Jesus Christ, They've Done It - The Threads Podcast

This episode, I speak to Professor Sue Vice – Threads researcher at the University of Sheffield.

We talk about deleted scenes, spiritual defiance, and why Threads might be a gothic story.

Sue is Emeritus Professor of English Literature and her interests lie in the areas of contemporary literature, film and Holocaust studies. Her books include Barry Hines: ‘Kes’, ‘Threads’ and Beyond, with David Forrest, and Claude Lanzmann’s ‘Shoah’ Outtakes: Holocaust Rescue and Resistance.

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Before Mick Jackson made Threads, he made a documentary called QED: A Guide to Armageddon, which was shown by the BBC in 1982. Everyone’s favourite Dr Vicky McMahon returns to tell us all about QED and how it relates to Threads. I talk about what it was like to watch Threads on the big screen and we also chat about the exciting release of Survivors: The Spectre of Threads.

You can watch QED: A Guide to Armageddon on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN9iI-gMqa4

I’m Chas Newkey-Burden and when I watched the nuclear war film Threads at the age of 11 it terrified me and changed my life forever.

I started this podcast to speak to other people whose lives have been changed by Threads, from cast and crew members, to extras, broadcasters, authors and super fans.

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

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Giss’un! This week we hear from Marcus Lund, who played Gaz in Threads.

In the closing scenes of the film, two boys called Gaz and Spike appear in the desolate farm building where Jane is hiding and demand she gives them her dead rabbit.

Marcus talks about what it was like behind the scenes of Threads, the film’s destruction of memory and how to find the beauty in life.

Read more about what Marcus is up to now:

Custodia Borealis

Crowdfunder to To establish a Magic & Occult Museum in the North

Custodia Borealis on Facebook

Folk, Myth and Magick on Facebook

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The Threads podcast is back and it’s the Shag, Marry, or Kill episode!

Everyone's favourite Dr Vicky McMahon returns and we each choose a Threads character to shag, to marry and to kill.

Who would you choose?

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I'm Chas Newkey-Burden and when I set out on this podcast odyssey six months ago, my biggest dream was to interview Mick Jackson, the director of Threads.

Well, sometimes dreams come true. The other day I spent an hour chatting to Mick about Threads, his life and much more besides.

Enjoy!

Follow me on Insta: @AllThatChas

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The Day After is an American television film depicting the effects of a nuclear war on a small-town community in Kansas. It was broadcast in 1983. In this episode, I speak with the film's director. As well as directing several movies, Nicholas Meyer is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and an author. He talks about Thanksgiving meals with Oppenheimer, stormy times behind the scenes, and why the day after might have saved the world.

Follow me on Instagram: @AllThatChas

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In this episode, I speak with Catherine Taylor, who was an extra in Threads.

She’s written about her experiences on the set in her memoir The Stirrings – Coming of Age in Northern Time. It’s a story about a young woman’s experiences, and about the place and time that shaped her: the north of England in the 1970s and 80s.

We chat about the film, its lasting legacy and why it’s a metaphor for Thatcher’s own attack on northern cities like Sheffield.

PS - if you were involved in Threads, please get in touch. I'd love to chat!

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It's time for Threads in six scenes with Dr Vicky McMahon.

You asked for her to come back and here she is! The magnificent Vicky and me choose three scenes each from this nuclear war film and dive nice and deeply into them. Will your favourite scene be included?

Please tell your friends about the pod!

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‘I was 11 years old and I was trying to build a nuclear bunker.’

My previous guests on the pod have been Threads actors, crew members and super fans, but this time you’re getting me. This is my Threads story.

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Happy Christmas from the Threads podcast.

As we prepare to join Ruth and her wailing baby around the Christmas fire, I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who’s listened to and supported the podcast this year.

And my Christmas gift to you is an interview with Simon Moorhead, who was Assistant Floor Manager on the film.

So settle down with a mince pie or a pack of Prawn Cocktail crisps and prepare to go behind the scenes of Threads. Simon tells us about rats in taxis, a raid from the Special Branch, and the time Mick Jackson swapped two Christs and one bugger for a f**k.

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This week’s guest is a real treat. Dr Vicky McMahon is an independent scholar who specialises in body studies, 16th century literature and horror. She was 16 years old when she first watched Threads and she credits it with stoking her lifelong obsession with dystopian literature and film.

She’s a committed socialist feminist, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, an actor, poet playwright and director. She holds a PhD from the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, and her monograph, Shakespeare, Tragedy and Menopause: The Anxious Womb, was recently published by Palgrave Macmillan.

In our conversation about Threads, we talk about the film’s gender politics and body horror, and she explains why Mick Jackson is a God. I think that Vicky’s depth, emotional intelligence and humanity put this conversation on another level. I hope you enjoy it too.

Instagram: @AllThatChas

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If you’ve watched Threads, you remember the hospital scene. It is a scene of hell. Well, this week’s guest was there! Bruce Langridge was an extra in that gory part of the film. He talks about his experience with Threads, post-nuclear activism in the 1980s, and the joy of free sandwiches.

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I’m Chas Newkey-Burden and when I watched the nuclear war film Threads in 1984 at the age of 11 it terrified me and changed my life forever.

I started this podcast to speak to other people whose lives have been changed by Threads, from cast and crew members, to extras, broadcasters, authors and super fans.

Welcome, to Jesus Christ, They’ve Done it.

In this episode we hear from Sean Judge, who started the Facebook group Threads Survivors. He also runs a nuclear YouTube channel and he makes models of the iconic Threads traffic warden.

But when he first watched the film he had months of sleepless nights and threw his VHS copy in the bin. He talks about how he went from that, to becoming a Threads superfan, and how watching the film partly influenced his interesting career path.

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m Chas Newkey-Burden and when I watched the nuclear war film Threads in 1984 at the age of 11 it terrified me and changed my life forever.

I started this podcast to speak to other people whose lives have been changed by Threads, from cast and crew members, to extras, broadcasters, authors and super fans.

This week, we hear a few extra bits from my interview with Jane Hazlegrove, who played Alison Kemp. There's also a few bits of news about the pod.

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Email: chasnb@gmail.com

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m Chas Newkey-Burden and when I watched the nuclear war film Threads in 1984 at the age of 11 it terrified me and changed my life forever.

I started this podcast to speak to other people whose lives have been changed by Threads, from cast and crew members, to extras, broadcasters, authors and super fans.

Welcome, to Jesus Christ, They’ve Done it.

This week I interview Dave and Pank, the hosts of the brilliant podcast “Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s.” They talk about how Threads influenced the 1980s music scene, which moments scared them most and which character they’d be in the film. Give their pod a listen - you’ll love it!

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

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‘You cannot win a nuclear war!’

But you can listen to episode three of the Threads podcast, which is out now.

This time, I speak with Maggie Ford, who played the unnamed CND activist in Threads.

She’s on screen for just 76 seconds of the film, but she’s always been one of my favourite characters because of her powerful speech and because she reminds me of the CND activists who took me under their wing when I joined at the age of 11, after I first watched Threads.

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

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This week, I have a chat with the glorious matriarch of Threads: Rita May, who played Mrs Kemp.

The mother of Jimmy, Alison and Michael, Mrs Kemp is one of the film’s most iconic characters.

For me, watching as a child from comfortable south-west London, she was a revelation. She was bold, working class and Sheffield to her core. Yes, she was a work of fiction, but she felt more authentic than most of the people I’d met in real life.

I chatted with Rita on the phone and she told me about the laughs she had on set, the tears she cried when she first watched the finished film, and the nuclear nightmares she had afterwards.

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m Chas Newkey-Burden and when I watched the nuclear war film Threads in 1984 at the age of 11 it terrified me and changed my life forever.

I started this podcast to speak to other people whose lives have been changed by Threads, from cast and crew members, to extras, broadcasters, authors and super fans.

Welcome, to Jesus Christ, They’ve Done it.

For this first episode I was joined by Jane Hazelgrove who played Alison Kemp. A star of countless TV shows including Casualty and Coronation Street, this is the first time Jane’s spoken about Threads.

She tells me what it was like to appear in such a terrifying film as a child, about the humour behind the scenes, and she finally reveals what happened to poor Alison after the bomb dropped…

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.