Threads: Extra in 'most terrifying film', made in Sheffield, explains why she won't be watching on BBC tonight

Helen Marsh was one of many Sheffield locals to appear as extras in the apocalyptic drama, which she said remains ‘the most terrifying film’ I’ve ever seen.

Fourty years since the nation first watched in horror as a nuclear strike devastated the city and much of the UK, Threads is set to air again on BBC 4 tonight, Wednesday, October 9, at 10.20pm.

It will be preceded by a short documentary in which the film’s director Mick Jackson shares the story of how it was made.

Threads was a particularly chilling watch for Sheffield’s citizens, who looked on aghast as familiar landmarks were reduced to rubble before survivors wandered among the ruins of the nuclear holocaust.

Audiences could have been forgiven for expecting something a little less brutal from the writer Barry Hines, best known for writing the book on which the touching 1969 coming-of-age film Kes was based.

Even those who appeared as extras, like Helen Marsh, were left shocked by the nightmarish vision which unfolded on their TV screens at the height of the Cold War, when nuclear armageddon was an all too realistic prospect.

Growing up in the 80s ‘wasn’t always easy’

She described how she took part in the protest scenes on The Moor and outside Sheffield City Hall, though she said it was ‘just like a normal Saturday’ for her at the time, as she was ‘always out protesting somewhere’.

She joined the famous Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, which was set up in 1981 in protest against nuclear weapons.

She told how being a teenager in the 80s ‘wasn’t always easy’.

“The Thatcher era was well underway, (you had) miners strikes, high unemployment, industry and communities decimated, and the constant threat of nuclear war forever in the press,” she said.

“Government leaflets of how to survive a nuclear war were being pushed through everyone’s door, and films like Threads, and The American version The Day After were being shown on our TVs.”

Exact same scenario playing out now

Discussing the 40th anniversary screening of Threads, she added: “The most terrifying thing about this is that the exact same scenario that led to a nuclear bomb being dropped on our very own city of Sheffield is playing out in the world right now.

“This film is part of Sheffield history and many Sheffield folk were extras.The film shows what life was like in the 80s, and we see our old landmarks such as the old town hall ‘egg box’ building being blown apart.

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“I am not sure if I’ll watch this tonight, probably not…. It’s a film that exposes our delicate fabric of life, the insanity of human nature, and the very real potential of self annihilation, while we all bury our heads in the sand.

“How about some cute playful kittens to watch instead… anybody?”