After the events of yesterday's biggest earthquake in the UK for more than twenty five years, it got me thinking of when television shows have used natural disasters to their advantage.

Over the last few years, I've witnessed quite a few natural disasters and crazy weather on television from the New Years Eve Storm in 2003 on Emmerdale, which killed Tricia Dingle, to the many storms that plague the Island in Lost, one of which when Charlie got slightly trigger happy and killed Ethan. There's also the more comedic storms such as "The Great Storm of..." in The Vicar of Dibley as well as the The One With The Blackout in Friends. Upon trying to sort out one storm, hurricane or gale force wind from another, I came to the conclusion that natural disasters generally happen in series' for one of two reasons.

To explore the first reason, we have to take a trip to Wisteria Lane where, in Desperate Housewives, we've had our fair share of disasters, both manmade and natural. The first occurred in the Pilot episode when Susan managed to set Edie's house on fire. This allowed Edie to almost move wherever she wanted, and so the story went with Mike... It also gave Edie to chance to have "one up" on Susan, should the perfect situation arise. However, this wasn't ever carried further when Edie decided against the "advantage" card, and played the "revenge" card when she decided to set Susan's house on fire, instead. Season Two saw ratings drop, and many critics and viewers alike panned the sophomore season because of the lack of Marc Cherry's involvement with the show. Season Three, story arc wise, was praised by critics, but after falling from #4 to #10 in the list of The Most Watched Shows (2006-07 Primetime Wrap) in its Season Finale, the ratings were disasterously down; 25% in fact, from its previous year. The writers needed to pull something off which would attract much more viewers: enter Mr. Tornado. With Episode Nine of Season Four - the penultimate episode aired before the Writers' Strike - peaking at 20.6m viewers, moving back to #5 in the Most Watched Shows list, and beating Grey's Anatomy for the first time in two years for the Most Watched ABC Show title, it could be said that Housewives was getting the viewers it deserves after such an event hits our screens. This just goes to show, by including a natural disaster into your script, you're bound to pull off the kind of viewers that may have dropped out in the first three seasons of your show had it not happened.

The second reason is contained in perhaps the most obvious and most memorable scene from a drama I've seen in the last few years; the effect of the earthquake in the penultimate episode of The O.C. where a powerful earthquake causes many relationships to be assessed and in fact, strengthened, as a result. The earthquake was not only a strong storyline to lead into the Series Finale, which was set six months after the earthquake, but it also paved the way for many deeper relationships to be tied up in preparation for the farewell of the teen drama, which ran from 2003 to 2007. Taylor and Veronica both made peace with each other after a season of cold relations and Julie and Kaitlin also managed to finally see eye to eye after being stuck in the ice cream store together. I also enjoyed how Sandy and Kirsten most definitely came together and were united by the concern for their unborn child. After everything they'd went through with Jimmy, the abortion, etc. the earthquake broke any tension that may have existed and definitely led to a wonderful conclusion six months, and indeed years, into the future. The earthquake was used as a clever plot device to bring these relationships together, tie up the loose ends in certain character arcs and allowed the Cohens to leave their Orange County mansion, which had been conveniently destroyed, in order to move back to their "true home" in Berkeley, California. Overall, a good ending after a terrible disaster.

Comparing the two events, it cannot be said that The O.C.'s main intention was to pull in viewers, because its fate had already been decided. The earthquake was used solely for dramatic effect, and in my opinion, helped to tie up all the loose ends into neat bows ending the character development which had been sweeping throughout the series over the four years we followed. It is interesting that both events were played out during the penultimate episodes of their fourth seasons (even though Housewives will be back for seven new Season Four episodes this spring), but it just goes to show how each was executed for such a different effect. The tornado in Wisteria Lane was a plot device to get more viewers; had it not taken place, the ratings may have continued to slump. It remains to be seen how much of an affect the tornado will have in terms of ratings. When Season Four returns on April 13th, it is possible we may get some of the best episodes, and indeed, best ratings the show has seen since its #1 premiere all the way back in 2004. As for The O.C., it is almost certain that this show will never return, but the earthquake certainly leaves a positive image in my mind, not only for the Townsends but for the Cohens who managed to escape their home complete with pool house, after years of moaning over their O.C. lives and get back to where their heart really lay in Berkeley. A brilliantly planned catalyst which enabled the story to come to its conclusion with such ease.

Natural disasters are decidingly risky as they can be potentially very damaging for a show: sets are changed, characters can be killed off or injured, or it may even affect the tone of the show. But for a show which is wanting to go out with a bang or a show which demands such changes in order for it to keep on top of its game, I feel that both events were necessary in the stories and without them, we may have been left with a lacklustre Series Finale or an uphill struggle before finally grinding to a halt, leaving a bad taste in not only the mouths of the producers, but of the viewers who follow these shows religiously and would be sorely dissappointed if they favourite show lost out because the writers were too afraid to take a risk.

Wow, I am absolutely loving Season Four of Lost at the moment. I'm going to try and not spoil the season or even go into "review mode" but I just have to let everybody know how much I'm enjoying it.

Everybody should watch Lost, and those who don't should be ashamed! It always annoys me when people dropped out midway through Season Two because it got "boring". It's such a shame because, although Season Two wasn't the greatest, Lost still remains to this day one of America's top rated shows, and a compelling drama we're all going to get the answers to.

I guess Britain's main problem with the show is that we won't be getting these answers until 2010, and having to wait that long for answers is boring for the British public. I wonder, are the Americans better at suspending belief than we are? Or are we just more of an inquisitive nation?

I love Lost anyway, and I'm trying to persuade my family (all of who dropped out in Season Two because the show was "going nowhere") to start watching again, because we're getting constant answers, and now know the show will eventually come to a wraps in only a couple more short seasons.