Being as I am a child of the early 70s, I spent the 70s and 80s mildly spooked by the concern that it was all going to end in the bright flash of a nuclear war. A strong influence was nuclear apocalyptic docudramas and the like, most notable Threads.
However, historically more interesting is The War Game which was made by the BBC in 1965. It was never broadcast because of the fear that it’d induce panic. Watching it now you can see why, since I seriously don’t think what was still a pretty formal and up tight UK could have dealt with the horrifying reality of what it really meant to go to war in the nuclear age. It was finally shown in 1985!
“Within the next 15 years possibly another 12 countries will have acquired thermo-nuclear weapons. For this reason, if not through accident or the impulses of man himself, it is now more than possible that what you have seen happen in this film will have taken place before the year 1980!”. Thank fuck they were wrong!
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Stunning and very bold film making from the BBC, even if it was then sat on for 20 years by the government and Beeb!