TV: This Is England '86

Shane Meadows, it has been known for some time, is bringing to the small (but ever-widening) screen a four part series that is a continuation, or return to, his beautiful and brutal 2006 film This Is England. Set during the 1986 Mexico World Cup, it will revisit the Grimsby gang - Shaun, Woody, Milk et al - as they continue to drink and party in true skinhead style. The Guardian have recently uploaded what appears to be a Channel 4 promo clip for the series here.

It's a very lucid, very vague little teaser, and probably isn't shot by Meadows himself, though it still manages to stir up intrigue for those who had watched and enjoyed the original movie. The characters in This Is England were so utterly engaging, so prone to humour and horror at the same time, that just to see them on screen makes me tingle with excitement.

Bickering is rife on the comments pages, with angry young intellectuals frothing at the mouth as to this clip's viability as a trailer, but what is clear is that those who enjoyed the film are excited about this series, and have questions that they want answering. Where did Woody go after the party? Is Milk okay after Combo set upon him? Is Combo, brought to life in one of my favourite performances of the decade by the fantastic Stephen Graham, going to bring his all-engulfing charm and violent passion to the screen again?

My feeling is that because this is a Meadows-helmed project, the results will be delivered, as they always have, to great and satisfying effect, and I will be sat as close as I can to the tele again. I don't give a hoot whether my eyes go square as a tea bag. Long live Shane and everything he stands for.