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Guest cdp206

Hi all,

You can watch the entire 1hr 47mins of it here: http://video.google.. without it being in thirteen parts, as on Youtube.

Some good questions regarding locations. Barker's Pool is certainly one, in the anti-war demo.

Chris

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I know the story (read all the reviews at the time) but could never bring myself to watch it simply because it was Sheffield and it was well publicized in advance that it was Sheffield.

I also found "The Last Train" disturbing for similar reasons (watched that without seeing any previews so had no idea what it was about!). Guess I'm a sentimental old fool who doesn't like seeing his home town destroyed for any reason.

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I saw Threads only once 20-odd years ago, I think my brain has shut out all the disturbing and heart-breaking scenes and left me with this one memory which to me is so precious. Do you remember it? (Some of the dialogue might not be exact) A young lad bursts into the corner shop and shouts "Mam, Russians 'ave dropped a bomb. Dad says yer 'ave to cum 'ome" I love it because it is SO Sheffield. Dad, sitting in his armchair watching telly sends the lad down to' shop to get Mum because when there's a crisis she'll organise everything, she'll know what to do. Even if they drop an atom bomb.

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I know the story (read all the reviews at the time) but could never bring myself to watch it simply because it was Sheffield and it was well publicized in advance that it was Sheffield.

I also found "The Last Train" disturbing for similar reasons (watched that without seeing any previews so had no idea what it was about!). Guess I'm a sentimental old fool who doesn't like seeing his home town destroyed for any reason.

Isn't it strange that Sheffield was chosen as the prime target for a nuclear attack?

Why?

Surely London would have been the main target of any attack on this country.

Then again, the world of news reporting works in strange ways.

If the BBC had 2 news stories to report, -

Item 1)

Pre-emtive nuclear attack made on London, entire Greater London area destroyed, 13 million killed, expected to rise rapidly with radiation sickness and fallout.

Item 2)

David Beckham leaves Manchester United and signs for A.C. Milan

Then I am sure that the BBC, being the BBC, would attach far more importance to item 2 and report that first as the news headline.

Great thing about the football World Cup this year wasn't it, - according to the BBC news reports there were no British troops lost in Afghanistan during the entire World Cup! Suprising really as just before and after the contest we were losing about 3 troops per day.

It's all down to the poor handling of how important various items of news are.

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Guest Chapeltowner

I recall some scenes were shot in Hillsborough,near the bottom of Park side Road at the junction with Penistone road.

There were some old houses that have since been demolished.The area is now an industrial estate i believe,just before the leisure centre when heading towards Owlerton.

My Dad and Brother were on one of the roads changing a wheel on the car.They were told to leave asap as filming was about to start.I was told by my Dad that he can be seen in the background,but i havnt seen the film to confirm this.

Pubs like The Victoria,Royal and Sportsman no doubt kept the film cast and crew in supply of food n drink.

Craig.

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I remember watching this film the first time around and I was extremely horrified by the stark brutality and chilling implications of it's content, as both the Soviet Union and the Cold War were still very much a reality at that time.

I have never watched the film again since, but I would imagine that it could not have the same impact now as it did back then, as the chances of an East-West nuclear conflict are now much much more remote than they were back then.

I do remember that the mushroom cloud pictured from down The Moor was supposed to represent a Soviet, Nuclear First Strike on RAF Finningley [now Robin Hood Airport] which was a "front line bomber command base" "back then" and which would almost certainly have been a prime target in any pre-emptive strike, as would have been the RAF command and control centre in nearby Bawtry.

I also seem to remember that the "attack" on Sheffield when it came, was supposed to represent part of the second stage escalation of any such nuclear war, when followup strikes would have been made on stragegically important, but, none military targets, such as large population centres, major industrial complexes [which we since seem to have managed to destroy ourselves, without any help from the Soviets], communication hubs, etc, etc.

A very gritty and a very thought provoking film and for me, one of the best portrayals of the horrors of nuclear war.

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Guest Deejaysnr

The location of some of the film was also in the old Royal Infirmary which is now Tesco. My Wife, mother-in-law, sister & brother - law and many of the St Johns Ambulance Sheffield Branch were all extras in that location. B) Deejaysnr

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at 29.25 mins

This was filmed on Hawksley Road at Hillsborough. I know, because the black car in it is my husband's and he couldn't go to work, because they'd already done so many shots, so for continuity he had to be at work late!! That's his claim to fame!!

When we watched it, we had to laugh, because all the cars turning left to escape were actually going down a dead end!!

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at 29.25 mins This was filmed on Hawksley Road at Hillsborough. I know, because the black car in it is my husband's and he couldn't go to work, because they'd already done so many shots, so for continuity he had to be at work late!! That's his claim to fame!! When we watched it, we had to laugh, because all the cars turning left to escape were actually going down a dead end!!

Welcome to SheffieldHistory Annn.

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Guest CJax kid

Agree about it being better first time around Watching it now it's very grimy, gritty and dark as well as slow But back then...

Would agree that the impact of the film was far greater at the time. I was near enough 18 years old back then and it really got me going the wrong way..it made you' think what if?'...without going too far from the sheffield theme, other films have the same effect. 'On the beach' (1959) with gregory peck, 'When the wind blows' animated film with the voices of John Mills and peggy ashcroft is dreadful to watch..and I remember a U.S drama being show in this country about the effects of nuclear war on a u.s town. The scene where a base ball match is interrupted by minute man missiles taking off bound for russia from the local military base is particularly memorable. Cannot remember for the life of me what it was called though. The day after threads was broadcast everyone was talking about it at work, A lass that I worked with told me that in the middle of the night she was so scared thinking about it that she got in the car and drove to her mum and dads house and stayed over night!! I will give it another viewing..and see if I start digging my fall out shelter in the morning!

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Guest CJax kid
Would agree that the impact of the film was far greater at the time. I was near enough 18 years old back then and it really got me going the wrong way..it made you' think what if?'...without going too far from the sheffield theme, other films have the same effect. 'On the beach' (1959) with gregory peck, 'When the wind blows' animated film with the voices of John Mills and peggy ashcroft is dreadful to watch..and I remember a U.S drama being show in this country about the effects of nuclear war on a u.s town. The scene where a base ball match is interrupted by minute man missiles taking off bound for russia from the local military base is particularly memorable. Cannot remember for the life of me what it was called though. The day after threads was broadcast everyone was talking about it at work, A lass that I worked with told me that in the middle of the night she was so scared thinking about it that she got in the car and drove to her mum and dads house and stayed over night!! I will give it another viewing..and see if I start digging my fall out shelter in the morning!
the U.S drama was called 'the day after'....watch all four films back to back and feel utterly depressed...awesome!!
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But I bet you never saw this bit in threads.

Having received a 4 minute warning from Fillingdales that a nuclear strike on the City is incoming, the City council having signed up to the MAD pact (Mutually Assured Destruction) takes the decision to launch its own nuclear missile from a secret underground silo in Casle Square, set to strike Moscow within a further 4 minutes.

That was the frightening thing about the cold war, - the way it could escalate in such a way that no one could possibly win or gain by it.

OK, in a war there are never any real winners, only losers, but in this type of war everyone stood to lose absolutely everything with no peace or future of any sort beyond it.

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Guest Paul Roberts

Happened to stumble across this thread so a little late adding to it, but thought id post :)

The school with kids playing around the school yard, in the earlier part of the film, was filmed at hillsborough school - i know this cause im in the yard somewhere playing :) I remember the day well, with cameras dotted about the place. I can name most of the kids in that scene!

As already said some of the scenes were filmed in and around hillsborough. The newsagents that crops up (can't remember at which point), was mr ridges newsagents, on penistone road to the right of swan mortons (though was demolished not long after when they widened the road and blocked borough road off from penistone).

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I watched this the other night again

It's so bleak. like REALLY bleak

Starts off dark, then gets darker, then gets bleak and dark

 

lol

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On 16/02/2013 at 22:08, Paul Roberts said:

Happened to stumble across this thread so a little late adding to it, but thought id post :)

The school with kids playing around the school yard, in the earlier part of the film, was filmed at hillsborough school - i know this cause im in the yard somewhere playing :) I remember the day well, with cameras dotted about the place. I can name most of the kids in that scene!

As already said some of the scenes were filmed in and around hillsborough. The newsagents that crops up (can't remember at which point), was mr ridges newsagents, on penistone road to the right of swan mortons (though was demolished not long after when they widened the road and blocked borough road off from penistone).



Do you know roughly when it was filmed at the school?

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I've never seen the film, but I was one of the extras running about on the Moor etc.

My wife at the time was on a course at the Poly (as was), part of which was taught by Barry Hines, and he'd asked the students  for volunteers.

So we appeared on the Moor and took part in that bit of the filming, and also a scene at the City Hall. If I remember correctly it was a rally by some spokesman, (can't remember who in the film) with a  big crowd of extras on the steps, and the (actors) police arrived. The crowd were asked to jostle them as they pushed through the crowd, but they were a bit too enthusiastic with their jostling and filming had to stop to calm things down.

I can't remember the year, but obviously it must have been before it was shown on TV. We never saw it because we were on holiday abroad at the time but I do remember new arrivals at the resort who had seen it saying how harrowing it was.

I do appear fleetingly in the scene posted above.

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I remember this film coming out in the eighties, it terrified me to be honest . I have recently bought it and it still does but I feel some parts of the film are cut. Some of my friends from school appeared in the protest scenes and with the after effects of the bomb.

Can anyone remember when the bomb hit that it blew up Sheffield's water tower?

Not a film for the feint hearted, but a film you will never forget.

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I seem to recall that the then derelict Royal Infirmary building was used for some scenes and also some of the houses on Rustlings Road opposite Endcliffe Park.

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On 11/02/2007 at 17:21, Sheffield History said:

THREADS

threads.jpg

Documentary style account of a nuclear holocaust and it's affect on the working class city of Sheffield, England; and the eventual long run affects of nuclear war on civilization.

 post-1-1171214722.jpgshef_scenery_470x352.jpg

It is the mid-1980's, during the Cold War. Ruth Beckett & Jimmy Kemp, residents of the town of Sheffield, England, are planning for their upcoming marriage and birth of their first child. Sheffield is home to a major R.A.F. base and has a major industrial base of steel, energy & chemical production. But the Soviet Union marches troops into Iran, in a plan to convert it to a Soviet satellite state.

The United States, Great Britain, and other members of NATO and the U.N. angrily condemn the Soviet aggression and military activity in England starts to mount, especially at the nearby R.A.F. base.

The families of Ruth & Jimmy go about their daily business, paying little attention to what is going on in Iran. One spring day, without warning, the Soviet Union attacks England with ICBMs - two of which hit Sheffield, annihilating most of the city and its inhabitants.

But what is even more horrifying is the aftermath that follows - a world without public order, clean food, water, electricity, or the ability to produce any of them. Ruth struggles for more than 10 years just to stay alive in this horrible, barren, radioactive homeland...

 

threads-sheffield-film-movie.jpg

 

Sheffield-Threads-Film-Movie1.jpg

 

 

EXACT FILMING LOCATIONS

The Moor - Sheffield City Centre

IMDB Entry - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/

GOOGLE VIDEO Entry - http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=...88&hl=en-GB

BUY THE DVD - http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/681257/Threads/Product.html

Do you know the exact locations where the film was shot ?

If so - please let us know - post below so we can add to the list and get some pictures of what the area looks like today.

The pub scene where Jimmy is having a conversation was filmed at Nottingham House above the children’s hospital. I remember seeing the pub name etched in the window glass.

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This barn (situated on Clodhall Lane near Baslow) crops up 3 times in the film, including when Jane (Ruth's daughter) is accosted by a pair of youths (Gaz and Spike)  and shortly afterwards where she's seen grappling on the floor. Its also seen silhouetted on the horizon as Ruth struggles to find cover to give birth. Sorry that there's no cinematic serenity to associate with this peaceful spot but that's the nature of the film.  I watched it aged 14 when it was first aired on Sunday 23rd September 1984 and have been equally fascinated and terrified of the whole thing ever since.    

Field Barn and Film Location on Clodhall Lane

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