Something of a cause celebre when it was first broadcast on Britain’s independent television network on 20 June 1977, Alternative 3 was a (mostly) convincing fake documentary that caused great consternation among a British television audience then still unused to such creative deception. Written by David Ambrose and directed by Christopher Miles, it purports to be an episode of the entirely fictitious popular science series Science Report, supposedly produced by ITV’s East of England franchise Anglia Television. According to the show, three alternatives had been considered by the scientific and governmental communities to combat the imminent end of the world due to pollution and catastrophic climate change – 1: a reduction in the population; 2: a reduction in consumption or 3: simply abandoning the ailing planet to its fate. In the course of their investigations, reporters supposedly uncover a plot to carry out alternative three while investigating the mysterious disappearance of some 400 scientists, supposedly spirited away to hidden bases on the far side of the moon and on Mars during the last days of the Apollo program.
At the time, many viewers missed – or chose not to take notice of – the last minute note that Alternative 3 had been delayed from its original broadcast date of April 1st – and failed to note that all of the “experts” seen in the programme are credited as actors in the end credits – and fell for this clever and expertly realised hoax. The program caused a degree of outrage, so much so that Alternative 3 has never been broadcast again. Oblivious to the cast list that rolled at the climax – the most familiar face belongs to American actor Shane Rimmer as a former Apollo astronaut – thousands of concerned viewers flooded the ITV switchboards. The uproar was similar to the outcry that would later greet Screen One‘s exemplary Ghostwatch (1992), though Alternative 3 enjoyed a wider audience than its superior successor – it was broadcast in many countries, though the main US networks declined, fearing a repeat of the infamous Orson Welles War of the Worlds radio broadcast.
It’s important to remember than in these found footage and mockumentary soaked days, we’re all a bit more alert to this kind of chicanery but back in 1977 there had been few suck pranks played in this sort of scale by British television. There had been the usual April Fool’s Day japes – the most famous of which was probably the BBC’s current affairs show Panorama which, in 1957, tried to convince viewers of the hardships facing a family harvesting spaghetti from their spaghetti orchard in Switzerland – but nothing had been done on this scale in the UK before. So it’s hardly surprising that contemporary audiences fell for Alternative 3. It adopted the techniques familiar from similar small screen journalistic ventures and, a few stiff performances aside, it perfectly captures the feel of these crusading investigations.
What’s less understandable is the continuing belief in some quarters that it was all real. In 1978, writer Leslie Watkins published a paperback novel based on the show , cannily replacing some of the fictional characters with their real-life counterparts. The book was a moderate seller but added to the growing belief that Alternative 3 was in fact a real documentary. The flames were fanned further by Jim Keith’s 1993 book Casebook on Alternative 3: UFOs, Secret Societies and World Control which took in topics as diverse as the Jonestown Massacre, alien abductions and modern slavery, along the way suggesting that Watkins’ book was in fact telling the truth. It’s perhaps no coincidence that Keith is an American and may, therefore, have been entirely ignorant of the original hoax. Even before Keith’s book, the idea that “Alternative 3” was a real thing was so ingrained that one of the characters in Richard Linklater’s 1991 film Slacker mentions it in passing, claiming that humans have been on Mars since 1962, as claimed by the original show. As late as 2013 it was still possible to find claims for it to be “the most dangerous television program in the world” on the Paranoia Magazine website.
When these conspiracy theories take such unshakable root – despite the makers of the programme repeatedly admitting that it was all a huge practical joke – the true believers are unwilling to let facts get in the way of a good belief. Anyone daring to question the veracity of the story is invariably accused of having been brain washed by “them” (invariably there’s a “them” in these stories, though no-one ever really seems to know exactly who “they” actually are) or that you’re a part of the conspiracy to cover up “the truth”. Straws are clutched at – the Paranoia Magazine article, for example, maintains that the destruction of the show’s master tape in a fire was part of the cover-up and that as a consequence ITV “can no longer assert authority over the show and has lost all ability to legally protect the show. It is as though Alternative 3 never existed.” This despite that fact that it’s easily available in the UK on DVD and ignoring the small inconvenience that ITV were never likely to repeat the show anyway after all the public outcry in 1977.
Alternative 3 is completely fictitious but it touches on very real fears that persist to this day – more so in fact given the seemingly unstoppable progress of climate change. It’s a fun conceit, one that duped many in 1977 – as a naive 13 year old I was more than willing to fall for it – but anyone believing that it’s the real deal is either unaware of the programme’s history or just plain deluded. Watch it for what it is – an early fake documentary science fiction tale – and it’s a huge amount of fun. Younger viewers, unfamiliar with the very particular look and feel on 70s British television, may wonder what all the fuss is about but those of us of a certain age will be happy to surrender to it and buy into its barmy apocalyptic vision for an hour or so.
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