1983: RAYMOND BRIGGS on WHEN THE WIND BLOWS | Omnibus | Making of | BBC Archive

"It was much more moving than I thought it was." - Raymond Briggs.
Raymond Briggs - the author and illustrator of such cherished family favourites as The Snowman, Father Christmas and Fungus the Bogeyman - discusses his latest work, the apocalyptic graphic novel, When The Wind Blows. It follows Jim and Hilda Bloggs, as they prepare for an imminent nuclear attack on England, using British Government-issued literature like Protect and Survive.
Raymond is currently working on a radio adaptation of When The Wind Blows for BBC Radio 4, with the voices of Peter Sallis and Brenda Bruce, directed by John Tydeman. The process of adapting his book for radio has led him to better appreciate how touching his story is.
Richard Baker reports.
Clip taken from Omnibus, originally broadcast on 6. February, 1983.
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[@markgatland977]

In it's own way the film of this affected me in the same way that 'Threads' did... it's just immeasurably sad 😔

[@alex2980]

Threads is a cult classic now.

[@ericaceous1652]

Indeed. Threads was horrific, and somewhat numbing by the end - When the Wind Blows was heartbreaking.

[@davidcarrol110]

A 2 year COVID lockdown is still preferable to any nuclear attack.

[@andrewjohnston2850]

Peter Sallis in a suit and tie to do voiceover work , a true gentlemen

[@MandrakeHorse]

That final clip of Peter and Brenda performing the penultimate scene of the play, huddled together in shadow as they sob and sing weakly, is absolutely gut-wrenching.

[@hilaryepstein6013]

Just watching the actors reading from the scripts they're holding was incredibly moving. (I'm now going to go out in the Spring sunshine and look at some trees!)

[@CricketEngland]

The full brilliant BBC 4 play is on KZbin just search “When The wind blows”

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@CricketEngland- Nope, no BBC4 play was ever filmed.

[@1967AJB]

The first book I ever bought myself. It terrified me, that and Threads. What a grim time that was.

[@prd1073]

Memories of being 15 and certain there would be nuclear annihilation at any moment. Look at us now 😑😱

[@JasonC1782]

Blimey, that was chilling.

[@davidcarrol110]

It showed Peter Sallis was more than a cuddly, affable sitcom actor. Very revealing.

[@Chriscuit]

For me a British icon, Father Christmas was a childhood favourite, When the Wind Blows was my teen years and his Ethel & Ernest is a true masterpiece.

[@of-qo9nv]

The work of a Genius. Absolutely profound work that influenced an entire generation. Everyone of a certain age remembers, and will never forget, "When the wind blows". Very, very powerful, and a mesage that stills resonates with all intelligent and compassionate people today.

[@moominmay]

I remember a local theatre company doing this show at school. There was no explanation around it or any post show discussion and I went home a little traumatised! I loved the story though and later as a young adult brought the VHS. These days I own it in the digital format and love watching it every so often. Its so poignant how the dialogue starts off as so normal and cheery between a regular retired couple and then after the bomb plunges them into darkness and sickness, their joint ignorance is such they interpret the events as just a little blip and how the milkman and postman will likely just be held up for a bit and that the phone lines will be back up soon so they’ll soon be able to ring up their son and check how he is. As the viewer watching them trying to resume their normal life worrying about their dirty curtains and cleaning up whilst we know they’re dying of radiation sickness is just so heartbreakingly sad. Definitely worth a watch if you haven’t already - oh and it has fantastic music from David Bowie also 🙂

[@Firkinnel]

This and Threads are my goto feel good movies. Wonder why neither are ever rebroadcast.

[@russellford5597]

"Feel good"?

[@astra47420]

The film threads watch that I was 12 years old 😳😱

[@thedeadstig123]

I have listened to this, its incredibly sad

[@deejaydubla]

I can't think of Peter Sallis as anyone but Wallace.

[@user-ub1dz8js7s]

This never scared me back when I was a kid because Neil the hippy from The Young Ones advised me to 'put a large paper bag over my head and get under the kitchen table'.

[@MandrakeHorse]

"I'm going upstairs to get the incredibly helpful and informative Protect and Survive manual!"

[@thelastdetail1]

Paint yourself white.

[@mouseymousey02]

Have you painted yourself white to deflect the blast?

[@matt.willoughby]

When this was broadcast, late afternoon in maybe 1987'ish I remember being deliberately naughty so I would be sent away and didn't have to watch this, I was terrified of nuclear when I was a kid. I was about 7 or 8 when this came out.

[@matt.willoughby]

Nuclear war*

[@flaggerify]

Should be mentioned along with Watchmen and Maus as a key 80s work.

[@76ToneCrome]

The film of the book is so jarring because it's animated, so you don't expect it to be so serious, especially because it has great injections of humour. In the end, it's unbearably sad. I've only seen it twice, and that's enough.

[@CricketEngland]

It has the brilliant music by Roger Walter’s of Pink Floyd

[@marks6928]

Raymond Briggs is the greatest of all time.

[@simonpenum]

Raymond Briggs and Peter Sallis are two of my favourite people ever. It's so awesome seeing them working like this on film, I completely forgot Sallis voiced WTWB! Is the full Omnibus episode available online?

[@CricketEngland]

The full brilliant BBC 4 play is on KZbin just search “When The wind blows”

[@andrewjohnston2850]

I didnt think he did,was it not John Mills

[@andrewjohnston2850]

sorry that was the film

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@CricketEngland- BBC4 have produced many excellent television programmes, but they’ve never done a version of this.

[@blackcatcoffee4693]

What a legend he was

[@CricketEngland]

It’s a brilliant film but very cold and chilling and at time sad if your young and haven’t seen it before Music was by Pink Floyd Roger Walter’s

[@davidcarrol110]

I didnt realise that this radio play even pre-dates Barry Hines' infamous teleplay Threads. How relevant these dramas sadly still are.

[@CricketEngland]

The full brilliant BBC 4 play is on KZbin just search “When The wind blows”

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@CricketEngland- Sadly the television station BBC4 has never produced a version of this play. However both the independent film AND the Radio 4 versions are available on KZbin.

[@CricketEngland]

@@AtheistOrphan yes BBC radio 4

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@CricketEngland - I went on a wild goose chase looking for a BBC4 production, drawing a blank, only finding the Radio 4 example. Thought I’d really missed something as I’ve always been an avid BBC4 viewer! This from Wikipedia for clarification: ‘BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 and shows a wide variety of programmes including arts, documentaries, music, international film and drama, and current affairs. It is required by its licence to air at least 100 hours of new arts and music programmes, 110 hours of new factual programmes, and to premiere twenty foreign films each year.’

[@davidcarrol110]

@@AtheistOrphan Threads was rebroadcast on the launch night of BBC3 way back in October 2003. It has never been repeated on any BBC platform since!

[@gilbert2472]

This is gotta be the brutal story I’ve ever seen, surviving a nuke is worse than being in the blast

[@davidw5647]

We're in very dangerous times both this and Threads should be rescreened either as originals or updated

[@ev4898]

What if the scene where they sing ‘Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag’ had many more actors such as Norman Wisdom, Derek Griffiths, June Whitfield, John Cleese, Petula Clark, Kermit The Frog, Elton John etc.

[@ericaceous1652]

A beautiful, awful book. So tragic. And amazing voice performances in the radio play and animated film.

[@bobhattonjnr]

The scene where they're reminiscing about the Second World War - just goes to show that, no matter how grim times actually were in reality, some people will still get weirdly nostalgic for those grim times. People who, despite their own lived experience, will forever convince themselves that EVERYTHING in the past was better. When, of course, it wasn't. Some things were better in the past, some things are better now

[@user-ub1dz8js7s]

btw 1:39 I think that's Peter Jones who narrated (was 'the book') in the 1981 TV Series 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' - a brilliant narrator and voice I always thought.

[@AtheistOrphan]

No, that’s Peter Sallis. Jones did not work on the radio adaptation, the role was exclusively Sallis’ for this. (Sir John Mills in the film).

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@algrant5293 - No, it was Peter Sallis (the actor in this very video). I’ve no idea who Peter Saul is.

[@MartySulls]

Is that Peter Donaldson?

[@fburton8]

According to Wikipedia: “…this is not Peter Donaldson's pre-recorded warning (which was not available on grounds of national security and for copyright reasons), this was a fictional announcement written on grounds of artistic licence. It was read by Robin Houston, a voiceover artist who was known in London as a newsreader for Thames Television (who played the role of newsreader in the film).”

[@MartySulls]

@@fburton8 Cheers. I grew up with Thames and LWT. I remember Robin Houston well from Thames News. Also Andrew Gardener.