Threads TV Remake Coming From Adolescence Producers Warp Films

Horrifying. Moving. Powerful. Game changing. These are just some of the words you've likely heard — or even used yourself — to describe Netflix's lacerating recent four-part drama Adolescence. They're also words that British lovers of film and television have been using for over forty years to describe Mick Jackson's seminal TV movie Threads, a no less shocking and no less audacious piece of filmmaking starring Reece Dinsdale that offered a docu-style look at what may happen in the event of a nuclear attack on Britain. It makes today's news then that Threads is to be remade as a series by Warp Films, the producers of Adolescence, cause for anticipation (and bone-deep fear) rather than concern.

Having long championed British working class voices and narratives with projects like This Is England, The Virtues, Yardie, and Dead Man's Shoes, Threads is a perfect marriage of producer and project for Warp Films — and the responsibility of honouring the legacy of such a landmark piece of British filmmaking isn't lost on the company either. "Threads was, and remains, an unflinchingly honest drama that imagines the devastating effects of nuclear conflict on ordinary people," said Warp Films founder Mark Herbert in a statement shared by THR. "This story aligns perfectly with our ethos of telling powerful, grounded narratives that deeply connect with audiences. Reimagining this classic film as a TV drama gives us a unique opportunity to explore its modern relevance.”

“Renowned for its groundbreaking portrayal of a fictional apocalypse, Threads offers a harrowing depiction of life in nuclear war-era Britain, set in Sheffield,” Warp Films as a collective said in an accompanying statement. “This adaptation will explore prescient issues through rich, character-driven storytelling. The original film’s chilling account immerses viewers in the struggles of ordinary people facing unimaginable hardship.”

With the recent release and acclaim of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, Denis Villeneuve's own upcoming plans to adapt Anni Jacobsen's terrifying A Nuclear Scenario into a feature, James Cameron's Last Train From Hiroshima film on the horizon, and the current political climate bringing nuclear anxiety back to the foreground of the public consciousness, to call a remake of Threads timely would be something of an understatement. But while we don't yet know when we'll see this take on Barry Hines' landmark book, who'll be in it, or what form exactly it will take, we do know something for certain: it's never too late to start hiding behind the sofa. Get all your sleeping in now folks, because there'll be none of that for a good while once this one, er, explodes onto our screens.