BBC Documentaries

The War Game (1985x1)

Air date: Jul 31, 1985

The War Game is a 1965 television film on nuclear war. Written, directed, and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC's The Wednesday Play strand, its depiction of the impact of Soviet nuclear attack on Britain caused dismay within the BBC and in government. It was scheduled for broadcast on 6 August 1965 (the twentieth anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing) but was cancelled, the corporation publicly stating that "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting". It remained unseen on British television until 1985.