ladbible homepage
ladbible homepage
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK
    • US
    • World
    • Ireland
    • Australia
    • Science
    • Crime
    • Weather
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV
    • Film
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • Netflix
    • Disney
  • Sport
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Money
  • Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content Here
  • SPORTbible
  • Tyla
  • GAMINGbible
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • FOODbible
  • UNILAD Tech
Disclaimer had to be shown before 'one of most depressing and scary films' that's on TV for fourth time ever tonight

Home> Entertainment> Film

Updated 17:30 9 Oct 2024 GMT+1Published 17:29 9 Oct 2024 GMT+1

Disclaimer had to be shown before 'one of most depressing and scary films' that's on TV for fourth time ever tonight

Newsnight's John Tusa warned 'some of the scenes which follow may distress you'

Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

A film which has been described as 'one of most depressing and scary films' ever needed to have a disclaimer shown prior to airing on TV.

Now if I were to ask you to name the most 'depressing and scary' film ever, it's likely the response would be a gruesome slasher film or a psychological horror. But what if I told you real life could be a lot more horrifying than blockbuster gore?

In fact one film set in the 1980s Sheffield had a disclaimer playing before which warned viewers that 'scenes which follow may distress you'.

You can watch the trailer below:

Advert

Originally airing on BBC2 in 1984, TV film Threads imagines a hypothetical scenario in which a nuclear bomb is dropped near a NATO base in Sheffield after all-out war erupts between the Soviet Union and the USA.

The film then follows what life after a nuclear attack would look like for the average person, including food shortages, healthcare being overwhelmed, leading to an eventual breakdown of law and order.

The film ends on an equally grim note, with the British population dropping to levels not seen since the medieval ages and survivors existing by subsistence farming.

Considering the over-saturation of the apocalypse drama genre in the past couple of decades, Threads may not sound particularly horrifying nowadays.

But to people living during the Cold War, the spectre of a nuclear winter was a very real thing.

The BBC were concerned enough about public hysteria that they ended up airing a disclaimer before playing the film for the first time.

Threads will air for its fourth time tonight (BBC)
Threads will air for its fourth time tonight (BBC)

Introduced by former BBC Newsnight presenter John Tusa, the journalist explained how the long-term effects of a 'nuclear winter' was an idea which was only finding its way into public consciousness, adding that such event would 'threaten the survival of the survivors' due to 'sub-zero temperatures' and nuclear fallout.

Going on to introduce Threads as a 'fictional' drama, Tusa added: "How would ordinary people survive the impact of the blast and the conditions that scientists say would result from a nuclear exchange?

"Threads is a drama - the characters and the events are fictional, and it deals with something that has never happened."

He continued: "But it draws on a vast amount of scientific information amassed over the last 40 years, on the likely effect and destructive power of nuclear war.

"Some of the scenes which follow may distress you."

Despite the heavy subject matter, Threads has a strong critic reaction, going on to winning several BAFTA awards in 1985.

Threads will air on BBC Four at 10.20pm.

Featured Image Credit: (BBC)
Brenna Cooper
Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper is a journalist at LADbible. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in History, followed by an NCTJ accredited masters in Journalism. She began her career as a freelance writer for Digital Spy, where she wrote about all things TV, film and showbiz. Her favourite topics to cover are music, travel and any bizarre pop culture.

X

@_brencoco

Recommended reads

Brutal footage shows moment pickup truck crushes $250,000 Lamborghini with driver inside(Instagram/@1realramon)Men took car ‘owned by criminals’ to WeBuyAnyCar to see if they’d buy it(Kennedy News and Media)Epstein survivor opens up about moment she was presented with schoolgirl uniformLADbible StoriesArmed suspect who stormed White House Correspondents' Dinner charged with attempted assassination of the presidentUS President Trump via Truth Social/Anadolu via Getty Images

Advert

Choose your content:

9 hours ago
10 hours ago
  • Channel 4
    9 hours ago

    Health condition that stopped 'cursed' Virgin Island participant having sex explained

    Joy tells LADbible her time on Virgin Island taught her that she is 'not broken' because of the condition

    Entertainment
  • ITV
    9 hours ago

    I'm A Celeb All Stars voting percentages revealed after Adam Thomas wins explosive live final

    Adam Thomas was at the centre of a hectic I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! South Africa final

    Entertainment
  • Channel 4
    10 hours ago

    Virgin Island participants hit back at claims they're being 'groomed' and 'exploited' by Channel 4

    One says the idea the therapists on Virgin Island 'groom' the young adults is 'absolutely not the case'

    Entertainment
  • Kevin Kane/WireImage
    10 hours ago

    Everything Macaulay Culkin has said about Michael Jackson relationship as film avoids abuse allegations

    Culkin and Jackson were friends, meeting when the Home Alone star was 10

    Entertainment
  • 'One of the most depressing and scary films ever made' is being shown on TV for only the fourth time ever tonight
  • Viewer shares warning about 'one of most depressing and scary films ever made' after it airs for fourth time ever
  • BBC to air 'harrowing' controversial film banned for 20 years for just the second time ever tonight
  • How to watch 'one of most depressing and scary films ever made' for free