999 (BBC TV series)

999
Genre	Docudrama
Created by	Peter Salmon
Presented by	Michael Buerk
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
Production
Running time	50 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	25 June 1992 – 17 September 2003

999 is a British docudrama television series presented by Michael Buerk, that premiered on June 25, 1992 on BBC One and ran until September 17, 2003. The series got its name from the emergency telephone number used in the United Kingdom.

In the first series, each episode included two reconstructions of real emergencies, using actors and occasionally Buerk himself, as well as some of the real people involved in the emergency.^[1] By the second series, episodes of 999 included more reconstructions.^[2] While recreating an accident for an episode in 1993, veteran stuntman Tip Tipping was killed in a parachuting accident.^[3] In 2002, it was announced that the series had been cancelled.^[4]

Tie-in publication

• 999: Dramatic Stories of Real-Life Rescues by Michael Buerk, published by BBC Books in 1994. ISBN 0-563-37049-1.

Features 15 gripping stories as featured on the show, along with 999 Safety Advice: simple, easy-to-understand instructions on how to deal with common emergencies.

References

1. Dugdale, John (29 July 1992). "Media: Not the 'Nine O'Clock News': Michael Buerk fronts a BBC programme that has been criticised as gory. John Dugdale on the dangers of mixing fact with fiction". The Independent (London). Retrieved 27 October 2009.
2. Rees, Jasper (9 April 1994). "Review - Dial nine for no-nonsense entertainment". The Independent (London). Retrieved 27 October 2009.
3. "Stuntman killed in parachute jump". The Independent (London). 6 February 1993.
4. Cozens, Claire (4 September 2002). "999 faces last rites". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 27 October 2009.

External links

• 999 at the Internet Movie Database