One of Britain’s most celebrated filmmakers of the last decade, Shane Meadows, has started filming in April on a spin-off/sequel TV series to his 2006 drama This Is England. The four episode series, titled This Is England ’86, is Meadows’s first TV project and will follow on from the conclusion of the acclaimed film which told the story of a young boy Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) who joins a group of skinheads that is swiftly taken over by a white nationalist.
As with most of his productions This Is England drew from Meadows’s own upbringing and early connection with nationalists movements, but importantly showed the issues of racism and how not all skinheads culture is based on extreme views. The film was also the debut of Turgoose who, despite having no formal acting training and having problems at school at the time, has since been regarded by many critics as a British talent on the rise. He will return to the role of main character Shaun.
This Is England TV Series
This Is England ’86 – originally named We Were Faces before settling on a less confusing, generic moniker – will pick up with the lives of the Shaun and gang three years on, as the teenager sits his last school exam and is about the enter the adult world. Most of the cast from are set to return so familiar faces from the film such as Woody, Lol, Pukey and Smell are central to the plot.
Stephen Graham, perhaps the English actor to watch at the moment, will make an appearance as unhinged and emotionally damaged racist Combo.
Meadows states the series is timely as many of the issues that were prominent in the 1980s are still relevant today. He said: “Not only did I want to take the story of the gang broader and deeper, I also saw in the experiences of the young in 1986 many resonances to now – recession, lack of jobs, sense of the world at a turning point. Whereas the film told part of the story, the TV serial will tell the rest.”
This Is England ’86 to be shown on Channel 4 in 2010
Meadows will take the directorial duties on two of the episodes. Tom Harper, who recently worked with Turgoose on 2010’s The Scouting Book for Boys, will take the reins for the other half. Meadows has written the script with Skins and Shameless contributor Jack Thorne.
Meadows’s ability to capture realism on the screen and his stripped down but effective work on the likes of Dead Man’s Shoes mean expectations are sure to be high. Hopefully This Is England ’86 will prove to be a genuine continuation of a deeply involving and not just a quick cash-in. The four-part serial will be broadcast on Channel 4 in the autumn of 2010.
Steven Cookson - Steven Cookson is a writer and attempted journalist based in Howden. Originally from Chester, that Hollyoaks place in North-West of ...
