The Bletchley Circle

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The Bletchley Circle ITV Drama

Written by Guy Burt, this unique drama is the tale of four courageous women with extraordinary puzzle solving skills that were utilised at Bletchley during World War II, reunited 9 years later, coming together to help solve another mystery.

Set in 1952, Susan, Millie, Lucy and Jean have returned to their normal lives, modestly setting aside the part they played in producing crucial intelligence, which helped the Allies to victory and shortened the war. Normal lives, aided of course, by the political ties that bind women to a certain lifestyle, alongside the Official Secrets Act 1911.

When Susan discovers a hidden code behind an unsolved murder she is met by skepticism from the police. She quickly realises she can only begin to crack the murders and bring the culprit to justice with her former friends.

The Bletchley Circle paints a vivid portrait of post-war Britain in this fictional tale of unsung heroes.

Did you know?

1941 The National Service Act is passed introducing conscription for women. All unmarried women between the ages of 20 and 30 are called up for war work. It is later extended to include women up to age 43 and married women, though pregnant women and those with young children can be exempt.

1948 The introduction of the National Health Service (NHS) gives everyone free access to health care. Previously, only the insured, usually men, benefited.

Keep your pecker up! xx

GCHQ releases WW2 Turing Papers to the National Archives

Two 70-year-old papers by Alan Turing on the theory of code breaking have been released by the government’s communications headquarters, GCHQ to the National Archives.

It is believed that Turing wrote the papers while at Bletchley Park working on breaking German Enigma codes. *GCHQ was able to approximately date the papers because in one example Turing had made reference to Hitler’s age.

Because of continuing sensitivity the papers had been retained at GCHQ, but they have now been reassessed as suitable for release. Written in an era when typographical errors would be corrected by hand and mathematical notation handwritten, the papers are called “Paper on Statistics of Repetitions’ and ‘The Applications of Probability to Crypt’. Read more here…

Turing was one of the key members of the staff at Bletchley Park that worked to crack Germany’s Enigma codes. During WW2, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS) at Bletchley Park, Britain’s codebreaking centre. For a time he was head of Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. At Bletchley Park from September 1939 until December 1942, as Head of Hut 8, he played a significant role in the design of bombe (a machine for codebreaking) and later the Colossus.

The two papers are now available to view at the National Archives at Kew, west London. Also at the National Archives are records by the War Cabinet 1939-1945.

“It is tragic that Alan Turing was convicted of an offence which now seems both cruel and absurd, particularly… given his outstanding contribution to the war effort,…However, the law at the time required a prosecution and, as such, long-standing policy has been to accept that such convictions took place and, rather than trying to alter the historical context and to put right what cannot be put right, ensure instead that we never again return to those times.”

Mr Turing committed suicide in 1954, two years after his conviction.

*GCHQ is one of the three UK Intelligence Agencies and forms a crucial part of the UK’s National Intelligence and Security machinery. The National Security Strategy sets out the challenges of a changing and uncertain world and places cyber attack in the top tier of risks, alongside international terrorism, a major industrial accident or natural disaster, and international military crisis. GCHQ, in concert with Security Service (also known as MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI6) play a key role across all of these areas and more. Our work drives the UK Government’s response to world events and enables strategic goals overseas.

http://www.gchq.gov.uk/AboutUs/Pages/index.aspx

Keep your pecker up! xx