‘Alternative Three’ on again tonight

Press, 28 October 1977, Page 3

‘Alternative Three’ on again tonight

By

KEN COATES

South Pacific Television will today repeat the controversial Anglia hoax documentary, “Alternative Three,” at 11 p.m. The channel maintains that there have been so many requests to show the spoof programme, specially hom people who did not see it on Wednesday evening, that a decision had been made to screen it again as soon as possible. Television Two deliberately transmitted “Alternative Three” without explaining that it was a hoax. Viewers were not even told immediately afterwards. An explanation was made half an hour later, by which time many viewers had switched off.

The network’s controller of programmes (Mr Kevan Moore) said yesterday that very few people in TV2 knew in advance that the programme was drama and not a documentary. Those who did not know included the duty officer at TV2 at Auckland and the switchboard operator who answered a flood of calls after the show. Asked if the network had been accused of being irresponsible in not disclosing the deception beforehand,

Mr Moore said it had not, but expected to be.

He said he did not look on the show as a hoax, but as a drama played in a drama slot.

So many people telephoned the channel in Auckland asking if the programme was factual that Mr Moore had to go on Radio New Zealand late in the evening to explain that the show was “fiction in drama form.” Many viewers switched to TV2 when "Benny Hill” finished on TVI, and came in on “Alternative Three” half way through. Hundreds were perplexed by the content. This purported to suggest by means of films of drought-hit areas and earthquake centres that the Earth will disintegrate; but a few persons in the know, including governments of major nations, had behind a screen of space exploration hatched a scheme to whisk away the best brains to set up survival colonies on the Moon or Mars.

The network gave no prior warning to suggest the programme was other than a documentary, and there was no disclaimer through the credits other than, “Made by Anglia Television, April 1, 1977.”

(Earlier story, page 11).