Broadsheet Trailer Park: The Imitation Game

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What you may need to know:

1. Historical thriller about pioneering British computer scientist Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), a key figure in cracking the Nazis’ Enigma code that helped the Allies win World War II.

2. To show their gratitude, the British Government prosecuted Turing for homosexuality in 1952. He elected to undergo chemical castration in order to avoid a custodial sentence and died in 1954. You’re welcome.

3. Looks like Cumberbatch’s Turing has all the natural charm and charisma of Cumberbatch’s Sherlock.

4. Mark Strong is consistently better than the material he’s given.

5. Allen Leech takes a well-deserved break from pig-fretting on Downton Abbey.

6. Broadsheet Prognosis: Cracking.

Release Date: November 14

(DelBoy is away. Mark blogs about film, TV and other stuff at WhyBother.ie)

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10 thoughts on “Broadsheet Trailer Park: The Imitation Game

    1. Drogg

      Yeah me too and i would say its a story that needs to be told, i’d bet there are a lot of people out there that don’t even know what happened to Turing.

  1. Casey

    I visited Bletchley park a few years ago and was stunned at how primitive it was. I wasn’t expecting iPods and supercomputers but not abacus’s and blackboards either. Most photos of the place show mainframes which take up entire walls but have as much process power as the average dumbphone.

    In 1938 Turing began to work in secret for the British cryptanalytic department (decyphering Code and Cyphers) When WW2 started, he went to their HQ at Bletchley Park.

    Here he played a vital role in deciphering the messages encrypted by the German Enigma machine, which provided vital intelligence for the Allies. He took the lead in a team that designed a machine known as a bombe that successfully decoded German messages.

    After the war, he worked first for the National Physical Laboratory (1945-1948). His plans were dismissed by his colleagues and the lab lost out on being the first to design a digital computer. It is thought that Turing’s blueprint would have secured them the honour, as his machine was capable of computation speeds higher than the others. In 1949, he went to Manchester University where he directed the computing laboratory and developed a body of work that helped to form the basis for the field of artificial intelligence. In 1951 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society.

    In 1952, Turing was arrested and tried for homosexuality, then a criminal offence. To avoid prison, he accepted injections of oestrogen for a year, which were intended to neutralise his libido. In that era, homosexuals were considered a security risk as they were open to blackmail. Turing’s security clearance was withdrawn, meaning he could no longer work for GCHQ, the post-war successor to Bletchley Park.

    He committed suicide on 7 June, 1954.

    A brilliant mind lost because of the bigger prejudices of society. Damm shame.

    1. Bobby

      With regards to Bletchley park, there was a story in some paper over the weekend, (I think) about an elderly couple who went on a trip to Bletchley Park and realised that they had both worked there in the same hut, but on different shifts. And they’d never told each other because of the Official Secrets Act, until one of them let it slip while they were there.

      1. Casey

        uh? What spoilers? The story of Turing’s life is common knowledge to anyone who studies or studied history, played spies as kids, read Cobra or Warlord, is interested in WW2 or… you know for tons of other reasons.

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