Threads (1984)

Threads (1984)
Director: Mick Jackson
== Plot Synopsis ==
The effects of a nuclear holocaust on the working class city of Sheffield, England and the eventual long-term effects of nuclear war on civilization.
== Male Deaths ==
* Reece Dinsdale [Jimmy Kemp]
== Female Deaths ==
* Jane Hazlegrove [Alison Kemp]
* Karen Meagher [Ruth Beckett]
== Trivia ==
# In the aftermath of the nuclear blast, footage of a cat supposedly "suffocating" outside in the extreme heat is shown. This is actually footage of a cat enjoying a hefty dose of catnip, then they just reversed the film to give the impression of the cat suffocating (the way the cat is rolling on the ground is the giveaway).
# While shooting the movie, the BBC got in trouble with local police when they detonated a large smoke bomb in order to simulate a nuclear explosion. Members of the public, who were not aware that a movie was being shot, panicked and thought that a real explosion had occurred.
# Findings from the 1980 British Government exercise "Square Leg" were used as the basis for projecting the level of destruction and number of casualties in the movie. "Square Leg" was a government project that estimated what would happen in Britain in the event of an actual attack. It projected the mortality rate at 29 million, serious injuries at 7 million and short term survivors at 19 million.
# In the film a Salvation Army brass band is seen marching down a street during a demonstration. This was not scripted,the band was returning from an "open air" service and had unexpectedly marched in on the filming. The director loved the unexpected interruption and kept the cameras rolling.
# 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.
# Mick Jackson consulted various sources in his research, including the 1983 Science article Nuclear Winter: Global Consequences of Multiple Nuclear Explosions, penned by Carl Sagan and James Pollack. Details of a possible attack scenario and the extent of the damage were derived from Doomsday: A Nuclear Attack on the United Kingdom (1983), while the ineffective post-war plans of the UK government came from Duncan Campbell's 1982 exposé War Plan UK.
# Mick Jackson subsequently travelled around the UK and the US, consulting leading scientists, psychologists, doctors, defence specialists and strategic experts in order to create the most realistic depiction of nuclear war possible for his next film.
# Mick Jackson initially considered casting actors from Coronation Street (1960), he later decided to take a neorealist approach, and opted to cast relatively unknown actors in order to heighten the film's impact through the use of characters the audience could relate to.
# Mick Jackson later recalled that while BBC productions would usually be followed by phone calls of congratulations from friends or colleagues immediately after airing, no such calls came after the first screening of Threads. Jackson later "realised... that people had just sat there thinking about it, in many cases not sleeping or being able to talk." He later said that he had it on good authority that Ronald Reagan watched the film when it aired in the US. Screenwiter Barry Hines himself received a letter of praise from Labour leader Neil Kinnock.
# Sheffield was chosen as the main location because of its "Nuclear-free zone" policy, as mentioned in the article about the nickname "People's Republic of South Yorkshire".
# In portraying the psychological damage suffered by survivors, Mick Jackson took inspiration from the behaviour of the Hibakusha and Magnus Clarke's 1982 book Nuclear Destruction of Britain.
# Mick Jackson hired Barry Hines to write the script because of his political awareness. The relationship between the two was strained on several occasions, as Hines spent much of his time on set, and apparently disliked Jackson on account of what he perceived to be Jackson's middle class upbringing. However, Jackson has stated that he was from the same working class background, and that, while there were tensions between them, they were "creative tensions" that complemented the movie.
== Gallery ==
Karenmeagher.jpg|Karen Meagher
Category:1984 Films
Category:Films directed by Mick Jackson
Category:British Films
Category:Apocalypse Films
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