Digital Drama was commissioned by English Heritage to deliver Forewarned is Forarmed ROC 100, a multi-faceted project at York’s Cold War Bunker to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC).
We produced a panel discussion as part of York Festival of Ideas (see below), recorded new oral histories with people who served in the ROC and ran a series of community zine and collage-making workshops in Acomb and at York Explore.
York’s Cold War Bunker was the venue for an immersive audio drama, exploring the choices that the Cabinet of 1982 might have to make in a time of Cold War crisis through the war simulation exercise WINTEX/CIMEX, undertaken by civil servants of the British Government at the time.
Access to the full audio drama WINTEX will be available here in spring 2026.
On 12 June 2025 as part of York Festival of Ideas, Digital Drama produced Pressure Waves: Role playing the end of the world, a live event featuring a drama performance and expert discussion panel. This marked the launch of English Heritage’s Forewarned is Forearmed: ROC 100 project commemorating the centenary of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC). Directed by Kate Valentine, actors Niall Costigan, Mick Liversidge, Kate Newall and Mark Stratton performed dramatised extracts from a real 1983 government transition to war gaming exercise, WINTEX-CIMEX. This exercise involved senior civil servants playing the parts of ministers to test how they would deal with an escalating state of national emergency when faced with the threat of nuclear war. The National Archives commissioned Digital Drama in 2019 to adapt WINTEX-CIMEX for audio and we were delighted to bring it to a live audience for English Heritage. The event also featured an expert panel including Dr Will Butler (The National Archives), Kevin Booth (English Heritage) and Tim Kitching (Royal Observer Corps Association), discussing the ROC and its civilian volunteer workforce’s significant role in civil defence during the Cold War.
