The War Game (1965) - BBC TV Docudrama

The War Game is a 1965 television documentary-style drama depicting the effects of nuclear war on Britain.

Written, directed, and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC's The Wednesday Play anthology series, it caused dismay within the BBC and in government and was withdrawn from television transmission on 6 August 1965 (the twentieth anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing).

The Corporation said that "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting". It did however have some distribution in cinemas and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1966. It remained unshown in full on British television until 1985.

Made in black-and-white with a running time of just under 50 minutes, The War Game depicts the prelude to and the immediate weeks of the aftermath to a Soviet nuclear attack against Britain.

A Chinese invasion of South Vietnam starts the war; tensions escalate when the U.S. authorises tactical nuclear warfare against the Chinese.

Although the Soviet and East German forces threaten to invade West Berlin if the U.S. does not withdraw that decision, the U.S. does not acquiesce to Communist demands and occupies West Berlin; two U.S. Army divisions attempt to fight their way into Berlin, but the Russian and East German forces defeat them in battle.

The U.S. President launches a pre-emptive, NATO tactical nuclear attack. A limited nuclear war erupts between the West and the East; missiles strike Britain.

The chaos of the prelude to the attack, as city residents are forcibly evacuated to the country, leads to the story's centre in Rochester, Kent, which is struck by an off-target missile aimed at Gatwick airport.

Key targets in Kent are RAF Manston and the Maidstone barracks, which are mentioned in scenes showing immediate effects of the attack.

The results of that missile's explosion are the instant blinding of those who see the explosion, the resultant firestorm caused by the heat wave, and the blast front; later, the collapse of society, because of radiation sickness, psychological damage, and destroyed infrastructure. The British Army burns corpses, while police shoot looters during food riots.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Nuclear
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[soolerman]

@dohnz2000 Mate that is why it got band at the time. It was seen by the BBC top managers and instantly shelved. Supposedly a sociologist that looked at the film years latter stated that it would have probably coursed the fall of the government of the time. I have tried to track down the person that is supposed to have made the comment. But never have I suspect that its untrue. But it would have seriously upset everyone and probably coursed a change in thinking.

[AtomicDinner]

@marlboroman1985

Actually it was a reference to Reverend L.C. McHugh's September 30, 1961 article "Ethics in the Shelter Doorway" in America: The National Catholic Weekly Review.

[marlboroman1985]

That wasn't an American religious journal that was referred to at 11:01, that was an episode of The Twilight Zone, I think.

[23ord]

See...

iamthewitness. c o m

[xsnut1]

the powers be...are still playing with this idea...just insane....

[dohnz2000]

I think I was 14 when I saw this. I guess it was the elephant in the lounge for the British.

It is too easy to be glib about nuclear weapons - let no one underestimate what just one bomb could do...

[dohnz2000]

My god this bloody movie scared the **** out of me...

[FaerieCrone]

Intense and terrifying