World War II · Film · 2014
The Imitation Game
Mathematician Alan Turing joins the codebreakers at Bletchley Park and races to build a machine that can break the German Enigma cipher, while hiding a private life that could cost him everything.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 2 places.
Stop 1: Sherborne School, Dorset
In flashbacks, a bullied schoolboy Turing finds his first friend in Christopher Morcom, who introduces him to codes.
Stop 2: Bletchley Park
Key location
Turing clashes with his commander and colleagues as he builds his codebreaking machine, while ships keep sinking in the Atlantic.
What really happened
Alan Turing reported to Bletchley Park on 4 September 1939, the day after Britain declared war. Building on the work of Polish cryptologists, he designed the electromechanical Bombe, which from 1940 helped read German Enigma traffic, and he led Hut 8 against the harder naval Enigma. The intelligence, codenamed Ultra, was vital in the Battle of the Atlantic, and by 1945 Bletchley employed some 9,000 people.
The film simplifies a team effort into one man's struggle. The Bombe was not named Christopher, Gordon Welchman and the Polish breakthroughs are barely credited, and the Soviet spy John Cairncross never worked in Turing's hut. Turing was prosecuted for homosexuality in 1952 and died in 1954; he received a royal pardon in 2013.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- The Imitation Game
- Directed by
- Morten Tyldum
- Countries
- United Kingdom, United States
- Languages
- English
- Released
- 2014
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe, Atlantic & Arctic
- Themes
- Espionage
- Biography
- True story
