[[WMG: ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'' and ''Threads'' are part of the same timeline.]]
If ''Threads'' had been set in the 1950s, with a bit of FanWank, you could even postulate that it's kind of a SpiritualLicensee {{prequel}} to Orwell's ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'' ! [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything An anarchic totalitarian police state ruling over a crippled, declining Britain after a hinted-at nuclear war, anyone ?]] [[FridgeBrilliance The novel's descriptions of London and the state of society in Oceania are eerily similar]] [[DistantFinale to the movie's scenes set years after the war.]]
* Except the nuclear damage in ''1984'' was restricted to one or two cities (mirroring what happened in World War Two) and a massive infrastructure is still there, just worn down by years of inefficient dictatorship. This is the exact opposite of what happens in ''Threads''.
** Well, true. But I said ''if'' it was set in the 1950s. The run-down atmosphere of post-apocalyptic Britain is still very reminiscent of Oceania in a few aspects. We see that while industry is severely neglected and outdated, it still survives (steam engines, a functioning radio or lightbulb here and there, etc.) and some more powerful individuals have apparently created a rudimentary post-war leadership (though not democratic by a long shot - more of a barely functioning survivalist dictatorship).
*** "If set in the 1950s" when referring to timelines, is a very weak supporting argument. We might as well say everything is part of the same timeline as another thing "if set in the same/earlier time". The fact is that Threads is not set in the 1950s, nor could you ever interpret any of it as possibly being in that decade, due to all the evidence given in the movie that tied it very strongly to the contemporary era in which it was broadcast - the 1980s. Threads also very strongly makes its case that after the holocaust of nuclear war, all forms of societal control and governance are all but dissolved entirely. The human race dwindles away to mere thousands, and the film very strongly implies that humans will ultimately die out entirely.
*** INGSOC is a party of habitual liars when it comes to history, so they could have possibly changed the date of the attack from 1984 to 1950. INGSOC could also possibly have their own calendar.
* May 8th was a Sunday in the 80s two different years: 1983 and 1988. Given the climate of the Cold War then, and the fact that the papers say Reagan is the president (rather than a CaptainErsatz), the film begins in 1983. So yes, it probably is.
** Except Reagan was still President in 1988.
* It doesn't need to be set in the '50s. In fact, it works even better by being set in (then) present-day/TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture Britain. How exactly does the Party possess technology that seems to be at a level more akin to a greatly restricted 1980s or 1990s? The war actually happened *during* the 1980s, and the resulting upheaval led to the Party rising to power and imposing their will on society. They then reset the year to 1984— coincidentally the very same year ''Threads'' was filmed— and worked from there. Then they convinced everyone, including Winston, that the Party developed all of these technologies and have existed for far longer than they actually have. Because it will always be 1984, Winston confuses his childhood in the late 1980s with being the 1950s. It doesn't make sense, but that's how doublethink works. Besides, he can't prove anything.
** This also aids the viewpoint that the Party is nowhere near as powerful as they try making themselves out to be. The reason why society in Orwell's Airstrip One is so tattered isn't because the Party has stopped the progression of history, it's because they inherited a ridiculously ruined society. They tell of an eternal war with two other superstates because that helps the proles believe that there's actually hope for the world, especially after we see the second generation of post-war babies being born totally deformed. In truth, not only are there no superstates, it's possible Airstrip One doesn't even cover all of Britain. Communications have been obliterated, so how can anyone actually tell? And the youth are easy to mold because public education has totally collapsed in the wake of the nuclear war. There's actual infrastructure in ''1984'' because roughly 30 years have passed since the nuclear war. However, the infrastructure is dilapidated and in a perpetual state of disrepair due to the stunted level of education the workers have received— again, some barely know words beyond 'work' and their friends' and family's names. Educational books are very hard to come by and have been revised by the Ministry of Truth for any potentially subversive material they possess anyway; educational videos may even be banned outright for the same reason.
* It's been awhile since I read it, but I'm pretty sure at one point in 1984 Winston goes on a hike as a Party approved activity or something, and his narration describes it as being a lovely summer day. I'm not sure if the environmental damage in Threads could recover that fast.
** Potentially doublethink/Winston doesn’t properly know what a “lovely summer day” is considering how the nuclear attack utterly destroyed the local environment.

[[WMG: Jimmy survived.]]
* First, we never saw what happened to him after Sheffield is destroyed.
* Second, in the final scene we briefly see a man with a face partially disfigured by burns, who ''might'' be Jimmy.
* And third, there is a little scene early in the movie where Ruth tries to reassure Jimmy about their future telling him "[[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong It will be lovely]]. I just [[TemptingFate know]] it will!" [[YouJustHadToSayIt We all know how that went.]] Later, when she and her parents are hiding in the basement, they try to console her telling her it's possible Jimmy is alive. Ruth says (paraphrased) "Jimmy's dead! I ''know'' he is!" Since we've seen before the accuracy of her predictions, this could be a little hint given by the writers or just a bad case of FanWank (either way, it's not like it would change anything given the way the film ended, anyway).
* Let's add a fourth reason why Jimmy might have survived. He's at his workplace, Don Joinery, with his friend Bob when the first bomb goes off at the RAF base. Jimmy tries to drive to Ruth's house, but the truck won't start, so he sets off on foot. Given that only a few minutes elapses until the second bomb goes off over Sheffield, he couldn't have gotten very far. We know that Don Joinery was a survivable distance away from the epicenter of the second bomb because Bob remained behind and survived. Even if Jimmy were (inadvertently) running toward the second bomb's epicenter there just wasn't enough time for him to have gotten that close.
** I think that gives more evidence for Jimmy being dead; he was out in the street, running towards where a nuke was about to go off. That means he'd be looking right towards the detonation, so the flash would burn out his retinas. That'd leave Jimmy out in the open, blind and disoriented when the shockwave comes in. And even if he somehow survived the initial blast... he's still not in a shelter when the fallout comes in.
[[WMG: ''Threads'' takes place in the same universe as ''Film/MadMax'']]
In ''Mad Max'', Australia has managed to avoid being struck by nukes, but the loss of contact with the rest of the world has led to economic collapse and a breakdown of law and order. In ''The Road Warrior'', the lingering environmental effects of the nuclear exchange have finally finished Australia off as a nation.
* George Miller's backstory of the events of ''The Road Warrior'' specifically states that there has ''not'' been any nuclear strikes. Those came after, as ''Beyond Thunderdome'' shows.
** TBH - One doesn't necessarily contradict the other: if Australia was never hit by nukes (which it wouldn't be, because it isn't part of NATO, never has been) then their society could just deteriorate based on the lack of support from the outside world. It could be that between Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome, something happened that resulted in a (very limited) nuke exchange between two surviving countries.

[[WMG: ''Literature/RiddleyWalker'' is a DistantSequel to ''Threads''.]]
* It's set in England, centuries after what appears to be a nuclear war. The plot elements are similar. People speaking in devolved English? Check. Mutated human beings? Check. Existing technology and materials scavenged for use? Check.