Not With A Bang, 1990
Not with a Bang was a short-lived ITV sitcom that ran for 7 episodes in 1990.
Originating from a self-contained 1986 BBC Radio 4 play of the same title, the series was seen as a dark science fiction comedy, focusing on the end of the human race on Earth.
The series gets it’s title from the last line of a poem by T.S. Eliot ‘The Hollow Men’ “not with a bang, but a whimper”.
The show both in it’s radio play form and TV series starred Mike Grady of Last Of The Summer Wine fame.
Summary
The pilot episode begins with a spoof episode of the iconic BBC science show Tomorrow’s World, showing presenter Judith Hann telling the viewer how scientists have apparently isolated the hormone that causes aging in humans.
The chemical is then accidentally released from a vial and the effect spreads almost instantly, annihilating virtually all human life on Earth, turning people into little piles of an ash-like compound, before dissipating harmlessly.
The remaining six episodes show follow the plight of the four human survivors (three male, one female – who survive due to various far-fetched reasons – for example being sealed in a sound-proof booth during a pub when the agent strikes the vicinity) as they look for other survivors, adjusting to life after the end of the world, and deliberating over the repopulation of the human race.
Clips
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Cast
Mike Grady – Graham Wilkins
Josie Lawrence – Janet Wilkins
Ronald Pickup – Brian Appleyard
Stephen Rea – Colin Garrity
Judith Hann – Herself
Details
Channel: ITV
Written By: Tony Millan and Mike Walling
Produced By: London Weekend Television for ITV
Original Transmission Dates: