BBC viewers cant sleep over bleak drama and say everybody in the world must see this film
BBC viewers have been responding with both praise and warnings of trauma after a rare repeat broadcast of nuclear apocalypse drama Threads - with many saying they would now struggle to sleep.
BBC viewers have been responding with both praise and warnings of trauma after a rare repeat broadcast of nuclear apocalypse drama Threads - with many saying they would now struggle to sleep.
The programme, first shown in September 1984, has been described as unremittingly bleak and the most harrowing drama ever after playing on BBC Four last night and being made available on BBC iPlayer - as viewers also suggested that everybody in the world must see this film.
The Bafta-winning drama, written by Kes author Barry Hines, depicts the horrifying consequences of a nuclear attack on the city of Sheffield after a US-backed coup in Iran triggers retaliation by the Soviet Union.
Gruesome scenes include characters suffering severe burns and radiation sickness, while buildings are demolished and communities descend into anarchy.
Dozens of those who watched back in 1984 were so shaken that they called the charity Samaritans for support - and social media posts after last nights screening suggest the drama retains the power to shock those tuning in.
A scene from 1984 BBC drama Threads, repeated on BBC Four last night, which depicted the impact of a nuclear attack on the city of Sheffield
Gruesome scenes include characters suffering severe burns and radiation sickness, while buildings are demolished and communities descend into anarchy
The Bafta-winning drama, first shown in 1984, has been broadcast this week for only the fifth time on the BBC
Viewers have been sharing their responses to last nights broadcast on X, formerly Twitter, including thoughts on how harrowing it was and potential struggles to sleep afterwards
Among the actors appearing in the programme was future Coronation Street star Reece Dinsdale, who alerted his social media followers to the repeat showing.
He posted on X, formerly Twitter: Tonight on BBC FOUR #Threads In Sheffield… no one can hear you scream!
Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman was among those tuning in, posting afterwards: Well I hope a whole new generation watched #Threads @BBCFOUR4 tonight and are now unable to sleep or think about anything else.
I just watched it again and still as in awe and horror as I was when I first saw it as an early teen. Magnificent TV.
Others discussing the potential impact on peoples thoughts when heading to bed included Gemma Scott, who wrote: To those watching #Threads for the first time tonight on BBC4….sleep well!
Other comments included I regret watching Threads for the first time before bed and Threads is quite frankly one of the most distressing yet brilliant films you will ever see but don’t watch it if you want to sleep tonight.
Another X user called it Possibly the most harrowing drama Ive ever seen, while Lianne Pritchard wrote: 40 years and still one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen.
Other comments included: Everyone always comments on how unremittingly f***ing bleak it is but that really doesnt prepare you for how unremittingly f***ing bleak it is.
Oliver Pritchard said today: Waking up the morning after seeing #Threads for the first time… Like all great art, shakes you to the core and makes you see the world in a new way. While the kitchen sink (antithesis of Hollywood) context makes it all the more terrifying.
This is the moment in Threads that a nuclear weapon hits the city of Sheffield
A scene from BBC drama Threads showing anti-nuclear weapons protests before the blast
Actor Reece Dinsdale, who starred in Threads, and former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman are among many who have been posting on social media about the new broadcast
Joe Stodge posted: Just watched threads on BBC4, I have never seen a film that is so depressing and bleak in my life. Actually wasn’t prepared for how bleak it was.
Other remarks included Threads was amazing and still is and As a child I was obsessed with/petrified of the Cold War in equal measure. So I guess it’s inevitable I unlock that fear by watching Threads again on @BBCFOUR4 now.
Chris Leigh remarked: Well, that was as horrific as when I first saw it in the 80s. And the saddest part is that, after decades of the threat seeming to almost disappear, its now apparently returning once again.
One viewer wrote: Watching "Threads" from 1984. Quite disturbing - everyone should watch, most of all world leaders.
And another commented: Well I managed to watch about 20 minutes of #Threads the rebroadcast BBC Cold War drama but I really wasn’t up for a full retraumatisation.
I think I suffered enough watching it the first time as a #coldwarkid in the 1980s. At that time nuclear armageddon felt far too possible.
In the drama, Sheffield is chosen as a target because of its size - with a population at the time of 545,000 - as well as its proximity to a NATO airbase and an RAF communications centre.
The programme is set both before the attack and 13 years after it, and follows the lives of two families, the Kemps and the Becketts who try to survive the aftermath as society and order breaks down.
Actor Reece Dinsdale is pictured here portraying the character Jimmy Kemp in Threads
Co-stars Rita May and David Brierley are seen here in Threads as Mr and Mrs Kemp
Threads featured demonstrators calling for nuclear disarmament, at a time when the Cold War was still raging
Ahead of the harrowing programme airing for the first time back in 1984, the Daily Mails first-look piece said the show would probably go down in television history as the most chilling drama documentary to be shown on BBC.
It added: But be warned: You will see the whole fabric of society disintegrate as thousands starve or die from burns or radiation sickness.
Looters risk their lives for a crust of bread. No one cars and no one shares - even a crust. Humans degenerate to become savages, tearing flesh from dead sheep to survive.
The show was made with the help of around 600 people from the Sheffield area who worked as extras - and when they were invited to a private viewing, many were shocked at what they saw.
One woman told the BBCs Look North programme: When I was doing it, it was just a good laugh, you know? I didnt really think about what it would likely be like to see it, and when you see it its a lot different - its very disturbing.
A spokesman for the Samaritans said of the viewers who phoned for support: Many of them said they had not realised just how terrifying a nuclear attack was and they had been extremely shocked by the programme.
Some were very shaken indeed. It was not surprising that some people felt they needed to talk to someone about it.
The BBC said that they had also received calls from viewers after the programme finished, with some demanding to know why the show had been made at all.
The Ministry of Defence even got involved, with a spokesman saying: The programme showed the effects of a nuclear war would be horrific.
The Daily Mail reported in 1984 how traumatised viewers phoned the charity Samaritans
Preview coverage ahead of the first broadcast described it as a savage bomb drama
The show was made with the help of about 600 people from Sheffield who worked as extras
In the drama, Sheffield is chosen as a target because of its size - with a population at the time of 545,000 - as well as its proximity to a NATO airbase and an RAF communications centre
Campaigners against nuclear weapons are shown protesting in scenes from the programme
But there is no question of NATOs policy being anything other than deterrence.
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament criticised Threads for not giving people a bit more positive direction about the sorts of things they could actually do.
The Mails 1984 review praised the production, saying it was concerned not so much to entertain as to instruct and warn us of a terrible day to come.
However, it added: One of the clear lessons of Threads is that ordinary people will be hopeless and powerless when the bomb falls.
