This was a TV show aired in the UK probably sometime between 1990 and 1993, if memory serves it was only a one-off. The plot starts with the protagonist waking up in bed and being disappointed. He eventually goes outside and everyone is dead, whatever they were doing at the time they died doing it (driving, working, etc.) The protagonist is in a state of panic running around town (I seem to remember it being set in the UK) and he discovers that he's is 'alive' because he'd attempted suicide and died at the exact moment this mysterious event happened. I think he encounters others that 'died' at the time of the event and that's when he realises. I think the protagonist was a bald, white man, probably mid-thirties. Sorry for any vagaries, I was VERY young when it was on. Until recently I assumed it was The Quiet Earth but I've checked and it definitely isn't. It was in colour and was contemporary at the time so it would have been made around 1990.
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3You're basically describing "The Quiet Earth". Are you sure you aren't mistaken? youtube.com/watch?v=FbUP9HBLgR8– ValorumNov 28, 2014 at 13:04
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3If it wasn't The Quiet Earth, could you explain what made you think it wasn't the show you were thinking of?– alexwlchanNov 28, 2014 at 13:07
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Up until very recently i was sure i had just seen Quiet Earth at a young age but i watched TQE in the last few weeks and was quite shocked to realise that it wasn't the same thing. There were scenes i remember that were not in The Quiet Earth, (not plot specific scenes to be used to identify it, but the layout and look was different to anything in TQE) TQE being shot in NZ with NZ accents. This was definitely British. The protagonist was younger and had a shaved head (but was balding on top). Almost certain it was shown on a Saturday evening and it was definitely shown on terrestrial TV.– user36596Nov 28, 2014 at 13:17
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1“The plot starts with the protagonist waking up in bed and being disappointed.” You may be thinking of every single date I’ve ever been on.– Paul D. WaiteAug 5, 2015 at 15:21
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1 Answer
Without wishing to point out the obvious, you're describing the 1985 film "The Quiet Earth".
Wakes up in bed disappointed - Check
Everyone is dead - Check
Runs around a lot - Check
Alive because he committed suicide at the time of the event - Check
A small number of others are alive because of the same reason - Check
Protagonist bald, white, middle-aged - Check
answered Nov 28, 2014 at 13:08
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I'm going to accept your answer as correct and chalk it up to faulty childhood memory. I was so sure that they were two different things, very similar but seperate entities. The excellent ending from TQE was definitely missing from my memory and i'm sure that would have stuck. Mind you, at that age i doubt it would have been that noteworthy. Thanks all. Nov 28, 2014 at 13:24
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Am I right in thinking (from my memory and from IMDb summaries) that it wasn't that everyone was dead, but that they'd disappeared? That is, there weren't any bodies? Nov 28, 2014 at 20:39
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@HarryJohnston - There were a few bodies, but only of those who'd died before the event. Everyone else was still going about their merry way aside from the protagonists who'd been shunted into a side-dimension.– ValorumNov 28, 2014 at 20:41