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If... is a series of BBC drama-documentaries broadcast on BBC Two from March to April 2004 and December 2004 to January 2005, each of which considers the potentially catastrophic political or social consequences that might arise from current trends in the United Kingdom. Using a drama with interviews from experts, then a discussion of the programme with a panel of experts from both sides of an argument. During the show a televote of opinion is cast.
2004
Winter 2010: Britain is struggling to generate enough electricity to cope with demand. Following a terrorist attack on a gas pipeline in Russia, south-east England is plunged into darkness. Householders have no water or electricity, traffic is gridlocked, tube trains are stranded underground, and airports closed. How do the authorities cope with the enormity of the situation?
In 2014, Britain is a deeply divided society, yet there's one man who's determined to narrow the gap between rich and poor - and that's when the trouble begins.
In 2024, the older generation, whose numbers have gone up by almost half in 20 years, hold sway over the country. A massive tax rise to boost welfare for the aged leads to protest on Mother's Day, destruction and possible financial meltdown. The drama-documentary series explores the imminent choices that will have to be made as the population in Britain gets increasingly older.
Girls currently outperform boys academically and traditional male-dominated industries are on the wane - so are women better equipped for the world of the future? This drama-documentary takes a hypothetical leap to 2020, where men are becoming increasingly redundant - in the workplace, in the home, and even biologically. The first female president of the US favours dialogue over force in the fight against terrorism, while businesswoman Alice plans to have a baby on her own - at the age of 52.
By 2020, Britain is in the grip of an obesity epidemic. The consequences of diabetes, cancers and heart disease mean the NHS are finding it hard to cope. New rules are about to force hospitals to refuse treatment.
2006
It's 2016, and a crisis is looming: the cheap oil that has fuelled our global economy for the past years is becoming scarcer and more expensive. This sobering dramatised documentary, told from the perspectives of a geologist drilling for oil and her family back home in Minneapolis, brings home how spiralling oil prices could have a dramatic and devastating impact on our everyday lives, from transportation to food, heating and light. So what are the alternatives for our fuel-hungry society?
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2004
2014: a climbing accident has left 28-year-old Andrew Holland paralysed from the waist down. Dr Alex Douglas aims to regenerate Andrew's spinal cord with stem cells from a cloned embryo - an illegal procedure for which she soon finds herself standing trial. As the trial unfolds, the issues are explored through interviews with real proponents on both sides of the debate, and viewers can phone in their trial verdicts.
In a Britain of the future, clubs and bars are licensed to sell drugs such as ecstasy. But when two girls die, the regulatory body Ofdrug sends an agent to investigate.
A mother struggling to cope with the death of her daughter on a reality TV show uncovers a sinister plot.
In 2015, a freighter docked at Dover loses its cargo of toxic waste; subsequently a scientist's body is found in an incinerator. In the search for the killer, DC Temple and Di Macguire infiltrate the underworld of organised crime. The latest edition of the hypothetical drama-documentary series is based on new research into one of Europe's fastest growing crimes - waste traffic.
Aid worker Ben Swale commits his life to providing humanitarian aid in Africa but finds his work often causing more harm than good. This thought-provoking docu-drama follows his journey through an increasingly morally complex world.