Oscar-winning World War 2 ‘masterpiece’ is on BBC Two this weekend | Films | Entertainment

Last year marked the 80th anniversary of the first use of a nuclear weapon in war. During World War 2, US President Harry Truman ordered the detonation of an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and three days later, on Nagasaki.

The result was the deaths of between 150,000 to 246,000 people, mostly civilians. The Japanese surrendered to the Allies six days after the latter bomb, which was the last time a nuclear weapon was used in a conflict.

The atomic bombs were produced in secret during the Manhattan Project, which was directed by nuclear physicist J Robert Oppenheimer. After reading the 2005 biography American Prometheus, Sir Christopher Nolan adapted his life into the three-hour epic Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy in the titular role.