The Flu That Killed 50 Million
It is 1918 and the end of WWI. Millions have died, and the world is exhausted by war. But soon a new horror is sweeping the world, a terrifying virus that will kill more than fifty million people - the Spanish flu. Using dramatic reconstruction and eyewitness testimony from doctors, soldiers, civilians and politicians, this one-off special brings to life the onslaught of the disease, the horrors of those who lived through it and the efforts of the pioneering scientists desperately looking for the cure. Narrated by Christopher Eccleston, the film also asks whether, a century later, the lessons learnt in 1918 might help us fight a future global flu pandemic.
Directed by Andrew Thompson · Written by Abigail Carr
Where to Watch
Streaming
Cast
-
Christopher Eccleston Narrator -
Paul Birchard William Welch -
Iain Davie Ernest Gibson -
Jeremy Edwards Basil Hood - Kenny Fullwood Alexander Jamieson
- Amy Kennedy Katherine Garvin
- Hannah Macphail Ada Berry
- Isabel McClelland Mary Dobson
-
Brian Pettifer Victor Vaughan - Allan Tall James Niven
-
Anita Vettesse Catherine MacFie -
Finlay Welsh Arthur Newsholme
Make it a double feature
2h 54m together
The Flu That Killed 50 Million
The Ghazi Attack
A close match in mood and era.
