Smallpox 2002
2002 British docudrama
title: "Smallpox 2002" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bbc-television-docudramas", "films-about-viral-outbreaks", "science-docudramas", "fiction-about-smallpox"] description: "2002 British docudrama" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_2002" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 2002 British docudrama ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox television"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| alt_name | Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon |
| genre | Docudrama |
| writer | |
| director | Daniel Percival |
| starring | |
| narrated | Brian Cox |
| composer | Andy Price |
| country | United Kingdom |
| language | English |
| list_episodes | |
| executive_producer | Jonathan Hewes |
| producer | Simon Chinn |
| runtime | 90 minutes |
| channel | BBC Two |
| first_aired | |
| last_aired | |
| related | |
| :: |
| alt_name = Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon | image = | caption = | genre = Docudrama | creator = | writer = | director = Daniel Percival | creative_director = | developer = | presenter = | starring = | voices = | narrated = Brian Cox | theme_music_composer = | opentheme = | endtheme = | composer = Andy Price | country = United Kingdom | language = English | num_seasons = | num_episodes = | list_episodes = | executive_producer = Jonathan Hewes | producer = Simon Chinn | editor = | location = | cinematography = | camera = | runtime = 90 minutes | channel = BBC Two | first_aired = | last_aired = | related =
Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon is a fictional docudrama produced by Wall to Wall, showing how a single act of bioterrorism leads to terrifying consequences globally.
Background
The premise of it was one man who, in 2002, creates the smallpox virus himself, infects himself, and touches ten people in New York City. This eventually leads to a pandemic across the world that is later defeated, but not before 60 million people are killed.
The film was commissioned before the September 11 attacks and is presented in the form of a fictional documentary, including false interviews and stock footage. The tagline for the movie was, "Drama, until it happens".
Reception
Newspaper reviews of the documentary were mixed, varying from "a sick stunt" to "extraordinarily good". The docudrama proved very popular with viewers, attracting 3.4m viewers, 15% of the audience, to a 9:00pm slot on BBC2 according to overnight returns.
Notes
- The film was renamed Smallpox when it aired on FX on 2 January 2005.
References
References
- [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/feb/06/firstnight.broadcasting Smallpox 2002 – Silent Weapon] round up of newspaper reviews, in [[The Guardian]], 6 February 2002
- [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/feb/06/overnights Smallpox proves infectious for BBC2], [[The Guardian]], 6 February 2002
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