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The Guardian
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The time is right for it': Adolescence team to reboot nuclear war drama Threads
With several wars raging, powerful countries squaring up and the world seemingly tilting towards authoritarianism, it would seem a challenging time to expose television audiences to a notoriously bleak story of a British city experiencing the fallout from nuclear war. Yet a UK team of producers behind the global Netflix hit Adolescence believe it is precisely the right time to recreate Threads, a British film from the 1980s that had audiences weeping and horrified at its pitiless storyline. 'It feels really clear that all the news is getting a little scarier,' said Emily Feller, the chief creative officer at Warp Films, the Sheffield-based production company that co-produced Adolescence. 'In the last few years, we've seen more wars coming into our lives again … there has been talk over the last couple of years about various nuclear powers, and I think it feels incredibly prescient to be talking about it again.' The company is developing an episodic TV drama based on the original film, which was made by the British director Mick Jackson and written by the Kes author, Barry Hines. It proved controversial when it was first broadcast on BBC Two in 1984. Some viewers thought it was a documentary, while others argued its harrowing depiction of post-apocalyptic Sheffield should not have been aired at all. However, Mark Herbert, Warp's chief executive, who grew up near South Yorkshire city and remembers the impact Threads had on the country, said he hoped the remake would highlight 'the best of humanity and the worst of humanity' – which he regarded as another contemporary talking point. 'I was born in Doncaster,' he said. 'I grew up in a mining community, and Sheffield was about 15 miles away. I was 14, and I remember walking into school and everybody had seen it. People thought it was real. It had this real public-safety film vibe to it. They had budget limitations, so they had to use real public service and news footage. 'It's a different time now – we're 40 years on – but it feels like the time is right for it. There's also a bit of what people have brought up about our previous work, like This is England. Even the darkest stuff, it's got a huge heart to it. And I think there is a huge heart in Threads that we can explore. It feels like enough time has passed that we can take that original and do something a bit bold, original and fresh with it.' It is early days for the project. No writer, director or cast have been signed up or announced. But the Warp team believe Threads provides echoes of Adolescence, in the story's ability to display authenticity and heart in the most desolate of situations. With increasing concerns that British stories may be squeezed out of TV drama as broadcasters search for hits that work worldwide, the Warp team also believe Threads can be another project set in a British city capable of drawing global audiences. 'The way the original film was written and made, it absolutely had that voice of Sheffield,' Feller said. 'And I think that's the kind of place, again, where you find that very rounded heart to the storytelling.' There is no doubt taking on the project is a challenge. Jackson, who also produced the original film, said he suspected Threads was not enjoyable for most viewers – and should not have aimed to be. 'I feel very strongly that it shouldn't be entertaining,' he said. 'To use something as important as nuclear war as a vehicle for entertainment is quite, quite wrong.' Herbert said projects focusing on realistic characters in a recognisable urban setting would attract and challenge viewers. 'It's that authenticity,' he said. 'It really has to come from the page, from the characters. It's a bit like my favourite gangster series, Gommorah, which is so specifically Naples. Yet it's just mind-blowing – and then has characters that are different. 'I'm quite attracted to slightly outsider stories. For us, it's trying to think: how do we surprise someone next?'
BBC News
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Threads fans react to news of Sheffield remake 40 years on
Forty years after nuclear war film Threads shocked audiences, the production company behind hit TV show Adolescence have announced it is being remade as a TV series - but what do the people behind the original think?Set in Sheffield in 1984, the apocalyptic drama was directed and produced by Mick Jackson and written by Barry follows two families over 13 years as a war between the United States and the Soviet Union causes a nuclear film featured thousands of people from Sheffield who took part as extras. One of those was Rob Brown, who was 16 at the time."I had just left school and was going to college for drama and dance. A few of us from our class went down and helped out."It was like a low-budget film. I think it came out on early DVD, and you could only really get it from the library. "We just turned up on the day. We had a soup wagon and that was our wages for the day." Mr Brown says he was shocked to hear the show was being remade, but couldn't wait to see it."I wish them all the luck in the world to get it filmed in Sheffield - try and get Sean Bean in it - you never know," he says. He adds he thinks now, 40 years on, is the right time for a remake."Because of what's happening in Russia and other parts of the world it might be a good time to release it. "The technology might be better now too - it were good for its time, but it'd be better now." Rob Nevitt is the director of SURVIVORS: The Spectre of Threads, a documentary about the show celebrating its 40th anniversary. He says Warp Films - the production company behind Adolescence, BBC One show Reunion and This Is England - is the perfect choice for the remake."Warp Films are the natural successors to Barry Hines, who wrote the original Threads," he says."Warp have got this huge history in Sheffield and they've made some amazing productions, films and TV. So, if anyone's going to do it, they're the people to do it."He says Thread is an important part of the city's history and the remake "100%" has to be set in Sheffield"It's such a huge thing to people from Sheffield and it's a massive part of Sheffield's history so if you tried to take it elsewhere there would be uproar."For many people, Threads has stuck with them because of the brutal portrayal of the apocalyptic "facts" of a nuclear war, he says, and hopes that element of the remake will be upheld."It was so based on actual fact, because Mick Jackson who directed it had a background in science," he says. "He originally did the BBC science education programme called a Guide to Armageddon, which was all about the scientific facts of what a nuclear bomb would do to a city, so the way to do it is to take that fact and not make it too fictional."We talked to one of the advisers on the original production, and he said a nuclear bomb would be 100 times worse now in terms of the devastation caused, and the effects, if it dropped on Sheffield everywhere would be gone. "It's a grim prospect, but given the way the world is now, it becomes apparent that's it's a real threat again."We've interviewed extras who have said to us that now they see it they feel they should have never stopped worrying about it." David Lawrence is one of the authors of Scarred for Life, a series of books looking at the impact of 1970s and 80s pop culture - and producer of the spin-off says the original Threads was the "ultimate expression about the fear of nuclear war"."Where it was set is crucial. Everybody knows those streets, those buildings."I think seeing them get absolutely wiped out by a nuclear bomb is possibly more affecting."Seeing an ordinary city, a city that you know, is far more impactful - it grounds it in a reality, especially hearing voices, which are not received pronunciation, grounds it in the reality of most people."It's vital that successive generations are reminded of such horror so a remake is very timely and the message at its core is absolutely timeless especially as people don't seem to watch the news as much as they used to." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Adolescence executive producer shares excitement for Threads reboot
The head of a production company behind hit TV show Adolescence says remaking a 1980s nuclear war film will be the culmination of a 20-year dream. Sheffield-based Warp Films, which produced Netflix's hard-hitting drama, is to film a contemporary version of Threads - a "groundbreaking" portrayal of a post-apocalyptic South Yorkshire. Chief executive officer Mark Herbert says "nothing is off the table" for the reboot, which he says could include a mix of old and new characters."At the moment it's about finding the best writer and the best director and people to help us adapt it - that's what we are doing at the moment," he says. Threads, released in 1984 and written by Kes author Barry Hines, tracks the aftermath of an attack on Sheffield and had a profound effect on many who watched by documentary maker Mick Jackson, it was only broadcast a handful of times between its original transmission and its 40th anniversary last year."I watched Threads when I was a teenager, everybody was terrified by it," Herbert, who grew up in Doncaster, says."It was so well made and so real and so raw - when something has that much of an impact on you, you remember it forever." Herbert says Warp Films, creators of This is England and new BBC One drama Reunion, has been waiting for "the right time" to create a new version."When we started Warp over 20 years ago, I always had a thing that if there was anything I'd like to tackle as a remake, it would be Threads," he says."In the original there was no internet, no mobile phones, it was a different city. "I think we will have to reflect what the city is like now."While he remains tight-lipped about the potential cast, he says the TV series could stretch over four to six hopes it would "delved deeper" into some of the characters, but stresses he wants it to stay true to the original."Threads terrified me, so it won't be an easy watch, but at the same time I want it to have more hope and humanity."Discussing the time frame, Herbert says the new version was "a while away"."Even with a gust of wind, we'd be lucky to be shooting in two years from now," he says. He says the daunting prospect of remaking Threads has parallels with the challenges of capturing Adolescence. "Adolescence terrified me because it was [filmed in] one shot and I was so worried - if something goes wrong at 50 minutes, you start again."It's scary and it's a challenge, but I think that's the best way to start something."Since its release on 13 March, the acclaimed drama has become the most talked-about show of the year so far."You have no idea when you are making something like Adolescence that it would have such an impact globally," he says."I'm overwhelmed but really happy." Herbert says the show "hit a nerve" as a parent, adding: "When I was a kid, my mum and dad worried about where I was going and who I was hanging out with."Now they can be in their bedrooms and looking at content that's really bad."Among the millions of viewers were Herbert's own three children, who have known Adolescence actor Stephen Graham since they were toddlers."One of my daughters sent me pictures of her in tears after the first and the fourth episode," Herbert says."I think they are really pleased and proud of it and it's amazing for them to know that all their mates are talking about it."Asked if the Threads remake would also be shot in one continuous take, he replies: "Absolutely no chance."Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Adolescence team to remake Threads nuclear attack epic
Warp Films, the maker of worldwide hit TV show Adolescence, is to develop a series based on 1980s nuclear war film Threads, it has Sheffield-based firm plans to turn the 1984 movie, which tracks the aftermath of an attack on the city, into a TV film, written by Kes author Barry Hines, has gathered a cult following for its bleak storyline and vivid portrayal of a post-apocalyptic South Yorkshire.A spokesperson for Warp described the 112-minute original as "groundbreaking" and added: "This adaptation will explore prescient issues through rich, character-driven storytelling." Warp founder and chief executive Mark Herbert confirmed to BBC Sheffield that the firm had obtained the rights to Threads for a new version."Threads was, and remains, an unflinchingly honest drama that imagines the devastating effects of nuclear conflict on ordinary people. This story aligns perfectly with our ethos of telling powerful, grounded narratives that deeply connect with audiences," he told the Radio on a low budget and directed by documentary maker Mick Jackson, who would later go on to helm Hollywood blockbuster The Bodyguard, Threads managed to horrify people at a time when nuclear war seemed a very real a kitchen sink drama focused around a young couple in Sheffield, the film showed society breaking down as nuclear winter sets was only shown a handful of times between its original transmission and its 40th anniversary. It is now available on to the BBC in 2023, actor Reece Dinsdale, who played the film's central character Jimmy, said the film had a special screening in Sheffield in front of 500 people before it was shown on TV."There was complete silence and all you could hear was various people sobbing around the room," the actor recalled."People blame me to this day for scarring them for life."People say it is the most scary thing they've ever seen in their life and remains so to this day." Warp, which also created the This is England film and TV series, is also behind the BBC One drama Reunion, which began on has become the most talked-about show of the year so far after it launched on 13 first episode was watched by 6.45 million people in its first week, according to ratings body is the biggest audience for any streaming TV show in the UK in a single week, beating the 6.3 million who watched Fool Me Once on Netflix in January won praise from critics, viewers and politicians for its hard-hitting story of a 13-year-old boy who is arrested on suspicion of murdering a girl from his school, with the drama made more intense by filming each episode in a single cast, including newcomer Owen Cooper as young Jamie, and Stephen Graham as his dad, have received plaudits for their performances. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Team behind Netflix's Adolescence set to remake 'one of the scariest films ever made' shown on TV just four times
The team behind Netflix's Adolescence are teaming up once again, and this time they're looking to remake 'one of the scariest films ever made'. The show, starring Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper, has become one of Netflix's most successful ever, already sitting at ninth overall among English-speaking shows on the streamer. The producers behind Adolescence have not waited long to release their newest projects, with a BBC revenge thriller from the team behind the series releasing today (7 April) on BBC iPlayer. Clearly striking while the iron is hot however, it was also announced today that Warp Films, the production team behind the Netflix hit, would be making a TV version of Threads. Threads, the Sheffield filmed movie from 1984, is so disturbing that it has only been shown on TV four times in the last 41 years. A TV movie made by the BBC, Threads pictured a shockingly realistic possible future of what would happen if Nuclear war were to break out. The movie has been widely referred to as 'one of the scariest and most disturbing films' ever. Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian's senior film critic, called Threads the movie that 'frightened [him] most', going on to say: 'The only film I have been really and truly scared and indeed horrified by - in an intense and sustained way - is Mick Jackson's post-nuclear apocalypse movie Threads. 'It wasn't until I saw Threads that I found that something on screen could make me break out in a cold, shivering sweat and keep me in that condition for 20 minutes, followed by weeks of depression and anxiety.' The film sits at a perfect 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and was so unsettling for viewers at the time that it came with a disclaimer from a BBC journalist. The disclaimer informed people watching that it was fictional, saying: 'How would ordinary people survive the impact of the blast and the conditions that scientists say would result from a nuclear exchange? 'Threads is a drama - the characters and the events are fictional, and it deals with something that has never happened.' Now, Threads is set to be made into a TV mini-series, with a spokesperson for Warp Films calling the original 'groundbreaking'. Regarding the TV remake, they said: 'This adaptation will explore prescient issues through rich, character-driven storytelling.' Warp's founder Mark Herbert spoke to Radio Times following the news, calling the 1984 war film 'an unflinchingly honest drama that imagines the devastating effects of nuclear conflict on ordinary people'. He went on to add: 'This story aligns perfectly with our ethos of telling powerful, grounded narratives that deeply connect with audiences.' Unlike Adolescence, I can't see this one playing in schools nationwide.
