Sometimes the most compelling titles are ones that illicit a response that is usually associated with another genre; in this case Peter Watkins’ The War Game is an entirely terrifying experience exceeding the scare level of any horror film and yet it’s a forty seven minute teleplay designed as an informative docu-drama.

During the tumultuous nuclear arms race, Watkins pitched the idea of a teleplay about the effects of nuclear war and how Britain would be equipped to handle the possibility of a nuclear attack. This pitch sounds like something no one would honor, but Watkins' timing was incidentally crucial as it was coincidental regarding the tenor of the times and the power shifts within the BBC that might be credited for The War Game coming into existence.

The political upheaval in the mid-sixties permeated an expected degree of hesitation toward nuclear arms, and during the unilateral campaign to disarm the nation, there had been a full-scale nuclear program in effect. While Harold Wilson’s 1964 campaign and it’s effect on nuclear diplomacy was a hotbed of intricacies and policymaking, there was little to no visibility of the arms race on British television. Around this time when the BBC was operating without a head of their Documentary Film Department, they reluctantly allotted Watkins a budget for his film, attached with a warning that his film might not be completed.