--- title: The True Story of The Imitation Game description: What's fact and what's fiction in the Benedict Cumberbatch film about the man who cracked the Nazi's code canonical: https://time.com/3609585/the-true-story-of-the-imitation-game/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-28T17:43:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:26:34.522Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The True Story of The Imitation Game og:description: What's fact and what's fiction in the Benedict Cumberbatch film about the man who cracked the Nazi's code og:url: https://time.com/3609585/the-true-story-of-the-imitation-game/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc97907f19f7462b/698766a5f887dc5d80e88234/imitation-game.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: THE IMITATION GAME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The True Story of The Imitation Game twitter:description: What's fact and what's fiction in the Benedict Cumberbatch film about the man who cracked the Nazi's code twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc97907f19f7462b/698766a5f887dc5d80e88234/imitation-game.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The True Story of _The Imitation Game_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 28, 2014 5:43 PM UTC  (L-R) Keira Knightley, Matthew Beard, Matthew Goode, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Allen Leech star in The Imitation Game. (L-R) Keira Knightley, Matthew Beard, Matthew Goode, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Allen Leech star in The Imitation Game.Jack English—© 2014 The Weinstein Company. All Rights Reserved.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 28, 2014 5:43 PM UTC Though _The Imitation Game_ was largely based on the biography _Alan Turing: The Enigma_, much of Alan Turing’s life is shrouded in mystery. Turing, played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film, is credited as the father of computer science. He cracked codes produced by the German military’s seemingly unbreakable Enigma machine during World War II using math, engineering and still-to-be-invented computer science. But most of the documents tracing his work for the British government have been destroyed and little is known about Turing’s personal life. Here’s what is likely truth and what is embellishment in _The Imitation Game_ based on [_Alan Turing: The Enigma_](http://www.amazon.com/Alan-Turing-Enigma-Inspired-Imitation/dp/069116472X) and the [Turing Exhibition](http://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/insight/2012/06/21/the-spirit-of-alan-turing/) at London’s Science Museum. **Alan Turing’s first love, Christopher, died at a young age** **Ruling: Fact** Christopher, an older student at Sherborne School in Dorset, was also interested in math. Turing harbored feelings toward Christopher, though Turing believed his love was not reciprocated. In the movie, Turing learns of Christopher’s death after-the-fact from his headmaster. In reality, Turing had been told his friend was sick and to prepare for the worst before Christopher passed. Christopher’s death did spur Turing to pursue mathematics in the hope that he could understand whether part of Christopher could somehow live on without his body. In the year after his death, Turing wrote an essay in which he discussed how the soul might survive after death with a nod to the new field of quantum mechanics. **Alan Turing was a closeted gay man** **Ruling: Fact** Alan Turing was gay at a time when homesexual activity was outlawed in England. In 1952, he was convicted of “gross indecency.” (He admitted to being gay but pled not guilty because he thought the law was unjust.) He was sentenced to probation that involved chemical castration (see more below) and committed suicide within two years with cyanide. The filmmakers decided not to include the suicide in the movie even though they filmed the scene. Benedict Cumberbatch explained [to the press](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/imitation-game-benedict-cumberbatch-explains-749513) at New York City’s 92Y that in the film’s last scene, “Someone \[is\] telling \[Turing\] something he never had told to him in his life: That he did matter — the fact that he was regarded as different and not normal was hugely important to the world and to everybody around him. No one had told him that in his life. So to end it on that note, with someone explaining, was our way of thanking him in the structure of the film, our eulogy to him.” **Joan Clarke is invited to Bletchley Park, the home of the government’s code breaking operation, after completing a crossword puzzle** **Ruling: Fiction** Clarke’s professor at Oxford helped her get into the program (which was dominated by men). The crossword puzzle test scene is fictionalized, though that was a method the government _did_ use to recruit code-crackers at the time. **Joan’s parents didn’t want her at Bletchley** **Ruling: Fiction** In the movie, the Clarkes do not want their daughter to crack codes for the government because she is a woman, but that aspect of the film was added for dramatic tension. **Turing named the code breaking machine “Christopher”** **Ruling: Fiction** In the film, Turing tells Clarke that he named the machine “Christopher.” (The audience knows it’s named after Turing’s first love, though Clarke doesn’t know that part.) Turing is obsessed with the idea of using a computer to engineer a human brain or even a soul, and dubbing the computer “Christopher” makes it seem as if Turing may be trying to find a way to resurrect his old love. In reality, the machine was called the Bombe and nicknamed “Victory.” **John Cairncross threatens to expose Turing’s sexuality if Turing reveals he’s a spy** **Ruling: Fiction** In the film, Cairncross says he will tell the government Turing’s secret sexuality if Turing reveals that Caincross is a spy. The blackmail works for a while and Turing covers up for Cairnscross. In fact, the two never met. Though Cairncross was at Bletchley Park, he did not work with Turing. There were strict separations between the units. As far as historians can tell, Turing never hid spies from the government. **Turing asked Clarke to marry him** **Ruling: Fact** Turing and Clarke were indeed engaged for a time. And, like in the movie, they never went through with the marriage. Turing revealed his true sexuality to his fiancée and, [according to Turing](http://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/insight/2012/06/21/the-spirit-of-alan-turing/), Clarke was “unfazed” by the revelation. Some critics have said the friendship and pseudo-romance between Turing and Clarke is overblown in the film. Keira Knightley, who plays Clarke, [told the Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/26/keira-knightley-imitation-game%5Fn%5F6221196.html), “I think what we’re trying to get to is the essence of what it was. And at that time with Alan, to my knowledge, he didn’t have another affair, or an affair actually, with a man. His big friendship was with a woman and he did ask her to marry him.” **MORE:** [The History Behind Benedict Cumberbatch’s _The Imitation Game_](http://time.com/3599607/imitation-game-accuracy-benedict-cumberbatch-alan-turing/) **The government thought Turing might be a Soviet spy** **Ruling: Fiction** In the film, an officer interrogates Turing thinking he’s a spy and accidentally uncovers Turing’s sexuality. In reality, Turing was investigated for “gross indecency” after he reported a petty theft to the police. In his report, he concealed the fact that he was in a relationship with the possible thief. After the police pursued the charge, Turing finally submitted a five-page report admitting to his affair with a man. **Turing underwent chemical castration after his conviction** **Ruling: Fact** Consensual sex between two men remained illegal until 1967 in England. To avoid prison, Turing accepted treatment with estrogen, chemical castration meant to neutralize his libido. Gay men were considered a security risk to the government because they were open to blackmail, so Turing lost his security clearance. Turing died on June 7, 1954\. He was found with a partly-eaten apple, and many biographers have posited it was laced with cyanide. But the autopsy found four ounces of cyanide in Turing’s stomach, suggesting he drank the poison and ate the apple to make the experience more palatable. [Some have suggested](http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/06/opinion/apple-logo/) Apple’s symbol, the apple, is a tribute to Turing, though Steve Jobs denied this connection on multiple occasions. **MORE:** [Review: _The Imitation Game_: Dancing With Dr. Strange](http://time.com/3596961/review-the-imitation-game/) The True Story of The Imitation Game ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3609585/the-true-story-of-the-imitation-game/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3609585/the-true-story-of-the-imitation-game/"},"headline":"The True Story of The Imitation Game","datePublished":"2014-11-28T17:43:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:26:34.522Z","description":"What's fact and what's fiction in the Benedict Cumberbatch film about the man who cracked the Nazi's code","url":"https://time.com/3609585/the-true-story-of-the-imitation-game/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc97907f19f7462b/698766a5f887dc5d80e88234/imitation-game.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc97907f19f7462b/698766a5f887dc5d80e88234/imitation-game.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"THE IMITATION GAME","caption":"THE IMITATION GAME","creditText":"Jack English—© 2014 The Weinstein Company. 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