Supervolcano

***Supervolcano*** is a British-Canadian disaster television film directed by Tony Mitchell. It is based around the speculated and potential eruption of the volcanic Yellowstone Caldera, in Yellowstone National Park. It originally aired on March 13, 2005 in the United Kingdom before airing in North America on April 10, 2005 on the Discovery Channel.

## Plot

Richard Lieberman, the scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, gives a press conference with his colleagues Jock Galvin, Dave, Matt and Nancy, and their boss, Michael Eldridge, to present their new virtual imagery simulator VIRGIL, which Eldridge claims will greatly aid in their research. Reporter Maggie Grin asks about the possibility of a volcanic eruption, which Rich dismisses as a remote possibility.

An earthquake triggers a tsunami in one of the park's lakes, after which Maggie interviews Rick's brother-in-law, Kenneth "Ken" Wylie, on TV about his new book on volcanoes. Rick is upset at this and argues with Ken, whom he accuses of creating a mass panic in order to sell his book.

Wendy Reiss, the undersecretary of FEMA, visits and asks Rick about the worst-case scenario if Yellowstone does release a "super eruption". He shows her a simulation, revealing the devastating results of an ashfall across the United States should the volcano ever erupt. Afterwards, a hydrothermal event occurs and, after more questions from the press, Rick's team runs a simulation of possible eruptions on VIRGIL and learn that even a moderate eruption could potentially destabilize the rest of the magma chamber under Yellowstone and trigger a super eruption.

More seismic events occur and lead to the closing of the park. Maggie comes to Yellowstone regardless, and Rick sends Matt to give her a tour of the park. They discover a harmonic tremor near Norris, indicating that an eruption of unknown scale is imminent. An email about the expected eruption leaks to the press and causes a national panic. FEMA schedules a press conference in Washington, DC, at which Rick is pressured into saying that the eruption will not be large. While Rick flies back from the conference, his colleagues in the field office finish plugging in the latest data for the eruption and discover that the top of the magma chamber alone has more than enough eruptible magma to destabilize the chamber and trigger a super eruption. The volcano erupts violently, severely damaging the field and office and injuring Jock. Matt investigates the eruption and contacts Dave about it to inform Rick. Jock flies the helicopter while Nancy and Matt flee in their truck, but Nancy and Matt are both overtaken and killed in the resulting pyroclastic flow.

Rick contacts Dave, who left the before the eruption to set up a backup office in a hotel in Boseman. Meanwhile, the vent is blowing ash east across the US and major commercial air routes, prompting FEMA to clear American airspace and take other protective measures. Rick's plane flies directly into the ash cloud, damaging the engines, and they make an emergency landing in Cheyenne. Rick and Ken decide to go to the FEMA office in Denver but are caught under the ashfall and decide to look for a nearby military station instead. Dave is killed when the roof of the motel collapses due to heavy ashfall and more caldera vents open.

Rick and Ken manage to safely reach the military installation, where Rick makes contact with FEMA and determines that the vents are going to merge into one massive caldera in an eruption on the scale of the Huckleberry Ridge Eruption, the largest in Yellowstone's history. Government officials try to come up with a plan to save the 25 million people trapped by the ashfall, but Rick convinces them that they cannot possibly hope to do so; the ash will make it impossible for planes to safely evacuate people or drop supplies. Following his advice, FEMA creates the "Walk to Life" program, telling people to walk through the ash to safety.

One week after the eruption starts, the ground above the magma chamber begins to fall into the empty space left by the ejected magma, signaling the end of the eruption. However, the damage has been done; the lingering atmospheric effects causes a volcanic winter to occur. Much of the US has been rendered uninhabitable, some were liquidated by the eruption without the possibly of restoration. The Walk to Life program saves 7.3 million of the 25 million people trapped by the ash, including Rick and Ken, who manage to walk out of the ashfall.

## Cast

* Gary Lewis as Jock Galvin
* Shaun Johnston as Matt
* Adrian Holmes as Dave Price
* Jane McLean as Maggie Chin
* Jennifer Copping as Nancy
* Rebecca Jenkins as Wendy Reiss
* Tom McBeath as Michael Eldridge
* Robert Wisden as Kenneth Wylie
* Susan Duerden as Fiona Lieberman
* Emy Aneke as Johnson
* Garwin Sanford as Bob Mann
* Sam Charles as William Lieberman
* Kevin McNulty as Joe Foster
* Shelagh Mitchell as Fiona's mother
* Jay Hernandez as USAF Airmen
* Leslie Reyes as Rachel
* Joanna Gosling as herself
* Chris Lowe as himself
* Anna Jones as herself

## Home media

Main article: *Supervolcano (Home video)*