The series completely loses the intensity of the original film, and sells out to 'cuteness' - all of them having fun, giggling and partying. The characters are soft and fluffy now that it's been watered down. All of that frightening buildup and grittiness of the film is entirely lacking here.

The film was brilliant, and I was praying that the television follow up would be as good, and thank goodness it was, from writer and creator Shane Meadows (Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, Dead Man's Shoes). Basically the story continues where the film left off, three years later, most of the friends still see each other, and are obviously brought together by the big events that take place throughout the series. Teenager Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) getting slightly bullied, missing exams and catching his mother Cynthia "Cynth" (Jo Hartley) having sex with his new employer Mr. Sandhu (Kriss Dosanjh). Lol (BAFTA winning Vicky McClure) has a relationship with boyfriend Woody (Joseph Gilgun), they fail to get married, move into a grotty house together, her abusive father Mick (BAFTA nominated Johnny Harris) returns, and she starts an affair with Milky (Andrew Shim). Gadget (Andrew Ellis) has feelings for Lol's sister Kelly (Chanel Cresswell), but seeing her kissing someone else he starts a fling with older single mother Trudy (Hannah Walters), and in the process changes his appearance and personality. The once violent supposedly changed Combo (Stephen Graham) returns because his mother is dying, Trev (Danielle Watson) is violently raped by Mick, and he is killed by Lol with a hammer to the head when he attempts to do the same to her. At the end of the series all characters reunited for the 1986 World Cup England v Argentina match, that saw the infamous "Hand of God" moment, Shaun has sex with older goth girlfriend Smell (Rosamund Hanson) in the toilets, Combo takes the blame for Mick's murder, and Lol keeps quiet to her sister Kelly. Also starring Perry Benson as Meggy, George Newton as Banjo, Michael Socha as Harvey, Perry Fitzpatrick as Flip and Coronation Street's Georgia May Foote as Gemma. The talented cast are all fantastic, the returning actors and the one or two editions, Turgoose, Hanson, McClure and Harris standing out best, the subject matters and situations are still as realistic and thought provoking for the time setting as the film was, it is a brilliant British television drama. It won the BAFTA for Best Make Up & Hair Design, and it was nominated for Best Costume Design, Best Director for Meadows and Best Editing. Very good!

Shane Meadows is in my opinion the finest film-maker in England today, with his tragi-comic, poetic portraits of the English working class. The prospect of a television spin-off of his movie 'This is England' thus prompted excitement but also reservations - there's certainly enough material for a follow up, and with Meadows' involvement, the quality can only be high - but sometimes a story is told and does not need extending. This series is set at the time of the football world cup of 1986, and there's already been talk of another one set in 1990 at the following world cup: might this all be too much of a good thing? On watching it, there are indeed odd moments when the series indeed feels flabbier, less essential than the original; and the occasional lapse towards 'Shameless' territory. But in the main, this is excellent stuff. Thomas Turgoose, the star of the original, is less central here, but still steals every scene he is in; but all the characters are great, including man-child Woody and Vicky McClure's Lol, around whom the plot rotates. The football link is handled lightly, and the final, Meadows-directed episode cumulates in a horrific portrayal of an attempted rape and its aftermath that is handled with an extraordinary grace (unlikely as that word seems to describe the depiction of such an event). Meadows' films aren't loud, but he cuts to the raw edge of human vulnerability like few others; this is easily the best T.V. series of the year, and an important alternative view to the received wisdom on the Thatcher era.

I was lucky enough to attend the preview screening of This is Enlgand '86 last Thursday at the Showroom in Sheffield. The cinema was decorated to look like an 80's wedding with a buffet of sausage rolls, prawn vol au vonts, cheese and pineapple chunks on cocktail sticks, and there was also a live ska band and actors dressed in 80's clothing to help create a real 1986 atmosphere.The preview was attended by director Shane Meadows and all of the cast, who came up on stage before the screening to introduce the first episode. The producer mentioned that Shane Meadows had been frantically working in London every day to try to get the last 2 episodes finished in time to be aired on Channel 4.Only the first episode was shown at the screening along with a trailer for the rest of the series but I have to say that, based on what I saw, I don't think fans of the film will be at all disappointed by the series. The themes of racism, the Falklands War and Thacherite Britain take a bit more of a backseat here and the focus is now on the lives of the characters and the various personal problems they face growing up in 1986. The opening to the first episode is fantastic and the director manages to bridge the gap between the events of the film and the series in a very creative way that fans will love.The 1986 setting looks extremely authentic and the series is complimented by a fantastic soundtrack.The cast put in excellent performances once again, in particular Thomas Turgoose who returns as Shaun and Vicky MccLure who is again brilliant as Lol. Also look out for hilarious comedic turns from Hannah Walters (a.k.a Mrs Stephen Graham) who played the shoe saleswoman in the film, and newcomer Perry Fitzpatrick as psychotic bully Flip. I don't think I'm giving anything away here (as he is featured in all of the trailers) but we also see the return of the fantastic Stephen Graham as Combo.Although this first episode is more light hearted in tone than the film with some more obvious comedic set pieces, the director is able to expertly switch to the more dramatic scenes and engage viewers in the various predicaments of his characters. There are several very emotional scenes which work very well and the familiar sounds of the Einaudi piano score punctuate these scenes to great effect. For me one of the things that made the dramatic scenes in the original film so engaging was Shane Meadows' use of music to heighten the emotional impact and I found that he did this very effectively again here.The trailer for the other 3 episodes promises more hilarious scenes as well as some much darker subplots, and the series as a whole looks set to provide all of the same elements that made the original so appealing. As a fan of the film it felt a little like visiting a gang of old mates who I hadn't seen in a while, and I can't wait to see the rest of the series when it airs to find out what becomes of these great characters.