A 1996 "audio movie" written, directed and produced by Dirk Maggs, in which Radio One broadcasts and RAF dogfight communications depict a British perspective of the first act of Independence Day.
Aboard an airborne RAF Sentry, Radio One's Nicky Campbell (As Himself) hosts UFO Watch - today, Jodrell Bank has intercepted a signal from the vicinity of Earth’s moon. Guest presenter Patrick Moore (As Himself) studies the mysterious signal's frequency, and discusses the sudden orbit of Earth's moon by a vast, indisputably artificial object.
RAF Group Captain Phil Johnson (Colin Baker) discusses the RAF's stance on UFO reports. His wife, Flight Lieutenant Becky Johnson (Toyah Willcox) recalls having briefly seen a UFO - which looked nothing like the fifteen-mile-wide behemoth Flight Lieutenant John “Reggie” Reginald (Simon Treves) soon sees approaching London.
Increasingly tense coverage reports a blast of energy from the object to ignite the buildings below in a relentlessly expanding explosion which leaves the city in ruins.
While Becky and Reggie join RAF Blue Section in a raid on the City Destroyer, the Sentry crew seek to evade a swarm of smaller, heat ray-toting craft with which the City Destroyer meets the RAF...
This audio play provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Whereas in the film, a downed Attacker pilot is knocked out by a punch, its counterpart here, after getting rammed by an army jeep, is still lethal.
- Alien Invasion: The very same one as depicted in Independence Day - but from a British perspective.
- Adaptational Explanation: With note of the vast destructive potential of Earth’s orbit by an object one fourth the size of the moon, Professor Dmitri Belhof supposes the object to have some kind of antigravity generator.
- Agent Scully: Downplayed with Patrick Moore; initially sceptical of Professor Belhof's speculation, but readily accepts the situation's undeniable reality.
- Attack Its Weakpoint: Since the aliens seem disorientated by Earth sunlight, Patrick Moore theorises them to be drawn to an aircraft's heat signature rather than appearance. When evacuating, the remaining RAF planes respectively climb to maximum altitude; fire off their missiles, and give the pursuing Attackers the slip.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- With navigator Flight Lieutenant Chris Thompson (Toby Longworth), Becky manages to divert an Attacker from a helicopter carrying the Royal Family.
- Reggie and navigator Flight Lieutenant Max Brett (Peter Serafinowicz) provide a similar service for the RAF Sentry.
- Having diverted the Attacker into Rutland Reservoir's dam, the two eject into the reservoir; come ashore - and have a close encounter with a none-too-pleased Alien Pilot. Patrick and Nicky, in a land rover borrowed from RAF Coningsby, ram the vengeful Pilot, which Reggie manages to shoot.
- Big "OMG!":
- A stunned and utterly horrified one from John Franklin, who, from BBC Broadcasting House's roof, narrates the destruction of London.
- A similarly appalled one from Becky, in the aftermath of the blast.
- Bizarre Alien Senses: Since the Alien Attackers seem more drawn to the Tornadoes' heat signatures than that of a helicopter, Patrick Moore theorises the aliens’ eyesight to operate on a different frequency. This later proves useful.
- The Brigadier: From the RAF Sentry, Group Captain Phil Johnson directs the counter attack on the City Destroyer.
- Call-Forward: The climax sets in motion the Middle Eastern rendezvous as shown in Independence Day.
- Combat Tentacles: A downed Attacker pilot flails them with a vengeance.
- Danger Deadpan: On brief loss of control of the plane…Nicky: Can I do anything?Phil: You could get out and push.
- Deadpan Snarker:Max: Fuel's gone. The plane is now officially running on fresh air.Reggie: Ah-ha! I see water ahead.Max: It won’t run on water, either.
- Emergency Broadcast: Radio One’s UFO Watch, followed by John Franklin’s coverage of the City Destroyer over London.
- Insectoid Aliens:Reggie: What do you want, you overgrown cockroach?!
- Parachute in a Tree: Reggie and Max, having led an Attacker to crash into the reservoir's dam, eject into Rutland Water.
- Retired Badass:
- Patrick Moore is attacked by an eight foot space monster - and gets a few punches in.
- Patrick later uses his World War 2 RAF experience to navigate Becky’s Tornado.
- Premortem One Liner:Reggie: Time to exterminate this bug-eyed thing…
- Red Shirt: Poignantly downplayed - a squadron of Jaguars, in attempt to close range bomb the City Destroyer, simultaneously crash into its invisible force field.
- Shout-Out:
- An opening narration explicitly compares the premise to The War of the Worlds (1938).
- Nicky asks if the RAF's stance on UFO reports is like that on The X-Files.
- Patrick solemnly quotes The War of the Worlds.
- When Reggie fumbles with the prototype EFA's computer…
Reggie: Somebody’s been playing Space Invaders.Patrick: Very appropriate! - The Smart Guy: From the Attackers' tendency to steadfastly focus on one target, Patrick Moore realises them to be focusing on the Tornado fighter jets' heat emission: the aliens have bad eyesight.
- Some Kind Of Forcefield: Before its Primary Weapon destroys London, aircraft have difficulty flying in beneath the City Destroyer, whose invisible shield extends to ground level.
- Starfish Aliens: A downed Attacker pilot seems to have opened its biomechanical suit.Reggie: {revolted} You can see its insides, squidging about...!
- We Interrupt This Program: Inverted; when Government Communication Headquarters briefly bar Radio One’s UFO Watch from sharing further information, Mark Goodier (As Himself), back in London, briefly steps in to air a Gusto record.
