Threads (1984) (TV)

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writer:

Barry Hines

Release Date:

23 September 1984 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | War

Tagline:

The end of the world as we know it.

Plot:

Documentary style account of a nuclear holocaust and its effect on the working class city of Sheffield, England; and the eventual long term effects of nuclear war on civilization.

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear | Nuclear Holocaust | Nuclear War | Bomb | Birth

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Karen Meagher	...	Ruth Beckett
Reece Dinsdale	...	Jimmy Kemp
David Brierly	...	Mr. Kemp (as David Brierley)
Rita May	...	Mrs. Kemp
Nicholas Lane	...	Michael Kemp
Jane Hazlegrove	...	Alison Kemp
Henry Moxon	...	Mr. Beckett
June Broughton	...	Mrs. Beckett
Sylvia Stoker	...	Granny Beckett
Harry Beety	...	Clive Sutton
Ruth Holden	...	Marjorie Sutton
Ashley Barker	...	Bob
Michael O'Hagan	...	Chief Supt. Hirst
Phil Rose	...	Medical Officer
Steve Halliwell	...	Information Officer
Brian Grellis	...	Accommodation Officer
Peter Faulkner	...	Transport Officer
Anthony Collin	...	Food Officer
Michael Ely	...	Scientific Advisor
Sharon Baylis	...	Manpower Officer
David Stutt	...	Works Oficer
Phil Askham	...	Mr. Stothard
Anna Seymour	...	Mrs. Stothard
Fiona Rook	...	Carol Stothard
Christine Buckley	...	Woman in Supermarket
Joe Belcher	...	Shopkeeper
David Major	...	Boy in Supermarket
Maggie Ford	...	Peace Speaker
Mike Kay	...	Trade Unionist
Richard Albrecht	...	Officer at Food Depot
Ted Beyer	...	Policeman
Dean Williamson	...	Policeman
Joe Holmes	...	Mr. Langley
Andy Fenn-Rodgers	...	Patrol Officer
Graham Hill	...	Soldier
Nigel Collins	...	Soldier
Jerry Read	...	Looter (as Jerry Ready)
Dennis Conlon	...	Looter
Greta Dunn	...	Woman at Hospital
Nat Jackley	...	Old Man in Graveyard
John Livesey	...	Street Trader
Victoria O'Keefe	...	Jane
Lee Daley	...	Spike
Marcus Lund	...	Gaz
Lesley Judd	...	Newscaster
Colin Ward-Lewis	...	Newscaster
Paul Vaughan	...	Narrator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patrick Allen	...	Public Information Film Announcer (uncredited)
Ed Bishop	...	US President (voice) (uncredited)
Lee Cambell	...	Dead Boy Under Gate (uncredited)
Ingrid P. Frehley	...	Woman with Dead Baby (uncredited)
Anne Sellors	...	Woman Who Wets Herself (uncredited)
Michael Shale	...	Man who has leg amputated (uncredited)

Directed by
Mick Jackson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Barry Hines

Produced by
Mick Jackson	....	producer
Graham Massey	....	executive producer
John Purdie	....	executive producer
Peter Wolfes	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Andrew Dunn
Paul Morris

Film Editing by
Donna Bickerstaff
Jim Latham

Production Design by
Christopher Robilliard

Costume Design by
Sally Nieper

Makeup Department
Carol Gibbs	....	makeup assistant
Derek Lloyd	....	makeup assistant
Jan Nethercot	....	makeup designer
John Humphreys	....	burn effects (uncredited)

Production Management
Matthew Kuipers	....	production manager
Jacinta Peel	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pennie Bloomfield	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Andy Coward	....	graphic designer
Dorothy Elliott	....	prop buyer

Sound Department
John Hale	....	dubbing mixer
Graham Ross	....	sound recordist
Simon Muir	....	assistant dubbing mixer (uncredited)
Martin Simpson	....	assistant dubbing mixer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Graham Brown	....	visual effects assistant
Peter Wragg	....	visual effects

Stunts
Dorothy Ford	....	stunts

Other crew
Eric Alley	....	programme advisor
Pennie Bloomfield	....	assistant floor manager
Duncan Campbell	....	programme advisor
Eric Chivian	....	scientific advisor
John Coggle	....	programme advisor (as Dr. John Coggle)
George Crossley	....	scientific advisor
John Dawson	....	programme advisor (as Dr. John Dawson)
Elizabeth Downie	....	production assistant
John Erikson	....	scientific advisor
Peter Goodwin	....	scientific advisor
David Holloway	....	programme advisor (as Dr. David Holloway)
Arthur Katz	....	programme advisor (as Dr. Arthur Katz)
Robert Jay Lifton	....	scientific advisor (as Robert J. Lifton)
Alan Longman	....	scientific advisor
Michael McElroy	....	scientific advisor
Simon Moorhead	....	assistant floor manager
Norman Myers	....	scientific advisor
Wendy Plowright	....	production assistant
George Rathjens	....	scientific advisor
Joseph Rotblat	....	programme advisor (as Prof. Joseph Rotblat)
Carl Sagan	....	scientific advisor
Philip Steadman	....	scientific advisor
Richard Turco	....	scientific advisor
George Woodwell	....	scientific advisor

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• Nine Network Australia
• Western-World Television Inc.

Distributors

• 2 Entertain (2005) (UK) (DVD) (re-issue)
• BBC Video (1987) (UK) (video)
• BBC Video (2005) (UK) (DVD) (re-issue)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (1984) (UK) (TV) (original broadcast)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2003) (UK) (TV)
• CKVU-TV (1985) (Canada) (TV)
• Distribuidora Internacional de Filmes (DIF) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Global Television Network (1985) (Canada) (TV) (CKND-TV) (Winnipeg)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1985) (USA) (TV) (select stations)
• Revelation Films (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) (1980's) (USA) (TV)

Also Known As:

"Catástrofe Nuclear" - Brazil
"Fonalak" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Ipotesi sopravvivenza" - Italy (imdb display title)
"Kun maailma loppuu" - Finland

Runtime:

Brazil:110 min

Country:

UK | Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Dolby Digital (DVD Release)

Certification:

Australia:M (video rating) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Buxton, Derbyshire, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

US television magnate Ted Turner wanted to air this film on TBS, his cable TV network, but couldn't find a sponsor. He decided to broadcast the film out of his own pocket.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just after the policeman delivers the secret letter to Clive Sutton, he calls his secretary and starts to read off the names of the people he wants to see in his office. The piece of paper in the close-ups is different from the one we see in the long shot.

Quotes:

[as a mushroom cloud rises in the distance]
Bob:Jesus Christ! They've done it... They've done it!

Movie Connections:

Features Protect and Survive (1976)

Soundtrack:

Johnny B. Goode

Shocking yet extremely realistic nuclear-war telemovie...

As with most other reviewers who saw this movie, I too have had shocking images burned into my brain that I will never forget.

I first saw this when I was in 8th grade. Our teacher showed us the first half but then she went on sick leave and for some reason, we never got to see the rest of the film. Most of the other students didn't really care, but for years I've always wondered how the movie turned out.

Well I recently rented this after I saw it at video store I just signed up at and all I can say is, "Oh my God." Although captivating, this movie is shockingly and frightfully sickening in the most humane way possible. It focuses on the threat of a nuclear war that is imposed on the residents of an industrial town in Britain, "Sheffield". The nuclear war will affect all of Britain and penultimately, the rest of the world, but we focus on several different characters and families that reside in Sheffield.

We spend the first half of the movie focusing on people in every day life situations which lead into reports of a nuclear war scare and finally, widespread panic in society that results after it becomes apparent that a nuclear war WILL most likely occur.

The halfway point of the movie is the nuclear explosion itself. We see buildings explode, bodies incinerate and perhaps the end of the world as we may all know it.

The second half of the movie focuses on the aftermath of the nuclear devastation and the collapse of a working society. I can't even begin to name all of the horrors that are examined to great detail. We witness cannibalism, famine and disease. We particularly follow the exploits of one character, 'Ruth', pregnant with a child before the nuclear war, we witness the birth of the 'nuclear generation', and particularly, the exploits of her daughter once she is exposed to what world and life has become.

When the credits rolled, my brain couldn't tell me to find the remote and press stop. It was too busy filtering through all the images and 'what if' scenarios that were running through my brain after watching "Threads". I realise that at the time of this movie's initial release, nuclear war was a possible threat. It is now almost 16 years later and this movie still has enough power and grist to tell and show you that ANYTHING 'nuclear' is wrong.

This is a movie every school child should be forced to watch. I admit that it may induce nightmares, but this is a movie that has a message that MUST be received.