Mastodawn

Some good #queer media for Brits on #iPlayer. The teleplay of #BreakingTheCode, the #AlanTuring biographical play, with Derek Jacobi in the lead role.

It's a much better depiction of Turing as a person and his life than the terrible "The Imitation Game".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074rxv/breaking-the-code

Me and @bright_helpings went to see the play at HOME in #Manchester last year.

Breaking the Code

Factual drama about Alan Turing, the mathematical genius who cracked the Enigma code and turned the tide of World War II, while at the same time suffering homophobic persecution.

BBC iPlayer

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World Basement Classic Nov 1, 2025

#BreakingTheCode at #HOMEMcr was a good production. It's a poignant biography of #AlanTuring, from his childhood years with his schoolboy crush through to his death. It jumps around chronologically, mostly framed by the story of his arrest for "gross indecency" after he admitted to having a male lover while reporting a burglary. But it's pretty easy to follow the through-line.

As a #BletchleyPark nerd, I'm a little peeved that they didn't give Dilly Knox a line about how the Poles broke the Enigma before the war, and Turing's work was mostly about tackling variants, and speeding up the process to make Ultra intelligence useful to the military. But at least the play doesn't quite state that Turing invented the computer, another common misconception.

I don't think it can live up to the 1996 TV movie with #DerekJacobi, but it's far better than the Cumberbatch abombination.

#Theatre #Manchester #LGBTQ

@bright_helpings