This is England 86 (Spoilers)

Yes, I liked the contrast between Shaun acting a prat over his Mum's new relationship and becoming intentionally homeless, versus Harvey possibly leaving home to get away from abuse from his father.

However as a whole I didn't enjoy it as much as last weeks.
 
There are too many posts to multiquote so I'll just drop in my penny's worth!

The clothes and hair are bang on for anyone who wore them in 1983. In 1986, my friend's older sister was into ska and Northern Soul and wore similar clothes to Lol and had a haircut like Kelly. I had other frienRAB who were goths and dressed like Smell and a few boys in my school dressed like the boys on bikes. I think the whole point is that the 80s was a transition period and many groups exsisted, but rubbed along together rather than rub each other up the wrong way. I was 14 in 1986 and was into the Cure as well as House Music and Soul (RnB) but used to hang out with Goths and soul boys alike.


I think the character of Shaun is a complex one and I don't for a moment believe he is racist. I think he is a lost boy who hasn't got a father figure so when he starts to get closer to Sandhu is somewhat dismayed to find him in bed with his mother. This no doubt generated a fear that Sandhu was being nice to him to get closer to his mother.

Woody's transformation from everybody's best mate to career man is brilliant and his actions are quite accurate of the time. Don't forget there were still over 3million unemployed so to have a job at this time was something you needed to hold on to. This is mere speculation, but I think he will soon discover he has outgrown the gang and can't be a manager as well as one of the boys.

I think Lol realises she is with Woody because it's become habitual and the boy she fell in love with has gone and has been replaced by a conformist.

I only watched the film yesterday followed by the first 2 episodes and I think the transition between the two is excellent. Like I said I was only 14 in 1986, but I can totally relate to the teenage angst felt by Shaun and the thoughts conveyed by Smell who incidentally is a fantastic improv. actress even if she has a Nottingham accent!
 
fonzerelli said:
Lol's dad had threatened her with the "nice and horrible" way to be raped. I think she knew it would be better for her, if she just lay there and let the horrible beast do what he had to do!!!

Some of the dialogue sent a chill down my spine
"You're not very wet are you? I'll soon sort that out!" Just awful for the poor lass!![/QUOTE]

I never knew he said that :( It's all just so horrible :(:mad:
Click to expand...
 
Yes you may have been able to see the end coming, but honestly, who cares? It was the right ending.
It wouldn't have worked if Lol's Dad had gotten away/or been killed by somebody else. It suited Lol's character; protecting herself, her frienRAB and her sister right till the end.

Spoiler incase.
 
Agreed.
Also agreed on the Lol being a miserable bitch comment.

The only storyline in this that I'm actually interested in is Shaun's. IMO, focusing more on Lol in the series was a mistake (IMO).

Am looking forward to seeing Combo (concious) next week. Not so much with Woody and Lol's rather dull relationship.
 
An interesting take on Shauns charachter out of curiosity have you ever seen the film :confused:
If not it might be an idea as it will help when watching these sequals.

Shaun isnt racist as anyone who has seen the film will know. He certainly flirted with it, though too young to really understand what he was getting involved in.
The rest of your description pretty much sums up where he is right now, he is 16 afterall. But we are lucky in that we know there is more to Shaun than that, we know what he has been through and how damaged he is.

His reaction to his mum knew relationship is far more complex than him being selfish (though as a 16 year old he naturally is very selfish, I know I was at that age) his father was killed in the FalklanRAB war and I suspect that this is the first relationship mum has had since his fathers passing, always a tricky one to broach. And finding out in the way he did was not going to ease things along.
Mr Sandhu had taken Shaun under his wing was someone he looked upto. With no father this is important to Shaun. But the last time he had such a figure in his life (Combo) he was let down and betrayed in one of the worst ways imaginable. So finding Mr Sandhu in bed with his mum would bring back all those insecurites hence his reaction.
 
That song by The Jam is one of my favourites of all time...was chuffed to hear it as the closing music.

That was brilliant and I admit, I was glad to see Mick get his just desserts.
 
The ending was fitting. But rather than the extension you suggest they should just have had something worthwhile happen in The first two episodes, so disappointing, you could really see the change in quality when Meadows did 3 and 4.
 
The film was hardly cutting edge IMO.
Many streams in Skinhead culture, some of it racist, basis comes from the Rudeboy style and music, Ska, Rocksteady from the West Indies.
In fact there were a few anti facist/anti racist Skinhead groups too IIRC as they didn't want to be associated with that subculture.

Pretend, 'me and my mate' rhyming slang is best on Urban dictionary.
The racist element didn't turn up in the film until Combo turned up.
 
I don't get people wanting to make nasty things pretty when they are not. The only outcome of that is that you get people having opinion of a given subject not based on reality.

It's like making a nice film about the Moors Murderers: They weren't nice, they murdered children and were sadists. Any true film should disgust you or it is wrong.
 
Another (little) bug-bear - The final group game (England v Poland) took place on the 11th June 1986 (we see the characters watching this game in an earlier episode in the pub). The England/Argentina game took place on the 22nd June 1986 (this game is included in the montage that includes Combo being in prison). A matter of days for Combo to be arrested, appear in court (which Lol would also appear to give her testimony), sentenced (with
 
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