Cast:  The Minister (John Barron), Miss Wills (Jennifer Wilson), Hal Symonds (Kevin Stoney), Jim Bennett (Michael Hawkins), First Airline Crew (Tony Sibbald, Monty Brown, Gracie Luck, Richardson Morgan), Second Airline Crew (John Lee, Eric Corrie, Pat Wallen, Caroline Rogers, Edward Dentith),Comissionaire (Christopher Hodge), Airline Passangers (Andreas Malandrings, Mike Lewin, Pat Beckett, Toba Lawrence, Cynthia Bizeray, Peter Thompson, Michael Earl, Tony Haydon)

Story:  A plane crashes in South America.  On examination of the wreckage there is evidence of degeneration in the plastic components.  Head of Doomwatch, a government watchdog into all things environmental, Dr. Spencer Quist sends new recruit Toby Wren to investigate.  Investigations in England show that a virus that eats plastic was being developed.  Quist attempts to stop Toby from leaving South America but is too late.  Quist has to find a link between the crash and the Plastic virus quickly as Toby has some infected components on the plane with him...

Cast:  Dr. Mary Bryant (Penelope Lee), Minister (Hamilton Dyce), Dr. Hugh Preston (Robert Sansom), Joyce Chambers (Eileen Helsby), Fred Chambers (Ray Roberts), Small Boy (Stephen Dudley), Reporter (John Berryman), Nurse (Marcelle Samett), Ambulance Driver (Ian Elliott)

Story:  Rats, all in one area of London, attack a number of children and elderly people.  Why are the rats attacking?  They don't normally attack unless they are themselves attacked.  Doomwatch investigates and discover that a ministry department has been developing a flesh eating strain of rats to deal with the problem of rat infestation.  However, on checking the facility where the rats are kept they can find no possible way for the rats to escape...

Cast:  Keeping (Nigel Stock), Barker (Robert James), Stella (Hildegard Neil), Jack (Philip Brack), Old Man (Erick Chitty), Young Man (John Linares), Computer Voice (Peter Hawkins)

Story:  Doomwatch are investigating Government Project Sahara when the security section has Toby and new recruit Stella suspended pending a security investigation.  Quist is angered by this and sends Ridge to find out why they were suspended.  Toby takes the suspension badly and starts to drink.  While drinking he meets a drinking partner.  Next day he discovers that the man was in fact Commander Keeping, head of security section XJ7 and the person that suspended him.  Keeping says he is merely trying to protect Project Sahara by suspending them.  What is Keepings evidence against Toby and Stella and where does it come from?

Cast:  Charles Goldsworthy (Joseph Furst), Dick Larch (Micahel McGovern), Carol Larch (Veronica Strong), Krammer (Grant Taylor), Gus Clarke (Kevin Scott), Bill Edwards (Craig Hunter), Max Friedman (Noel Sheldon), Johnson (John Kidd), Brown (John Boxer), BBC Man London (James Burke), BBC Man Houston (Michael Aspel), TV Commentator (Douglas Fraser)

Story:  Dick Larch is the first ever British astronaut.  While in space an error occurs that almost spells disaster for the crew of the Sunfire rocket.  On arrival back Larch begins to show signs of strain.  Larch's sponsor Charles Goldworthy asks Quist to test Larch.  This puts Quist in a difficult position as Larch is a former pupil of his.  Quist investigation seems to prove that Larch is suffering from paranoia.  However, when he decides to reveal this he discovers that Larch has been unexpectedly sent on another mission into space...

Cast:  Shipton (Maurice Roeves), Scott (William Fox), Benson (John Young), Pegg (John Law), Miss James (Pamela Sholto), Miss Cooper (Penny Dixon), Mrs. Tyler (Bay White), Jack (John Comer), Dr. Gray (Mary Loughran), Dr. Green (Patrick Connell)

Story:  Sales in the Chequer Board brand of cigarettes have risen by an unprecedented 49% in just a few weeks.  Doomwatch, who have been set the task of looking into cigarettes discovers that most of the new customers are women.  Doomwatch secretary Pat Hunnisett has started to smoke Chequer Board after five years as a non-smoker.  She started smoking again just hours after eating a complimentary chocolate being handed out on the street.  Ridge discovers that a tobacconist sited across from a sweet factory which employs mainly women has seen a 100% rise in sales of chequer Board.  How is it possible for the sweets to effect the sales of cigarettes?  And what exactly has it got to do with the Shipton advertising agency...?

Cast:  Reynolds (Paul Eddington), Colley (Aubrey Richards), Dana (Jennifer Daniel), Duncan (Michael Elwyn), Dr. O'Brien (Dudley Jones), Mrs. Knott (Sheila Raynor), Gort (Edward Kelsey)

Story:  Quist is in need of a rest and decides to go see his old friend Bernard Colley.  When he arrives he discovers that another of Colley's friends Tommy Gort has committed suicide by throwing himself from the cliff at his lighthouse.  Colley is worried that there is more to Tommy's death than suicide.  Colley goes to the lighthouse to investigate.  When he arrives back home he is raving, talking about fire being everywhere.  What happened to Colley and what does it have to do with the local aircraft testing station...?

Cast:  Mitchell (George Baker), Ellis (David Markham), Branston (Bill Wilde), Miss Sephton (Patricia Maynard), Stephens (Brian Badcoe), Miss Jones (Rosemary Turner), Guard (Ron Gregory), Ministry Inspector (Peter Whitaker), Boy (Mark Sinclair)

Story:  In an isolated wood all the animal life has died.  Wren goes to get samples of new pesticides that could be the cause of the deaths.  The head chemist at one of the companies, Alminster Chemicals, is Wilfred Ellis Wren's tutor from his days at Cambridge.  Wren arrives to find that the company have taken away Ellis's car park and office in an attempt to make him resign.  Wren's request for a sample is turned down by the head of the company, Mitchell, at least until it is on the market.  With Ridge's help Wren breaks into the Alminster Chemicals to get the sample they require.  He manages to get it.  In the process he is caught but not before he hand's the sample to Ridge who takes it out.  Wren and Mitchell have a huge argument which Mitchell secretly records.  Mitchell sends the recording to Quist who is angered by Wren's reaction and sacks him.  Then the news breaks that Ellis has committed suicide...

Cast:  Vincent Llwellyn (Jeremy Young), Colonel Smithson (Emrys Jones), Davies (David Davies), Mrs. Adams (Mary Hignett), Jones (Ray Mort), Elizabeth Llwellyn (Eliza Ward), Dai (Edward Evans), Bryn (Michael Newport), Laing (Jay Neill)

Story:  Trying to impress the new Minister Quist looks into the Minister's home country, Wales.  Quist sees the statistics for Wales and is intrigued by an area which has the highest level of divorces in the country.  There have been convictions for cock fighting and the local's favourite drink is gin, both of which are out of character for the Welsh.  Quist sends Ridge to investigate.  The local major company, a food production plant, only employs people over forty.  The plant is run by a Colonel Smithson.  Ridge meets with the Colonel who shows him around the plant.  Later Ridge discovers that the plant is producing fish without bones, a fact that was not mentioned during the meeting.  Meanwhile, Wren discovers that during his army days the Colonel was involved in research that included a process which degenerates bones.  Further research shows that the process used for producing the fish may have a number of side effects that may have been foreseen but ignored by the Colonel...

Cast (incomplete list):  Air Commodore Parks (Donald Morley), 1st. man on pier (David St. John)

Posted:  26 February 1999
Last Updated:  25 August 2003