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Third time watching this now, and it’s just as harrowing as the first. I don’t think I’ve seen many films that feel quite as real as this one. The first 40 minutes almost play out like an episode of Coronation Street, a bunch of relatable working-class northerners just going about their daily lives. Even though you know the nuke is coming, watching people head to the pub and brush off the war updates on TV makes you start to think like them too. Then suddenly it happens. As Jimmy’s mate says: “Jesus Christ, they’ve done it.” What follows is truly haunting. A mix of still images, children and parents screaming, and long, silent scenes showing the aftermath. Burnt bodies. Dead animals. People sitting in shock, unable to speak or move. Everything about it feels terrifyingly real, which, as a fellow northerner, really hit home. No film I’ve seen captures the devastation a war can bring to everyday civilians quite like this. It’s no wonder it was dubbed “the night the country didn’t sleep” when it aired on the BBC. A must-watch, and one of the greatest anti-war films ever made.