TERROR ON TV CABLE FILMS AIM TO ENTERTAIN AND INFORM.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

IN THE aftermath of 9/11, many Hollywood insiders predicted there never would be an acceptable time for acts of terrorism to be portrayed realistically in an entertainment context.

Documentaries for big or small screen, sure. TV series such as ``24'' and ``The Grid'' have dipped their toes in it, but all those slick computer programs, too-hip wardrobes and moody (nonfluorescent) lighting constantly remind viewers that these shows have little to do with the real workings of the CIA and other such agencies, and therefore suggest little connection in their stories with the scary stuff of the real world.

But Daniel Percival is not a Hollywood insider. As a Londoner writing and directing programs for BBC, he does not observe American entertainment conventions. With two projects airing this month, he shatters those rules into bits the size of deadly germs or radioactive particles.

``Smallpox,'' debuting tonight on FX, is a pseudo-documentary looking back at an outbreak of the deadly disease traced to a terrorist who deliberately infected himself and spread the germ through Manhattan. An unwitting traveler carried it to London, and tens of thousands died before vaccines could be produced and administered. It includes interviews with real scientists and officials speaking about the nature of the disease and the danger of it being dispersed maliciously.

``Dirty War,'' premiering Jan. 24 on HBO, is a more conventional dramatic telling of the execution and aftermath of a radioactive bomb detonated by terrorists on a busy London street during rush hour.

Percival says it's a fluke that the two films seem to be coming out as companion pieces. He was making ``Smallpox'' on 9/11.

``When we wrote it and shot it, it was set in the future,'' he says by phone from London. ``It went out in February 2002 in the U.K. and the events in the film begin in April 2002, so you had an immediately different response to the material.''

``Smallpox'' originally was produced in conjunction with the Discovery Channel, but cautious executives at three cable networks here optioned it and then passed it along before FX took it on.

``The world has changed since that film was made,'' the director says. ``The message and the issues - especially the issue of vaccine, which is critical to the smallpox narrative - was in 2002 absolutely right and accurate. And if it had happened in 2002, the events that we portray pretty much would have happened.

``The day after it was screened in the U.K., George Bush requested a copy of 'Smallpox' to watch,'' Percival says. He does not know who, if anyone, at the White House viewed the tape he sent.

``We do know from the (World Health Organization) that they used it as a training program,'' he says. ``They took it very seriously.''

Since then, the U.S. government has stepped up production and distribution of vaccines to cover the entire population.

``Dirty War,'' commissioned in late 2002 by BBC, caused a greater stir at home because it was sharply critical of Britain's government from the top down. It shows a disaster drill that fails with only 60 ``casualties,'' far fewer than a real incident would generate, and depicts government officials trying to strike a balance between informing the public and being needlessly alarmist. The crowd-control scenes in the bombing's aftermath are particularly disturbing.

``People read into 'Dirty War' what they want to read into 'Dirty War,' '' Percival says. ``Some very liberal minds see it as a passionate clarion call against the war in Iraq, for example, and yet it doesn't mention the war in Iraq. Some people see it as a very strong anti-government statement, that it's the way the government is - I wouldn't say lying - but manipulating the truth to propaganda and, in doing so, is leaving us vulnerable.

``Other people have seen it as a profoundly pro-government, pro-Iraq war film, saying this is why we need to take strong, firm action. I suspect by and large that is how it will be seen in America too.''

Percival and co-writer Lizzie Mickery worked with a team of journalists and researchers checking details in each scene. ``We had this need not just to be absolutely accurate and authentic in everything we portrayed,'' he says, ``but because we couldn't afford for the film to be attacked for getting anything wrong. It was attacked for being irresponsible, but not attacked for getting its facts wrong.''

Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, says Sept. 11 has driven producers to hyperbole in order to scare or move audiences, whether in miniseries about an earthquake or freak storm system or in mega-explosions on the big screen.

``I think it's about time that we start actually addressing the issue itself of a post-terrorism environment, not only in our news, but in our storytelling, our poetry, our music,'' Thompson says.

``We don't want to go back to that period in the '50s when TV entertainment ignored the Cold War, or the '60s when TV entertainment ignored the civil rights movement. Some (terrorism storytelling) will be enlightening, some of it will be stupid and exploitative. What else is new?''

Percival says ``Dirty War'' has been sold as a disaster film, but it has a public-service purpose as well, enlightening viewers about what to expect in such an event and forcing us to examine our governments' preparedness. He says it is up to individuals to take responsibility for their own security.

``That's what terrorism means. You don't grow up in Belfast or Jerusalem without knowing how to deal with a bomb threat, and you don't grow up in Los Angeles without knowing how to deal with an earthquake.

``There is no doubt whatsoever - you talk to anyone in intelligence or security - that it is incredibly likely that this will happen. It's not a possibility. It's a likelihood. Sooner or later, this is going to happen. They're perfectly capable of doing it now, should they choose to,'' Percival says. ``It's a mistake to think that any of these films are done without a sense of purpose.''

Valerie Kuklenski, [phone]

valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com

SMALLPOX

What: Fake documentary about a smallpox outbreak initiated in New York and spread to London during a vaccine shortage.

Where: FX.

When: 8 tonight.

DIRTY WAR

What: Made-for-TV drama about a radioactive bomb detonated in London.

Where: HBO.

When: 9 p.m. Jan. 24.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) ``Dirty War,'' premiering Jan. 24 on HBO, tells of the occurrence and aftermath of a radioactive bomb detonated by terrorists on a London street during rush hour.

(2) ``Smallpox,'' tonight on FX, includes interviews with real scientists and officials speaking about the nature of the disease and the danger of it being dispersed maliciously.