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| Explosive Stuff! Reconstructing one of history's biggest eruptions Krakatoa - The Last Days Whats on TV: 6-12 May 2006 As MI5 agent Adam Carter in Spooks, Rupert Penry-Jones has proved he can handle a bit of action. But his starring role in the lavish drama documentary Krakatoa - The Last Days tested him like never before. In one scene, he and co-star Ramon Tikaram had to pretend they were being swept up in a huge tsunami. 'If I'd thought too much about sticking two stars at the bottom of a tank for an underwater sequence, I might have bottled out,' says producer Alan Eyres. 'But they were really up for it. In fact, they were a bit like kids in a swimming pool - we couldn't get them out!' The feature-length drama which was shot in Madagascar and South Africa, reconstructs the terrifying events leading up to 26 August 1883, when the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa erupted, killing 36,000 people. the drama follows the Dutch controller of that region, Willem Beijerinck (played by Rupert), his wife Johanna and their children, as they survive a two-day nightmare of tsunamis, eruptions and ash clouds. One of the biggest challenges facing the film crew was how to recreate realistically a wide range of disasters. 'we recreated as much as we could using miniatures and stunt men, but it could be tough going,' says Alan. 'During one scene set on a ship, people had to pretend to be seasick - but the actor playing our doctor really got ill. we sent him back and got another one!' | ||