[Greg]

Hi

Did anyone see Threads on BBC4 last night.

I can't remember it being that graphic and disturbing when I watched it at school about 11 years ago.

The threat of Nuclear war is almost gone these days but imagine watching this during the eighties.

Fortunately I went to bed before they starting cutting the guys leg of with a rusty saw with no painkillers. Thats the only bit that I remember that was really disturbing from watching it at school, plus the woman wetting herself as the bomb hit.

Very disturbing programme.

Greg

[Mr.D]

caught a little of it by accident.
yep its a real nasty. Woman holding burnt baby....jeez.

Its amazing how soon we forget what it was like up until the mid 80s. Even as a kid I remember thinking that there was probably going to be a nuclear war at some point in the next 5 years. I even had a rucksack in my cupboard with some survival gear in it just in case.

My father in law whom I never met; was a borderline survival nut: filled the cellar in his house with tins of breaded sausages and bulk toilet rolls ( the toilet roll probably had more nutritional value). My wife's family had to eat breaded sausages regularly over the next 10 years to get rid of the things ( I'd have chucked em!)

I much prefer the version where punk rockers in souped up bangers try to kill each other with pointy objects whilst crashing cars every couple of minutes.

[Joe Pineapples]

BAST!! - i've been waiting to see this again - missed it!!

[Bristol Pete]

Threads when I was a kid and I spent nights crying myself to sleep as I was truly terrified by the thought of nuclear war.

I am a 31 year old bloke now and if ever anyone asks me what the scariest film I have ever seen is, then I always say threads.

Cap ban the bomb !

[mrmcdean]

Tht film will stay with you forever !!

A friend of mine bought it when it went on sale a couple of years ago, god knows why, its very well made etc. but would you want to watch it over & over ??!!

Repeated Saturday night/Sunday morning,BBC4.

1220 am

[Greg]

I may have to tape that and watch it in full.

Don't think I will be watching it just before I go to sleep though!

Greg

[Paden]

Originally posted by Jer
Repeated Saturday night/Sunday morning,BBC4.

1220 am

Jer

The DVD of this is really hard to get for some reason so I'll be recording it as well.

Cheers, Paul

[Joe Pineapples]

Repeated Saturday night/Sunday morning,BBC4.

yep, thanks a lot

[dsw182]

Small but interesting little BBC page about it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/cinema/.../threads.shtml

I came it at the end of it on Wednesday. I had never seen it before (only 2 years old when it was first broadcast). It got me hooked, so I must see it on Saturday.

Originally posted by GregHook

The threat of Nuclear war is almost gone these days but imagine watching this during the eighties.

Watched the repeat the other night. It was harrowing. Some of the more distressing images keep returning to me unawares and I find myself vigorously shaking my head as if I could thus rid my brain of such nightmarish visions.

I have to say, some might disagree with you there, Greg. For example, the first thing my Dad said to me after 9/11 was: "I reckon you'll see the end of the world in your lifetime, son." Which was a sobering thought...

[Joe Pineapples]

the first thing my Dad said to me after 9/11 was: "I reckon you'll see the end of the world in your lifetime, son."

you've got a nice cheery dad there , but i reckon he's possibly right

Oh My Goodness !!!!!!!!!!!

I remember watching Threads when I was 6 or 7 years old... I was in the Lake District on Holiday staying at a B&B.... I remember my mum and dad had gone out and the owners of the B&B kindly agreed to babysit myself and my younger brother (who was 2 at the time)

So here we where, it was 1984 and we sat down to watch any old common all garden drama on our beloved BBC (of course there wasnt any sky or cable TV then)

I was soon to find out that we werent just watching any old drama at all...

Threads unfolded on the little TV screen and before long the bombs were dropping as was my jaw !!!!!

Sleepless nights followed !!!!


20 years passed by....and even though Threads had become a distant yet horrifying memory... I still couldnt comes to terms with the idea of watching it again should I ever get my hands on it...

I was suddenly to find out that I couldnt actually get my hands on it at all because it came out on DVD for a short time back in 2000 I think and then vanished.....

Now if you want to buy a copy your best bet is Ebay.... but for crying out loud, you can expect to bid up to £75 -£100 for a copy !!!!!! which I most certainly am not prepared to do.... and what's worse is that the DVD itself has nothing on it !!! no extras !!! no nice menu screens !!! no lovely full motion chapter selection etc..... Until NOW... Yep !! a friend of mine works for a DVD authoring company in London and he was actually responsible for some of the production of the original Threads DVD...

But like most products made availible to the average consumer, they go through test phases... sometimes many different versions of a product are produced before a final one is selected for mass production...its the same for DVD's....

And did you know that the director Mick Jackson was consulted over a special edition version of the Threads DVD, yet the damn BBC chose the most basic format for cost reasons, hence crappy presentation and no extras.

But it just so happens that my friend slipped me a most 'ultra rare' collectors edition of Threads on DVD...... so rare that only about 10 at most were produced (for the in-house marketing dept.) The DVD itself had something like 7 different versions made.. yet boring old BBC stuck to the crappiest one !!!

My version (which is still very much a prototype) is presented beautifully with a full motion main menu screen (subtle but harrowing) with ghostly sounds of Clare-de Lune (which features in the film if I'm not mistaken)

The Chapter selection is again full motion with video clips of each chapter playing in the background...

For extra features they threw on the 1980 Government issue 'Protect and Survive' booklet on 'how to survive a nuclear attack' which is approx 22 pages long (and quite interesting.)

Even the cover design is slightly different (go to the link below to have a look)

[Link to illegal DVD-R removed by admin. Warning - don't promote pirated DVDs on the AV Forums.]


So forgive me for being a boaster...... but I thought you people might like to know and if nothin else get a little inside info on DVD authoring houses...

cheers.

[Rasczak]

Note to oneself: always check the dates of posts such as these - otherwise one ends up set to record a programme at 0100 in the morning 7 months too late After having told several people that 'Threads' was on TV 'tonight' I just don't feel stupid enough

[Miyazaki]

Me too mate. I even had a kip this arvo so I could stay up and watch it this evening

[Zaichik]

I bought Threads when it first came out on DVD. It is just as disturbing and shocking as I remember, and much more convincing in its portrayal of a nuclear war than "The Day After", which turned into some kind of fantasy acid trip at the end!

I was browsing Amazon UK recently and noticed that "Theads" is getting a DVD re-release on September 5th, 2005. It's getting distributed by the Cinema Club this time round, instead of Meridian Entertainment. I have no idea whether it will be the same version as the 2000 release, or whether its been remastered,etc. Perhaps someone can find out. Its been 20 years since it aired and maybe it would be good to have a documentary on its original impact when first screened.

[Joe Pineapples]

Excellent drama, and set only 18 miles away from me.

maybe it would be good to have a documentary on its original impact when first screened.

what would be interesting for them to cover, would be how (and if) anything has changed in government guidelines on what to do in the even of an attack, - is it still 'prop a door against a supporting wall' and whistle rule britannia

[dUnKle]

Originally Posted by Rasczak

Note to oneself: always check the dates of posts such as these - otherwise one ends up set to record a programme at 0100 in the morning 7 months too late After having told several people that 'Threads' was on TV 'tonight' I just don't feel stupid enough

Your not alone mate

[M_Harding]

Its for sale at http://rrrrare.com/store/threads-1984-tv-p-28.html. Don't know if this is a pirate DVD site.

[Miniholic]

Been waiting for this to get a reissue - was ready to set the video too. This really shook me up when I watched it as a kid - must have been around 9 or 10 at the time. The only scenes I really remember are the woman wetting herself and the mushroom cloud visible from the moor (main shopping area for anyone who doesn't know Sheffield). IIRC the BBC showed a few similar programmes over the course of a week or so.

I think the worst thing for me was the fact that it was set so close to home (Doncaster) which made it seem more real to me, as we used to visit Sheffield quite regularly.