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Daily Mirror
07-08-2025
- 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.
Metro
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Watch this terrifying film tonight – it might change your life
Melting eyeballs. Third-degree burns. Fire storms. Mercy killings. These are just some of the graphic scenes from Peter Watkins' 1966 film, The War Game. I first watched it in 1985 at the age of 12 and was absolutely horrified. The fact it was narrated by prominent newsreader Michael Aspel made it hit so much harder. To me, he was the avuncular voice of mainstream tea-time TV, so hearing him explain that the effects of a thermal nuclear explosion are like 'an enormous door slamming in the depths of hell' really brought things home. Now, it's going to be shown tonight on BBC Four. And despite how terrifying it is, I'd recommend everyone to watch it. Set in Kent, it portrays a fictional nuclear bomb dropping and we see people's severe retinal burns before the shockwave and mass fires hit. One graphic scene shows a whole family experiencing 'death within three minutes'. In the aftermath of the attack, there's radiation sickness, hunger, looting and riots. Police execute people who are seen as troublemakers and shoot others with severe radiation exposure in mercy killings. The widespread shock and despair are rendered particularly haunting: Children who were orphaned in the attack are asked what they want to be when they grow up. One says they 'don't want to be nothing', but others can't even speak. The War Game was mired in controversy before it was even finished, as Julie McDowall explained in her book Attack Warning Red Winston Churchill reportedly banned any broadcasts on that showed the horrors of nuclear war and ordered the BBC to submit any scripts to the Government for their sign-off. His defence secretary, Harold Macmillan, said that if the facts about nuclear weapons were presented 'abruptly' or in an 'alarming' fashion, the public may become 'defeatist'. Against this background, the BBC invited officials from Whitehall in 1965 to preview the film, it then concluded that the film was 'too horrifying' for an 'indiscriminate audience'. The corporation tried to stress that it had reached this decision without 'outside pressure of any kind' but filmmaker Peter Watkins ended up resigning from the BBC in protest. Watkins later claimed that the BBC told him privately that they feared it had the potential to 'drive up to 20,000 [people] to suicide'. It wouldn't be shown on the BBC until 20 years later on the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, which is when I watched it as a child. Around this same time, I watched another BBC film called Threads that had a deeply traumatising effect on me. That portrayed grisly, graphic, and relentless detail on what the aftermath of a nuclear attack would mean for people and animals: agonising deaths, societal breakdown, sexual assault, and vomiting. Watching The War Game just months after I'd watched Threads felt like the sucker punch that does more damage than the opening jab. Threads unsettled me hugely and as I was still trying to find my feet, The War Game came along and knocked me to the ground. As a direct result of both of these films, I joined the Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and became a full-on anti-nuclear zealot. Days after the broadcast of both the films in 1985, I spent that week joining 'die-in' protests in local high streets, where we would collapse on the pavement as if a nuclear bomb had just gone off. Later, I also helped to float candles in the River Thames to remember the victims, and my Dad got a call from the police to ask him to collect me from the American Embassy, which I'd try to chain myself to. I owe this activism and sense of community to watching those two films, which is why I want you to watch it tonight. In just 47 minutes, you can learn so much about how fragile our existence is, how cruel power – and the people who wield it – can be, and how science has taken us deliberately to the cliff edge of global destruction. It's the portrayal of the psychological trauma of the survivors that has stuck with me most. The film left me convinced that the very best thing to do in a nuclear war is to die as soon as possible. These days, nuclear nerds like me sometimes compare Threads and The War Game the way others argue over Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, or Oasis and Blur. For me, the two films have had different legacies. More Trending Threads became a lifelong obsession. I've watched it many dozens of times and I am a member of a Facebook group, Threads Survivors, where we discuss it in detail. Next month, I'm going to Sheffield to visit some of the filming locations and to watch the premiere of a documentary about Threads and its impact. I've even got a Threads-related figurine and badges. I won't watch The War Game again tonight because it's just too intense and lacks the humanity, occasional humour and other strange charms of Threads, but I think you should watch it. View More » It may just change your life – like it did mine. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: Recognising Palestine is not rewarding Hamas – and it shouldn't come with strings MORE: I interview celebrities – but Rob Brydon's sweaty bus tour was utterly surreal MORE: Supernatural thriller fans insist 'give it a chance' after BBC drops 16 episodes
Scotsman
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
BBC to air two of its most ‘horrifying' programmes tonight
Threads and The War Game to air on BBC Four - but maybe best not to watch them before bed 😨 Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A double bill of two of the most 'horrifying' films will air tonight. The War Game and Threads will be televised on BBC Four. Both offer frighteningly realistic aftermaths of nuclear war. If you want to get a good night's sleep this evening, you may just want to avoid BBC Four. The channel will be airing a double bill featuring two of the most horrifying films ever made by the broadcaster. Classic movies The War Game and Threads will be playing this evening and could be set to traumatise a whole new generation. Dating from the 1960s and 1980s respectively, the films are a product of Cold War anxieties about 'The Bomb'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Each tackles the run-up to and the potential aftermath of a nuclear war happening. Fortunately, in the decades since, they have remained simple warnings and not prophetic visions. I have not personally watched The War Game, but during my A-Level history course we spent a deeply haunting two hour class watching Threads. It has remained seared into my mind ever since and I still get chills anytime I see the name. When is The War Game and Threads on TV? One of the most terrifying films ever made, 'Threads' is an account of the aftermath of nucleur war in the English city of Sheffield. Originally released in 1984, if anything it's scarier now than it was then. If you don't mind having nightmares, you can watch it on the BBC iPlayer. | BBC BBC Four will be running a double bill of the two classic apocalyptic visions this evening (July 30). First up will be The War Game, which is set to start at 10.10 pm, following a brief 10-minute prelude called Michael Aspel Remembers - The War Game. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The documentary will run for 45 minutes and is set to finish at 10.55 pm, according to the schedule. It will be followed by a second prelude programme in which Threads director Mick Jackson reflects on the 1980s movie. Threads itself is due to start at 11.15 pm and will run until 1.10 am. The movie has an approximate runtime of 112 minutes. What are the movies about? Both The War Game and Threads were born out of the Cold War anxieties about the looming threat of nuclear war. The tension between the communist bloc and the capitalist world threatened to bubble over on numerous occasions in the decades between WW2 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in the 1990s, most famous of which was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The preview for The War Game, via Radio Times , reads: 'Docudrama that imagines the events leading up to a nuclear strike on the UK, then presents its likely after-effects. Director Peter Watkins focuses on a decimated community in Kent as public health declines, order crumbles and martial law is declared.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Meanwhile Threads is about, according to Radio Times: 'Harrowing drama about the consequences of nuclear war, focusing on two Sheffield families in the days leading up to - and the years following - a direct hit on the city. First shown in 1984, the award-winning film pulls no punches in its depiction of the fallout.' Who is in the cast of The War Game and Threads? The War Game was made with an unknown cast with Michael Aspel as a commentator. Threads on the other hand features some more recognisable names. It starred . Reece Dinsdale and Karen Meagher. The former would go on to appear in shows like Spooks and Home to Roost. Are the films really that scary? I cannot personally speak to The War Game as I have never actually seen this docudrama. However, it caused such a fluster in the BBC and the Government back in the 1960s that it was pulled from its provisional premiere date of October 6, 1965. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The film would go on to be screened at the National Theatre in London from April 13, 1966, to May 3 of that year. It would not be broadcast on TV until 1985, the day before a repeat of Threads. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert gave The War Game four stars in 1967 and described it as featuring some of 'the most horrifying (scenes) ever put on film'. He hailed its 'remarkable authenticity'. On the other hand, I can firmly speak to the deeply unsettling and harrowing nature of Threads. It has been nearly 15 years since I watched the movie, on a spring afternoon in a classroom on the top floor of my sixth form (Nunthorpe Sixth Form in Middlesbrough). The hairs on the back of my neck still stand up at just the mention of the film's title. Some of the scenes feel like they have been permanently branded in my mind's eye. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Only a very few times in my life have I been so deeply affected by a movie or TV show that is has disrupted my sleep - and Threads was one such time. For reference, another was when watching the ghost train episode of Thomas the Tank Engine as a pre-schooler (I slept with my head under the covers for a year). It is not one for the faint of heart, and you would probably be wise to mentally prepare yourself before turning it on. Did you watch Threads when it was originally on TV - or in the years since? Let me know your thoughts and if it scared you as much as it did me by email: . If you love TV, check out our Screen Babble podcast to get the latest in TV and film.
Scotsman
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
BBC to air two of its most ‘horrifying' programmes tonight
Threads and The War Game to air on BBC Four - but maybe best not to watch them before bed 😨 Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A double bill of two of the most 'horrifying' films will air tonight. The War Game and Threads will be televised on BBC Four. Both offer frighteningly realistic aftermaths of nuclear war. If you want to get a good night's sleep this evening, you may just want to avoid BBC Four. The channel will be airing a double bill featuring two of the most horrifying films ever made by the broadcaster. Classic movies The War Game and Threads will be playing this evening and could be set to traumatise a whole new generation. Dating from the 1960s and 1980s respectively, the films are a product of Cold War anxieties about 'The Bomb'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Each tackles the run-up to and the potential aftermath of a nuclear war happening. Fortunately, in the decades since, they have remained simple warnings and not prophetic visions. I have not personally watched The War Game, but during my A-Level history course we spent a deeply haunting two hour class watching Threads. It has remained seared into my mind ever since and I still get chills anytime I see the name. When is The War Game and Threads on TV? One of the most terrifying films ever made, 'Threads' is an account of the aftermath of nucleur war in the English city of Sheffield. Originally released in 1984, if anything it's scarier now than it was then. If you don't mind having nightmares, you can watch it on the BBC iPlayer. | BBC BBC Four will be running a double bill of the two classic apocalyptic visions this evening (July 30). First up will be The War Game, which is set to start at 10.10 pm, following a brief 10-minute prelude called Michael Aspel Remembers - The War Game. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The documentary will run for 45 minutes and is set to finish at 10.55 pm, according to the schedule. It will be followed by a second prelude programme in which Threads director Mick Jackson reflects on the 1980s movie. Threads itself is due to start at 11.15 pm and will run until 1.10 am. The movie has an approximate runtime of 112 minutes. What are the movies about? Both The War Game and Threads were born out of the Cold War anxieties about the looming threat of nuclear war. The tension between the communist bloc and the capitalist world threatened to bubble over on numerous occasions in the decades between WW2 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in the 1990s, most famous of which was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The preview for The War Game, via Radio Times , reads: 'Docudrama that imagines the events leading up to a nuclear strike on the UK, then presents its likely after-effects. Director Peter Watkins focuses on a decimated community in Kent as public health declines, order crumbles and martial law is declared.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Meanwhile Threads is about, according to Radio Times: 'Harrowing drama about the consequences of nuclear war, focusing on two Sheffield families in the days leading up to - and the years following - a direct hit on the city. First shown in 1984, the award-winning film pulls no punches in its depiction of the fallout.' Who is in the cast of The War Game and Threads? The War Game was made with an unknown cast with Michael Aspel as a commentator. Threads on the other hand features some more recognisable names. It starred . Reece Dinsdale and Karen Meagher. The former would go on to appear in shows like Spooks and Home to Roost. Are the films really that scary? I cannot personally speak to The War Game as I have never actually seen this docudrama. However, it caused such a fluster in the BBC and the Government back in the 1960s that it was pulled from its provisional premiere date of October 6, 1965. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The film would go on to be screened at the National Theatre in London from April 13, 1966, to May 3 of that year. It would not be broadcast on TV until 1985, the day before a repeat of Threads. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert gave The War Game four stars in 1967 and described it as featuring some of 'the most horrifying (scenes) ever put on film'. He hailed its 'remarkable authenticity'. On the other hand, I can firmly speak to the deeply unsettling and harrowing nature of Threads. It has been nearly 15 years since I watched the movie, on a spring afternoon in a classroom on the top floor of my sixth form (Nunthorpe Sixth Form in Middlesbrough). The hairs on the back of my neck still stand up at just the mention of the film's title. Some of the scenes feel like they have been permanently branded in my mind's eye. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Only a very few times in my life have I been so deeply affected by a movie or TV show that is has disrupted my sleep - and Threads was one such time. For reference, another was when watching the ghost train episode of Thomas the Tank Engine as a pre-schooler (I slept with my head under the covers for a year). It is not one for the faint of heart, and you would probably be wise to mentally prepare yourself before turning it on. Did you watch Threads when it was originally on TV - or in the years since? Let me know your thoughts and if it scared you as much as it did me by email: .
Metro
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
BBC legend claims government banned 'shocking ' TV show for 20 years
A BBC legend has revealed he made a documentary that was so disturbing it was banned for 20 years. Michael Aspel is best known for hosting the cosy biographical TV series This is Your Life and Ask Aspel. That didn't stop the BBC, though, from asking the now 92-year-old star to host a far more harrowing TV show about the dangers of nuclear war. The show, The War Game, was a pseudo-documentary film commissioned in 1965 to mark the 20th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. During the 47-minute-long special, viewers saw a hypothetical nuclear war between Nato and the USSR that left millions dead or injured and vast swathes of the UK an irradiated wasteland. So harrowing was the footage that the BBC withdrew the show before it was televised, and it would not air in the UK until 1985, and the 40th anniversary of the bombings. In a new BBC documentary titled Michael Aspel Remembers…The War Game, Michael has opened up about serving as the show's narrator and why it wasn't broadcast. With that desire for realism in mind, the writer and director Peter Watkins decided that Michael, who was then a newsreader for the BBC, would make a perfect narrator. According to Michael, the film was designed to feel and look like an official government warning. Michael also alleges in the documentary that the government, who were shown early versions of the show, may have had a role in the documentary being taken off the air. He claims Peter always believed it was 'government interference' that led to his documentary being banned. The documentary makes clear that the government's official line was that the BBC had the final say in the show's broadcast, but that 'Whitehall would be relieved if the BBC chose not to show it'. The BBC maintains they decided to pull the documentary, with the then director general Hugh Carleton Greene saying the decision was not a political one. Instead, he claims the footage was so 'shocking' that he could never forgive himself if someone saw it and then 'threw themselves under a bus' because of it. However, archive footage of the late Tony Benn is shown where he admits that the home secretary Frank Soskice 'ordered' Benn to ban the programme as he feared it would 'lead to panic.' More Trending '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,' the MP explained. Huw Wheldon, the Head of Documentaries (1963-1965), meanwhile, claimed in 1983 that Harold Wilson's Government feared the documentary might be seen as an advertisement for nuclear disarmament with a pacifist CND agenda. Despite being banned from TV for twenty years, Huw made sure the documentary was shown at several film festivals, which ultimately led to it winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1967. View More » Michael Aspel Remembers… The War Game will air on BBC 4 on July 30 at 10pm. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Lisa Faulkner makes first public statement since John Torode's MasterChef firing MORE: David Attenborough's new BBC series reveals spectacularly tender moment with baby gorilla MORE: MasterChef 'begins casting process' after Gregg Wallace and John Torode are axed
