Review of The Imitation Game (2014) by Stratman — 13 Sep 2015

I work at Bletchley Park and when I asked my colleagues what they thought about this film they were all scathing. I watched the film with a notebook beside me and filled two A4 sides of notes with historical and technical inaccuracies!!

Anybody who knows absolutely nothing about the wartime history BP and the history of Alan Turing, both at the Park and after he left, will - no doubt - find this a very entertaining film! Those who DO know the history of BP during the war, and the part played by Alan Turing, will find this film the biggest load of garbage ever - not to mention an insult to both Bletchley Park and Alan Turing!!

I'm not surprised that Benedict Cumberbatch was nominated for an Oscar but it was for his acting ability and certainly not for an accurate portayal of AT! Those who describe this film as: "Brilliant"; "Genius"; "Magnificent" etc etc, obviously know absolutely nothing about what REALLY went on at BP during the war and the part played by AT.

You mention the name "Bletchley Park" to most people and they think: "Enigma and Alan Turing"! This is wholly due to the blind promotionof the Park as being entirely the home of Enigma and Alan Turing! He was one of between 8,000 and 10,000 people who worked there and there were many people who contributed just as much as he did, if not more, that nobody has ever heard of!

For Instance: Col John Tiltman; Bill Tutte; Prof Max Newman; Major Ralph Tester; Tommy Flowers, Alan Coombs; Sid Broadhurst and many, many others. These were the people responsible for breaking the German Lorenz code, and making the machines that did it, that was used by Hitler and the High Command who did not want to use Enigma, but who has ever heard of these people? The forgotten genius's of Bletchley Park!

BP did NOT revolve aroung Enigma and Alan Turing but thanks to modern TV, films and the such like we are all led to believe that this is, in fact, the case.