Speculative Documentary: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"The result is speculation built on fact. What I offer is not a firm prediction - more an exploration of possibilities."''|'''Dougal Dixon''', ''[[After Man:
This genre openly combines elements of traditional documentaries with [[Speculative Fiction]]. While the pure [[Documentary]] is entirely based on fact, the Speculative Documentary adds elements which are either an interpretation of actual events based on a combination of speculation and extrapolation from known science, or completely fictional. While a Speculative Documentary can also be [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness|Hard SF]], a [[Documentary of Lies]], or [[Mockumentary]], the Speculative Documentary takes a very scientific approach to asking "what if" that differentiates it from other fiction. While [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness|Hard Science Fiction]] focuses on [[Characters]], [[Plots]] and [[Justified Trope|justifying]] [[Speculative Fiction|fantastical]] elements, and the Mockumentary uses a documentary style to tell a dramatic or comedic fictional story, the Speculative Documentary [[Hand Wave|handwaves]] any [[Speculative Fiction|fantastical]] elements and downplays characters and plots to focus on implications and educating viewers about [[Real Life|real]] science.
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== Envisioning the Distant Future ==
* ''[[After Man:
* Animal Planet's ''[[The Future Is Wild]]'' TV series, created with feedback from Dixon. Something of an updated [[Spiritual Successor]] and [[Adaptation Expansion]] of ''After Man''.
* ''[[Life After People]]''
* ''[[wikipedia:Hyperland|Hyperland]]'' (Ironically, or maybe not coincidentally, the Internet boom made Hyperland a near-reality just a few years later).
* The collaborative ''[[
* [[The Weather Channel]]'s ''[[It Could Happen Tomorrow]]'': A
== Envisioning Alien Worlds ==
* ''[[Cosmos]]'' by [[wikipedia:Carl Sagan|Carl Sagan]].
* The 1990 [[Mockumentary]] book ''[[wikipedia:Expedition (book)|Expedition]]'' by [[wikipedia:Wayne Barlowe|Wayne D. Barlowe]].
** [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on the scientific plausibility of the alien ecosystems and creatures, but it was very imaginative and subversive for its time (when [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]] and [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp|smeerps]] were still the norm in sci-fi). Like Dixon's ''[[After Man:
* ''[[wikipedia:Alien Planet|Alien Planet]]'', the 2005 Discovery Channel adaptation of Barlowe's ''Expedition''
* ''[[wikipedia:Extraterrestrial (TV program)|Extraterrestrial]]'', made by National Geographic
* The ''[
== Envisioning Alternate Realities ==
* Dougal Dixon's third speculative book, ''[[wikipedia:The New Dinosaurs: An Alternative Evolution|The New Dinosaurs]]'' (1988) and ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20081228101712/http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a0000265/Spec/index.html Specworld]'' show what life might be like if dinosaurs never went extinct.
* ''Ivory Extraordinaire'': Deadly safaris on an alternate Earth where elephants out-competed all other big herbivores, and carnivores have grown larger to keep up
* [[wikipedia:Aftermath: Population Zero|''Aftermath: Population Zero'']] explores what would happen to Earth if humans disappeared without a trace. High source of [[Nightmare Fuel]].
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== Reverse Engineering Fantasy using [[Real Life|Real]] Science ==
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080423131834/http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=54406&display_order=9&mini_id=54078 Star Wars Tech]''.
* Science of Star Wars
* The Science Of [[Star Trek]]
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== [[Mockumentary]] supported by real science, also known as (in [[The Other Wiki]]) a [[Docu Drama]] ==
* ''[[wikipedia:The Day Britain Stopped|The Day Britain Stopped]]''.
* ''[[Earth 2100]]'' details the events that led to the creation of the [[After the End]] [[Crapsack World]] that the protagonist, Lucy, lives in on June
* [[Animal Planet]]'s ''[[wikipedia:The Last Dragon (docudrama)|The Last Dragon]]'' aka ''[[Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real]]'' aka ''Dragon's World''.
* ''[[wikipedia:Prehistoric Park|Prehistoric Park]]''.
* ''[[wikipedia:Supervolcano (docudrama)|Supervolcano]]''.
* ''The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades'': a joke "natural history treatise" on a non-existent group of mammals that walk on their noses. A popular in-joke among comparative anatomists is to cite this book in their texts.
* ''[[Threads]]'' and its predecessor, ''The War Game''
* ''[
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Speculative Fiction]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Literature Genres]]
[[Category:Speculative Documentary]]
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