Smog has silver lining for scientists

It seems impossible these days to escape the Great London Smog.

Not literally, of course. It is now 64 years since the sulfurous yellow blight descended on the British capital, blocking the daylight for five days and killing at least 4,000 people before it was carried off by the wind.

Thanks to a glossy new must-see TV series, in which London's most notorious pea-souper plays a supporting role, a new generation has now been introduced to an era of fog, austerity and gloom. But more of that later.