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!

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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.

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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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