05-08). "Krakatoa holds its own". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/may/08/overnights. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
[edit] External links
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