This Is England '88 To Air In The U.K. On December 13-15th

Next week sees the airing in the U.K. of the next instalment in the This Is England series. This Is England '88, a three-part TV series will be screened on consecutive nights on December 13-15th on Channel 4. Billed by series creator Shane Meadows as a "sort of broken nativity play", fans of the series will have a chance to catch up with Shaun, Woody, Lol, Milky and the gang. This Is England '88 picks up 18 months on from where its predecessor left off, with Woody and Lol struggling to cope with the emotional fallout following her killing of her rapist dad. Shaun, meanwhile, is learning all about the ups and downs or romance with Smell. It will be followed in 2012 by 'This Is England '90', which will focus on the ecstasy-fuelled rave scene of the era.

Meadows has described the three-parter as 'kind of like a very brutal Nativity play… I just remember Christmas being shit… I wanted to make a sort of broken Nativity play, but there’s a real positive outcome, I hope.'

I'm a huge fan of the series, having first been introduced to the story and characters via the movie 'This Is England.' I loved its take on a mostly affable group of ska loving skinheads living in the north of England in 1983. I was impressed with how 'This Is England '86' showed the group moving on and growing up and was struck by the depth of character development. Indeed, Vicky McClure who plays Lol won a BAFTA in May for her performance in 'This Is England '86'. As a Yank, I'm hoping to find a way to view the series.  Hopefully some of my friends in the U.K. will share a link!

The trailer, with a soundtrack of 'What Difference Does It Make' by The Smiths, gives glimpses of most of the main characters familiar to fans, including Gadget, Milky, Kelly, Trev, Harvey and of course the jailed Combo.