This Is England is one of the great British TV dramas of the last 20 years, but we never get enough instalments of it.
So far, we’ve had the 2006 film, and then three TV sequels: This is England ’88, This Is England ’88, and This Is England ’90.
Now its brilliant writer-director Shane Meadows has said that he wants to cap off the entire run with one last film.
“There is one This Is England left,” he told The Sun, adding:
“I’ve got one last idea for This Is England, but as a film that can be split as a hybrid — because it started in cinemas and ended up on TV, I would love to finish off with one feature-length episode people can watch in the cinema or on TV the same night.”
The main cast – including Vicky McClure, Thomas Turgoose and Chanel Cresswell, who won a Bafta at the weekend for the ’90 instalment – have yet to be recruited for any future TIE plans.
#BAFTATV WINNER: Supporting Actress – Chanel Cresswell, This Is England '90 https://t.co/DouPXPx31Z pic.twitter.com/PvR7jlRwgP
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) May 8, 2016
But, sadly, Meadows has firmly ruled out making any more regular TIE series for Channel 4.
“It’s a mixture of not having enough stories to move on to telling four or five hours’ worth of stuff,” he said. “If I wanted to make money, I could write ten episodes of This Is England and make a lot of money for everyone, but maybe then the series would go down in quality.”
Hardcore TIE fans might have conflicted feelings about the proposed new project…
When This is England 90 ended, I thought it was the absolute perfect way to end the saga. But now this… https://t.co/bm4r71sYgM
— Pete Turner ✌️ (@ilovethatfilm) May 10, 2016
But Meadows and Co have earned our trust enough by now to do right by the story.
https://twitter.com/lottecory/status/729964566751350784
As a huge This Is England fan, I cannot WAIT.
