A terrifying post-apocalyptic war drama movie is on TV tonight

The film has been called one of the scariest films ever made.

Produced for the BBC, the film was written by Barry Hines (Kes) and directed by Mick Jackson (The Bodyguard). It was made to raise awareness about the threat that nuclear weapons pose to humanity.

As such, Threads depicts the devastating impact of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States on an ordinary family in Sheffield, England.

The plot synopsis reads:

"Young lovers Ruth (Karen Meagher) and Jimmy (Reece Dinsdale) decide to get married after Ruth unexpectedly gets pregnant.

"But their quiet lives in Sheffield are threatened when the Soviet Union and the United States go to war.

"After a nuclear attack destroys a NATO base 20 miles from Sheffield, the town falls into chaos. Ruth and Jimmy are separated as the fallout spreads.

"Ruth must struggle to survive alone in the post-apocalyptic landscape."

Despite its humble origins as a TV movie made on a budget of just £400,000, Threads has been hugely acclaimed, with the drama winning four BAFTAs and holding a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Many praised it for its "devastating, nightmarish" if sadly all too believable depiction of the after-effects of nuclear war.

In fact, in her book Film and the Nuclear Age, scholar Toni A. Perrine called Threads the film "which comes closest to representing the full horror of nuclear war and its aftermath, as well as the catastrophic impact that the event would have on human culture."

Its writer Hines, meanwhile, told the BBC that it was not his intention for Threads to merely shock viewers "like it was a horror film".

"It's just that it's such a shocking subject that there's some very harrowing scenes in it. So there's no way that we could avoid shocking the audience," he explained.

Hines added, though, that his main reason for making Threads was to get people thinking about nuclear weapons, as "a lot of people don’t know anything about it".

"I think Threads might have shown those people that in fact, in even the severest worst scenario for a nuclear war that you can imagine, more people are going to survive than perish immediately, and that sort of long, drawn-out suffering is something that most people would have to go through if it happens," he noted.

Set to get a TV remake soon from the makers of Netflix's Adolescence, Threads is airing on TV tonight on BBC Four at 11.15pm.

It's also available to stream on the BBC iPlayer.

Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:

Captain Phillips - BBC Three - 9pm

Tom Hanks gives maybe his best performance in this biographical thriller about the captain of a commercial ship that gets taken over and held hostage by Somali pirates.

The Rock - ITV4 - 9pm

In this deliriously fun action flick, a former SAS captain (Sean Connery) and an FBI chemist (Nicolas Cage) team up to stop a rogue general (Ed Harris) from launching chemical weapons on Alcatraz Island into San Francisco.

Where the Crawdads Sing - Film4 - 9pm

The 2022 murder mystery with Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People) that was a hit at the box office.

Bad Neighbours - Comedy Central - 9pm

The very funny comedy in which Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play a happily married couple who discover to their horror that the house next door has been bought by a rowdy college fraternity (headed by Zac Efron).

Triple 9 - Legend - 9pm

If you missed this very tense, star-studded heist thriller movie when we recommended it recently, you have another chance to catch it.

Under Suspicion - Legend Xtra - 9pm

In this decent thriller, Gene Hackman portrays a wealthy man in Puerto Rico suspected of committing a shocking crime, while Morgan Freeman plays the detective investigating him.

Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind - Sky Showcase - 9pm

An acclaimed documentary about the beloved actor and comedian.

The War Game - BBC Four - 10.10pm

This '60s Oscar-winning pseudo-documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Peter Watkins (Punishment Park) also depicts a nuclear war and its aftermath and was a huge influence on Threads.

Spider-Man: Far from Home - BBC One - 10.40pm (except NI and Wales)

Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in this Marvel sequel, where the hero's school trip to Europe is disrupted by elemental monsters that seem to be from another dimension.

The Man with the Golden Gun - ITV1 - 10.45pm

The legendary Christopher Lee faces off against Roger Moore’s James Bond in this 007 entry from 1974.

Broker - Film4 - 11.25pm

The acclaimed 2022 South Korean drama about baby boxes, places which allow infants to be dropped off anonymously to be cared for by others.