Public information short with Nick Ross reassuring the public there is no need for nightmares about the Millennium Bug.

The Year 2000 problem, or 'Millennium Bug', threatened businesses around the world in the late-1990s. But one of the biggest difficulties for Government was in helping the public separating the facts from often alarmist fiction. The root of the issue was a space-saving decision in the early years of computing to codify the year in dates as a two-digit rather than four-digit numbers, a practice which was still in place decades on. So, with the 20th century rapidly running out there was a need to reprogramme computer systems so that at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, they would tick over from 1999 to 2000, and not back to '00'.

The UK Government's Action 2000 agency kicked off its information campaign in 1998, primarily targeting businesses, under the correct assumption that this was where most preparation was required. But the release of this mass audience campaign in October 1999, and the decision to deliver a booklet to every household in Britain shows that a bit of public reassurance was required. Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross doesn't say his famous "Don't Have Nightmares" catchphrase, but his moderating screen presence clearly made him the perfect frontman for the campaign.

Public information TV filler warning of dangers of Millenium Bug.