TV: This Is England '86

I posted a while back about the trailer for this momentous televisual event - british director par excellence, Shane Meadows' small screen debut (even if he only directed two of the four episodes) and a four part sequel to his superlative cinematic original. Now it has hit our screens, and though I watched the first episode abroad where I couldn't therefore post about it, I have since returned for the second instalment and am chomping at the bit to express my true, unstoppable love of this expert piece of drama.


With the return of Shaun, Woody, Lol, Milky, Gadget and the rest of the gang (but no Combo as yet, though his name has been dropped and I'm bursting at the seams to see if he returns), Meadows and pro TV scribe Jack Thorne (Skins, Cast-Offs), have brought the film's trademark wit, nostalgia, tension and heart to our boxes in wonderful style. What's more, Tom Harper's direction of the opening two episodes has at no time felt at odds with Meadows' usual style, and will segue seamlessly into the following, final two hours.

Shaun (Tom Turgoose) has left school with no future, failing his exams almost on purpose and cynical about his chances of finding work like his mum insists. He has also cast himself out of the gang that took him in so warmly before, and now, years on, Woody (Joe Gilgun) is struggling to find the money, the conviction and the courage to commit properly to his long term girlfriend, the gorgeous and striking Lol (Vicky McLure). The rest of the gang are drinking and bickering their way around as heart attacks, returning fathers, clumsy sexual adventures and secret affairs bring an intoxicating blend of cut-throat tension and slapstick hilarity to the story.

At the end of the second episode, Lol's relationship with the loveable man-child Woody is on the rocks as she gets closer and closer to old friend Milky (who is also Woody's best pal). Vicky McLure's performance as Lol is brilliantly assured and bold as brass, and Gilgun's Woody is her ultimate foil - an innocent jester who, try hard as he might, can't seem to meet her emotional and financial needs.

Elsewhere, Turgoose again shows just how exciting a prospect he is (and how few child actors there are out there with real talent) as he continues to bring a contrasting vulnerability and anarchy to young Shaun. His mother, Cynthia, is a caring woman with great emotional depth and played excellently by Jo Hartley, who is just one member of a fantastic surrounding cast.

Where the story will end up is for us to wait and see, but Meadows is due to take over directing duties from Harper (who, incidently, directed The Scouting Book For Boys last year, and which was written by Thorne and starred Turgoose) so expect the tiny creases that are there at the moment - some awkwardly stunted scenes between Milky and Lol, a bit of reliance on melodramatic montage towards the end of the second episode - to be firmly ironed out.

A HUGE thumbs up from me. The box set will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.