Pile Up (w/t) from Blink and Two Rivers investigates a multi-vehicle car crash 

US broadcaster PBS’s Nova strand has boarded Channel 4’s experimental simulation of a car crash. 

Pile Up (w/t) is co-produced by Blink Films and Two Rivers Media and was first announced by C4 in 2021 as a follow-up to its 2012 engineering experiment The Plane Crash, produced by Dragonfly.

The Plane Crash

Channel 4 crashed a plane in its previous crash simulation experiment, 2012 film The Plane Crash (Dragonfly).

The 90-minute film simulates a multi-vehicle car crash and will use remote-control technology and specialist cameras to analyse what happens during a car accident. Blink’s Dan Chambers exec produces the doc, which was commissioned by Danny Horan, when he was head of factual at C4. Horan left C4 to join Blast! Films in 2022. 

PBS’ Nova strand specialises in science programming and it was commissioned for the network by co-executive producer Chris Schmidt. The project has the working title of Crash Test in the US.  

Schimdt said: “Today, every new car model is subjected to rigorous, highly specific safety tests. Yet, we know strikingly little about how cars and drivers behave in real-world accidents. 

“We’re excited to work with Blink on this unique film, which follows experts as they gather real data during an experiment that is utterly unpredictable and impossible for a computer to simulate — in the hopes of discovering what really happens during a multi-vehicle pileup — and how these deadly collisions might be prevented.” 

PBS International will look after global distribution and will be marketing the programme at Mipcom this month.