--- title: "This Is England '86" year: 2010 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/this-is-england-86" fi1m_score: 80 critics_score: 69 critics_reviews: 6 published: "2026-09-17T16:27:59.344542+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T16:28:08.109922+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # This Is England '86 (2010) Created by Shane Meadows · 3h 05m · MPA NR · Drama **Fi1m score: 80** · Critics 69 from 6 reviews *In a sentence:* The friends are worth keeping; perhaps send somebody else for the flowers > Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne’s four-part drama makes friendship funny, difficult and worth the trouble. The performances carry it through some overextended comedy into painful territory; we recommend it, but not for an undemanding evening. ## Synopsis Three years on, Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is among the familiar faces as Richard ‘Woody’ Woodford (Joe Gilgun) and Lol (Vicky McClure) prepare to marry. The couple have their friends around them, but the wedding does not go ahead as planned. Gadget (Andrew Ellis), meanwhile, steals flowers from a mourner. A day arranged to celebrate a marriage becomes something the group has to get through together, with the intended bride and groom still facing the question of how to carry on. ## Review The move from film to television gives these friends more time in each other’s company, and *This Is England ‘86* makes that time count. Written by Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne, it is a warm, painful drama that earns our recommendation despite some overworked comedy. Across four episodes, the pleasures of belonging to this group become persuasive enough to make its troubles matter. The extra space also allows a few jokes to continue after they have stopped being funny. The wedding that does not happen is the right place to begin: a public occasion at which private uncertainty is difficult to conceal. Joe Gilgun, as Richard ‘Woody’ Woodford, and Vicky McClure, as Lol, make the embarrassment worth attending to. Neither treats the couple’s difficulty as an excuse to ask for sympathy, and the scene benefits from that restraint. With the friends gathered around them, their difficulty becomes everybody else’s business, which is uncomfortable in a thoroughly recognisable way. Andrew Ellis’s Gadget supplies a less defensible contribution to the social arrangements by stealing flowers from a mourner. We laughed before we had properly considered the mourner, and felt mean a moment later. The series trusts us to remain fond of him after seeing exactly how little consideration he can muster. Thomas Turgoose gives Shaun an unaffected presence within the ensemble, helping the group feel familiar even when the behaviour becomes outlandish and the comedy risks making everyone seem too foolish to care about. Directors Tom Harper and Shane Meadows give the ensemble room to establish its familiarity, and the drama benefits from that time together. Danny Cohen’s cinematography is most effective at the non-wedding, giving the surrounding faces weight alongside the couple. Mark Eckersley’s editing lets the embarrassment last long enough to become uncomfortable. The scene keeps the friends involved, so that the failure of the occasion matters beyond the two people who were supposed to be getting married. The broadness is the chief weakness. The writing occasionally seems too pleased to be back among these characters, giving their antics more attention than their consequences warrant. That makes the movement towards bleaker drama feel abrupt in places, even though comedy and distress plainly belong in the same lives. Tighter cutting would have helped where the behaviour is already sufficiently unlikely without the scene asking us to enjoy it for longer. What makes the darker passages work is the continuing importance of friendship. Affection for these people survives their failures, and the writing does not pretend that loyalty can repair every kind of damage. Vicky McClure is central to that seriousness, giving Lol sufficient weight for the drama to hold when the joking stops. The series takes suffering seriously without making its characters speak as though they have been appointed to explain it. A reunion drama can get a long way on the pleasure of recognising people, and the weaker comedy here sometimes relies on that allowance. The stronger scenes give us reasons to care about what happens to them beyond being glad they are back. We would not put this on for an evening of uncomplicated nostalgia. Leave room afterwards for something gentler. *Fi1m score 80, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics respond warmly to This Is England ’86, praising its move from film to television and its mixture of bleak drama, unruly comedy and affection between friends. The performances attract particular praise, with the ensemble helping familiar characters remain convincing as their stories continue. The reviews also value the series’ ability to move from hilarity to distress without making the hardship feel forced or losing the humour that makes these friendships believable. The spread is wide, however, with five positive reviews and one strongly negative assessment rather than a cluster of middling responses. The Times finds the change in tone from the film disconcerting and much of the drama unrealistic, though it admires an individual sequence. That objection runs against the prevailing view: most critics regard the shifts between warmth and brutality as persuasive, and the strongest praise centres on how comfortably those extremes coexist. ### Reviews we read (6) - **The Telegraph**, Ceri Radford (90/100, inferred): The review calls the series astonishingly good, artistically captivating, funny, melancholic and affecting in its shift from film to television. It singles out the convincing performances, especially Thomas Turgoose as Shaun, and the tight plotting. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7987609/This-is-England-86-Channel-4-review.html) - **The Guardian** (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the series bleak yet funny as it continues the characters' stories three years on. Specific scenes like Gadget stealing flowers from a mourner are highlighted for their tone. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/sep/07/this-is-england-86-review) - **The Independent** (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the series for moving believably from exuberant hilarity to bleak tragedy without forcing impossible resolutions. It highlights the compromised but truthful ending and moments of transcendence in unpromising settings, such as a public toilet. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/last-night-s-tv-whites-bbc2-this-is-england-86-channel-4-2092377.html) - **The Times** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the series' tone shift from the original film disconcerting and much of it unrealistic, blaming the collaboration with Jack Thorne. They single out the non-wedding of Woody and Lol as a wonderful piece of television at the centre of the episode. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/this-is-england-86-xszhrpf6x58) - **NME**, Owen Nicholls (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the series as potentially the greatest UK television programme of a generation for its powerful storytelling and balance of harrowing drama with humor and warmth among friends. They single out the redemptive arc for the character Combo and the authentic depiction of friendship amid hardship. [Read](https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/this-is-england-86-was-harrowing-and-hilarious-in-equal-measure-39211) - **Den of Geek**, Josh Butler (70/100, inferred): The first episode of the four-part series successfully transitions the story to television with a warm, humorous tone and strong ensemble performances. It balances anarchic comedy with wholesome family drama elements while building on the characters from the original film. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/this-is-england-86-episode-1-review/) ## Details - **Created by:** Shane Meadows - **Creator:** Shane Meadows - **Director:** Tom Harper, Shane Meadows - **Writer:** Shane Meadows, Jack Thorne - **Cinematography:** Danny Cohen - **Editor:** Mark Eckersley - **Producer:** Libby Durdy, Mark Herbert, Rebekah Wray-Rogers - **Cast:** Joe Gilgun as Richard 'Woody' Woodford; Vicky McClure as Lol; Stephen Graham as Combo; Thomas Turgoose as Shaun; Andrew Ellis as Gadget; Andrew Shim as Milky; Chanel Cresswell as Kelly; Danielle Watson as Trev - **Runtime:** 3h 05m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 7 September 2010 - **Genres:** Drama - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iet7W9gFwE8 ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: streaming - Amazon Prime Video: free - The Roku Channel: free, hd - Tubi: free, hd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: CA, GB, IE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Kes* (1969), Fi1m 88: Youth, humour and humiliation observed with a similarly unsentimental affection. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/kes.md) - *A Room for Romeo Brass* (1999): Another friendship tested by frightening behaviour, with comedy that makes the threat worse. - *La Haine* (1995), Fi1m 90: Volatile companionship, idle hours and jokes that cannot keep the danger away. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/la-haine.md) - *Nobody Knows* (2004): Children sustain a fragile household in a drama attentive to ordinary acts of care. - *Minding the Gap* (2018): A documentary tracing young friendships through damaged homes and the demands of adulthood. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/this-is-england-86