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Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'I watched nuclear attack docu-drama deemed 'too horrifying for TV' by BBC'
The War Game is one of the most harrowing pieces of television every produced Anyone of a certain age will have less-than-fond memories of the terrifying public information films that would be shown in school and on TV, warning us of the dangers of playing on building sites or messing around with matches. The War Game, a 1966 docu-drama, which the BBC deemed 'too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting' and banned from TV for almost 20 years, takes this to the extreme. Framed as a factual documentary, the film shows the brutal reality of what would happen if the UK was hit by a nuclear attack, narrated by the authoritative tones of newsreader Michael Aspel. The 47-minute film written and directed by Peter Watkins wasn't aired on TV until 1985, although it was shown in cinemas in the 1960s, and won the 1967 best documentary Oscar. While it's often been difficult to track down a way to watch The War Game, it's now available on BBC iPlayer. Comparisons with 1984's infamous TV film Threads, which graphically depicts a nuclear attack on Sheffield, are perhaps inevitable. The War Game isn't quite as graphic as Threads - which at one point makes the viewer watch a child burn alive - but it's no less horrifying. The black and white film begins with a depiction of rising tensions between the East and West, with the British government declaring a state of emergenc, and people are evacuated from larger towns and cities. The film doesn't skirt around the social and racial tensions of the time - with rationing in place, people are shown protesting that they already don't have enough food to feed their own families, and one woman's first question when she's told she'll have to house a group of evacuees asks what ethnicity they are. The actual moment the missiles strike is brief, but shocking, with Michael Aspel grimly describing horrors such as melting eyeballs and burning skin, and a young boy is shown screaming in pain after being blinded by the flash. Aspel's description of the shockwave sent by the detonation as sounding like 'an enormous door slamming in the depths of hell' is genuinely chilling. The scenes following this show what is left of the UK descend into bleak chaos, with police struggling to hold back starving masses desperate for something to eat and every doctor attempting to treat hundreds of patients. It doesn't shy away from the stark decisions faced, with doctors shown shooting patients who are beyond help in the head and police executing agitators by firing squad. It's a far cry from the stiff upper lip Spirit of Dunkirk of just a couple of decades before. The spectre of the bombings of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Dresden looms large. Key to the impact of the film is how real it all looks. There's no Hollywood glamour at play - the people look, speak, and dress like real people you'd see on the street, and the nondescript part of Canterbury much of the footage is set in looks like it could just be around the corner. Years later Threads would use a similar trick by setting its action around the working-class communities of 1980s Sheffield. And if you're expecting a sense of hope or light at the end of the tunnel, there's none to be found here. Seeing a traumatised small boy asked what he wants to be when he grows up reply 'don't want to be nothing' is one of the bleakest things I've ever seen on screen. Harrowing though it may be, its impact is undeniable, with a 93 per cent rating on film reviews site Rotten Tomatoes. One reviewer said: "The stark documentary realism of the film makes it effectively scary and unsettling even today, the retina burning images of despairing children in the aftermath of nuclear war will stay at the front of your mind for a long time." Another wrote: "Despite this being made over 40 years ago it is still hard-hitting stuff and I'm not surprised in the slightest the BBC banned it." Another, however, suggested it amounted to "scaremongering propaganda". "Almost seems a bit insulting to a modern audience but there's no arguing that this is excellently done," they said. With international tensions building day by day, The War Game stands as sobering viewing of a reality which isn't as far removed from our own as we might hope. If you've got the stomach for it, The War Game is available now on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Kent-based film The War Game won an Oscar despite a BBC ban
A 1965 film depicting the impact of a nuclear strike on Britain, banned because it was "too horrifying", was finally aired 40 years ago before going on to win an Peter Watkins recruited about 350 amateur actors from Kent to make the BBC documentary drama The War Game, but the broadcaster initially refused to air film won an Oscar in 1967 before the BBC eventually screened it on 31 July, 1985."I quickly realised I was in the presence of a genius," said Michael Banks, an extra in the film. "Peter Watkins was an innovator." The War Game presents a hypothetical future where war breaks out and a nuclear missile airbursts over Kent, overwhelming hospitals and creating food BBC's then head of documentaries, Huw Wheldon, said the "political hot potato" was approved and he was impressed with the result. However, Mr Wheldon had an issue with a statement in the film from a bishop who said "we must learn to love the bomb". He also did not like a scene where a policeman was seen "mercy killing" dying people."I simply did not believe that anybody would get policemen to do it," the former head of documentaries Wheldon labelled it an "anti-police statement" and said when he flagged his concerns to director Peter Watkins he went "through the roof". Much of the filming took place at Grand Shaft Barracks in Dover, an army base that was in the process of being demolished at the time. Phil Eyden, whose late mother Christine was in the film, said mattresses were set out for extras to "hurl themselves onto" after they were hit with a blast of Eyden, who maintains the Dover site as a volunteer, added that some extras acting as casualties "actually had Rice Krispies glued to their faces and then sprayed a dark colour to simulate burn injuries". Mr Banks, a retired theatre maker from Dover, said working on the film influenced his arts career."I approached it as any 17-year-old schoolboy would, as a chance to get your hands on weapons," he said."By day two, our attitude began to change, because we realised the visceral nature of what was being filmed."Glynis Greenland, who was in the film, said she was part of a group of women taken off set to "scream on cue in the background" to add to the sense of terror. She said she did "muck up" one shot as she opened her eyes while pretending to be dead."They carried me all the way on this stretcher with my eyes shut and I thought they'd finished so I opened my eyes and the camera was right over me," she BBC commissioned the film but later said it was "too horrifying for the medium of broadcast". Declassified Cabinet Office papers later revealed Harold Wilson's government pressured the corporation to suppress the Norman Brook, the BBC's chairman at the time and former secretary to the cabinet, wrote to the serving cabinet secretary, saying: "I have seen the film, and I can say it has been produced with considerable restraint."But, the subject is necessarily alarming and the showing of the film might well have a significant effect on public attitudes to the policy of the nuclear deterrent."It seems to me the government should have an opportunity of expressing a view about this."Speaking 17 years after the film was made, the BBC Director General in 1965 Hugh Carleton Greene said: "The decision not to show it was shared between Lord Norman Brook and myself."The decision was not made against my wish - I was more shocked by the programme than he was."The basis of the decision was not a political one. I could not face the responsibility of putting a programme on air that was so shocking." 'Awkward issues' for government Prof John Cook, from Glasgow Caledonian University, said: "It wasn't so much that it was horrific compared to other scenes of violence on television."It was more the fact that it raised all sorts of awkward issues around the adequacy of Britain's civil defence."Prof Cook said The War Game still had a powerful effect on audiences, as its themes of war and destruction were still relevant."I show it to schoolchildren today and they still are wowed by it," he said.
Daily Mail
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
I made a documentary so disturbing the government banned it from screens for 20 years before a major U-turn by BBC
A BBC icon has revealed he once made a documentary so disturbing it was banned for 20 years before the broadcaster made a major U-turn. One of the most shocking programmes Former host Michael Aspel ever worked on was banned from airing for two decades because it was deemed too disturbing for television audiences. Best known for fronting family favourites like This is Your Life and Ask Aspel, the now 92-year-old presenter took a dramatically darker turn when he was asked to narrate a harrowing pseudo-documentary about nuclear war. The film, The War Game, was commissioned by the BBC in 1965 to mark the 20th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The 47-minute drama imagined a chilling scenario in which conflict between NATO and the USSR escalated into a full-scale nuclear attack on Britain, leaving millions dead or severely injured and the country reduced to a radioactive wasteland. Shot in a documentary style to mimic a government broadcast, the film was so realistic and horrifying that the BBC pulled it before it could ever be shown. It wasn't until 1985, 20 years later, that it was finally aired to mark the 40th anniversary of the bombings. In a new BBC special Michael Aspel Remembers…The War Game, the veteran broadcaster lifts the lid on the controversial production and why it was shelved for so long. At the time, Aspel was a respected BBC newsreader, which made him an ideal choice for director Peter Watkins, who wanted the film to appear as authentic as possible. Michael reveals that the project was designed to closely resemble an official government warning. But after the government was shown early cuts of the film, Aspel believes it may have played a part in its abrupt cancellation. He says Watkins always believed it was 'government interference' that led to the ban. The documentary also reveals that while the BBC insisted it alone made the decision not to air the film, 'Whitehall would be relieved if the BBC chose not to show it'. Then-Director General Hugh Carleton Greene claimed politics were not involved, saying the footage was so 'shocking' he feared someone might watch it and 'throw themselves under a bus' afterwards. However, archival footage of Labour MP Tony Benn paints a different picture. In it, Benn says Home Secretary Frank Soskice ordered him to block the broadcast. 'I was only his master's voice and had nothing to do with it… so I had to send a directive to Carleton Greene saying "You must not broadcast it"… I greatly regret that I capitulated,' he admits. Meanwhile, Huw Wheldon, who was Head of Documentaries at the time, claimed in 1983 that the Harold Wilson government was worried the film would be seen as promoting nuclear disarmament and pushing a pacifist Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) message. Despite being banned from television, Wheldon ensured The War Game was shown at international film festivals. In 1967, it went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Telegraph
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The BBC banned this horrifying tale of a nuclear attack on Kent
I watched the world end in Cheadle Hulme. The blinding light, the firestorms, the blasted aftermath in which housewives killed policemen for tins of pineapple chunks. The BBC and the government didn't want us to see it, so one evening in 1984, me and some of my fellow Youth CND members went to a hired room in a house on Station Road, closed the curtains and watched England burn. We were given cups of tea to make us feel better – unlike those unfortunates who survived the airburst. That, for two decades, was the only way to watch Peter Watkins's The War Game, his banned 1965 pseudo-documentary on the impact of nuclear war. It was the greatest recruitment tool that Youth CND ever had; aside, of course from the dread produced by living with the daily threat of annihilation. When the BBC commissioned the film in December 1964, its incoming head of programmes, Huw Wheldon, described it as 'horrifying and unpopular – but surely necessary'. A year later, it was canned by his superiors. 'Too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting,' said the press statement. The writer-director, Peter Watkins, quit his job in disgust. The previous year, Watkins had made Culloden, a docudrama that recreated the last major battle on British soil as if a crew covering the war in Vietnam had been sent back to 1746. The War Game did the same for the conflict of the future. It was shot in Kent with a cast of 350 amateurs and volunteers – firefighters, schoolkids, pensioners – who helped Watkins simulate a thermonuclear attack on Tonbridge. The build-up to it is imagined with the authority of those who experienced the last one. Local councillors frown over paperwork. Watkins shows a young black woman being bussed out of Bermondsey, then cuts to Kent householders refusing 'coloured' evacuees. The blast is depicted with superb economy – a boy stands in a garden, covering his eyes, as the screen goes negative; a family struggles to extinguish their burning curtains, while Watkins shakes the camera. The aftermath, though, is the part that freezes the soul. Those blistered corpses, ranged on the kerbside or piled in trucks; those hopeless cases, despatched by a gun to the temple – are they really members of the public who fancied being on the telly? And the figures upon whom the camera lingers – an old man too traumatised to use a spoon; a dazed policeman in a dirty uniform; the hollow-eyed kids who, when asked about the future, chorus, 'I don't want to be nothing,' in a chilling echo of Michael Apted's series 7 Up – are they really just the cream of Kentish am-dram? They seem genuinely doomed. We believe it. Not least because we are told that some of the worst things we see – the mercy killings, the pyres of corpses, the shooting of looters – happened in Dresden without a single atom being split. The record has the answer: those amateur actors were among the loudest complainants when the BBC announced, in November 1965, that The War Game would remain unshown. Robert and Olive Harrison, Medway residents and members of the St George's Players, started a petition. 'Any form of censorship on this production is wrong,' Mr Harrison told his local paper. Watkins asked the BBC for a print of the film to show privately to the cast. He did not receive a reply. The following year, the BBC struck a deal with the British Film Institute to give it a limited cinema release. It won that year's Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The War Game was not screened on TV until July 1985 – as part of a season commemorating the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It will be shown again on BBC Four double-billed with Threads, Barry Hines's equally harrowing 1984 drama about a nuclear attack on Sheffield. (Threads is now being reworked as a series by the makers of Adolescence.) It took even longer, however, for the truth about the cancelled broadcast to emerge. Ironically, it was uncovered in a 2015 BBC radio documentary narrated by Michael Apted and researched by historian John Cook, who used FOI requests to obtain documents from the Home Office and the BBC itself. The story has familiar points for students of the fractious relationship between the national broadcaster and the state. It was not a case of official suppression, but one of a management, morally and intellectually infirm, censoring itself and failing to defend its own programme-makers from the criticisms of government officials and activists. It started when one of the great campaigners of the age, Mary Whitehouse of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, read a Daily Express interview with one of Watkins's technical advisers. Whitehouse wrote to the prime minister, Harold Wilson, to convey her fear that The War Game 'could have a serious effect upon the morale of people at home'. Simultaneously, the BBC's chairman, Lord Normanbrook, without any knowledge of Whitehouse's letter, wrote to Sir Burke Trend, the cabinet secretary, to share his doubts about the film and offer to screen it to Home Office officials. Normanbrook knew this field: he had been Trend's predecessor in Cabinet and had once sat on the secret committees that planned Britain's nuclear civil defence. He was, in effect, one of the War Gamers. After the viewing in late September 1965, Trend came to the same conclusion as Whitehouse: 'The film would be liable to cause unnecessary and undesirable alarm and despondency.' The memos then piled up: the home office defence and overseas policy committee heard that Watkins's work offered 'an unduly pessimistic view of the effects of a nuclear strike, and may undermine the credibility of the government's civil defence programme.' The Ministry of Defence warned the BBC that the broadcast of The War Game 'would not be in the national interest.' No direct order to kill the film was issued, but the message was received. 'The decision whether or not the film should be shown,' noted Sir Charles Cunningham, permanent under-secretary of state at the Home Office, 'must be taken by the BBC itself and […] the Corporation must accept full responsibility for it.' The language was echoed in the Corporation's official statement of November 26, 1965. The shelving of The War Game was 'the BBC's own decision [...] taken after a good deal of thought and discussion, but not as a result of outside pressure of any kind.' What was once too shocking to screen is now programmed on the channel for connoisseurs of archive TV – and less subject to editorial interference than the old episodes of Top of the Pops scheduled later in the week. But The War Game has not lost any of its power. It has gained uncanny new ones. It was an attempt to visualise an apocalyptic future, which it predicted would arrive by the 1980s. It still seemed that way to me, at a Youth CND meeting in 1984. But the patina of time has made Watkins's black-and-white footage appear as old as if it had been shot during the Second World War. In one scene, a man disposing of charred bodies explains that he is saving the wedding rings of the dead in the hope that they might be identified later. The voice-over tells us that what we are seeing also happened during the Allied bombardment of Germany. We are in Kent. We are in Dresden. The man raises the bucket. It contains a tangle of blackened jewellery, gathered like the fruits of the apocalypse.
Business Wire
12-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
CFA Institute 2025 Graduate Outlook Survey: Finance Top Career Choice
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 2025 CFA Institute Graduate Outlook Survey reveals finance as the top career of choice among today's university students and recent graduates, reflecting increasing confidence in the profession. Artificial intelligence emerges as both a risk and opportunity. More than a third (37 percent) of those surveyed see finance as the most promising career path—up notably from 30 percent in 2024 and 24 percent in 2023, a 54 percent total increase over the last two years. 'Over the last few years, we have seen increased interest in finance as a career choice,' said Margaret Franklin, CFA, President and CEO, CFA Institute. 'That is reassuring. At CFA Institute, we believe finance serves an essential role in society and needs more committed young people to enter the field to help address the many societal challenges we face. That 93 percent of graduates express a desire to pursue a career that positively impacts society is inspiring and gives me hope for the future of the profession.' Career success requires more than just a degree Despite optimism about the finance sector, students harbor significant concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential disruption. While a vast majority (88 percent) express confidence in their AI literacy, two-thirds (67 percent) fear AI could negatively impact their career ambitions and make it harder to find a job. Today's students strongly recognize AI skills as vital for career advancement. The survey indicates 40 percent believe AI competencies will significantly enhance their job market prospects, outpacing traditional skills such as learning a foreign language (25 percent). Indeed, half of the respondents prioritize specialized skills such as quantitative and soft skills as the most critical factor for career advancement, far above connections (34 percent), internships (34 percent), the prestige of their university (26 percent), or their academic grades (26 percent). Commenting on the findings, Peter Watkins, Senior Director, University Programs at CFA Institute, said, "The modern graduate clearly understands that a university degree, while highly valued, may no longer guarantee career success. Today's students are proactively seeking to equip themselves with specialized skills, particularly in AI, which is fast becoming essential in the finance sector. 42 percent of the respondents said they plan further study after their initial degrees, and 96 percent acknowledge the importance of upskilling, professional or post-graduate qualifications as being integral to their future career success.' "AI is anticipated to become a non-negotiable in finance, and graduates equipped with AI literacy will find themselves at a significant advantage, ready to leverage this technology for greater professional and personal success,' said Watkins. 'Reflecting this understanding, we continue to evolve our education programs and research to reflect this shift and to support professionals throughout their careers. This includes industry research exploring themes where technology and finance intersect. Those able to combine technical competence with sound analytical judgement will be well placed to succeed in a changing world of work.' Graduates prioritize salary over everything else Salary remains the primary career driver for graduates (58 percent), though flexibility and favorable working arrangements are also highly valued (49 percent). The evolving approach to career guidance also marks a generational shift, with students increasingly consulting professors (44 percent), social media platforms (36 percent), and influencers (29 percent) for career insights. Trusted human advisors remain the preferred choice, but other options are available The findings also emphasize crucial implications for financial service providers seeking to engage effectively with the next generation, specifically the continued importance of trust in financial guidance, with 90 percent of graduates placing the highest trust in human financial advisors for sound financial advice. Graduates showed substantial reliance on other resources, including online financial education (81 percent), friends and family (81 percent), and AI assistants like ChatGPT (71 percent). By contrast, robo-advisors and social media influencers trailed slightly behind, at 67 percent and 63 percent, respectively. Financial security remains paramount, with 54 percent of graduates citing financial peace of mind as their primary motivation for wealth-building. However, a significant 39 percent highlight that wealth transcends monetary value, emphasizing experiences and personal fulfillment as essential elements of wealth. More information on the 2025 Graduate Outlook Survey results can be found here. About CFA Institute As the global association of investment professionals, CFA Institute sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. We champion ethical behavior in investment markets and serve as the leading source of learning and research for the investment industry. We believe in fostering an environment where investors' interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. With more than 200,000 charterholders worldwide across more than 160 markets, CFA Institute has 10 offices and 158 local societies. Find us at or follow us on LinkedIn and X at @CFAInstitute. About the CFA Program Enrolling in the CFA Program and earning the CFA charter prepares individuals for a variety of career paths in every sector of the global finance industry. Candidates can access all the essential study tools through the Learning Ecosystem including mock exams, the newly introduced Practical Skills Module and exam study tips. For more about the CFA Program, visit: CFA Program. About the 2025 CFA Institute Graduate Outlook Survey The 2025 CFA Institute Graduate Outlook Survey was fielded via an online survey from March 28-April 22, 2025, by Dynata with a sample of 9,023 respondents studying for a bachelor's degree or higher, or who have graduated with a bachelor's degree or higher within the last three years aged 18-25. Respondents were from Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Singapore, United Kingdom, and the United States.
