This Is England '86, last year's surprise four-part Channel 4 continuation of Shane Meadows' terrifying 2006 drama This is England, is set for further instalments. Meadows is reportedly now gearing up for This is England '88, a two-hour Christmas special.
Shooting starts in the spring on the stand-alone TV-movie, which will involve Woody (Joe Gilgun) and Lol (Vicky McClure) along with other series regulars. As with TV's This is England '86, '88 will be co-written by Meadows and Shameless / Skins scribe Jack Thorne.
Channel 4's Head of Drama, Camilla Campbell, explains that the special will act as a bridge to a further series, "pulling together a lot of story threads from '86, leaving the way clear for This Is England '90 which is currently in development."
Meadows, picking up a South Bank Sky Arts Award for This is England '86 yesterday, said, "I've never done a follow-up to something I've made as a film but there was something about This Is England, meeting Thomas Turgoose and the whole cast. We got as close as I have ever got to a family in this film."