Gridlock (novel) - Allusions/references To Actual History, Geography and Current Science

Allusions/references To Actual History, Geography and Current Science

The novel is a satire of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government policies, which emphasised road traffic over rail or other public transportation.

Another major element in the novel revolves round a character with cerebral palsy – he is the inventor of a hydrogen-based power system for cars – green energy – that sinister forces, most likely representing the oil industry, seek to suppress. His disability is aggressive-sympathetically handled, for example he actively embraces the word 'spastic', claiming it back, taking it away from the term of abuse it had become (in the UK) at the time of publication.

Ben Elton
Television
  • The Young Ones (1982)
  • Alfresco (1983)
  • Happy Families (1985)
  • Filthy Rich & Catflap (1986)
  • Blackadder II (1986)
  • Blackadder the Third (1987)
  • Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)
  • Ben Elton: The Man from Auntie (1990)
  • Mr. Bean (1990)
  • Stark (1993)
  • The Thin Blue Line (1995)
  • The Ben Elton Show (1998)
  • Blessed (2005)
  • Get a Grip (2007)
  • Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth (2011)
Theatre
  • The New Review
  • Gasping (1990)
  • Silly Cow (1991)
  • Popcorn (1996)
  • Blast From the Past (1998)
  • The Beautiful Game (1998)
  • We Will Rock You (2002)
  • Love Never Dies (2010)
Novel
  • Stark (1989)
  • Gridlock (1991)
  • This Other Eden (1993)
  • Popcorn (1996)
  • Blast From the Past (1998)
  • Inconceivable (1999)
  • Dead Famous (2001)
  • High Society (2002)
  • Past Mortem (2004)
  • The First Casualty (2005)
  • Chart Throb (2006)
  • Blind Faith (2007)
  • Meltdown (2009)
Film
  • Maybe Baby (2000)


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