drills and training exercises were held to give an air of realism, but many BBC staff saw them as pointless or declined to serve during a national emergency because they would not be allowed to take their families with them. One anonymous insider said, "I can't blame them for deciding there were better ways to go than to sit in a bunker with a group of local radio engineers." Programmes for broadcast Initially, a post-attack statement was to be broadcast confirming a nuclear strike had hit the United Kingdom and warning of the dangers of fallout. It would have been broadcast every two hours on all radio frequencies set aside for the BBC for the first twelve hours after the attack. The script was released by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act on 3 October 2008. It was recorded by Peter Donaldson, chief continuity announcer for BBC Radio 4. Jim Black, a BBC executive, compiled a schedule consisting of classic BBC drama, comedy and religious programmes to maintain morale. These included Round The Horne, I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue, Hancock's Half Hour and the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Drama programmes included The Afternoon Play and Thirty-Minute Theatre. From the 1980s until 1993, the entertainment content was dropped and only official announcements would have been broadcast in order to conserve energy. See also Four-minute warning Protect and Survive Duck and cover Transition to war BBC Radio 4 (the designated national broadcaster in a national emergency) Central Government War Headquarters Civil Contingencies Secretariat RAF Rudloe Manor Corsham Computer Centre Continuity of government Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker WGU-20 Emergency Alert System Emergency Broadcast System CONELRAD Mobile phone alerts in the United Kingdom References File 16 Civil Defence Communications and Warning, from Subterranea Britannia accessdate=2009-10-04 Script of the BBC's post-attack statement accessdate=2009-10-04 Notes External links BBC Radio 4 programme from 28 January 2008 about BBCs preparations for war during the 1960s–1980s .ram audio file BBC Radio 4 newsreader Peter Donaldson about his pre-recorded radio warning messages. YouTube video file from The Culture Show, broadcast 2 February 2008 Defunct BBC national radio stations Cold War history of the United Kingdom Emergency management in the United Kingdom Emergency population warning systems Continuity of government