On 28 November 1979, Air New Zealand Flight TE901 crashed into the side of Mount Erebus in Antarctica, causing the deaths of all those aboard the doomed DC-10. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, a disaster victim identification (DVI) team – some of whom were policeman with no experience of working on treacherous snow and ice, and scant preparation for the horrors ahead – was dispatched to recover the bodies.

Taking its blend of contemporary interviews and dramatisations from the more cinematic precedents of Touching the Void, Charlotte Purdy’s televisual documentary (Peter Burger handled the reconstructions) gives voice to the team who did an exemplary job under hostile conditions, their investigations hampered not only by harsh weather but by the growing spectre of a corporate cover-up. Why was the plane flying so low? Was pilot error really the fatal factor? Calmly recounted by those still clearly affected (and indeed traumatised) by their experiences on Mount Erebus, this brings to life a tragedy from the past that continues to have relevance amid today’s unfolding news headlines.