Editing GCHQ (section)

== In popular culture ==

In the historical drama film ''[[The Imitation Game]]'' (2014) [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] portrays [[Alan Turing]] in his efforts to break the Enigma code while employed by the Government Code and Cypher School.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/15/benedict-cumberbatch-imitation-game-bletchley-park|title=Benedict Cumberbatch to inspire the next generation of codebreakers|last=Thorpe|first=Vanessa|date=15 November 2014|work=The Observer|access-date=6 December 2014|archive-date=3 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141203191423/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/15/benedict-cumberbatch-imitation-game-bletchley-park|url-status=live}}</ref>

GCHQ have set a number of cryptic online challenges to the public, used to attract interest and for recruitment, starting in late 1999.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/601960.stm|title=Puzzling entrance to world of spies|work=[[BBC News]]|date= 13 January 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://abcnews.go.com:80/sections/world/DailyNews/britspy000114.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010522053526/http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/britspy000114.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 May 2001|title=The Spy Who Solved Me|date=15 January 2000|author=Caroline Byrne|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|access-date=12 March 2021}}</ref> The response to the 2004 challenge was described as "excellent",<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/3877907.stm|title=Huge response to spy base puzzle|work=[[BBC News]]|date= 10 July 2004}}</ref> and the challenge set in 2015 had over 600,000 attempts.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12141189/GCHQ-quiz-solution-the-full-answers-but-can-you-understand-them.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12141189/GCHQ-quiz-solution-the-full-answers-but-can-you-understand-them.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=GCHQ quiz solution: the full answers – but can you understand them?|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=4 February 2016|author=Gordon Rayner}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It also published the ''GCHQ Puzzle Book'' in 2016 which sold more than 300,000 copies, with the proceeds going to charity. A second book was published in October 2018.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/03/i-spy-another-fiendishly-difficult-gchq-puzzle-book|title=I spy ... another fiendishly difficult GCHQ puzzle book|date=3 August 2018|author=Ewen MacAskill|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=20 January 2019|archive-date=21 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121064748/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/03/i-spy-another-fiendishly-difficult-gchq-puzzle-book|url-status=live}}</ref>

GCHQ appeared in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' 2019 special "[[Resolution (Doctor Who)|Resolution]]" where the [[Dalek variants#Reconnaissance Scout Daleks|Reconnaissance Scout Dalek]] storms the facility and exterminates the staff in order to use the organisation's resources to summon a [[Dalek]] fleet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-dalek-gchq-response/|title=The U.K. Government's GCHQ has issued an official response to the Dalek attack in the Doctor Who New Year Special – no need to panic!|work=[[Screen Rant]]|last=Bacon|first=Thomas|date=2 January 2019|access-date=15 February 2020|archive-date=15 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215023706/https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-dalek-gchq-response/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/doctor-who-resolution-review/|title='Resolution' Proves All the New 'Doctor Who' Needed Was an Old Villain|work=[[/Film]]|last=Bui|first=Hoai-Tran|date=2 January 2019|access-date=15 February 2020|archive-date=15 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215023704/https://www.slashfilm.com/doctor-who-resolution-review/|url-status=live}}</ref>

GCHQ is the setting of the 2020 [[Sky One]] sitcom ''[[Intelligence (British TV series)|Intelligence]]'', featuring [[David Schwimmer]] as an incompetent American [[NSA]] officer liaising with GCHQ's Cyber Crimes unit.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.soglos.com/music/48347/GCHQ-sitcom-Intelligence-starring-David-Schwimmer-airs-on-Sky-One|title=GCHQ sitcom Intelligence starring David Schwimmer airs on Sky One|publisher=So Glos|date=3 September 2020|access-date=3 September 2020|archive-date=28 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928165315/https://www.soglos.com/music/48347/GCHQ-sitcom-Intelligence-starring-David-Schwimmer-airs-on-Sky-One|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2020, intelligence and security expert John Ferris published [[Behind the Enigma|''Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain's Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency''.]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=GCHQ's history told for the first time in Behind the Enigma |url=https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/gchq-s-history-told-for-the-first-time-in-behind-the-enigma |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=www.gchq.gov.uk |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325094002/https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/gchq-s-history-told-for-the-first-time-in-behind-the-enigma |url-status=live }}</ref>

GCHQ is the setting of the 2022 [[Channel 4]] drama ''[[The Undeclared War]]''. Set in the near future, it depicts a work experience student at the government agency during a cyberattack on the UK and the implications.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/undeclared-war-first-look-simon-pegg-exclusive-newsupdate/|title=The Undeclared War first look teases tense Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance series|first=Lauren|last=Morris|date=15 June 2022|accessdate=16 June 2022|website=[[RadioTimes.com]]|archive-date=15 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615145720/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/undeclared-war-first-look-simon-pegg-exclusive-newsupdate/|url-status=live}}</ref>