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Documentary series · BBC

The Power of Nightmares

BBC television documentary series

Verification status: Imported automatically from public Wikidata and Wikipedia records; not yet reviewed by an editor. Fields we could not find are marked “Not verified”.

Research date: 2026-11-08

Synopsis

The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear is a BBC television documentary series by Adam Curtis. It mainly consists of archive footage, with Curtis narrating. The series was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom in 2004. It has subsequently been aired in multiple countries and shown at various film festivals, including the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

The film compares the rise of the neoconservative movement in the United States and the radical Islamist movement, drawing comparisons between their origins, and remarking on similarities between the two groups. More controversially, it argues that radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organisation, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is a myth, or noble lie, perpetrated by leaders of many countries—and particularly neoconservatives in the U.S.—in a renewed attempt to unite and inspire their people after the ultimate failure of utopian ideas.

The Power of Nightmares was praised by film critics in Britain and the United States. Its message and content have also been the subject of various critiques and criticisms from conservatives and progressives.

Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Key facts

Official title
The Power of Nightmares
Alternative titles
Power of Nightmares
Original release
2004-10-20 – 2004-11-03
Country of production
United Kingdom
Language
English
Genres
documentary film
Seasons
1
Episodes
3
Directors
Adam Curtis
Producers
Adam Curtis, Stephen Lambert
Production company
Not verified
Official website
Not verified
Official trailer
Not verified

Streaming

Listed service
BBC
Original or licensed
Original — public records list BBC as the original network or distributor (BBC Two, Netflix).
Available now in UK
Not yet checked
Available now in Ireland
Not yet checked
Available now in US
Not yet checked
Past availability
Not verified

Episodes, events and timeline

Episode titles, summaries, running times, key events and a timeline have not been researched for this series yet. We'll add them only once they can be checked against reliable sources.

Sources