Threads Reboot?
Nuclear Horror Reimagined for the 21st Century
I’ve only just heard that plans are afoot for a re-imagining of Threads, the stone cold nuclear docudrama from 1984 which has terrified everyone who’s ever watched it. The reboot will be coming courtesy of Warp Films - most recently seen grabbing headlines for Netflix’s Adolescence - but details regarding the project are currently scant. Rather than being a one-off episode, it appears that it will be a narrative TV series which explores prescient issues (whatever these are - woke radioactive sheep?)
But what do I think of the prospect of a modern update to Threads? One thing’s for certain, it’s almost impossible it will capture the emotional impact of the original Threads. Aside from Festen and Come and See, I’ve never watched anything which delivered as strong a gut-punch as Threads. It taps into a primal fear of losing all sense of security and the dark, gritty grain of its 16mm film only heightens the depressing helplessness at the core of Threads.
I’m not, however, going to claim that modern television is incapable of creating amazing art - some of the best television ever made has come in the last 10 years. It’s just that recapturing the original magic of someone else’s creation is difficult, especially when it’s so ingrained in the aesthetics and sensibilities of an era long since passed. Just look at the 2000s reinterpretations of Survivors and The Day of the Triffids - pure, unadulterated garbage.
So, the updated Threads, what can it offer? Hopefully, it’ll shy away from simply recreating the main narrative threads laid down by Barry Hines. Nothing will recapture the uneasiness of the original, but Hines teased at so many intriguing corners of the Threads universe - the traffic warden, the fate of Jimmy, the establishment of the wheezy, creaking society following the attack - that the potential for captivating television through rich characterisation and drama is there for the taking.
And if the whole reboot turns out to be a bigger disaster than that at the heart of the story, we still have the original to terrify us.
Threads. I always wonder what would happen if it was shown in fertility clinic waiting rooms.
I read this too and didn't see the point. We're all so used to end-of-the-world apocalypse scenarios being presented as an entertainment now (and watching the viewing figures fall off as soon as the initial thrill is over, Fallout, Walking Dead, L.O.U etc) I can't imagine how they would achieve the same impact as the original film. I listened to a recent podcast about the film/book of 'On The Beach' earlier, and the general consensus was that it was a 'failure' because it was too bleak, because the end of everything lacked dramatic potential...