This Is England, 20 years on

Ahead of its 20^th anniversary, we are screening the classic This Is England at Hyde Park Picture House.

One of British independent cinema’s biggest success stories, the film represents the breakout success of indie auteur Shane Meadows, Stephen Graham and Sheffield-based studio Warp Films. As we anticipate 20 years of the film, we look at its legacy – and what its accolades have meant for the regional film scene in the UK.

Written by Ben Fletcher

Meadows not only turned his camera to the skinhead movement, but gave locations across the Midlands the big screen treatment, too – one of the film’s defining qualities. Production took place across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, notably at local schools and venues, as well as later scenes on the east coast of Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

Known for being locally-oriented, Shane Meadows regularly worked with local non-actors – like Thomas Turgoose, who has developed into an established screen presence and regular Meadows collaborator – sharing voices and stories from Nottingham since his early days making short films around the city.

It’s not just a young Turgoose who cut his teeth on the set of This Is England, but many famous faces of UK film and TV have been introduced through Meadows’ oeuvre – including, but not limited to, a fresh-faced Vicky McClure, Jack O’Connell, Paddy Considine and more. His use of local talent extends to musicians from the region, too, working with Jake Bugg and rapper Scorzayzee.

The world and characters explored in This Is England did not simply end there. Several years later, in 2010, Warp Films produced the mini-series This Is England ’86 for Channel 4, with Meadows at the helm alongside TV writing royalty and playwright Jack Thorne. The series continued to engage with the changing subcultures of Britain in the ’80s, exploring characters’ transitions into the mod, new wave, punk and psychobilly scenes, respectively.

In addition to spawning a beloved television franchise, the film helped to reinvigorate social realism in British cinema in the 2000s, harking back to the past century’s classics like Kes or Ratcatcher with renewed vigour.

The frequent collaborations between Shane Meadows and Warp represented the success of the homegrown filmmaking scene in Yorkshire and the Midlands, establishing a new standard, platforming important stories and bringing through new voices, all the while treating us to some undisputedly iconic cinema.

Since the film’s release, names such as Thomas Turgoose, Jo Hartley, Joe Gilgun, Vicky McClure, Chanel Cresswell, Jack O’Connell, and, of course, Stephen Graham have all gone on to successful careers across the big and small screen, continuing to contribute to a rich and diverse film scene in the UK.

Meadows himself has continued to be prolific across both mediums, including recent TV ventures The Virtues and The Gallows Pole (set in God’s Own Country, using the moors to great ghostly and hallucinogenic effect) – building upon existing collaborations and exploring new ground with his trademark voice and knack for a great soundtrack. Rumours have even circled that Meadows and Jack Thorne (writer of This Is England ’86, ’88 and ’90) may be willing to revisit the characters first introduced in 2006, now 20 years on, for a limited series set at the turn of the millennium.

Whether Shaun, Woody, Lol and co. are returning to our TV screens any time soon or not, the film that sparked it all is returning to cinemas ahead of this landmark anniversary of 20 years…