NHNZ takes on the Forces of Nature

18 August 2005

NHNZ takes on the Forces of Nature

Mother Nature can be an abusive parent!

The destructive power of nature can devastate millions of lives in an instant. Events can strike anywhere, anytime and often without warning.

Nature may have no motive, but at least we can analyse her methods.

Now Ultimate Disaster (working title), a new NHNZ co-production with National Geographic US will examine exactly what happens when disaster strikes.

Using eyewitness testimony, dramatic amateur footage, computer graphic recreations, cutting edge scientific developments and forensic analysis, Ultimate Disaster will expose the killer characteristics of massive and extreme weather events.

The series will focus on the ‘big four’ of natural disasters: tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tornadoes; investigating the trigger points and moments of impact of the event. The programme will examine and analyse historic natural disasters such as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake while including contemporary tragedies like the 2004 East Asian Tsunami.

The final act of each episode will investigate the ‘worst possible scenario’, examining the powerful forces of and devastation wrought by these disasters had they been of even higher magnitude.

Executive Producer Andrew Waterworth describes Ultimate Disaster as “investigating the science behind these natural events as well as the social and environmental cost.”

“The damage wrought by weather and other devastating events is dependant on a multitude of factors: time of day, wind direction and geographic location all play their part. In this show we’ll investigate significant events from the past, but we also know that nature has no ‘upper limits’ of destruction, so each episode will include an investigation into the worst possible scenario for each type of event.”

NHNZ is one of the world’s leading producers of factual programming embracing the genres of nature, health, science, adventure, and people. With over 70 programmes currently in production, its crews work in locations around the world to produce a diversity of films for international broadcasters including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Health, National Geographic Channel, France 5, NHK in Japan and NDR in Germany. Based in Dunedin, New Zealand, the company is wholly owned by Fox Television Studios.

ENDS

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