This Is England

Channel 4 prides itself on its low-budget, quirky-but-authentic depictions of working class life. It thinks that's where it has the edge over the other channels: The BBC just simply can't do it – everyone they ever hire is from RADA. ITV on the other hand is for the proles – it makes telly for the working classes. But Channel 4 makes shows about the lower orders for the higher orders, for Guardian readers to get their dose of pov-porn.

It's the worthy part of its mission – from back in the days when it would spend an evening broadcasting lesbian poetry. From before it discovered The Word and it could be crass in the name of innovation and make a buck out of it. You know, Isaacs rather than Grade.

I know this makes it sound like I hate This Is England '86. I don't. I think it just about manages to pull it off. There are lot of montage sequences to eighties music, especially early on and you really do want them to just bloody get on with it. The characters are, it has to be said, thinly drawn. The mundanity of their speech appears nearly authentic but, basically, everyone has exactly the same speech pattern, and the same way of expressing themselves. The apparent reliance on improvisation only seems to exacerbate this effect.

But it is good telly. It's funny and affecting. Deep down, however, I don't think it has anything new or important to say – either about its context or the sort of people it seeks to represent.

Related Posts