Synopsis

During the late phase of the Cold War, in the early 1980s, an increase in tensions between the Soviet Union and the West meant the threat of a nuclear war seemed much more real. Featuring activists from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, this community video highlights the issues with nuclear deterrence in the form of a satirical game show called 'Beat the Bomb'. Contemporary apocalyptic newspaper headlines set the scene for the Sussex heat of the nuclear knockout, in which the contestants "have to learn to love to lose". The Brown family compete in rounds such as the Arms Race - which includes running rings round the sleeping public, gagging the press and mugging the taxpayer, or the Shelter Game, in which the contestants 'win' a chance to survive the nuclear wipe-out with the aid of a government DIY kit that includes three old doors and a pile of sandbags.

The final, hardest and hottest round of all, is called "It's a Wipe-out". This segment is filmed in colour. In it, the presenter asks a series of hard-hitting questions to ‘John’ who represents the USA and NATO, and outsmarts the contestant into pressing the button, launching missiles that lead to nuclear annihilation. The game ends with a brief visual simulation of the aftermath, with the game show's Joker character revealing the fact that "they didn't know they didn't have to play." In between the satirical rounds, the video is peppered with short vox pops with local members of the public, offering rather grim and sober answers to questions such as who they think is winning the arms race or where they'd be sheltering in case of a nuclear war. The broad consensus is that it's impossible to win and that annihilation is annihilation – the only option is to reverse the fatal trend of nuclear proliferation.