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Threads

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Summary

Harrowing drama about the consequences of nuclear war, focusing on two Sheffield families in the days leading up to - and the years following - a direct hit on the city. First shown in 1984, the award-winning film pulls no punches in its depiction of the fallout. Reece Dinsdale and Karen Meagher star

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Review

Mark Braxton

A kind of insanity that no one ever wants to see happen might be the reason some stayed away from this infamous 1984 one-off drama. But those who watched it at the time — and nearly seven million did — have never forgotten it.

Threads came during a renewal of Cold War tension, in the same era as the similarly devastating Raymond Briggs book and film When the Wind Blows, and TV series Edge of Darkness. Depicting a nuclear strike on Sheffield and its chaotic aftermath, it was fastidiously researched by director Mick Jackson, who introduces tonight’s screening.

Its masterstroke was to locate the humanity — even at its apparent end — and that was down to screenwriter Barry (A Kestrel for a Knave) Hines.

It was shot in just 17 days, and its relatively confining budget was spent carefully on details that still haunt. It’s a tough watch, and was intended to be. If only it were mandatory viewing for world governments amid today’s escalating unease.

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7.9/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameRuth BeckettKaren MeagherJimmy KempReece DinsdaleMr KempDavid BrierlyMrs KempRita MayMichael KempNicholas LaneAlison KempJane HazlegroveMr BeckettHenry MoxonMrs BeckettJune BroughtonGranny BeckettSylvia StokerMr SuttonHarry BeetyMrs SuttonRuth HoldenBobAshley Barker

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Crew

rolenameWriterBarry HinesDirectorMick Jackson

Details

Released on

1984-09-23

Languages

English

Available on

video and DVD

Formats

Colour

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