I saw most of this film in colour on its first showing, and about a year later in black and white. The title refers to the "fabric" of society and how it might fall apart if the crucial "threads" are destroyed. To see places I knew so well undergoing such severe destruction was extremely harrowing and I hope it never happens anywhere. Great performances from both Reece Dinsdale and Karen Meagher (elsewhere heard sporting a Lancashire accent, but doing a good Yorkshire accent here), and one of Jane Hazlegrove's earliest appearances, make this worth seeing regardless of the subject matter. The escaping family (the Stothards) who get caught up in a blockade and are never heard of again show that there is no easy way out of a situation like this, the only thing to do is, in the words of the civil defence book, "Protect and Survive", and even that may not be easy given little time. The issues of disease, shortages and delayed death are tackled head-on, unlike in "The War Game", where there is comparitively little aftermath.
