Seconds From Disaster

Seconds from Disaster is a US/UK-produced documentary television programme that investigates historically relevant man-made and natural disasters of the 20th century. Each episode aims to explain a single incidental by analyzing the causes and circumstances that ultimately effected the disaster. The program uses re-enactments, interviews, testimonies, and CGI to analyze the sequence of events second-by-second for the audience. Narrators for the show are Ashton Smith, Richard Vaughan and Peter Guinness.

Seconds from Disaster (2005-2018) is a US and UK co-produced documentary series created for National Geographic, running seven seasons and seventy-five episodes of roughly forty-five minutes each. Each installment takes a single historically significant catastrophe from the twentieth century, whether man-made or natural, and asks how it happened by tracing the chain of causes and circumstances that combined to produce it. Three narrators, Ashton Smith, Richard Vaughan and Peter Guinness, guide viewers through the investigations, which are built from re-enactments, computer-generated graphics, interviews and survivor testimonies. The engine of every episode is the timeline itself: the program slows a disaster down and examines it second by second, so that a misjudged signal, a faulty valve or a single decision becomes a moment of dread. Because each episode stands alone, viewers can dip in at any point, and the overall shape is an anthology of separate case studies rather than one continuing story. The tone is sober, analytical and gripping, with a steady undercurrent of tension as the audience watches ordinary steps lead toward catastrophe. Fans of Mayday and Chernobyl will find the same mix of forensic reconstruction and human stakes that makes these investigations compelling.

• Maydaydocumentary investigation of disasters with reenactments and expert testimony, analytical tone
• Chernobylfactual documentary with dramatized reconstructions of real events and forensic analysis
• Lost Worldsnonfiction series reconstructing historical catastrophes through detailed sequence of events

Release Date

2005-09-19

Episode runtime

45 min

Rating

8.1 / 10 (30)

What is Seconds From Disaster about?

A documentary series that reconstructs major 20th century man-made and natural disasters second by second to reveal how small causes led to catastrophe.

What is Seconds From Disaster like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Seconds From Disaster as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as simple.

Is Seconds From Disaster violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Seconds From Disaster as moderate.

Which shows are like Seconds From Disaster?

Shows with a similar feel include Mayday, Chernobyl, and Lost Worlds.

How long is Seconds From Disaster?

Seconds From Disaster: 7 seasons, 75 episodes.

Is Seconds From Disaster still running?

No, Seconds From Disaster has ended.