The BBC film The War Game, a 1966 production depicting how the United Kingdom might be affected by a nuclear war, was considered so candid and disturbing that it was not allowed to be broadcast for more than 20 years.
It is more relevant than ever in light of the fact that our government, along with the governments of many other Western countries, appears to be treating the risk that the war in Ukraine could trigger a global nuclear conflict with remarkable complacency, despite the possibility that such a war could mean the end of humanity.
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan watched The Day After, a television film depicting a fictional nuclear war between the United States and the Warsaw Pact. The film was viewed by more than 100 million Americans.
Reagan later acknowledged that the film deeply affected him and changed his views on U.S. nuclear weapons policy. In 1987, Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met and signed the INF Treaty, eliminating intermediate- and shorter-range nuclear missiles.
The BBC movie that was suppressed for 20 years
