One of the most influential films about nuclear war ever made.

The 2-disc special edition DVD of the BAFTA-winning BBC Two docu-drama that shocked the nation in the 1980s. Written by Barry Hines and directed by Mick Jackson.  

The closest you will ever want to come to nuclear war. Written by Barry Hines (Kes) and directed by Mick Jackson (The Bodyguard).

The threads that hold together civilisation crumble in this intense and iconic docu-drama about a nuclear attack on a British city during the 1980s. First broadcast on BBC Two in 1984, Threads is still as ever relevant and shocking today.

Winner of four BAFTAs including 'Best Single Drama', the  film Threads  follows an ordinary Sheffield community as their lives are transformed following a nuclear attack. It follows the townsfolk as they struggle to survive a nuclear winter, and the years of that follow.

Ruth (Karen Meagher) and Jimmy (Reece Dinsdale) are happily planning their wedding and the rest of their lives together in Sheffield. Tensions are rising between Western powers and Russia, as the couple carry on with their wedding plans, blissfully ignorant of world events.

But with no warning Russia unleash two nuclear warheads over Sheffield, destroying the city and turning it in to a radioactive wasteland. The few survivors are reduced to living in animalistic, medieval conditions, scavenging for survival as they combat the starvation, disease, mental trauma and complete degeneration of human nature that nuclear winter brings.  

Originally broadcast at the height of the nuclear paranoia of the 1980s, it sent shock waves throughout the country, and arguably influenced the global political discourse on nuclear war. This was the first film to depict a nuclear winter and the long-term social and political consequences.This 2-disc set presents the original film remastered in 2k, available uncut for the first time in the UK.

Special Features

UK 2k Remaster from BBC CRI prints

DVD Audio Commentary with Karen Meagher (UK Exclusive)

DVD Audio Commentary with Mick Jackson

Disc 2

PDF of Radio Times articles and letters (UK Exclusive)

Documentary: Shooting the Annihilation

Documentary: Auditioning for the Apocalypse

Documentary: Destruction Designer

Documentary: Stephen Thrower on Threads

Restoration Comparison

What the Press Said:

"Brought Armageddon kicking and screaming into the nation's living rooms" - Charlie Brooker

"The most terrifying film of all time" - Vulture Hound

"Horrifying, moving and powerful. Watch it by yourself, late at night and never sleep again." - Empire Online

"Brilliant, informative and shattering" --Daily Express

"Immeasurably more terrifying than any fictional horror film ever produced, Threads is arguably the most emotionally shattering piece of speculative fiction ever committed to celluloid" --allmovie.com

"British television at its most provocative and powerful" cineoutsider.com

"Powerful and terrifying" britmovie.co.uk

Format: DVD
Discs: 2
Language: English (with English Subtitles)