WHEN filming began no one had even heard of swine flu.
Now suddenly a story of what happened 90 years ago offers a new insight as the current pandemic takes its toll.
Filmed across Yorkshire, Spanish Flu – The Forgotten Fallen tells the true story of a doctor's pioneering effort to protect his patients from the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic.
Spanish flu killed some 70 to 100 million people worldwide and favou
red young and healthy adults for the majority of its victims.
Set against the background of the Armistice in November 1918, as exhausted soldiers return from the First World War, the BBC drama reveals the plight of Dr James Niven and his heroic efforts to combat the fatal virus as it swept across Britain.
Cameras rolled in Saltaire, Keighley, Dewsbury and Leeds for the drama, which tells how Dr Niven strove to protect society's most vulnerable, from factory workers to slum dwellers.
Although made before the current outbreak of swine flu, the drama by Yorkshire-born playwright Peter Harness is now particularly poignant.
In his final line on screen, the doctor says he hopes that: "More might be done in the future to limit the spread, and that public health authorities should press for further precautions in the presence of a severe outbreak."
Actor Bill Paterson, who plays Dr Niven, said: "One would hope in his quote from that final summing up he was being prophetic, as there is more being done, more that he could ever have imagined.
"I suppose he would never have thought that 90 years later there was no definite cure for influenza. He probably thought that they would crack it in 10 years and it would be fine. A lot of Niven's advice still stands today and is taken for granted now.
"He was anxious about getting advice across to people – although nowadays you'd be more concerned about getting the right advice across to people. But he was concerned about that too.
"One of the things which Niven clearly says is 'don't panic', and everything he says applies today. There are lots more Nivens today, so we are far better prepared."
Dr Niven was actually a senior doctor based in Manchester, and was the city's Medical Officer of Health for 30 years.
Facing resistance from both the city and his fellow medical officials, the doctor, together with statistician Ernest Dunks and their secretary Peggy Lytton, struggle to understand the evolving virus and battle against the clock to alert the authorities and gather urgent resources.
A tragic twist comes when the secretary's family begins to succumb to the virus.
Producers chose Yorkshire for the programme after being impressed with the variety of country and town settings.
Locations include Salts Mill, Saltaire, Dewsbury Town Hall and Armley Mills Museum, Leeds.
Adrian Kelly, of historical specialist producers Hardy Pictures, said: "We had a terrific shoot on Forgotten Fallen. The diversity of locations within reach of each other is what brought us to the area. It was an absolute pleasure."
The film is inspired by Dr Niven's own accounts and documented facts. The cast also includes Mike Gatiss, of League of Gentlemen and Doctor Who actress Charlotte Riley.
She said: "Suddenly the story of what happened 90 years ago has become topical, but I doubt we'll see anything as horrific as what happened in 1918. It was completely devastating and the pandemic sparked a real culture of fear."
n The one-off drama will be broadcast on August 5, on BBC4 at 9pm.
