Benedict Cumberbatch reads 'In event of moon disaster' letter

Letters Live is a season of readings of letters of note, taking place in London.

As part of a series on Newsnight, to promote the event, actor Benedict Cumberbatch read a letter from 1969 by presidential speechwriter William Safire.

As the world waited for Apollo 11 to land on the Moon, Safire imagined that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin could be stranded up there.

He wrote the speech entitled "In event of moon disaster" to President Nixon's Chief of Staff, to be read by the president if his fears came true.