red-eyed Soviet soldier with a bayoneted tommy gun breaks into their house), and that they will have to kill them or be sent to a concentration camp. Hilda humorously suggests offering a cup of tea to them, saying that "Russians like tea". The Soviet military never comes however. Hilda, whose symptoms are worsening, encounters a rat in the dried toilet, which frightens her severely. Her encounter with the rat, as well as her worrying symptoms - bloody diarrhoea (which Jim says is haemorrhoids), and her bleeding gums (which Jim says is caused by ill-fitting dentures) - cause her to be become slightly more suspicious of her impending fate. Jim still tries to comfort her, still optimistic that he may be able to get medications for her from the chemist. After a few days, the Bloggs are practically bedridden, and Hilda is despondent when her hair begins to fall out, after vomiting, developing painful sores and lesions. Either in denial, unaware of the extent of the nuclear holocaust, or unable to comprehend it, Jim is still confident that emergency services will eventually arrive, but they never do. Hilda is subliminally aware of her fate, and suggests getting back into the paper sacks. Jim, now losing the last of his optimism, agrees to Hilda's suggestion. The dying Jim and Hilda get into the paper sacks, crawl back into the shelter, and pray. Jim tries reciting several different prayers as well as Psalm 23, but, forgetting the lines, starts to read "The Charge of the Light Brigade." The line "into the valley of the shadow of death" distresses the dying Hilda, who weakly asks him not to continue. Finally, Jim's voice mumbles away into silence as he finishes the line, "...rode the Six Hundred..." Outside the shelter, the smoke and ash-filled sky begins to clear, revealing the sun rising through the gloom. At the very end of the credits, a Morse code signal taps out "MAD", which stands for mutual assured destruction. Cast Peggy Ashcroft as Hilda Bloggs John Mills as Jim Bloggs Robin Houston as Radio 4 Announcer James Russell as Additional Voice David Dundas as Additional Voice Matt Irving as Additional Voice Reception When the Wind Blows received positive reviews, currently having an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 8 reviews. Critic Barry Lappin called it "Absolutely brilliant.... It was very subtly done but the message more than gets through