This Is England '88

[CuckedByMenry]

So Combo heard Lol screaming, looked in the window, saw him on top of her ... and then what? Hung about and had a quick fag before breaking the door in?

 

What the fuck?

He was devising a story to take the blame and get Lol off the hook. He clearly knew about her past and what her dad was like and put two and two together.

 

Really not sure what to make of the show as a whole, but Lol should've rotated the hammer 180 before swinging.

[FUM]

That was the impression I got from the dialogue. I'm starting to think now he was just telling her the alibi he was going to use.

 

Now I feel silly .

 

EDIT : I ~got it that he took the rap, FUM, just wasn't sure about the stuff he was saying to her before it became evident, what with him pawing the hammer etc.

 

Ah right, my mistake. Yes, just setting the story straight with Lol.

[King Pitcos]

Wow.

[Fat Boy Mendoza]

Did anyone else feel a little pissed off with the Channel 4 continuity announcement before the start of part 3 which said something along the lines of "with scenes of sexual violence" ? I suppose it was always a possibility that he was going to rape again but I felt a little like it was spoiled for us as we knew it was going to happen after that. I was also a bit pissed off with the Sky EPG as it stated there would be a death in the episode and I saw that last week when it came up on the planner. Again it was a likely outcome but I would have prefered to have been kept guessing throughout.

 

Overall I really enjoyed the series.

[FUM]

Did anyone else feel a little pissed off with the Channel 4 continuity announcement before the start of part 3 which said something along the lines of "with scenes of sexual violence" ? I suppose it was always a possibility that he was going to rape again but I felt a little like it was spoiled for us as we knew it was going to happen after that. I was also a bit pissed off with the Sky EPG as it stated there would be a death in the episode and I saw that last week when it came up on the planner. Again it was a likely outcome but I would have prefered to have been kept guessing throughout.

 

Overall I really enjoyed the series.

 

As soon as they said that, I predicted to my missus what would happen and it went almost exactly how I said.

[boydy122]

I predicted something like that would happen but I actually thought Compo would of killed Lols dad, anyway I reckoned they have left it open for a final series in a few years time with Compo coming out & Lol probably having a baby who is black but yet Woody still thinking the baby is his or something on them lines

[widowmaker23]

Good series overall but yeah the end was very predictable as soon as the announcement was made about the "sexual violence" which was pretty horrific! I liked the show, thought the ending was kinda poor... seemed very rushed at the end.

[FUM]

Did they tie up the story with Harvey being beaten by his dad, seemed it just happened and wasn't mentioned again or have I missed a trick here?

[King Pitcos]

Did anyone else feel a little pissed off with the Channel 4 continuity announcement before the start of part 3 which said something along the lines of "with scenes of sexual violence" ?

I did. I blew a little raspberry and shouted "SPOILER ALERT, DICKHEADS" in my head. But they have to do that, otherwise the bellends would be onto OFCOM. And in fairness, it was horrible, brave, raw stuff. If ever there's gonna be a sexual violence warning on a telly drama, that's the one that should have it.

 

I predicted something like that would happen but I actually thought Compo would of killed Lols dad, anyway I reckoned they have left it open for a final series in a few years time with Compo coming out & Lol probably having a baby who is black but yet Woody still thinking the baby is his or something on them lines

Nora Batty's all woman, you filthdog.

 

Did they tie up the story with Harvey being beaten by his dad, seemed it just happened and wasn't mentioned again or have I missed a trick here?

Nope, nothing came of it. Or of Gadget fancying Kelly. I can understand there not being room for them in this episode, but why did they bother starting them threads at all, really? I suppose it coloured the characters in, but would've been nice to get some resolution on that stuff. The Harvey one especially seemed weird because it literally was just that one scene of it.

[GalaxyV.2]

I think the Harvey thing was to just show they all had problems and perhaps why he was a bit of a bully younger. Perhaps it will be picke dup in the planned second series.

 

I'ld like to watch it without any breaks as one feature, I reckon it'll benefit from it

[Astro Hollywood]

The whole thing was a huge disappointment. I really, really wanted to like it and was as jazzed as everyone about there being a series, but eh, it was just shit. The rapes just came off as someone mistaking something being powerful when it was just violent and unpleasant. I hope Meadows' next project is something special, because the "fun times ruined by sudden nasty violent act" device has become his fallback. But never mind those tonal shifts, we're told exactly what we're supposed to feel by the constant sad piano montage music. Dear god, all those sad piano montages.

 

Everyone having a great big laugh > something fucked up happens > mournful piano music over the faces of everyone looking all sad > credits.

 

The stuff people commented on after the first episode, about why are Banjo, Harvey and Meggie hanging around with the gang, was never addressed either. Fair enough in real life, groups change over a few years, but the fact it wasn't addressed and the way the whole series panned out kinda exposes it for the "Look, it's everyone you liked from the film! Together!" balcony playing.

 

The pacing was so odd too. All that time wasted with the awful "Confessions Of..." comedy sex bits with Gadget and that women, Meggie being the kid's dad, and even Milky and Lol's affair, now just seems like filler. Why waste all that time on getting everyone together for a second go at the wedding? That's on top of all the "jumping around, we're all such great mates, mate" Skins type filler. The best part was Motorbike Man with his Partridge voice, but he didn't hang around much either.

 

And Woody seemed to devolve from wacky, friendly guy in the film and first episode to out-and-out retard by the end. Seems like Meadows was torn between broad comedy and bleak-porn.

[GalaxyV.2]

Meggie hung round with them in the first film, he really only went with the flow with Combo, his reaction to the beating of Milky showed what he thought. Harvey dressed as a Mod in the first film and was older than Shaun, not too hard to believe he would start hanging round with them.

 

Woody's change was deliberate and obvious. It was a main part of the show.

 

I agree with you though, the motorbike kid with the awesome voice should have been in it a lot more, that kid was brilliant

[Devon Malcolm]

Well I've given up trying to figure out where it all went wrong with this series, so I've taken solace with the memory of Kelly running up the stairs in THAT dress.

[tiger_rick]

I thought it was a tremendous episode. i obviously didn't think about it as much as Sickwoy, I just enjoyed it for what it was. That isn't a criticism just genuinely how it was.

 

I quite liked the pacing. I liked that the fun stuff went along quite quickly and that it switched to the more morbid stories and the pace slowed and the music and the camera work reflected the sombre tone.

 

I bought the film last week but haven't watched it because I'd get too confused so I'm going to have a watch of it. I might then come to the same conclusion as other people but for the moment, I can happily say I enjoyed it and thought it turned out well. I really enjoyed Combo's little cameo. "Let me do good" was a great line.

 

Agree with some of the other points that there were a lot of little threads that didn't really go anywhere. Wonder if there'll be a follow up series?

[Astro Hollywood]

I was so fucked off with this I wrot a blog about it, like some kind of arrogant prick. It'll probably take longer to read than it took to watch the series, but here it is anyway, because of, let's say...discussion.

 

The full thing with pictures (!!) is here

 

This is Disappointment '86

 

 

I wanted to love this, I really, really did. This is England, the movie that acts as a prequel to the series, is sensational, so the promise of seeing where those characters are at a few years down the line should, done right, be awesome. Unfortunately, This is England '86 falls into the category of sequels that are just bad fanfic. Oopsy.

 

Firstly, pretty much every character is someone who featured, to varying degrees, in the film, to the point where it stops being appropriate and just feels like balcony-playing.