A 1988 Electrical safety film made by the Independent Business Television Limited for the Electricity Council. It was shown in schools and edited into some of the Play Safe/Don't Take a Chance with Electricity series of public information films for television broadcast.
The film can be viewed here
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Tropes featured in the film:
- And I Must Scream: Mr. Jones' descriptions of the victims in the clips after they were electrocuted.
- Attention Deficit... Oh, Shiny!: Darren becomes distracted listening to his Walkman when Mr. Jones is explaining the dangers of electricity during a Science lesson.
- Big Brother Instinct: Darren at least has the decency to try and keep Tom out of danger by telling him to stay behind and keep watch. However, he ultimately fails as his death prompts Tom to come and help him, only to get himself killed as well.
- Cool Bike: Gary's motorbike, Darren has an Imagine Spot of himself riding one of his own.
- Darker and Edgier: This was the successor to the Play Safe PIF from the previous decade and considerably much darker, given that out of all the electrocutions we see, only one victim is confirmed to have survived.
- Death of a Child: Several times, including the protagonist and his brother.
- Downer Ending: Both Darren and Tom end up getting electrocuted because Darren failed to heed the warnings of Andy and Mr. Jones.
- Foreshadowing: Tom seeing the football in the power station at the beginning and the clips shown in Mr. Jones' lecture.
- Gory Discretion Shot:
- We don't see what became of the kid who strikes a power line with a fishing rod but Mr. Jones claims the poor soul suffered permanent disfigurement of the face and hands.
- Averted with Darren, Tom, and the victims of the Badminton, Building and Kite clips.
- Tom's body is not seen in the individual clip of his and Darren's deaths.
- High-Voltage Death:
- Several times in the clips Mr. Jones shows in Darren's Science class.
- Darren and Tom suffer this in the climax.
- Imagine Spot: Darren has one about riding a motorcycle like the one Gary owns, although it distracts him from listening to Mr. Jones' lecture, this ultimately seals his and his brother's fate.
- Only Sane Man: Of the protagonists, Andy as he successfully stops Darren from breaking into the power station the first time they see the football, showing he is already aware of the dangers of electricity prior to Mr. Jones' lecture.
- Scare 'Em Straight: In-Universe, Ken Jones from the electricity board does this when he comes to give a lecture on the dangers of electricity in Darren's Science Lesson.
- Shout-Out:
- The climax basically recycles the plot of the Frisbee segment of the Play Safe PIF, except this time, it's with a football, both siblings are boys, and they both get killed.
- The clips shown in Mr. Jones' lecture include an updated version of the Kite segment.
- Shown Their Work:
- The film is basically an updated version of Play Safe and includes the Tent Pole segment from that film.
- Darren and Tom's deaths would also end up as an individual clip but with a Gory Discretion Shot for Tom.
- Survivor's Guilt: After Darren and Tom are killed, Andy remembers Mr. Jones' warnings and laments how he didn't do more to protect his friends.
- Too Dumb to Live:
- Darren tries to retrieve a football from a power station and his friend Andy has to stop him. He proceeds to ignore all the warnings Mr. Jones issues in his lecture and ends up getting himself and his brother killed.
- The subjects of the clips Mr. Jones shows in Darren's Science lesson.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- The gang who chase Darren, Tom and Andy on their way to school, if it hadn't been for them, the threesome would never have been anywhere near the power station, let alone discovered there was a football in there.
- Darren, as a result of his own ignorance, fails to heed Andy's warnings or listen to Mr. Jones' lecture and consequently gets himself and his brother killed.
