Meadows brings his characters and back-ground to life perfectly again

davideo-2

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Playing out as the drama that it was, making it's characters so relatable to as normal people (and what a great job it did) This is England was one of those films that left you wondering what would become of the characters later on, long after it had finished. And, for those who don't fancy trekking out to the cinemas to see a follow up film, Shane Meadows has kindly made this more condensed four part TV drama that allows the drama and dynamics to build more gradually.

All eyes, naturally, are on Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), the main character from the film, who's now a teenager, who's voice has deepened and who doesn't hold out much hope in his exams, leading him to a worrying future as another layabout with no hope in Thatcher's Britain. After the devastating events at the end of the film, he's also drifted apart from the old gang and hopes to keep it that way...until a chance encounter in a hospital causes their paths to cross again, including with Smell (Rosamund Hanson) his former love interest, and Woody (Joseph Gilgun) the charismatic leader of the group. Through-out the course of the series, the various characters encounter their various triumpths and tragedies, until they are set on a collision course with the return of Combo (Stephen Graham), before everything heads towards a shattering climax that will change everything.

If there's one notable gripe here, it's that the attention to period detail doesn't feel quite as on the ball, compared with the film, with such minor notables as inside a hospital bringing this point to life no end. Otherwise, this is an inspired, relevant and worthy follow-up piece to a great film, that somehow does manage to get you more and more drawn into it as it goes on. As well as introducing a few new characters, the old faces including slow-witted Gadget (Andrew Ellis), hard faced mare Lol (Vicky McClure) and black guy Milky (Andrew Shim) are as prominent as before, some of them free to return to their more light hearted parts now free from the darker influence Combo had on them in the film. But although Stephen Graham's character is absent until the end, noteworthy considering what a massive driving force he was in the film, Johnny Harris perfectly fills his shoes in a very sinister role, truly bringing out a monstrous character in a very grim light.

Though looking a bit more polished, with probably a bigger budget to cover it over, '86 basically follows in the same style as the film, the gang just ambling along, doing their thing, with the occasional dark burst of unpleasantness to make it feel truer to life. With some critics already hailing it as the best TV drama of the year, Meadows has left an acclaimed idea to his name. ****

score 9/10

davideo-2 30 September 2010

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2317690/