So there I was driving my car listening to Radio 4 and what did I hear but a drama about a modern civil war in a disintegrating United Kingdom, called Dangerous Visions.
Martin Jameson’s five-part drama draws on detailed research to create a compelling account of the consequences of a UK civil war.
It was back in the 1990s at the height of the disintegration of Yugoslavia that I started writing about the concept of a modern English Civil War.
In my background, a fall into dictatorship resulted in an uprising by regional groups and the break up of the United Kingdom. For me the Kingdom of Wessex was the main protagonist against a fascist London based government.
In Martin Jameson’s drama, the story focuses on a family from Manchester attempting to survive the disintegration of the country, secession, armed paramilitary groups, soldiers attacking civilians, local warlords protecting their communities, atrocities and many other awful aspects taken from the experiences of the Balkans.
The background follows how the United Kingdom in a post-Brexit world starts to have power cuts, food shortages and civil disturbance. A London based government attempts to force their draconian policies on a discontented population.
We see Scotland declare UDI (unilateral declaration of independence) and the British Army move into to secure the nuclear submarine base at Faslane.
The North of the country fed up with not being listened to, whilst not quite declaring independence certainly feels that they need to openly fight the London (or Greater England) government.
The resulting conflict appears to be small scale, though Government forces do shell northern cities and use aircraft to bomb them.
Wales appears to become a hotbed of Welsh nationalism, broken into small enclaves led by local warlords, who ensure any English civilians and refugees are forced out of Wales.
Across the country armed warbands, soldiers and eventually UN peacekeepers mingle with refugees attempting to keep their families together. Reminiscent of what could happen to the UK if it fell apart like the Balkans did in the 1990s.
Overall it is an interesting listen, but it is a story about a family in an interesting background.
I was able to download all the episodes and at the time of writing you have fifteen days left to do so on the BBC iPlayer Radio App.