Forehead Mowing: Part 2

Dad’s are shit. But the only thing worse than Dads is men.

This is England was a photograph about some children whose parents were conspicuous in their absence. We never met Woody or Lol or Gadgets parents. The implication was that these kids (not much more than kids) were gossamer who had wandered into the lions den and then floated out again, careless and jobless and parentless.

In the second episode of This is England ’86, the characters of these absent parents are taken by the scruff of the neck and hauled into the dock. Lol’s mother re-unites with her abusive husband, Woody’s is a paragon of disinterested suburbanism, while Vomit’s dad has returned and appears to be giving free reign to his dangerous temper. Meanwhile we discover that Cynth is shagging Mr. Sandhu and even Meggy has abandoned his only son to the clutches of nymphomaniac registrar Trudy.

As the master of grit, Shane Meadows movies always run the risk of the soap opera tag. Transferred to TV series, the shadow creeps nearer. Of course there are hints of melodrama, but its in the relentlessness of its theme, the catastrophe of absent parents, that This is England ‘86 surmounts this. It bullies and bombards its point across.

One other thing that marks ’86 out from the soaps is the fact that you can seriously enjoy the company of these characters. There is a sequence in which the gang invade their neighbours house and have a party involving top hats, Special Brew and a Jacuzzi. It is one of the most joyful pieces of television I have ever seen.

An unlikely love story is emerging. I don’t want to give the game away but it is one that has broken my little heart a bit. It provides the show with a closing image of unbelievable beauty. It is so happy, but so sad.

OK, I’m sorry about last week. I know I’ve left it til now. I think its fair to say that the first episode was a bit ploddier, a bit too much exposition. This week though. Oh my! I love them so, I don’t want them to get hurt. I don’t want them to hurt each other. Get up Woody! Get up Milky! We love you!