Jesus Christ, They've Done It - The Threads Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

I’m Chas Newkey-Burden and when I watched the nuclear war film Threads in 1984 at the age of 11 it terrified me and changed my life forever.

I started this podcast to speak to other people whose lives have been changed by Threads, from cast and crew members, to extras, broadcasters, authors and super fans.

Welcome, to Jesus Christ, They’ve Done it.

For this first episode I was joined by Jane Hazelgrove who played Alison Kemp. A star of countless TV shows including Casualty and Coronation Street, this is the first time Jane’s spoken about Threads. 

She tells me what it was like to appear in such a terrifying film as a child, about the humour behind the scenes, and she finally reveals what happened to poor Alison after the bomb dropped…

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

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This week, I have a chat with the glorious matriarch of Threads: Rita May, who played Mrs Kemp. 

The mother of Jimmy, Alison and Michael, Mrs Kemp is one of the film’s most iconic characters.

For me, watching as a child from comfortable south-west London, she was a revelation. She was bold, working class and Sheffield to her core. Yes, she was a work of fiction, but she felt more authentic than most of the people I’d met in real life.

I chatted with Rita on the phone and she told me about the laughs she had on set, the tears she cried when she first watched the finished film, and the nuclear nightmares she had afterwards.

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

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‘You cannot win a nuclear war!’

But you can listen to episode three of the Threads podcast, which is out now. 

This time, I speak with Maggie Ford, who played the unnamed CND activist in Threads. 

She’s on screen for just 76 seconds of the film, but she’s always been one of my favourite characters because of her powerful speech and because she reminds me of the CND activists who took me under their wing when I joined at the age of 11, after I first watched Threads. 

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m Chas Newkey-Burden and when I watched the nuclear war film Threads in 1984 at the age of 11 it terrified me and changed my life forever.

I started this podcast to speak to other people whose lives have been changed by Threads, from cast and crew members, to extras, broadcasters, authors and super fans.

Welcome, to Jesus Christ, They’ve Done it.

This week I interview Dave and Pank, the hosts of the brilliant podcast “Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s.” They talk about how Threads influenced the 1980s music scene, which moments scared them most and which character they’d be in the film. Give their pod a listen - you’ll love it!

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m Chas Newkey-Burden and when I watched the nuclear war film Threads in 1984 at the age of 11 it terrified me and changed my life forever.

I started this podcast to speak to other people whose lives have been changed by Threads, from cast and crew members, to extras, broadcasters, authors and super fans.

This week, we hear a few extra bits from my interview with Jane Hazlegrove, who played Alison Kemp. There's also a few bits of news about the pod.

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Email: chasnb@gmail.com

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m Chas Newkey-Burden and when I watched the nuclear war film Threads in 1984 at the age of 11 it terrified me and changed my life forever.

I started this podcast to speak to other people whose lives have been changed by Threads, from cast and crew members, to extras, broadcasters, authors and super fans.

Welcome, to Jesus Christ, They’ve Done it.

In this episode we hear from Sean Judge, who started the Facebook group Threads Survivors. He also runs a nuclear YouTube channel and he makes models of the iconic Threads traffic warden.

But when he first watched the film he had months of sleepless nights and threw his VHS copy in the bin. He talks about how he went from that, to becoming a Threads superfan, and how watching the film partly influenced his interesting career path.

Jingle: Protect & Survive

Instagram: @AllThatChas

X: @AllThatChas

Bluesky: @allthatchas.bsky.social

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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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‘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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