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1980: Life on a North Sea Oil Rig | The Black and the Gold | World of Work | BBC Archive
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49:53Now PlayingMillions of years ago, generations of living creatures died and were buried, then crushed among the rocks. Now their remains are brought up from deep under the sea and fire our machines.
The Brent Delta is but one of 40 platforms between the Shetlands and Norway which reap this black liquid harvest. It is a strange and eerie world: the night sky glows bright orange; men work on deck sweltering in tropical warmth, but surrounded by a sub-Arctic sea; 300 miles from any city, commuters shuttle daily to and from their work on flying buses.
Yet every activity of every one of the thousands of men confined to this unreal and dreamlike world is directed to one end alone: profit. Their success or failure affects not only their company's profits, but all our pockets too. Robin Brightwell's documentary spends some time in the company of these oil rig workers - from the roughnecks to the upper echelons of management - to get a feel of life on a north sea oil rig.
Narrator: Iain Cuthbertson
Film cameraman: Mike Herd
Film editor: Bob Harvey
Written and produced by Robin Brightwell
Clip taken from The Black and the Gold, originally broadcast on BBC One, 29 April, 1980.
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