The War Game (1965) Nuclear Holocaust Short-Film Originally Banned in the UK

Few films have caused such controversy as Peter Watkins' THE WAR GAME, a drama documentary made for BBC TV in 1965 about a 'limited' nuclear attack on Kent, England. Blending fiction and fact to create a moving and startling vision of the personal as well as the public consequences of such an attack, Watkins exposes the inadequacy of the nation's Civil Defense programme and questions the philosophy of the nuclear deterrent. Conspicuously absent from TV screens until 1985, it was mainly through cinema release in 1966 - and its Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1969 - that it gained a loyal and vociferous following, providing a sharp focus for CND and other peace movements.

Despite having been produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the film was banned from television broadcast. The official reason was for violence and depiction of human suffering, but others hinted that it may have been because it went against the official government line concerning survivability of nuclear attack. While the ban forbade television broadcast, it did not forbid cinematic distribution. Because of this loophole, the film was given wide release in theaters, and won four major film awards.