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Protect and Survive |
Protect and Survive was a public information series on civil defence produced by the British government during the early 1980s which was to use booklets, radio broadcasts, and public information films to inform British citizens on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack. It was originally intended only to release this information in the event of a crisis and had not been intended for general public consumption in peacetime.
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Protect and Survive had its origins in the civil defence leaflets dating back to 1938, titled The Protection of Your Home Against Air Raids. These advised the owner on what to do in the event of air attack. This evolved as the nature of warfare and geopolitics changed, with the leaflets concurrently updated into "Advising the Householder on Protection against Nuclear Attack" in 1963. The leaflets were accompanied by a series of public information films produced in 1964, called Civil Defence Information Bulletin, that, like Protect and Survive, would be broadcast in a state of emergency (they could be seen as a precursor). The leaflets were famously referred to in the controversial BBC Docudrama, The War Game in a scene where they were distributed to people's homes. Hence, these leaflets and public information films were an evolution and continuation of what preceded it, reflecting the state of warfare and geopolitics at the time of going to print.
On 3rd October 2008 the script advising the public of what to do in the event of nuclear attack, written in the early 1970s, was published on the BBC's web site and the full correspondence made available to the public via The National Archives.
Written between the BBC and The Home Office1 it is clear from the text it is a precursor to Protect and Survive and includes very similar language and style. Particularly it emphasises the need to remain in your home2 and not to try and evacuate elsewhere; advice that was repeated numerous times in Protect and Survive. This document is a link between previous civil defence advice in Civil Defence Handbook No. 10 "Advising the Householder on Protection against Nuclear Attack" from 1963 and "Protect and Survive" in 1975.
During the exchange of correspondence between the BBC and various government departments, several letters seem to suggest that a booklet for public consumption was already being discussed. In a letter3 from the Central Office of Information, dated 12 March 1974, it asks for information from The Home Office about a proposed booklet as follows:
Meanwhile I should be grateful if you could let me have a copy of your revised advice to the householder. I will assume that this will form the text of the Official Announcement and that what Probert is discussing with your Information Division is the production of a booklet on public advice."
This was replied to on the 15th March 1974 by the Home Office clearly stating that such a booklet was being produced but also they were also targetting the same information at television, as would eventually be represented by the Protect and Survive public information films:
It seems likely a basic booklet will be produced...we expect rather more attention to be paid to the dissemination of this advice through other media, in particular television."
Note: Both letters are contained within HO 322/775 at The National Archives.
Protect and Survive came to public attention earlier than May 1980 (its publication date) via a series of articles in The Times newspaper in January 1980 4. Several articles were published in The Times covering Civil Defence between the 16th and 19th January. This had been preceeded by numerous letters to The Times in December 197956 questioning what Civil Defence arrangements were in place in the UK.
This was then followed by a Times leader on 19 Jan 1980 which noted:7 "In Britain, a Home Office booklet "Protect and Survive" remains unavailable." Following this unexpected publicity for Protect and Survive, The Minister of State at the Home Office, Leon Brittan, told parliament that8:
This was not a secret pamphlet. There was no mystery about it. It had been available to all local authorities and chief police and fire officers. It had not been published for the simple reason that it was produced for distribution during a grave international crisis when war was imminent. It was calculated that it would have the most impact then. Just over 2000 copies were printed and only a few remain.
The Minister then went on to say the Home Office had received over 200 letters from the public on Civil Defence. It seems extremely likely that from pressure inside and outside parliament, Protect and Survive was then published by the the Government in May 1980. There is little to suggest that the Government ever intended the pamphlet to be made available for general sale had it not attracted this much attention.
The purpose of the programme was to provide members of the British public with instructions on how to protect themselves and survive a nuclear attack. If such an attack had been deemed likely by the Government during any period of international crisis, information would have been disseminated via print and broadcast media: a copy of the "Protect and Survive" instructional booklet would have been distributed to every home in the UK, whilst instructional films and radio broadcasts would have been transmitted from domestic stations. The contents of the booklets would also have been printed in national newspapers. The booklet, recordings and films detailed a series of steps recommended to be undertaken by the citizens of the UK to improve their chances of survival during a nuclear attack.
Print: The primary booklet was released in May 1980:
Companion Booklets Two companion booklets to Protect and Survive were produced in 1981:
Explanatory Booklet
Television: Twenty short Public Information Films for colour television transmission were produced for the Protect and Survive by Richard Taylor Cartoons9, creators of the well-known "Charley Says" child safety films and the Crystal Tipps and Alistair children's cartoon series. The films were brief, animated instructional programmes intended for broadcast during various stages of a nuclear crisis. These were:
The films, narrated by the actor Patrick Allen, were similar to the pamphlets, detailing the same instructions using voice-over narration, sound effects, and simple (if somewhat kitsch) animation. Each one closed with a memorably unsettling electronic musical phrase.
Radio: A collection of recordings for radio transmission were produced as part of the programme. These differed slightly from the films in that the voice was provided not by Patrick Allen but by both male and female voices10. In addition, certain portions of the instructional copy were changed slightly. An approximation of these recordings are heard in Threads using Patrick Allen's voice-over from the animated films.
The programme created a substantial impact upon the popular culture of the UK of the early 1980s, most notably in music. Film series narrator Patrick Allen was featured in certain early remixes of the song "Two Tribes" by the UK pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, saying "Mine is the last voice you will ever hear. Don't be alarmed." in a tone similar to that used by him in the PIFs.
A promotional tape produced for an early BBC digital radio service, Five Live Sports Plus, used Two Tribes as backing music with Patrick Allen (or a sound-alike) explaining the new service using sport as conflict metaphor - in a parody of the parody, the tape ended with the phrase "Mine is the last analogue voice you will ever hear. Don't be alarmed." in a tone similar to that used in Two Tribes and the PIFs.
Rock band Jethro Tull recorded a song called "Protect And Survive" on the 1980 album A, also criticising the initiative. The title of a song by the hardcore punk/D-beat band Discharge featured a play on words ('"Protest And Survive"), a reference to E. P. Thompson's anti-nuclear manifesto (see below). Heavy metal band Wolfsbane's self-titled album contains a song called "Protect And Survive". The Scottish rock band Runrig released a song entitled "Protect and Survive", which has an apocalyptic theme, on their 1987 album, The Cutter and The Clan.
Also in 1987, Irish folk group The Dubliners released a song entitled "Protect And Survive" on their album 25 Years Celebration. The song is a witty comment on Protect And Survive from an Irish point of view.
In print, Raymond Briggs' graphic novel When the Wind Blows (later adapted as an animated film, radio and stage play) obliquely mentions various aspects of the Protect And Survive programme, and the BBC play Threads featured two of the series' films: Action After Warnings and Casualties. The leaflet series became the subject of detailed and scholarly criticism from anti-nuclear authors (such as E. P. Thompson), who produced a counterargument entitled Protest And Survive. The children's novel Children of The Dust refers to one of the inner refuge designs mentioned in the leaflets, public information films and radio tapes.
On television, Protect And Survive was thoroughly lampooned in the television series "The Young Ones" episode "Bomb". The Protect And Survive booklet appears on-screen during the episode.
In the video game Fallout 2 intro, there was a parody of Protect And Survive information on what to do when leaving the shelters. The manual for Introversion Software's video game Defcon parodies Protect And Survive.
There is a parody of Protect And Survive in Chapter 3 of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The threat is not nuclear weapons but Death Eaters.
In a Channel 4 poll of the 100 scariest moments, Protect and Survive came 89th, just above Todd Browning's 1931 Dracula.
"If anyone dies while you are kept in your fallout room, move the body to another room in the house. Label the body with name and address and cover it as tightly as possible in polythene, paper, sheets or blankets. Tie a second card to the covering. The radio will advise you what to do about taking the body away for burial. If however you have had a body in the house for more than five days, and if it is safe to go outside, then you should bury the body for the time being in a trench, or cover it with earth, and mark the spot of the burial. " (Casualties)
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