This Is Not Good Enough ’86
The Frustrated Ramblings Of An Aspiring Filmmaker - Issue 3 Last night saw Shane Meadows four part TV drama 'This Is England 86' draw to a close and for the second time in two weeks there isnt anything quite like a bit of rape on a Tuesday night. The show ended with two rapes, a murder, a bride jilted at the altar, a hot tub party, a love triangle and an illegitimate child under its dramatic belt. But, it still wasnt quite enough. Meadows is a pretty good filmmaker and does small time stories, people and places very well indeed. 'This Is England' and 'Dead Mans Shoes' were commendable films, but his exploration into television wasnt quite up to standards in my eyes. Meadows films are usually fairly slow in pace and so was his TV serial. The first episode was a slow start and I could forgive that because I was sure there was so much more to come. Episode two got better and I started to believe that big things were on the horizon. Episode three was good too, but I still wasnt getting the conflict and drama I anticipated. Then episode four closed the show with a slow and disappointing end. When I read the various status on Facebook after episode one and conversed with fellow audience members the general consensus was that Combo was going to make a big return and the drama shit would hit the fan. Combo arrived in the final seconds of episode three without a single line of comprehendible dialogue. Just a few grunts and moans as he fell through Seans door. In episdoe four he woke up, had a cuppa, then a bath and went to see his old Mum. When he got there she was brown bread and he didnt really flip out as we had hoped. When then saw him a little emotional as he sat by her bed. When he finally arrived back on the estate he arrived at Lols just in time to take the blame for Daddys death and he was sent back to prison. Im not even sure if Woody or Milky knew he was back in town and so the enormous shit storm we were all praying for was totally maneuvered around. And not for the better. 
Thats not a problem as long as the show focused on other areas of dramatic story lining. Sean had an argument with his Mother. Not thrilling. Gadget was shagging the old bird with a Cary Grant obsession. Not really dramatic. Lol was the serials main character and her backstory was full of conflict, anger, grief and, most importantly, drama her Father raped her when she was younger. However, apart from one argument she didnt really approach him about it until the second half of episode four. Again, not a problem as long as it can destroy other areas of her life she started shagging Milky. This could have offered some real tension with a love triangle and Woodys heart being broken. Woody never found out and him and Milky never fell out. Lol and Woody reconciled. I eagerly awaited the shows arrival on our screens as did many people the length and breadth of the company. And I was disappointed in all honesty. I expected big things and what I got was a few small things drawn out over four hours. As I mentioned earlier, TV tends to be jam packed full of story, twists and turns. If you look at an episode of 'Shameless' so many things happen to so many characters that there is never a dull moment. But, 'Shameless' is a different animal altogether. And I get that. Meadows likes things slow paced. Shows like 'The Wire' have proven that you dont need loads of high-speed action and drama to fill a TV hour. But, 'The Wire' has some real deep and complicated characters with stories and drama that tears them apart. 'This Is England 86' had the potential to do that and just managed to miss it. 
Dont get me wrong it had its moments. The scooter boys were hilarious. When Gadget sniffed sherbet and thought it was coke I wet myself. The whole relationship with gadget and Trudy was hilariously bizarre. Woody was a great character at times and I really liked him, but he wasnt quite three-dimensional. Lols Father was a truly nasty and horrifying character that really stood out for me, but he didnt do anything except grunt, shout and rape the odd girl. He was one character who really couldve made the show come alive. But he never. In all honesty the great bits were sprinkled lightly between the nothingness and tedium. Why is it that we Brits cannot make a big drama like they do in the States? 'This Is England 86' should have been our jewel in the TV crown, but it wasnt. It was small time and slow and didnt really do what we the audience wanted it to do. It wasnt a stitch on the writing of programmes from across the pond like 'The Sopranos', 'The Wire' and 'Mad Men'. They also have new show to wave in front of our embarrassed and jealous faces 'Boardwalk Empire'. Why cant we do something similar? We have the talent, so it cant be because of that. Our filmmakers, actors and writers have all earned success on the other side of the pond in recent years. Is it money? I hope not, we should be investing in big British drama. Is it then that we dont have the audience for it? Without the audience TV companies cant make the money back? Surely not as 'The Sopranos', 'The Wire', 'Mad Men' and countless other US shows fill our TV guide week after week after week after week. 
'This is England 86' was advertised as going to be the biggest thing in British TV for some time. It has been eagerly anticipated for years. It should have been a dazzlingly triumphant statement of British storytelling. But it wasnt. Just like the characters in the pub that watched the eagerly anticipated England vs Argentina game in Episode four, I felt cheated. I turned up, ticket in hand and wearing my Shane Meadows strip to watch an entertainment spectacle. Instead, just like those characters, I was robbed and sent home disappointed. But it wasnt from the cheating little hand of a cocaine addict who thinks he is god. It was by a lack of story and/or character development. This is not good enough 86. You can read Obsessed With Film's reviews of This Is England 86 here; This Is England Part Three - Simon's review This Is England Part Two - Simon's review This Is England Part One - Dan's review