Editing Threads (1984 film) (section)

===Retrospective===
{{quote box|align=right|width=33%|quoted=1|''Threads'' works on the viewer with a peculiar power: one finds oneself horrified, fascinated, numbed, provoked, unsettled, made restless. Its power may be the effect of its oscillation between form and content being so heavily weighted toward the pole of content—in this case, that threat of nuclear destruction which cannot help but feel 'real'--so that we are unable to relax into ''Threads'' as 'just' a movie.|Professor Andrew Bartlett of [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]]<ref name="anthropoetics">{{cite journal |last=Bartlett |first=Andrew |year=2004 |title= Nuclear Warfare in the Movies |url=http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap1001/bartlett.htm |journal=Anthropoetics |publisher=[[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] |volume=10 |issue=1 |issn=1083-7264 |access-date= 5 January 2014 |archive-date=28 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160628091918/http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap1001/bartlett.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
Retrospective reviews have been very positive. On [[Metacritic]], the film has a score of 92 based on 5 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim",<ref>{{cite web |title= Threads |website= metacritic.com | publisher= |url= https://www.metacritic.com/movie/threads|access-date=28 April 2019|archive-date=9 January 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190109233917/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/threads|url-status=live}}</ref> whilst it has a [[Rotten Tomatoes]] score of [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|100%]] based on 10 reviews (with an average score of 8.90/10). The critical consensus reads: "An urgent warning against nuclear conflict, ''Threads'' is a chilling hypothetical that achieves visceral horror with its matter-of-fact presentation of an apocalypse".<ref name=rt/>

[[Peter Bradshaw]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' called the film a "masterpiece", writing: "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".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/oct/20/threads-the-film-that-frightened-me-most-halloween|title=Threads: the film that frightened me most|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|date=20 October 2014|work=The Guardian|access-date=28 April 2019|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=8 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508005618/https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/oct/20/threads-the-film-that-frightened-me-most-halloween|url-status=live}}</ref> Sam Toy of ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' gave the film a perfect score, writing that "this British work of (technically) [[science fiction]] teaches an unforgettable lesson in true horror" and went on to praise its ability "to create an almost impossible illusion on clearly paltry funds".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/threads/review/|title=Threads|last=Toy|first=Sam|date=1 January 2000|website=Empire|access-date=28 April 2019|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410113004/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/threads/review/|url-status=live}}</ref> Jonathan Hatfull of ''[[SciFiNow]]'' gave a perfect score to the remastered DVD of the film. "No one ever forgets the experience of watching ''Threads''. [...It] is arguably the most devastating piece of television ever produced. It's perfectly crafted, totally human and so completely harrowing you'll think that you'll probably never want to watch it again." He praised the pacing and Hines' "impeccable" screenplay and described its portrayal of the "immediate effects" of the bombing as "jaw-dropping [...] watching the survivors in the days and weeks to come is heart-breaking".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scifinow.co.uk/reviews/threads-remastered-dvd-review-this-is-the-way-the-world-ends/|title=Threads remastered DVD review: this is the way the world ends|website=SciFiNow|date=11 May 2018 |access-date=18 February 2019|archive-date=19 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219130119/https://www.scifinow.co.uk/reviews/threads-remastered-dvd-review-this-is-the-way-the-world-ends/|url-status=live}}</ref> Both ''[[Little White Lies (magazine)|Little White Lies]]'' and ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' have emphasized the film's contemporary relevance, especially in light of political events such as [[Brexit]].<ref name="lwl">{{Cite web | url= https://lwlies.com/articles/threads-bbc-nuclear-war-drama/ | title=Discover the post-apocalyptic nightmare of this landmark social drama | access-date=13 May 2020 | archive-date=21 October 2020 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201021194516/https://lwlies.com/articles/threads-bbc-nuclear-war-drama/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=AVClub>{{Cite web | url=https://www.avclub.com/threads-served-up-a-bleakly-british-depiction-of-our-im-1819231394 | title=Threads served up a bleakly British depiction of our impending nuclear doom | website=[[The A.V. Club]] | date=10 October 2017 | access-date=13 May 2020 | archive-date=5 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805061431/https://www.avclub.com/threads-served-up-a-bleakly-british-depiction-of-our-im-1819231394 | url-status=live }}</ref> According to the former, the film paints a "nightmarish picture of a Britain woefully unprepared for what is coming, and reduced, when it does come, to isolation, collapse and medieval regression, with a failed health service, very little food being harvested, mass homelessness, and the pound and the penny losing all value".<ref name="lwl" />

Michael Beecroft, then forty-four years old and working as a genuine traffic warden to make ends meet, was cast as a traffic warden guarding an improvised detention camp.<ref name="bbc-20240516" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Bryson |first=Julia |access-date=6 May 2025|date=14 May 2024 |title=Threads: Man who played traffic warden sought by film-makers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-69009910 |website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> Even though he only appears for approximately thirty seconds in the finished film, [[Film still|still photography]] of his bandaged, [[L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle|rifle]]-wielding character was used to publicise the film's initial release (including a prominent appearance on the front cover of the 22-28 September 1984 issue of ''[[Radio Times]]''<ref name=coldwarorgukthreads />), has regularly appeared in subsequent promotional material including the cover artwork on home video releases, and has endured in the popular memory to the point of an action figure being made<ref name="bbc-20240516" /> and people dressing up as the character for Halloween and [[Fan convention|convention]] [[cosplay]]s.<ref name=":1" /> Beecroft's identity was unknown until 2024, when he was found by [[BBC Radio Sheffield]] as a result of a social media campaign by Craig Ian Mann (who made the making-of documentary accompanying the United States Blu-Ray release) and his co-writer Robert Nevitt;<ref name=":1" /> during the subsequent conversation with Mann, Beecroft was "gobsmacked" and "totally amazed" by the popular reaction to his brief role.<ref name="bbc-20240516" />

In April 2025, it was announced that [[Warp Films]], which had recently been involved with the critically and popularly successful miniseries ''[[Adolescence (TV series)|Adolescence]]'', had acquired the option to develop a serialised adaptation of ''Threads''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ritman |first1=Alex |title='Adolescence' Producer Warp Films Adapting Apocalyptic 1984 Feature 'Threads' Into TV Drama |url=https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/adolescence-warp-adapting-1984-film-threads-tv-1236361563/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=7 April 2025 |date=7 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Molina-Whyte |first1=Lidia |title=Threads reboot confirmed as Adolescence team adapts cult hit for TV |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/threads-film-tv-reboot-confirmed-adolescence-newsupdate/ |website=[[Radio Times]] |access-date=7 April 2025 |date=7 April 2025}}</ref>