This is England 88

Shane Meadows to make This is England '88 This Is England '88 will see Lol (Vicky McClure) and Woody (Joseph Gilgun) return Continue reading the main story Writer Shane Meadows is to make a one-off Christmas special to follow on from the This is England film and TV series.Set two years later on from This is England '86, the two-hour drama will deal with the aftermath of the events in that four-part series."Just when I think my love affair with This is England is over, it pulls me back in," Meadows said. Channel 4 has also confirmed that This is England '90, set in the rave era, is currently in development.Picking up the action at Christmas 1988, the story will focus on the relationship between the Lol and Woody characters.Meadows told the Stage newspaper that while Channel 4 "would have happily had me go straight to 1990, I felt I needed something in-between."Channel 4's head of drama Camilla Campbell said: "We're beyond excited that Shane, Warp Films and the cast have agreed to return with this feature length drama."It is set to pull together a lot of story threads from '86, leaving the way clear for a new series of This is England '90."
This is England '86, which screened on Channel 4 last September, was named best TV drama at the South Bank Awards on Tuesday.The original film, written and directed by Meadows in 2006, told of an impressionable young boy who becomes involved with a gang of skinheads.


Channel 4 14/12/11 @ 10pm 11pm on 4+

Lol

1986 was not Lol's year. The damaged beauty - played by Vicky McClure - had to endure the return of her abusive father Mick and the reluctance of her mother to protect her and sister Kelly, all of which helped drive a wedge between Lol and Woody as he grew increasingly ignorant of her emotional needs. Perhaps inevitably, she turned to Milky for comfort, engaging in a casual affair with him as she tried to distance herself from her family troubles. Eventually though, she was forced to face up to her father's behaviour, after discovering that he had brutally raped her friend Trev. After showing up at her family home to confront Mick, Lol found herself under attack and after a violent struggle, she killed her father in one of the most chilling - but also most satisfying - scenes on TV last year.


Woody


He may have started This Is England '86 on a high - rushing off to get married to his childhood sweetheart Lol - but things soon turned sour for Woody when he failed to go through with the ceremony. Soon afterwards, his gleefully shallow enthusiasm for life began to grate on troubled Lol and she started sleeping with his best friend Milky. Beginning to realise that his relationship with Lol was on the rocks, Woody turned to Milky for advice and reassurance. By the end of the four-part series, he was none-the-wiser about Lol's affair but following her ordeal, it looked like he was finally prepared to be there for her. Whether or not the two remain as strong in '88 as they seemed in the closing moments of the last series remains to be seen...


Shaun

Given the disturbing nature of many of This Is England's themes, it's fairly impressive that two of the franchise's more perturbing moments were romantic clinches between Shaun and Smell. The first was their unforgettable kiss 'n' grope midway through the film; the second their timeless bonk in the pub toilets as England played Argentina in This Is England '86. Unsuprisingly, Shane Meadows is keen to exploit the comic potential of this pair and when we join them in '88, they are still very much together...for now. Shaun was no longer the star in This Is England '86 - that accolade went to Lol - but now that he has truly come of age and found his feet, the new series looks set to give him more of a starring role.

Combo


Apparently having moved on from his icky racist past, Combo turned pathetic in '86, turning up in Shaun's front room and promptly collapsing in front of Shauns horrified mother as she watched '80s telly. As for Combo's own mother, she was dying - and so began the waning of our anger towards the former baddie. He missed his mother's passing - and therein a chance for reconciliation - but his thirst to 'do a good thing' was soon quenched. Having developed a crush on Lol, he headed round to her parents' house to speak to her, where he stumbled upon the murder scene and decided to take the rap for Lol's actions. Smearing his fingerprints all over Mick's body and the murder weapon, he told Lol not to take the blame and reassured her that she would be OK. He was last seen heading into a prison cell.


The Gang

The motley This Is England crew were up to all sorts when we last checked in. Meggy was fathering illegitimate babies and keeling over with near-fatal heart attacks in the lavs, Gadget was sleeping with women twice his age and the rest of the lads were busy protecting their Shauny from moped-riding nemesis Flip. Meanwhile, Milky was bumping uglies with Lol and Smell was doing unspeakable things to Shaun. To top it all off, Shaun's mum was having it off with Mr Sandhu. God only knows what they'll be up to this time round




Another goodie. worth watching.

Episode 2 was tonight and the last one is Thu 15 Dec, 10PM on Channel 4
Episode 2
It's Christmas Eve and there's a decision to make. Woody's been offered a promotion at work - fast track up the management ladder or motorway to mediocrity, depends on how you look at it.

Lol's crying out for help. She pays a visit to Combo in prison. Shaun takes centre stage for his acting debut.In true style the gang all attend. Well, all apart from Woody.

Smell's suspicions are heightened when she walks in on Shaun and Fay's intimate rehearsals backstage. Then there's the after-show party.

`Tis the season to be jolly, but is it all going to end in tears


Episode 3
In the third and final film, it's Christmas Day; Shaun's messed up big style this time and it's hit him hard.

The gang is getting merry until they bump head first into Woody and Jennifer. It's the first time Woody and Milky have seen each other since... punches fly, it's messy.

Things are coming to a head for Lol too; she's not coping and is struggling to find any kind of peace.

It's gotta get worse before it gets better.

This is Christmas, This is England `88


All episodes are on/will be on 4OD. Worth watching.

Loved it. Left it open for returns. Laughed at Smells slapping scene.