This Is England '88

More like a post-script to ’86, dealing with the fall-out from events in the earlier series that could have probably been inferred – a sense of repetition is setting in, despite the typically terrific performances that all have an unvarnished realism to them – Hanson and Turgoose are especially good this time as their relationship faces considerable challenges (even if their resolution feels truncated) - most of the other threads feel like they are covering familiar and already resolved ground. Meadows’ great eye and sensibilities are appreciated as ever, but we might be reaching the end of the road for these characters – much more soapy than previous entries and the very 80s context which marked the earlier chapters has been more or less put on the backburner.