The Rosie the Reviewer Podcast

Welcome to Rosie the Reviewer, a Dutch-Canadian female-led WW2 media podcast. A new episode airs every Friday!

Back to all episodes

Ep 66 – The Imitation Game – Alan Turing, Oscar Bait and the Spy Subplot No One Asked For

Subscribe:

Apple PodcastsCastBoxPocketCastsSpotifyRSSAmazon MusicYouTube

Share

Support the podcast

Rosie the Reviewer is a passion project, built episode by episode. If you’d like to support what we do, you can help keep us on the air or pick up some Rosie merch. We’re working on more ways for you to get involved in the future.

Shop rosie merch

Description

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we take on The Imitation Game (2014) and unpick all the ways it does Alan Turing dirty. With guest George (our usual SAS Rogue Heroes correspondent) taking on several sidequests with us this summer), we tackle the unnecessary spy plot, the myth of the lone genius, and why turning one of history’s most brilliant minds into a socially inept robot is just lazy, disrespectful writing. Sam did all the reading, Maartje Googled for one minute and George has actually been to Bletchley Park. All of us instantly agree: this movie is not it.

We talk queer erasure, posthumous pardons, codebreaking accuracy (or lack thereof), and Sam explains EXACTLY how Turing’s codebreaking machine works ;).

This movie is Oscar bait biopic mayhem (it worked, I guess), and we have some strong thoughts.

The Imitation Game trailer

Bletchley's Crossword Puzzle

We thought you might enjoy the puzzle that Bletchley Park had printed in the Daily Telegraph on January 13th, 1942, as a means to recruit new codebreakers. View it below or actually play it here to see how fast you can solve it.

 

 

Book Rec by Sam

If you want the full story, read Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. It’s the source material for the film (barely), and it’s everything the movie wasn’t: deeply researched, richly contextualised, and genuinely invested in who Turing actually was. Yes, it’s a chonky book. Yes, there are maths. But if you want to understand the man behind the math, and the machine (somewhat), it’s absolutely worth your time.

BUY ON AMAZON
*This is an affiliate link. If you buy through this link, we get a small percentage, and you get a book and help Rosie stay afloat. Thank you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More episodes

Rosie the Reviewer Battle of Britain

Ep 80 – Battle of Britain – Finally Some RAF… Guy Hamilton’s Air Epic

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we take to the skies for Battle of Britain (1969), Guy Hamilton’s sweeping recreation of the 1940 air campaign. We talk about the film’s impressive aerial combat scenes, its documentary-style storytelling, and the astonishing number of real WWII aircraft used on set.

From Christopher Plummer’s dashing Canadian pilot to Michael Caine’s brief but memorable role, we explore how the film mirrors Tora! Tora! Tora! in scope while giving overdue credit to the women of the WAAF. Expect plenty of radar talk, command tensions, and reflections on why this film might teach you more than it thrills.

Go to episode »

Ep 63 – Clare Mulley on the Women Who Fought – Polish Paratroopers, Nazi Test Pilots & Churchill’s Favourite Spy

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we’re joined by award-winning historian Clare Mulley, author of The Spy Who Loved…, The Women Who Flew for Hitler, and Agent Zo. We talk about Polish paratrooper Elżbieta Zawacka (Zo), Nazi-resisting test pilot Melitta von Stauffenberg, and the razor-sharp Christine Granville. Clare shares how she builds trust with her readers, balances storytelling with historical rigour, and restores women to their rightful place in the WWII record. And, this episodes is full of stories about the heroic women Clare writes about. You’ll want to pick up a book or two after this!

Go to episode »

Ep 62 – X Company Season 3 – Closing Up Camp X

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we break down the final season of X Company, the gripping Canadian WWII spy series set at Camp X. We discuss what worked, what felt rushed, and what made us yell “girl, no, don’t kiss that Nazi!”
Season 3 brings heavy losses, moral complexity, and a too early farewell to our favourite Canadian covert operatives. From Krystina’s subterfuge, Faber’s redemption arc, to how the show handles antisemitism, resistance, and trauma without easy answers.
Bye, X Company. Gone too soon.

Go to episode »

Ep 104 – Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man – One War Too Many

This week on Rosie the Reviewer, we talk about Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (2026), directed by Tom Harper and written by Stephen Knight. The film serves as the finale of the Peaky Blinders TV series (2013-2022) and is set during World War II, following an ageing Tommy Shelby as he navigates Nazi counterfeit schemes, the Birmingham Blitz, and a son he barely knows. We get into the writing choices that don’t land, the female characters who deserved better, the real history of Operation Bernhard and the Birmingham Blitz, and what made the original series work, and why this film loses it.

Go to episode »

Support the podcast

Rosie the Reviewer is a passion project, built episode by episode. If you’d like to support what we do, you can help keep us on the air or pick up some Rosie merch. We’re working on more ways for you to get involved in the future.

Shop rosie merch