# This Is England '88



## Sweet FA (Dec 10, 2011)

Starts Tuesday @ 10 on C4


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## Sweet FA (Dec 13, 2011)

Reminder


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## weepiper (Dec 13, 2011)

I'll be watching.


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## killer b (Dec 13, 2011)

Looks like it'll be a bit miserable tbh. Will watch for wardrobe tips and gilgun related lolz, but I'm switching over the minute anyone gets raped.


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## weepiper (Dec 13, 2011)

lol of course it'll be miserable. It's grim up north. can't beat a good bit of festive misery anyway.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

The drudgery of single mums. Barrel of laughs so far


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## killer b (Dec 13, 2011)

julius!


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

Julius?
The middle clad dad is ace. Great bit of awkwardness


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## killer b (Dec 13, 2011)

julius.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

What is he Julius in? 
Isn't he the 'gay' dad in The Inbetweeners?


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## killer b (Dec 13, 2011)

thick of it.


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## killer b (Dec 13, 2011)

anyway, this is fun enough so far. bet the baby dies.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

Carbon monoxide from gas fire I reckon


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

Though was karaoke in pubs that early?


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## killer b (Dec 13, 2011)

looked like it was being touted as a new trend or something?


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## weepiper (Dec 13, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Though was karaoke in pubs that early?



I'm pretty sure Fisher Price Little People toys weren't around in 1988 either. Pretty good so far apart from that though.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

weepiper said:


> I'm pretty sure Fisher Price Little People toys weren't around in 1988 either. Pretty good so far apart from that though.


i noticed that too - the book thing that plays tunes?


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## killer b (Dec 13, 2011)

been a good week for old soul numbers in british drama...


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## past caring (Dec 13, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Though was karaoke in pubs that early?



Certainly. Maybe not as highly polished as now, but yes, I remember karaoke back then.

Quality writing - Meadows gets better in my book, not milking it.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

not sure about the 'hallucinations' of the dead nonce. it's a bit of a tired old dramatic device. does it really happen to people?


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## Part 2 (Dec 13, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> not sure about the 'hallucinations' of the dead nonce. it's a bit of a tired old dramatic device. does it really happen to people?



I'm not sure it's hallucinations as such, just a way to show that her every minute is affected by the abuse (unless the plot has her developing a serious mental health problem). Although she was talking to him wasn't she so I maybe wrong.


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## N_igma (Dec 13, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> does it really happen to people?



Yes.

Good enough start, last one was a bit of a slow burner too so expect the fireworks to start from the next episode onwards.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> I'm not sure it's hallucinations as such, just a way to show that her every minute is affected by the abuse (unless the plot has her developing a serious mental health problem). Although she was talking to him wasn't she so I maybe wrong.


didn't she say 'you're not real?'


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

N_igma said:


> Yes.


forgive me if i don't take your word for it


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## Orang Utan (Dec 13, 2011)

i hope they all get on one and make up at a rave under a flyover


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## killer b (Dec 13, 2011)

i believe these few episodes are supposed to be bridging the gap to the rave series. so maybe.

two hours of rape, beatings & dead babies to get through first though.


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## N_igma (Dec 13, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> forgive me if i don't take your word for it



Why wouldn't you it's very well documented.


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## Part 2 (Dec 13, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> didn't she say 'you're not real?'



Yeah I thought it was something like that. Can't see the baby dieing tbh, my thought was more like she's gonna be seriously mentally ill, maybe have the baby taken off her. The hallucinations are quite possible as a result of sexual abuse.


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## Part 2 (Dec 13, 2011)

Noticed Milky was a bit scarred, seems he's been doing some MMA


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## Part 2 (Dec 13, 2011)

Also some interviews with the cast (not so much spoilers but may give away some ideas of where the plot might be heading)

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/this-is-england/articles/this-is-england-88-cast-interviews


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## D'wards (Dec 14, 2011)

Chip Barm said:


> Noticed Milky was a bit scarred, seems he's been doing some MMA



I think thats from where Combo smashed his face in in the original film.


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## D'wards (Dec 14, 2011)

Excellent use of the Peel sessions What Difference Does it Make with different and excellent drums in it, trainspotters


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## Threshers_Flail (Dec 14, 2011)

D'wards said:


> I think thats from where Combo smashed his face in in the original film.



Along with the other older one (Banjo?) how is he still in the gang?


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

N_igma said:


> Why wouldn't you it's very well documented.


prove it then


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## D'wards (Dec 14, 2011)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Along with the other older one (Banjo?) how is he still in the gang?



I thought that was weird about the last series, in the film he was a terrible racist thug, who was revelling in Combo beating up Milky (and stopping Shaun from intervening), until Combo turned on him and bottled him iirc. Strange that he would then become a much loved member of the group.

Plus what happened to the fat cockney with glasses - no mention of him as of yet?


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## D'wards (Dec 14, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> prove it then



It could be a metaphor, like that drink drive advert with the dead ginger kid, unless she did speak to him directly then it obviously indicates mental illness.

Which bit did she speak to him? in the bath or teeth cleaning? i have it on record so will recheck


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## toogreytogrind (Dec 14, 2011)

Need to remember to watch it Lol is well hot.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

D'wards said:


> It could be a metaphor, like that drink drive advert with the dead ginger kid, unless she did speak to him directly then it obviously indicates mental illness.
> 
> Which bit did she speak to him? in the bath or teeth cleaning? i have it on record so will recheck


teeth


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## D'wards (Dec 14, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> teeth


You're quite right - she says to herself "This is not real. This is not happening"

I looked at it with the subtitles on - they are really weird at that point


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## elfman (Dec 14, 2011)

Trying to watch this on 4OD. They've got so many adverts on there now!  With that added to my slow internet connection cos I have to go through a VPN, it's so frustrating!!


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## mrs quoad (Dec 14, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> not sure about the 'hallucinations' of the dead nonce. it's a bit of a tired old dramatic device. does it really happen to people?


Yes.


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## ringo (Dec 14, 2011)

Good stuff so far, gearing up nicely. Woody's twee family set up looks set to implode.

After Laughter has got to be my favourite old soul tune, used it really well in this context. Was wondering about that version of the Smiths tune, well done trainspotter


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## rutabowa (Dec 14, 2011)

much better than the 86 one i thought. are different people directing every episode, like in that one?


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## elfman (Dec 14, 2011)

rutabowa said:


> much better than the 86 one i thought. are different people directing every episode, like in that one?



I think Meadows only directed a couple of the 86 episodes, where 88 is all Meadows afaik


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## rutabowa (Dec 14, 2011)

elfman said:


> I think Meadows only directed a couple of the 86 episodes, where 88 is all Meadows afaik


i think so too.... good. the ones he didn't direct in 86 were lame, and made the whole thing uneven.


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## mr steev (Dec 14, 2011)

It didn't feel as nostalgic/of it's time as the other ones did. I'm not sure whether that's because it's set more recently or because it didn't seem to have as much of a strong soundtrack as the others.
I also felt that loads of suedeheads and punky goths having it at a karaoke was a tad unrealistic, but then there were a few skins moments in '86 and that came over as pretty good


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## rutabowa (Dec 14, 2011)

mr steev said:


> I also felt that loads of suedeheads and punky goths having it at a karaoke was a tad unrealistic, but then there were a few skins moments in '86 and that came over


They're not really any more tho... they all got older and changed. 2 years since 86, that is a long time in youth culture, kids just grow out of stuff.


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## mr steev (Dec 14, 2011)

rutabowa said:


> They're not really any more tho... they all got older and changed. 2 years since 86, that is a long time in youth culture, kids just grow out of stuff.



I dunno, the hairstyles and the clothes are still there. Fred Perrys weren't in your typical 'straight' wardrobe in 1988, so it shows they must still be into the scene iyswim. Likewise flat-tops and spikey hair would have been a bit of a statement.


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## moonsi til (Dec 14, 2011)

I thought that too mr steev...I was all 'wtf' are they doing there!


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## killer b (Dec 14, 2011)

most people, regardless of how they dress, like getting shitfaced & having a laugh.


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## rutabowa (Dec 14, 2011)

mr steev said:


> I dunno, the hairstyles and the clothes are still there. Fred Perrys weren't in your typical 'straight' wardrobe in 1988, so it shows they must still be into the scene iyswim. Likewise flat-tops and spikey hair would have been a bit of a statement.


not completely grown out of it... they were never really in a big scene though were they? it was always a group of mates in a small town. in a small town a lot of nights out end up the same, no matter what "scene" yr in to.


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## rutabowa (Dec 14, 2011)

maybe 1988 is a little bit early for karaoke to be in a local pub tho... not sure. but the fact that they would go to it, if it did exist, that doesn't strike me as odd.


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## mr steev (Dec 14, 2011)

killer b said:


> most people, regardless of how they dress, like getting shitfaced & having a laugh.



True, but in different ways ime. The pub I used to drink in in around 88 had plenty of older skins/suedeheads/punks and loads of goths and alternative types. I really can't imagine everyone partying to some poppy karaoke


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## mr steev (Dec 14, 2011)

rutabowa said:


> not completely grown out of it... they were never really in a big scene though were they? it was always a group of mates in a small town. in a small town a lot of nights out end up the same, no matter what "scene" yr in to.



Sure. Very similar to my youth, which is why I find it a bit odd. Maybe I'm just projecting too much... it's a film rather than a documentary after all


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## killer b (Dec 14, 2011)

But they aren't at the local alternative pub are they? It looks like the local estate boozer, there's all types there.


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## mr steev (Dec 14, 2011)

killer b said:


> But they aren't at the local alternative pub are they? It looks like the local estate boozer, there's all types there.



I guess so. But even then I would expect the 'alternative' lot to be huddled in the lounge, getting pissed and moaning about how shit the music is


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## Pingu (Dec 14, 2011)

mr steev said:


> I guess so. But even then I would expect the 'alternative' lot to be huddled in the lounge, getting pissed and moaning about how shit the music is


tbh is what we did. mainstream pubs were generally avoided and we drank in places that served our tastes (The Angel, the tap etc). If yo did have to go to a "normal" pub you spent most of the night bitching about how shit the place was.


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## rutabowa (Dec 14, 2011)

Pingu said:


> tbh is what we did. mainstream pubs were generally avoided and we drank in places that served our tastes (The Angel, the tap etc). If yo did have to go to a "normal" pub you spent most of the night bitching about how shit the place was.


was this in a small town though?


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## Pingu (Dec 14, 2011)

depends on your definition of small town. Birkenhead, which although sprawls into various other areas you kind of kept yourself to your own little bit of it.


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## sunnysidedown (Dec 14, 2011)

Just finished watching it, I did wonder about some of the fashion, in 88 a lot of what they're wearing in the film was pretty 'alternative' at that time, although the beans on toast hairstyle seemed to be pretty popular, I do recall heading over to the big city to meet a rockabilly girl I was going out with that year and passing a load of pubs through Felling in Gateshead that had Karaoke signs outside, I did wonder what the fuck all that was about.
Have to say though that most of the lads at my school during that time had perms and wore Pringle sweaters & chinos and were football hoolies.
Plus that Smiths track is from 83.

Still, enjoying it so far.


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## killer b (Dec 14, 2011)

the smiths had split up the year before! missed opportunity to use _suedehead_ too, i guess...


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## rutabowa (Dec 14, 2011)

people in 1988 didn't only listen to music from 1988 and wear 1988 fashion. i think maybe why i prefer this series to the previous one and the film is that it is not quite so attached to the year it's set in... it got a bit distracting before, like it was a "best of 1986" tv list programme.


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## mr steev (Dec 14, 2011)

rutabowa said:


> people in 1988 didn't only listen to music from 1988



Indeed.
I think that when you're only way to discover new music was John Peel/Janice Long or your mates, it could take a couple of years before something reached you. I'm sure this is more true in small towns, but even when we'd venture out to the big city, most of what was played at indie/alternative nights would be a few years old


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## sunnysidedown (Dec 14, 2011)

^ agreed, in 88 I was listening to The Cramps and Johnny Burnette and had a fuck off quiff, I was in the minority though, my mates were goths, punks and psychobillys, but just about everyone at my school were 'casuals'.

Saying that by the end of 88, beginning of 89 I grew out my hair, got stoned and spent all my time listening to Spacemen 3 records.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

mrs quoad said:


> Yes.


would you care to elaborate, please?


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

why did no-one have a perm or a flat-top and a vile, garishly coloured ski-jacket?


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## mrs quoad (Dec 14, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> would you care to elaborate, please?


tbf, I haven't seen this particular programme.

But with specific regard to your earlier post, off the top of my head I can think of 4 case studies from my fieldwork, where people were hallucinating the voices of / presence of their abuser(s).

I... doubt... that whatever was happening in This is England was much more visceral or unpleasant (or graphic, or visually alarming) than what was going on for at least 3 of those people.

And it's really not uncommon for people's 'voices' to be the voices of significant people in their life. For good or ill. I'm hazarding a complete guess here, but I'd be amazed if it wasn't far, far rarer to hear 'completely unknown' or unrecognisable voices.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

These are full on visual hallucinations. It happens loads in other TV programmes (eg Dexter) and films (Star Wars)  and I suspect it's there more as a dramatic device, sometimes even just to keep a popular actor/character on the payroll), than as an accurate reflection of a recognised psychiatric symptom. Is it common amongst suffererers of PTSD to experience full-on visual and aural hallucinations where they interact with people who are no longer there?


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## no-no (Dec 14, 2011)

If nasty beard dad is just there to show how she's haunted by the memory of him then it's hard to think of another way to show it in a tv drama.

flashback? voiceover?


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

no-no said:


> If nasty beard dad is just there to show how she's haunted by the memory of him then it's hard to think of another way to show it in a tv drama.
> 
> flashback? voiceover?


i suppose so. i've just seen loads of this sort of thing recently and it didn't seem in keeping with meadow's alleged gritty realism


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## no-no (Dec 14, 2011)

I know what you mean, although it's not a million miles away from what he did in dead mans shoes with the little brother.

Did anyone make out what beardy dad was saying?


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

oh yeah, it's exactly the same!   feel like an idiot now.


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## no-no (Dec 14, 2011)

hmm, this forum can have that effect on you


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## gaijingirl (Dec 14, 2011)

enjoyed it but I also found the karaoke scene a bit incongruous... but can't wait for tonight's episode.


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## nogojones (Dec 14, 2011)

Never seen This is England, but if it's anything like what was on last night I won't bother. It was like some horrendous '80's flashback. I've spent 20+ years caning drugs to try and forget that decade.

Fuck all happened, It's like Eastenders.


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## heinous seamus (Dec 14, 2011)

gaijingirl said:


> enjoyed it but I also found the karaoke scene a bit incongruous... but can't wait for tonight's episode.



Is it on again tonight? I assumed it would be next week!


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## nogojones (Dec 14, 2011)

...and they rickrolled the viewers


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## Johnny Vodka (Dec 14, 2011)

I thought it was great and more hilarious than depressing (so far).  I think Meadows can mix humour and serious drama as good as anyone.  Brilliant acting and soundtrack too!


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## Deareg (Dec 14, 2011)

Where is it set? it sounds like East Midlands to me.


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## Johnny Vodka (Dec 14, 2011)

Fuck knows, I'm from Scotland.  South of the border is south of the border.


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## gaijingirl (Dec 14, 2011)

heinous seamus said:


> Is it on again tonight? I assumed it would be next week!



I think it's on 3 consecutive nights in a row... I'm sure someone will confirm that for me in a moment.  I hope so - I've been looking forward to it all day.


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## gaijingirl (Dec 14, 2011)

yes... it looks like I got it right for a change!

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/this-is-england


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## Deareg (Dec 14, 2011)

gaijingirl said:


> I think it's on 3 consecutive nights in a row... I'm sure someone will confirm that for me in a moment. I hope so - I've been looking forward to it all day.


It is.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

Deareg said:


> Where is it set? it sounds like East Midlands to me.


it's filmed in sheffield, but the original this is england was in grimsby i think. the ending was anyway.
ETA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_England_'86#Setting


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## killer b (Dec 14, 2011)

it is definitely on again tonight.

i believe it's shot in nottingham, although i don't think the town is ever identified - probably best that way.


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## Deareg (Dec 14, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> it's filmed in sheffield, but the original this is england was in grimsby i think. the ending was anyway.


Thanks, would not have thought Sheffield from the accents, though it is doubtful all the actors would come from the same place or from where it is filmed.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

killer b said:


> it is definitely on again tonight.
> 
> i believe it's shot in nottingham, although i don't think the town is ever identified - probably best that way.


only the film was. see above link


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## Deareg (Dec 14, 2011)

killer b said:


> it is definitely on again tonight.
> 
> i believe it's shot in nottingham, although i don't think the town is ever identified - probably best that way.


I guessed east midlands, for some reason Mansfield.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

Deareg said:


> Thanks, would not have thought Sheffield from the accents, though it is doubtful all the actors would come from the same place or from where it is filmed.


they definitely aren't sheffield accents!


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

Deareg said:


> I guessed east midlands, for some reason Mansfield.


Meadows himself is from Uttoxeter but lived quite a bit of his adult life in Nottingham, so many of his projects were filmed there.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

and Dead Man's Shoes is filmed/set in Matlock


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## mr steev (Dec 14, 2011)

The accents definately sound east midlands/Nottingham rather than Sheffield or anywhere more northern


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## Deareg (Dec 14, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Meadows himself is from Uttoxeter but lived quite a bit of his adult life in Nottingham, so many of his projects were filmed there.


Right, will have to google the series for info on it, am just curious to see if I am right about the accents.


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## killer b (Dec 14, 2011)

the actors are mainly from the nottingham area (although gilgun is from chorley).


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## Deareg (Dec 14, 2011)

Hadn't realised the Nottingham accent was so strong.


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## D'wards (Dec 14, 2011)

Shame the thug casual on the fizzy motorbike hasn't turned up yet. He was a great character.


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## discokermit (Dec 14, 2011)

these programmes freak me out a bit. in 1988 i was nineteen. i had the same shit hair, wonky eyes and face of a twelve year old as shaun. i had a vespa and had been sacked from four jobs already. that christmas my telly broke, my flatmate fucked off to ireland to visit his mom and i had about three quid in change to last til payday in the new year.
fun times.


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## D'wards (Dec 14, 2011)

Tonights episode was superb. Real gripping drama - Lol, Woody and Combo are such great actors.


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## Part 2 (Dec 14, 2011)

killer b said:


> the actors are mainly from the nottingham area (although gilgun is from chorley).



Woody's workmate also sounds a bit Wigan/Boltonish.

Some really good stuff tonight, smell kicking off at the end was top.


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## Nigel (Dec 14, 2011)

Saw this:the series for the first time. Wasn't overly impressed.
Shane Meadows is really good at films, but like Once Upon A Time In The Midlands, characters are two dimensional and plot is at best better than mediocre.
Still quite entertaining, cannot believe this is set over twenty years ago.


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## rutabowa (Dec 15, 2011)

i don't like the way he uses slushy music to "emote". a bit cheap, it doesn't really need it. still good last night... i am thinking about twice as good as the last series.


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## Nigel (Dec 15, 2011)

Last nights programme is on You #Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk6O...5l0l7l7l0l375l2048l0.3.3.2l8l0&has_verified=1


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## killer b (Dec 15, 2011)

yeah, 4OD have a youtube channel.


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## Grandma Death (Dec 15, 2011)

I enjoyed the last series but I did feel it was a bit dry in places. This series is much more gripping... The actor that plays LOL is amazing... She's gonna be massive I reckon.


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## DotCommunist (Dec 15, 2011)

can never tell if I like shan meadows style for what it is or if it just a relief from the standards of hollywood melodrama that does fill in bit on the usual films I consume.

Think this series is slightly more melancholic than the last, as above it is the quiet desperation of Lol that provides some focus to it.


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## higgs (Dec 15, 2011)

Woody's new girlfriend is excellent at playing a dimly evocative strain of clawing desperate 80s conformity too.


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## JimW (Dec 15, 2011)

Some great acting, thought the prison visit was brilliantly played by both.


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## N_igma (Dec 15, 2011)

I'd still ride Lol, even with tubes down her throat.


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## weepiper (Dec 15, 2011)

painful but brilliant.


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## Deareg (Dec 15, 2011)

I found it hard to watch.


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## gnoriac (Dec 15, 2011)

Seemed like in 88 it was all about the women (Lol and Smell in particular) and the men had either become bit parts or total dicks. Until the end of the last episode Woody was dressing like a clown and acting like one. Shaun was so dopy you'd think he was smoking a sack of skunk a day.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 15, 2011)

killer b said:


> julius.


 
He was a doctor in Holby or Casualty as well


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## Johnny Vodka (Dec 15, 2011)

Loved it: very intense and moving, though not totally depressing in the end. I suppose it makes you grateful for the family and friends you have round about you. (Having a bad time at Xmas really hit home with me due to bad news a mate received today.)  Bring on the next series, supposedly set in the rave era.


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## weepiper (Dec 15, 2011)

The soundtrack's very good. just watching it again on +1 cos I missed a bit in the middle and the way the unsettling music bleeds through the congregation singing Silent Night is very affecting.


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## discokermit (Dec 15, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> He was a doctor in Holby or Casualty as well


he was pretty good in a film called "the hide".


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## Fedayn (Dec 16, 2011)

Good to hear the glorious tones of Ken Boothe over the credits. A fucking legend.


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## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 16, 2011)

killer b said:


> julius.


heh! that's what we said.....


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## coltrane (Dec 16, 2011)

Just watched all three episodes in one go.

Hard going at times, but some great writing and excellent acting - particularly Woody and Lol.

The slivers of dark and daft humour in a dark tale were really good.

Extra props to Warp Films for going to the trouble of informing viewers what the tunes in the series were in the end credits.


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## sim667 (Dec 16, 2011)

Not watched the last episode yet, hoping to this afternoon.

Have to say, ive actually been really impressed with the actors in this is england stuff generally, combo and lol have been great.

Lol's dad has been played really well, its something about the way he looks up, and has a 1,000 fags a day breathing style.


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## killer b (Dec 16, 2011)

rape dad is brilliant. the heavy breathing thing is a stroke of genius.

i enjoyed this series much more than the last, and the film. woody got the opportunity to be more than a comedy twat, which actually gave gilgun the opportunity to act a bit - his performance was the highpoint for me.


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## DotCommunist (Dec 16, 2011)

he's got the same ink in Misfits, ergo it is his own and not a fake done for the misfits character.

I noticed.


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## JimW (Dec 16, 2011)

killer b said:


> rape dad is brilliant. the heavy breathing thing is a stroke of genius.
> 
> <snip>


I kind of worry for the actor - bet he has to shave the beard if he wants a quiet drink out without getting assaulted, like the best soap baddies of the past.


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## DotCommunist (Dec 16, 2011)

he plays a beardless baddie in the enjoyable nonsense bbc3 fantasy Fades which I saw before watching him as rape dad in TIE 86


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## Grandma Death (Dec 16, 2011)

I think this series brought to life the brutality of child abuse and how destructive it is to the victim and those around the victim.


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## little_legs (Dec 16, 2011)

JimW said:


> I kind of worry for the actor - bet he has to shave the beard if he wants a quiet drink out without getting assaulted, *like the best soap baddies of the past*.



Has this actually happened?

Johnny Harris was actually asked about being _misunderstood_ in real life, he expects better of people (so do I). At the BAFTAs this year Vicky McLure referred to him as 'the most stunning actor I ever worked with', I hope he does well on the back of the success of TIE.


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## JimW (Dec 16, 2011)

Probably not, I'm doubtless going off some half-remembered tabloid bollocks about Nasty Nick Cotton from years ago. My main point was what a great job he did.


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## Steel Icarus (Dec 17, 2011)

killer b said:


> i enjoyed this series much more than the last, and the film. woody got the opportunity to be more than a comedy twat, which actually gave gilgun the opportunity to act a bit - his performance was the highpoint for me.



Aye. I identified with him very much in terms of being torn between growing up & doing the "right thing", and missing who you once were, and how you used to be.


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## DotCommunist (Dec 17, 2011)

Ian Beale claims he has had a slap or two in the past


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## Part 2 (Dec 17, 2011)

Steve McDonald too I think.

Johnny Harris is one of the Dwarves in Snow White and the Huntsman, along with Ian McShane, Toby Jones, Bob Hoskins, Eddie Marsan, Stephen Graham, Ray Winstone and Nick Frost.


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## albionism (Dec 18, 2011)

Johnny Harris is brilliant in this video
"http://player.vimeo.com/video/18752...mp;portrait=0&amp;color=ffffff&amp;autoplay=1"


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## discokermit (Dec 18, 2011)

just watched the last one.

where the fuck was perry benson?

out of order.


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## Steel Icarus (Dec 20, 2011)

discokermit said:


> just watched the last one.
> 
> where the fuck was perry benson?
> 
> out of order.



Producer Mark Herbert tweeted "The character Meggy sadly died in 1987 having a dump"


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## Hollis (Dec 22, 2011)

rutabowa said:


> people in 1988 didn't only listen to music from 1988 and wear 1988 fashion. i think maybe why i prefer this series to the previous one and the film is that it is not quite so attached to the year it's set in... it got a bit distracting before, like it was a "best of 1986" tv list programme.



That's what I liked about it.. for most people in 88 it wasn't about "the rave scene" etc.  but what they'd been doing the last 6-10 years.

I enjoyed it - agree with the characters being abit 2 dimensional, and think there was too much of the director in there.. but good all the same.


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## colbhoy (Dec 23, 2011)

Well, I've just finished watching the 3rd episode tonight. Very good, think was better than '86. Some great performances, particularly Woody and Lol. Certainly sets up the next series!

Small personal point - watching the first episode with my wife, Lol getting out of bed and the date flashes up - 23rd Dec 1988. That's the exact date we met!


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## Picadilly Commando (Dec 23, 2011)

Wasn't that good I thought.


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## strummerville (Dec 29, 2011)

Just watched all 3 eps. Good but what was all the quasi Catholic/forgiveness stuff with the nurse about? Was she some sort of Christian guardian angel figure, sent from heaven to save Lol...? Vicky McClure is stunningly good though, played it brilliantly. Why did they all keep crying all the time, seemed like very scene in the last episode was going to end with actors showing us how well they can break down. Only time it rang completely true was with Lol, otherwise was a bit wanky imo. Flat tops were definitely still bi in '88, I remember the look down south just pre acid house, being 501's, DM shoes, white socks, white t shirts, flat tops and black MA1 flight jackets. But I was a student in Guildford, so not exactly meadows territory.


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## Reno (Jan 5, 2012)

Just watched this. Excessively miserable and not nearly as good as the film and the last series.


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