Yes I remember that, but TV news and documentary being able to show that kind of thing uncensored is important and something we've lost. There is absolutely no danger of confusing that with fictionalised film violence, however graphic, because the reality is clear. Todays sanitised and blurred news only makes the enormity of what happened seem somehow less. Sometimes the public needs to be see the full aftermath of terrible events. Imagine what present day TV news coverage of the liberation of the Nazi death camps would be like and how much less impact it would make as a result.
I also remember the assissination of Anwar Sadat being shown on TV news which was equally shocking. Some of the footage from the Falklands War in 1982 was similarly graphic, the evacuation of the Sir Galahad landing ship particularly. It's only comparatively recently that TV news has been edited in this way.
I believe such coverage should not be censored, censoring it means people can avoid thinking about the truth. Obviously you wouldn't show graphic details of every piece of news, but momentous events should be shown uncensored. I don't think it's harmful to do so.
"gets off soapbox*
Regarding dramatic shocks on TV shows, I think the Spooks deep fat fryer scene is the one I most remember, even though the scene wasn't graphic. It was Alfred Hitchcock style violence, with details left to the imagination. In this case it was surprise as main characters aren't usually thrown away so casually.
I think the younger generation are desensitised from movies, tv, internaet and video games.
I don't think the shock of seeing events on the news would be as big as an impact as for previous generations.
Yes, the first plane had already crashed into one of the towers. But the second one happened "live"..it was both surreal and shocking. Then there was the collapse of the towers, I'll never forget that day as long as I live. I don't think anything fictional comes even close.
I have to agree with this. Up until the second plane came along, no-one seemed to know if it was a terrorist attack or just an accident.
Bad as the two planes crashing into the buildings was, I still didn't expect the towers to come crashing down. When I got home from work that evening I remember sitting watching it with my two young sons, trying to explain what the 'naughty men' had done.
Years ago, footage of a wedding somewhere in the world which showed everyone dancing, then the floor disappearing beneath them. Many died. Awful to watch.
The Twin Towers collapsing as we watched.
In fictional TV, Ben killing Locke in 'Lost' was a massive shock, as was Romano getting a small helicopter to the head in 'ER' (slightly undermined by being deeply stupid, but very shocking nonetheless). And Carter getting stabbed in 'ER', then seeing Lucy.
The things that upset me most as child were nuclear dramas and children dying. The Live 8 episode of Vicar of Dibley (with the AIDS orphans) was so horribly upsetting that I've never let my children watch it (too young). Though it was an important thing to broadcast, and I hope encouraged a lot of people to think about the subject.
Quite possibly the most graphic and unsettling drama the BBC has aired?
(For those that don't know, it was a TV film about the run up to and aftermath of a nuclear war, and specifically a strike on Sheffield. And, absolutely unflinchingly, represented all the death and chaos that it would cause during and In the years afterwards. Unrelentingly grim. I actually note from a quick Google that it's on YouTube but should probably come with a pretty big nightmare warning).
Quite possibly the most graphic and unsettling drama the BBC has aired?
(For those that don't know, it was a TV film about the run up to and aftermath of a nuclear war, and specifically a strike on Sheffield. And, absolutely unflinchingly, represented all the death and chaos that it would cause during and In the years afterwards. Unrelentingly grim. I actually note from a quick Google that it's on YouTube but should probably come with a pretty big nightmare warning).
They made us watch that in school, I couldn't have been more than 14. I remember watching nearly the whole thing through my fingers, it was horrible.
South Vietnamese general shoots prisoner in the head. I watched it when it was broadcast 40-odd years ago and have never forgotten it.
BTW, it wasn't drama. It happened and was shown on british TV. I won't post a link as people who have only seen sanitised, fictional violence probably couldn't cope with the real thing.
Yes, I was going to mention that too. I remember the exact time and place I was watching it. For weeks and months after, I could not get the image out of my mind, and even now, as an over 50 year old, I still can't believe the sheer brutality of it.
Quite possibly the most graphic and unsettling drama the BBC has aired?
(For those that don't know, it was a TV film about the run up to and aftermath of a nuclear war, and specifically a strike on Sheffield. And, absolutely unflinchingly, represented all the death and chaos that it would cause during and In the years afterwards. Unrelentingly grim. I actually note from a quick Google that it's on YouTube but should probably come with a pretty big nightmare warning).
I saw it once and have no desire to ever watch it again.
The live death of a motorbike rider Marco Simoncelli on BBC 2 2011
I think it was on in the morning live from Malaysia.
He partially lost control of the bike at a corner and shot across the race line of two other bikes behind him.
Big smash and his helmet cam off. Poor lad skidded face down along the track motionless.
Was shocking to see someone actually die live on TV.
Quite possibly the most graphic and unsettling drama the BBC has aired?
(For those that don't know, it was a TV film about the run up to and aftermath of a nuclear war, and specifically a strike on Sheffield. And, absolutely unflinchingly, represented all the death and chaos that it would cause during and In the years afterwards. Unrelentingly grim. I actually note from a quick Google that it's on YouTube but should probably come with a pretty big nightmare warning).
I recorded it, and after all the reaction in the media after it aired it took me weeks to pluck up courage to watch it.
Given how much- particularly nowadays- that TV producers love to shock their audiences with unexpected plot twists and shocks aplenty, what have been the moments where your jaw has hit the floor? Here are some of mine, in no particular order:
Helen Flynn's head being dunked into the chip pan- Spooks
Frank pushing Zoe in front of the subway- House of Cards
Claire revealing the name of the man who raped her live on TV- House of Cards
President Palmer being killed off literally two or three minutes into Season 5- 24
Nina being revealed as the CTU mole- 24
Chardonnay's funeral at the beginning of the second series- Footballers' Wives
Quite possibly the most graphic and unsettling drama the BBC has aired?
(For those that don't know, it was a TV film about the run up to and aftermath of a nuclear war, and specifically a strike on Sheffield. And, absolutely unflinchingly, represented all the death and chaos that it would cause during and In the years afterwards. Unrelentingly grim. I actually note from a quick Google that it's on YouTube but should probably come with a pretty big nightmare warning).
Oh my days, threads! Watched it once (if through the fingers counts), never again. Very scary stuff.
Also, pretty much all the public information films on tv and in schools during 80s and early 90s, nightmare fodder. Mind, i was a child.
Fictional - An episode in Emmerdale, where Cameron murdered Alex in the back of his van. Not that you saw anything but the scene of the van in the woods with the Christmas song (I think) playing and knowing what was happening had a haunting feel.
Yes, I was going to mention that too. I remember the exact time and place I was watching it. For weeks and months after, I could not get the image out of my mind, and even now, as an over 50 year old, I still can't believe the sheer brutality of it.
I also saw this footage as a young teenager. I originally remember it as an American soldier performing the execution, but when I looked it up a few years ago, it was actually a Police Chief from South Vietnam.
The most shocking part of it is the total and utter lack of emotion from the executioner.
I, Claudius. Where John Hurt as Caligula emerged from a room with blood dribbling from his mouth.
The character had spent the whole episode comparing himself to Zeus, who he mentions ate his own off spring from the belly of his sister. Guess who had been pregnant in that programme?
OK it was only ever suggested, but to a ten year old being allowed to stay up late to watch it, it was freakishly scary.
The Tales of the Unexpected episode, "The Flypaper" had a horrific and haunting ending.
It starts with news reports about a missing girl's body turning up in a local pond, and the episode itself is about a young, downtrodden schoolgirl who has to catch the the bus home to her rural home. All through the journey, she is harassed and pestered by a sleazy older man. She deliberately gets off at an earlier stop than usual and the man follows her, stalking her. Luckily, an old woman spies him attempting to grab her and rescues the girl, telling the man he ought to be ashamed of himself for harassing young girls. The old woman takes the girl back to her cottage so that they can phone a taxi. The little girl is sitting drinking tea in the kitchen when the sleazy old man steps into the house, only to be embraced by the old woman as they both advance on their latest victim.
Of more modern shows, the end of Season 4 in Dexter was pretty shocking.
I have a pretty freaky "relationship" with this exact episode. I don't remember seeing too many Tales of the Unexpected eps as a child but I always remembered this one and would have first seen it in the late 80s/early 90s - maybe the first time it was aired but I couldn't say for certain. I always remembered about the girl being called Sylvia and that the scary man on the bus got her name from the name-tag on her scarf.
Several years later, I was browsing the on-screen tv guide and noticed an episode of Tales about to start on one of the cable/satellite stations - something like Granada Plus. I hadn't seen any eps in years. There was no description of the specific episode plot but I decided to watch for nostalgic reasons and remember thinking to myself, oooh remember that one with the girl on the bus? Anyway, it started and duh duh duuuuh ,... it WAS the exact very episode. At the time I just thought it was a funny coincidence, as you would in such a situation
Except the exact same thing happened again a few years ago!!
I hadn't seen any Tales eps again in several years, and it was being repeated on, I think, Sky Arts a few years ago. Again, the description of the episode was very vague - just saying something along the lines of "classic mystery series" or similar. I think this time I had set it to record on Sky+ and watched it a few days later .... and there it was again!! The same episode!
... and then, I read this thread, see you talking about Tales of the Unexpected with an episode synopsis given in spoiler tags ... and there is flippin' is again!!
Do do do do, Do do do do (Twilight Zone music, in case you were wondering ...!)
Also, pretty much all the public information films on tv and in schools during 80s and early 90s, nightmare fodder. Mind, i was a child.
The 70s was the golden era of public info films: fire hazards, fireworks, water hazards, road safety, electricity pylons/substations, and the danger of strangers to children were the classic topics.
OMG I remember that scared the life out of me when I watched it (that & the scene where Bob jumps out in the room).
Recently, when Georgia was thrown out of the window on Line of Duty- that had me open-mouthed in shock.
This was the first thing that occurred to me when I read the thread title. The most shocking thing I have ever seen, on TV or off it. I was in my teens at the time, and I've never forgotten it.
Absolutely: most of the other 'shocking' moments mentioned are merely fictionalised drama - this actual event (and some others) are shocking in the true sense of the word, and like other posters, left a lasting impression on me some 40 years later.
I found the recent documentary about the assassination of JFK, going through the day in depth, shocking all over again recently. Aged about 8 at the time, I'd seen the grainy footage many times since, of the happy faces in the cavalcade, turning to horror as his head went back when he was shot, and Jackie nursing the remains of his head in her lap. This documentary though contained the graphic scenes close up. What I found particularly moving was Jackie, at the end of that horrific long day, emerging from the aircraft still in her pink suit, spattered in blood. She'd apparently refused to take it off all day - at the hospital with her husband, during the official swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson, or on the flight back to Washington with the body.
Comments
I don't think the shock of seeing events on the news would be as big as an impact as for previous generations.
I have to agree with this. Up until the second plane came along, no-one seemed to know if it was a terrorist attack or just an accident.
Bad as the two planes crashing into the buildings was, I still didn't expect the towers to come crashing down. When I got home from work that evening I remember sitting watching it with my two young sons, trying to explain what the 'naughty men' had done.
The Twin Towers collapsing as we watched.
In fictional TV, Ben killing Locke in 'Lost' was a massive shock, as was Romano getting a small helicopter to the head in 'ER' (slightly undermined by being deeply stupid, but very shocking nonetheless). And Carter getting stabbed in 'ER', then seeing Lucy.
The things that upset me most as child were nuclear dramas and children dying. The Live 8 episode of Vicar of Dibley (with the AIDS orphans) was so horribly upsetting that I've never let my children watch it (too young). Though it was an important thing to broadcast, and I hope encouraged a lot of people to think about the subject.
Pretty much all of it.
Quite possibly the most graphic and unsettling drama the BBC has aired?
(For those that don't know, it was a TV film about the run up to and aftermath of a nuclear war, and specifically a strike on Sheffield. And, absolutely unflinchingly, represented all the death and chaos that it would cause during and In the years afterwards. Unrelentingly grim. I actually note from a quick Google that it's on YouTube but should probably come with a pretty big nightmare warning).
They made us watch that in school, I couldn't have been more than 14. I remember watching nearly the whole thing through my fingers, it was horrible.
Yes, I was going to mention that too. I remember the exact time and place I was watching it. For weeks and months after, I could not get the image out of my mind, and even now, as an over 50 year old, I still can't believe the sheer brutality of it.
I saw it once and have no desire to ever watch it again.
Me too, incredibly powerful TV.
I think it was on in the morning live from Malaysia.
He partially lost control of the bike at a corner and shot across the race line of two other bikes behind him.
Big smash and his helmet cam off. Poor lad skidded face down along the track motionless.
Was shocking to see someone actually die live on TV.
I recorded it, and after all the reaction in the media after it aired it took me weeks to pluck up courage to watch it.
Do you never watch the news?
Oh my days, threads! Watched it once (if through the fingers counts), never again. Very scary stuff.
Also, pretty much all the public information films on tv and in schools during 80s and early 90s, nightmare fodder. Mind, i was a child.
Fictional - An episode in Emmerdale, where Cameron murdered Alex in the back of his van. Not that you saw anything but the scene of the van in the woods with the Christmas song (I think) playing and knowing what was happening had a haunting feel.
I also saw this footage as a young teenager. I originally remember it as an American soldier performing the execution, but when I looked it up a few years ago, it was actually a Police Chief from South Vietnam.
The most shocking part of it is the total and utter lack of emotion from the executioner.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1%BB%85n_Ng%E1%BB%8Dc_Loan
I, Claudius. Where John Hurt as Caligula emerged from a room with blood dribbling from his mouth.
The character had spent the whole episode comparing himself to Zeus, who he mentions ate his own off spring from the belly of his sister. Guess who had been pregnant in that programme?
OK it was only ever suggested, but to a ten year old being allowed to stay up late to watch it, it was freakishly scary.
I have a pretty freaky "relationship" with this exact episode. I don't remember seeing too many Tales of the Unexpected eps as a child but I always remembered this one and would have first seen it in the late 80s/early 90s - maybe the first time it was aired but I couldn't say for certain. I always remembered about the girl being called Sylvia and that the scary man on the bus got her name from the name-tag on her scarf.
Several years later, I was browsing the on-screen tv guide and noticed an episode of Tales about to start on one of the cable/satellite stations - something like Granada Plus. I hadn't seen any eps in years. There was no description of the specific episode plot but I decided to watch for nostalgic reasons and remember thinking to myself, oooh remember that one with the girl on the bus? Anyway, it started and duh duh duuuuh ,... it WAS the exact very episode. At the time I just thought it was a funny coincidence, as you would in such a situation
Except the exact same thing happened again a few years ago!!
I hadn't seen any Tales eps again in several years, and it was being repeated on, I think, Sky Arts a few years ago. Again, the description of the episode was very vague - just saying something along the lines of "classic mystery series" or similar. I think this time I had set it to record on Sky+ and watched it a few days later .... and there it was again!! The same episode!
... and then, I read this thread, see you talking about Tales of the Unexpected with an episode synopsis given in spoiler tags ... and there is flippin' is again!!
Do do do do, Do do do do (Twilight Zone music, in case you were wondering ...!)
The 70s was the golden era of public info films: fire hazards, fireworks, water hazards, road safety, electricity pylons/substations, and the danger of strangers to children were the classic topics.
OMG I remember that scared the life out of me when I watched it (that & the scene where Bob jumps out in the room).
Recently, when Georgia was thrown out of the window on Line of Duty- that had me open-mouthed in shock.
Absolutely: most of the other 'shocking' moments mentioned are merely fictionalised drama - this actual event (and some others) are shocking in the true sense of the word, and like other posters, left a lasting impression on me some 40 years later.