6. When The Wind Blows (1986)
This 1986 animation was the work of Raymond 'The Snowman' Briggs. The film follows James and Hilda Bloggs, a retired couple who live in rural Sussex. The Soviets have unleashed a nuclear attack on the West including England and we see the Bloggs try to make sense of their situation. They are not aware of the seriousness and they remain hopeful and optimistic even though they both succumb to radiation sickness and no help is forthcoming. The film is comical as well as desperately sad. James and Hilda are in no way aware of just how terrible a nuclear war is. They have fond memories of the Blitz and the 'Let's all join together' nature of World War Two. They think the coming war will be like that. It is simultaneously horrifying and hysterically funny to watch James try and make sense of Protect and Survive - real life civil defence procedures that were published in the 1970s to be distributed and broadcast to the British nation in the run up to a potential nuclear war. If you have never watched the Protect and Survive videos or looked at the manuals, I seriously urge you to do so now. They are absolutely terrifying - worse than any horror film imaginable. The soundtrack to When The Wind Blows features Roger Waters, David Bowie, Squeeze, Genesis and Paul Hardcastle.