Catch up TV

Series 1: 1. The Golden Ticket

On 6 July 1988, a series of explosions destroyed the Piper Alpha oil platform, with 167 men killed and only 61 survivors. It remains the world’s worst offshore disaster. \n\nIn minute-by-minute detail, this series tells the story of how the Piper Alpha disaster unfolded and the search for truth, using the testimony of survivors and interviews with those whose lives were changed forever. \n\nIn this episode, 1970s Britain is struggling with industrial decline and mass unemployment, but the first oil flowing from the North Sea brings hope. Offshore platforms are soon pumping huge quantities of oil and gas back to mainland Britain and into the economy. It’s tough, dangerous work, but it promises good wages and steady employment to thousands of men. At the heart of this boom is Piper Alpha: a giant oil- and gas-producing platform located 120 miles off the coast of Aberdeen that feeds the UK’s energy supply.\n\nWe meet the men who worked it: drilling foreman Mark Reid, superintendent engineer Andy Mochan, electrician Bob Ballantyne, control room operator Geoff Bollands and underwater inspection diver Ed Punchard.\n\nIt's 22.00, and 226 men are on Piper Alpha when the first explosion tears through the platform. At first, many on board don’t realise the full extent of the danger. Crews make their way to designated muster points as they have been trained to do. Among them are Mark Reid, Bob Ballantyne and Andy Mochan, all waiting calmly for instructions to evacuate from the accommodation block and for the rescue helicopters to arrive. But with communications down, no instructions are received, and the growing fire and excessive smoke make helicopter evacuation impossible. \n\nElsewhere on the platform, others are taking their own chances. Geoff Bollands finds himself unable to reach a lifeboat in the thick smoke or to climb up to the muster point, so he heads down towards the sea. Ed Punchard is in the same predicament, and both men face no option but to lower themselves down a 68ft rope towards the North Sea. Stranded on a bumper at the base of a burning platform, the pair are rescued by a small speedboat just minutes before a second powerful explosion envelops the platform.\n\nThe majority of men are still inside the accommodation block hoping that help is on the way. However, with the helipad engulfed in black smoke and the platform’s emergency sprinkler system disabled, rescue is impossible. What began as confusion is escalating into catastrophe, with smoke and heat building in the accommodation block muster point. As fire surrounds these men, groups search for a way to escape.\n\nBack home, the men's families know nothing of what is happening offshore. The helicopters approaching from the mainland can see Piper Alpha on the horizon from more than 100 miles away, with distant flames lighting up the night sky - the scale of the disaster is only just starting to emerge.

Source: BBC 2