This document provides a long synopsis and production details for the film "This is England". It begins with a short synopsis describing the film's story of 12-year old Shaun who finds friendship and male role models in a group of local skinheads in 1983 England. The rest of the document discusses the film's production, including how director Shane Meadows was inspired by his own experiences growing up, and how he cast mostly non-professional actors such as Thomas Turgoose in the lead role of Shaun after an extensive search. It also discusses how the cast bonded during filming and the director's commitment to supporting the young actors beyond the production.

1. A Warp Films Production in association with Big Arty Productions and Ingenious
Film Partners for FilmFour, the UK Film Council, EM Media and Screen Yorkshire
This is England
A SHANE MEADOWS FILM
Running time: 100 Minutes
Audio: Dolby SRD
Ratio: 1.1:85
Shot on Super 16
Screening format: 35 mm

2. This is England
Short synopsis
This Is England, is the story of a summertime school holiday, those long
weeks between terms where life changing events can take place. It's 1983 and
school is out. 12-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is an isolated lad growing
up in a grim coastal town, whose father has died fighting in the Falklands war.
Over the course of the summer holiday he finds fresh male role models when
those in the local skinhead scene take him in. With his new friends Shaun
discovers a world of parties, first love and the joys of Dr Martin boots. Here he
meets Combo (Stephen Graham), an older, racist skinhead who has recently got
out of prison. As Combo's gang harass the local ethnic minorities, the course is
set for a rite of passage that will hurl Shaun from innocence to experience.
Long synopsis
July 1983. It's the last day of term and that means 'no uniform day'. In a
down-beat coastal town 12-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) sets out to
school in the flares his dad gave him. En route, he is banned from his corner
shop for being cheeky, and while everyone gives him jip for his fashion sense
("you look like Keith Chegwin's son!") he gives back twice as hard. On the way
home he meets Woody (Joe Gilgun), and his gang of skinheads. Contrary to their
startling appearance they are friendly and fair-minded. Admittedly a day out with
the gang means trashing the new, unoccupied, housing development, whilst
dressing up in outlandish costumes, but they are welcoming and they are fun.
The skinheads offer Shaun two things he has been missing, friendship and male
role models. Shaun's own father has been killed fighting in the Falklands war.
If he's going to be a skinhead like them, he has to get the look. There is a
trip with his mum Cynthia (Jo Hartley) to the local shoe-shop. Unfortunately
cherry red Dr Martins don't come in size fours, but he gets the next best thing.
Later that day Lol (Vicky McClure), Woody's girlfriend, shaves his head. He's only
missing one thing, a Ben Sherman shirt, Woody comes to the rescue and
welcomes him to the gang. While Cynthia is less than happy about the new
haircut, she is grateful that Shaun has found some friends to spend the summer
with while she is out at work.
At a house party Shaun meets Smell (Rosamund Hanson), a kooky punk
who takes him to the garden shed for his first kiss. Meanwhile, the party is
interrupted by Combo (Stephen Graham) who Woody is initially thrilled to see.
Fresh from prison where he has just served a three and a half year sentence,
Combo soon upsets the younger gang. To the great discomfort of Milky (Andrew
Shim), the sole black member of the gang, he embarks on a vicious racist
anecdote about his time inside.
The next day Combo summons the gang and lectures them about ethnic

3. minorities taking their jobs and the Falklands. Lol is worried, particularly when
she sees Shaun kick off against Combo for bringing up the Falklands, the war
where his father died. Combo manipulates this, and draws a line asking those
with him to cross it. Disgusted, Woody makes to leave. He doesn't want to be
brainwashed. Shaun however, decides to stay and Combo tells him that looking
at him is like looking in the mirror; they have both lost people.
Combo takes his new gang to a local National Front meeting. On the way
back to town, Shaun is given special privileges when he is allowed to sit on the
front seat, while the four fully grown men have to make do in the back. Shaun
further gains Combo's admiration by revealing that he has stolen an England flag
from the meeting. The gang terrorise the local neighbourhood, scaring off Indian
kids who are playing football, and attempting to spray racist graffiti, though they
struggle with the spelling. They trash the corner shop that Shaun has been
barred from, robbing the owner, and defecating on the floor. To mark his
affiliation with the gang, Combo tattoos a cross onto Shaun's finger. They take
their booty to Smell's birthday party, and Woody leaves with Lol saying he has a
documentary on Aardvarks that he must watch.
The following morning, Combo stops Lol on her way to work. For the first
time he seems twitchy and unsure of himself. He tells her that all he has thought
of since he went to prison is how much he loves her, and the one night they
shared. He gives her a box he made inside, but Lol rejects him straight, the best
night of his life, was the worst night of her life. She walks away incensed and
Combo bursts into tears.
Milky is walking a girl home when Combo approaches him to buy an
ounce of hash. With Shaun, Smell, and Combo's thuggish friends they all get
stoned. Combo and Milky initially bond - Combo talks about the original '69
skinheads and their shared love of reggae music. For his part Milky talks about
the beauty of his family life, and extends an open welcome to Combo. While
Milky is describing his close, happy family however, a look of pure hatred creeps
across Combo's face. In a fit of anger he beats Milky and then turns on his
friends. Shaun is left outside crying hysterically.
Back at home, Shaun looks through old pictures of his dad with his Mum.
He takes the once cherished flag to the beach where he hurls it into the sea.
The production story
The genesis
This Is England is set in early eighties England; a world of Roland Rat,
aerobics, Blockbusters, Margaret Thatcher, the Falklands crisis, racial unease,
and skinheads. Drawing heavily from his own experiences growing up, Shane
Meadows has created a portrait of an often-overlooked moment in cultural
history. Against the backdrop of the skinhead scene in a deadbeat coastal town,
we witness this traumatic rite of passage, both on a cultural and personal level,

4. through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy.
Shane first hit on the idea for This Is England whilst working on his
preceding film, Dead Man's Shoes, a story of victimisation, abuse of power and
revenge, in rural England. It was a project that made the director reflect on the
nature of bullying and violence. Specifically there was an incident from his own
life, when he was about 12-years-old and had become a skinhead, when as he
explains, "I thought the be all and end all in life was that kind of hard masculinity
in men. I craved to be like a Jimmy Boyle, or a John McVicar, or a Kray. It's like
kids who are into Beckham, I was into Jimmy Boyle in the same way. I wanted to
see men fight, and there was an act of violence that I almost prompted, and that
was something that became very difficult to live with." Ironically it was this
experience, alongside the example set by a figure like Jimmy Boyle, a criminal
who became an artist, which ultimately became very influential for Shane in a
positive way. Of his childhood in Uttoxeter in the eighties, then a small Midlands
town with a population of around 10 000, high unemployment, and the epitome of
Thatcher's rural dispossessed, the director reflects: "Coming from a town like
Uttoxeter, nobody expects you to leave and become a filmmaker. In a way my
reaction to that act of violence was the first stepping stone to getting out of that
way of life."
As Shane sees it, making This Is England has become a way of exorcising
the demons of that night of violence, yet the impact of those early experiences
can be felt across the body of his work. Indeed all of his films deal with issues of
masculinity, from the boys' boxing club of TwentyFourSeven to the compromised
boyhood friendship in A Room For Romeo Brass, the question of male power
structures and revenge in Dead Man's Shoes, through to the teen tribes and
father figures of This Is England. "In film terms it's almost like the Star Wars
series," he jokes. "Now I'm into my prequel series. This Is England is made
before all of my other films. The others are based on a certain period of time,
from 15-years-old onwards when, though I abhorred violence, I was a bit of a
small time crook. I think This Is England has gone as far back as I could probably
go and found the root of what got me making films to begin with."
The search for Shaun
Casting is an essential part of every Shane Meadows film: working chiefly
with non-professionals, he is an extraordinarily intuitive director who allows story
to take shape through workshops. A film's structure will be organically developed
around the personality of his actors, often young people who have come to acting
through far from traditional paths. For This Is England, he had the jumping off
point: skinhead culture, growing up in the eighties, and childhood interrupted by
violence. Yet the substance of the movie depended on finding the perfect lead, a
task that would not only involve hard work, it hinged on luck and something close
to magic.
In the search for Shaun, Shane and his long-term collaborator and
partner, Louise Meadows who had found the rest of the cast single-handed, held

5. many auditions with children in inner city workshops all over the country. They
realised that what was needed was "a real kid of the street" as Louise puts it, and
decided to enlist the help of casting genius Des Hamilton. Having worked with
directors such as Lynne Ramsay whose film Ratcatcher used a cast of non-
professional child actors, Des has a special approach and is a renowned expert
in street casting. A strong sense of the character he was looking for was
established through discussions with Shane. Des then targeted those areas in
which he believed the real Shaun to exist. Invites to casting sessions were given
out at holiday camps around the east coast, and Des particularly focussed on the
town of Grimsby. It was at The Space Project, a scheme run for disadvantaged
kids, many of whom have been excluded from school, that Des found the quality
they had been searching for: a canny combination of innocence and hardness
that set these children apart.
Thomas 'Tommo' Turgoose
Here the team chanced upon Thomas 'Tommo' Turgoose, a 13-year-old
boy who had grown up with the odds stacked heavily against him. Small in
stature, he looked far younger than his years, yet more than made up for it in
gumption. All the children Shaun and Louise met were naturally very eager to be
in the film, yet Tommo was different. He actually charged for every audition he
went to, at once wheeler-dealing and street savvy, and at the same time sadly
unable to grasp any other kind of exchange. Producer Mark Herbert recalls the
startling impression he made at his first audition: "He was, you know, 'one of
them', he had such cheekiness and spirit! Yet he threw things in that were so
unobvious... he was much more subtle."
"I just got that feeling that directors probably get when they see something
that has this magic, Simon Cowell's X Factor," says Shane, for whom the young
lad's impact went even deeper. "I could see myself in him. I remember there
were teachers at school who'd said I was going to end up in prison, there were
only bad things out there for me, yet somehow some people believed in me and I
actually made something of myself." At the time of casting Tommo, two other
boys were on the shortlist, actors from the Carlton Workshop in Nottingham, with
suitable experience that had prepared them for a larger role. Tommo on the other
hand had little structure in his life, had been diagnosed with an Attention Deficit
Disorder, was in school for one hour only a week as Shane recalls, and had
recently been rejected from playing an extra in the school play.
For Shane though, the choice was not just obvious, it was a matter of
artistic truth: "I thought I'd much rather take a chance on a kid like Tommo and
risk failure. If you turn your back on the person that's meant to play the part you
shouldn't make the film anyway. It had become this beautiful full circle thing: that
you go out there to make a film about yourself, and you end up finding yourself.
It's kind of crazy!" Accordingly, This Is England became as much Tommo's story
as Shane's. The focus on the loss of a father figure was emphasised, and
Tommo was able to bring a wholly new aspect to the character of Shaun, a boy
who, unlike Shane, is often happiest alone.

6. It almost goes without saying that the risks of casting Tommo were going
to be high - he is after all in every scene, an exhausting challenge for any actor.
The experience was not without its bumps. At the end of the first week, when
Tommo fully comprehended the depth of how hard he'd have to work, there came
an afternoon where he said he didn't think he could do it. Momentarily floored,
Shane remembers how he even considered pretending the pint-sized tearaway
was contractually obligated. Instead, a serious heart to heart was called for: "I
chose to say, 'if you turn your back on this now I honestly believe you'll regret it
for the rest of your life, because if you don't work your way through this, you'll
never work your way through anything. I got my chance a bit later than you, and
to be honest Tommo, I couldn't have done it if I was your age...' I knew it was the
difference between him having a life and never having a life."
These strong words hit home, and as with Andrew Shim, the young star of
A Room For Romeo Brass, as soon as Tommo decided to dig in, his appetite for
filmmaking became insatiable. From the camera work through to the editing, he
wanted to learn about it all. "We even changed his diet," laughs Shane of the
stunning transformation. "The chips and Coca-Cola went, and by the end me and
him were drinking Purdeys, all we needed was a fitness instructor on set!"
Tommo particularly bonded not just with Shane, but with his co-stars
Andrew Shim who plays Milky and Stephen Graham who stars as Combo. Of
working with Tommo Stephen says, "you're looking at Robert De Niro. He's the
finest actor I've ever worked with, he's completely in the moment." For Tommo's
part he says the way he watches films has definitely changed since working with
Shane: "I'm looking in the corners [of the screen] for the boom mike!" Andrew
could most easily understand what Tommo was going through, having been
given his first opportunity by the director seven years ago: "He reminded me of
myself," he says. "I'd never prepare for a scene I'd be the one laughing and
talking right up until they shout 'action!' Just like he was! Every time he has Coca-
Cola he goes really hyper and could drive everyone insane and as soon as they
said 'action' his face dropped and he was straight into it." Stephen the hard-man
character actor from such films as Gangs Of New York, and Snatch, was
someone Tommo especially looked up to. As they do on screen, the duo became
great buddies behind the scenes, even performing a variety act for the cast and
crew during the shoot. Yet working with a lad like Tommo carries a certain weight
of responsibility. It would not be a simple matter of becoming best friends for six
weeks over the course of a shoot, as so often happens with filmmaking, and then
never seeing each other again.
Shane states, "I felt if I was going to say all those things to him to get him
to actually do the film, I couldn't just turn my back on him at the end of it. As an
adult you can't do that to a child, because ultimately they would feel so used at
the end of it, and as if it was all a trick." The three men, Andrew, Shane and
Stephen, made a gentlemen's agreement that they would be there for Tommo.
Tommo regularly goes to stay with the director and Stephen's families. He is
currently filming a BBC drama with Stephen, and the older actor is putting him
forward for other roles.

7. Casting the gang
Shane and Louise have a very special and longstanding relationship with
The Carlton Television Junior Workshop, run by Ian Smith in Nottingham. It was
here that they cast TwentyFourSeven, discovered both Andrew Shim and Vicky
McClure who starred in A Room For Romeo Brass firm friends who are all
working together here for the first time since that film, plus Toby Kebbell who
played the defenceless younger brother opposite Paddy Considine's avenging
angel in Dead Man's Shoes. Continuing this history of dynamic collaborations
Shane found many of the other members of the skinhead gang through the
workshop.
Joe Gilgun was cast as Woody, the unofficial boss-man of the skinheads,
who befriends Shaun after he has been bullied for wearing flares on his last day
at school. While it would have been all too easy to make this character a hard-
man pack leader, Joe brings an extraordinary freshness to the role. Mark Herbert
explains: "Joe is the funniest person. In the auditions he had us all in hysterics.
We cast a lot of the gang then, you could see they responded to him not because
he was this big, butch, macho type; it's because they laughed at him. Shane just
loved that dynamic as opposed to an obvious hardness." So too with Rosamund
Hanson, who brought a unique comic edge to the character of Smell, an
outlandish looking punk who becomes Shaun's first girlfriend. "She's hilarious,"
chuckles Mark. "Her comic timing is impeccable. She's just got something about
her that is very offbeat and leftfield. I think Tommo really fancied her as well
which helped."
In the key roles of Milky and Lol, Shane cast his old friends Andrew Shim
and Vicky McClure who he worked with on A Room For Romeo Brass. Milky is
the only black character in this film that deconstructs racist attitudes, while Lol is
the leader of the girls. "Thanks to Shane I've been able to get myself into a part
where I couldn't have asked for a better character to play," comments Vicky. "I've
learned a hell of a lot from him. Through rehearsals we learn so much about
each other, and no one's afraid to talk about their past experiences." While they
originally appear as background characters their impact on both events in the
movie and on the audience is crucial. It is Milky who becomes the focus for
Combo, the troubled older skinhead's racial hatred. Andrew describes this as the
hardest thing he's ever done as an actor. ""People were asking me how I feel
about it and at first it didn't really bother me. On the other hand I was worried I
wasn't ready for it and I didn't want to let Shane down. But when we got into the
scene it really affected me, it's the first time I ever cried in a scene." Shane
reflects, "I needed someone who understood my work who I could trust to play
Milky, and that had to be someone who was close to me and believed in what I
did."
In This Is England the girls are just as much a focus of the story as the
guys. As Lol, Vicky brings a strength and believability to her character. "The
skinhead girls weren't shy! They were aggressive and up for fighting," says
Shane. "My sister was a skinhead and she was fighting all the time! There was
never a choice, it had to be Vicky." She describes her character as the observer

8. of the group, who happily claps the lads round the ear when they get out of line.
"I'll get down and dirty," she explains. "But we're not out to hurt anyone, we're not
going out and getting lairy."
Shane marvels at the difference between working with the duo on A Room
For Romeo Brass, and This Is England: "To see Shimmy go from being the kid in
Romeo Brass to being the older statesman amongst them all, to see him on set
keeping them all in line, was really funny. When he was a kid it was murder! He
was like Tommo, basically, like a feral cat. Just to see the way he's come on...".
Mark Herbert adds, "and Vicky and Shimmy are now a couple! I think he fell in
love with her on Romeo Brass, and held a torch for her until he got a bit older
and asked her out!"
Similarly Jo Hartley was an old hand who had worked with Shane on Dead
Man's Shoes. In that project she had represented the family unit, and as Shaun's
mother in This Is England she reprises shades of that earlier role.
Stephen Graham who plays Combo, the catalyst for Shaun's passage into
adulthood, was one of the first people cast in This Is England. Shane had always
wanted to meet the actor ever since he had seen him in Snatch, and when the
day finally came he recollects, how " I couldn't believe he was a scouser and he
only lived about fifteen miles away from me! I was convinced he was a cockney."
Stephen seemed perfectly placed physically and geographically to play the part
of Combo, but he also brought a whole other layer of complexity to the role. His
own background is in fact mixed race, and he drew on his confusion growing up
to add depth to Combo's back-story. Shane recalls how he responded to the
news, " I said, 'that is the best thing I've ever heard in my life!' I was blown away.
We realised that that was the essence of what we were looking at in this film. It's
not to do with colour so much, it's to do with identity and belonging." Of the
experience of making This Is England, Stephen says "Everyone, the whole crew
from the gaffer to the lighting person, has been blown away by the experience. It
went right through the whole set. Everyone felt it."
Getting the look
To recreate the eighties in This Is England would present a new set of
challenges for the director who has never made a period piece before. While it
seems a recent memory, convincingly portraying the eighties can be as involved
as creating a Victorian period piece. While many council estates for example,
appear fundamentally the same as they did twenty-six years ago, subtle
differences such as PVC windows and satellite dishes immediately betray their
too recent past. After an exhaustive search locations manager Richard Knight
discovered the St Annes estate in Nottingham, where much of the action is
filmed. This was one of these places that by a fluke hadn't been touched. The
area was virtually all pedestrianised as it had originally been built in the seventies
as a place that could exist without cars, and had never been modernised.
Working on a tiny budget, production designer Mark Leese was given a
brief to create a world that was simple, authentic, and that, unlike many period

9. pieces, looked like people actually lived there. Small details like the wallpaper
above Shaun's bed all added to the believability. "I had very lengthy
conversations about my own childhood with Mark Leese," says Shane. "About
really simple things like having woodchip wallpaper, but how I picked it off,
because when I was bored I used to put my hand about the bed and pick at it
and it had these patches missing. Those things don't cost anything." Danny
Cohen the cinematographer found the beauty of this kind of urban world,
shooting on 16 mm to give a slightly more raw feeling to the quality of the film, to
create a look harking back to the projects Shane had seen as a kid, Made In
Britain, and other early Alan Clarke films, plus Mike Leigh, and Ken Loach's
cinema.
The coastal town setting was another intrinsic part of Shane's childhood
memories: "When there was anything major happening, in the 'skinhead world', it
happened in a coastal town. I went on a couple of 'adventures' as a young boy
and fought and ran around the streets." The British seaside had a further
connotation for Shane as well. "It brought back all of these memories for me of
when I went to Skegness as a kid and saw it as a beautiful landscape. The
sadness of coastal places and resorts as an adult... when you go back you think
it's changed a lot and you see the dirty water that surrounds us and you realise
how much you've changed." At Mark Herbert's suggestion, they decided upon
Grimsby for the film's coastal scenes. It was the town where they would find their
star, and this became an important location where the young actor could
continue to feel connected with his everyday life beyond the film.
Shane had originally revisited many landmarks of skinhead culture in his
research process. Of Gavin Watson's unique photography book, Skins, he says,
"I hold that book really dear to my heart, they feel like my friends, and feel like the
people I grew up with. Even if the images didn't make it into the actual film they
did inspire me to go out and find someone like Tommo. For example, there were
some images of a young kid in a Cromby and he's stood with a bigger lad, that
really became the ideal of Woody and Shaun."
The skinhead styles from Ben Sherman shirts to Dr Martin boots and of
course the haircuts, have all been meticulously recreated. Mark Herbert recalls
his nerves when the actresses in the film underwent their various chops. Vicky
McClure's was the most dramatic, as hair that went right down her back was
shaved into Lol's distinctive shaved hairdo whilst Jo Hartley suffered a drastic
eighties perm job. "It was one of the most tense atmospheres I've ever
experienced," he says. "We were still closing the finance on the film and these
girls with really long hair were getting it shaved and bleached!"
The Falklands
The character of Shaun, an amalgam of Shane and the young actor
Tommo, is growing up without a father. He has died fighting in the Falklands war,
a now almost forgotten moment in recent history. Unlike those who died fighting
in the two World Wars, there is no big celebration to commemorate that 'victory'.

10. While it may have seen Margaret Thatcher sail into power, the Falklands crisis is
no longer recalled as a heroic war, if at all. For Shane, this war is a parallel to the
two recent Iraq wars. "We just remembered Iraq as if we went in, blew a load of
buildings up and then came out again. No war is ever that simple. Iraq now is the
epitome of complexity. There was something in it like the Falklands for me, it was
almost like a joke war, and something about the way it was remembered... From
my point of view if just one person dies surely that should be remembered. I
wanted to look at the knock on effect of that through the eyes of a child." Woven
into the fabric of Shaun's story of small town life is documentary news footage
that Shane accessed from ITN's archives. There is nothing extreme and
damning, rather This Is England presents footage of ordinary people going about
the task at hand, and it is here that greatest pause for thought can occur. "Our
guys aren't being pig ugly, dancing round the body but when you see an English
soldier with a fag hanging out his mouth dumping an Argentinean body on the
floor, you realise it's a no win situation."
Skinhead culture
According to Gavin Watson, the eighties skinhead photographer, who
lived it and framed it, the skinheads were "just another youth cult", forget the
sociology lesson thanks very much. Today, racism, neo-nazism, thuggery, and all
the other forms of anti-social behaviour associated with 'skins' have become the
snap-judgments most people make. It wasn't always like that. The original
skinheads hailed from the late sixties. It began with Mods who were welcomed
into the world of reggae clubs in London, such as Ruby's on Carnaby Street.
Here they discovered not only Ska music, but the key style components that
defined the original skinhead look. The skinhead culture was taken up by black
and white working class kids working in shipyards and on factory lines, who
bonded over a love of reggae and forging a particular kind of English identity,
with braces, suits, boots, and sometimes a Cromby hat atop heads shaved,
military style. There was no peace and love for this lot, life was a series of hard
knocks and this tough, fighter's appearance was how they chose to express
those truths.
The second wave of skinheads in the early eighties, were in one sense
similar: just kids from council estates finding their place by being different
together, like teenagers everywhere. Allegiance was now sworn to bands that
acknowledged the heritage of Ska music, like Madness or The Specials. At the
same time a new genre sprang up in punk infused Oi! Music, romper-stomper,
screwdriver tunes, charged for fighting. Dressed in Dr Martins and with heads
shaved military style, these kids would give the V to anyone foolish enough to
give them the eye. These were teens who came from areas of high
unemployment looking for solidarity beyond Thatcher's 'me' culture. They were
abandoned by society and that, of course, made them vulnerable to the
advances of the National Front.
As a second wave skinhead, who had always been aware of the sixties
legacy, Shane felt it was essential to create a balanced and truthful picture of the

11. scene as he had experienced it. "The skinheads, because of their aggression
and outward appearance, they're almost soldier like, were I suppose almost
handpicked to become soldiers for the National Front. You don't see the
contradiction that you're being indoctrinated into the National Front whilst
listening to black music. When I first heard about the National Front, the picture
that was painted to me was a Churchillian vision of Asian families rowing into the
white cliffs of Dover on boats, and that skinheads would be on the beaches
fighting to stop them entering the country. As a 12-year-old kid that's quite a
romantic image. It's almost like 'what your granddad did.'"
"When you're twelve and no one in your town can get a job, and someone
comes up to you and says 'these people are to blame' it's easy to believe," says
Shane of the racism he encountered through skinheads. "I did for about three
weeks, some people still believe that as adults and that's frightening." To capture
the inherent contradictions of skinhead culture, Shane presents a motley crew of
believable characters whose behaviour is often as farcical as it is threatening and
disturbing. Combo, the racist gang leader has L plates on his car, and graffiti-ing
'Fuck Off' becomes a challenge of spelling for example. They are losers, but
Shane never lets you forget that there is always a reason behind their behaviour.
A unique approach to filmmaking
Shane Meadows has always pioneered a unique approach to filmmaking,
working with local non professional actors and a core group of friends and family,
whilst being open to fresh talent. With the producer Mark Herbert, who first
worked with Shane on his previous film Dead Man's Shoes, he is pioneering a
Northern Cottage Industry, which Mark refers to as Shane's DIY ethos. Forging
relationships that will continue through many films his key collaborators include
his Locations Manager and brother-in-law Richard Knight, Stills Photographer
Dean Rogers and his Casting Director, Co-producer and partner Louise
Meadows. Many of the key crew for this film worked previously with Shane on
Dead Man's Shoes including Director of Photography Danny Cohen and Editor
Chris Wyatt.
Warp Films
Warp Films is the sister company of Warp Records, the Sheffield based
label who released Aphex Twin, and Squarepusher among others.
Their approach to filmmaking mirrors their music policy. Namely to support
artists with individual visions, providing a platform for left of centre projects. Warp
saw the revolution that happened in music 12 years ago, with the accessibility of
better equipment allowing artists to lay down tracks in their bedrooms, being
mirrored in filmmaking. The rise of digital technology in film, allowing people to
shoot cheaply and edit at home contributed to this.
Warp's first project was the Chris Morris BAFTA winning short My Wrongs.
Dead Man's Shoes was the company's first feature film. They now follow up that
success with This Is England.

12. In the words of producer Mark Herbert, "Warp films are about having a
voice. I hate manufactured indie or manufactured pop. Anything that feels like
you're doing something just to fill certain criteria. The ethos isn't a set of rules, it's
about not worrying about commercial influences, or ticking the right boxes, and
becoming mainstream. No one process is right or wrong."
Of his relationship with Shane, Mark says, "Personally I've got a very good
friendship with him. He makes things happen, and he's got a voice. There's
something very distinctive and original that only he does, he's very DIY and
earthy as a filmmaker and that fits with Warp perfectly.
Crew biographies
Shane Meadows - Writer/Director
Raised in Uttoxeter England, Shane Meadows dropped out of school as a
teenager. He embarked on a journey that took him from a clown's assistant to a
spell at steel erecting before eventually studying acting and photography.
Disillusioned with the educational system Shane volunteered at a local film
centre in Nottingham and learned the craft of filmmaking. He borrowed a
camcorder at weekends and taught himself a technique of making short films
with his friends as actors. After producing a short film every month for a year, he
was approached to direct the TV documentary The Gypsy's Tale (1995).
Meadows also wrote, produced, directed, edited and co-starred in the 60-minute
film Small Time (1996).
After Stephen Woolley, producer of The Crying Game, A Company Of
Wolves and Interview With A Vampire, saw Shane's eclectic mix of short films he
signed Meadows to write and direct the BBC-financed TwentyFourSeven (1997).
Shot in black and white the film centred on Bob Hoskins attempts to rescue the
disaffected youths of a town by opening a boxing club. The film won him the
FIPRESCI award at the 1998 Venice Film Festival as well as many other festival
prizes.
Turning down offers from Hollywood, Meadows opted to complete his
Midlands trilogy. His next film, A Room For Romeo Brass (1999) was a dark and
comic rites-of-passage story featuring an impressive debut performance from
Paddy Considine. With huge critical acclaim and a clutch of awards the film has
gone on to be a British cult classic.
The final part of his trilogy, Once Upon A Time In The Midlands, is
Meadows' comedic homage to the Spaghetti Western genre, in which a man
returns to The Midlands to try to win back his ex-girlfriend. This film was selected
for Director's Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and was picked up by
Sony Classics for the United States.
In 2004 Shane's idiosyncratic, award winning follow up, Dead Man's
Shoes, confirmed his status as one of British film's most significant voices.

13. Mark Herbert - Producer
Mark Herbert started to work with Warp Films in 2002, My Wrongs 8245-
8249 and 117, directed by Chris Morris and produced by Mark was their first
production and it won Mark a BAFTA in 2003. Prior to this Mark produced the
critically acclaimed first series of Peter Kay's 'Phoenix Nights', the series was
broadcast in 2001 and was nominated for Best Comedy at the RTS and
Broadcast Awards and has gone on to sell over 500,000 copies on VHS and
DVD.
In 2001 Mark also co-produced the feature film Dream by the Swedish
writer of My Life as A Dog, Reidar Jönsson.
Mark's freelance career started as a Location Manager with credits
including Little Voice, Brassed Off, Blow Dry and Among Giants.
Mark is currently Executive Producer on a DVD album by award winning
director Chris Cunningham that includes his own musical compositions and new
films.
Alongside Robin Gutch, he is Managing Director of the low budget digital
feature project Warp X, an initiative of Film Four, UK Film Council, Screen
Yorkshire, EM Media and Optimum Releasing which will produce seven feature
films over the next three years.
Daniel Cohen - Director of Photography
Daniel Cohen's long list of credits includes photographing the feature films
Dead Babies, Only Human, Creep, Festival, Pierrepoint and Shane Meadows'
previous feature Dead Man's Shoes. He was also Director of Photography on
Warp Film's first production, My Wrongs 8245-8249 and 117 which won the 2003
BAFTA Kodak Cinematography Award as well as the BAFTA for Best Short Film.
He has shot music videos for bands including Blur, Mull Historical Society, New
Order and, in another collaboration with Warp Films, for Arctic Monkeys. His
work for television includes the series 'Nathan Barley', 'The Book Group', 'Murder
in Suburbia' and the dramas 'Longford' and 'London'.
Mark Leese - Production Designer
Mark Leese's distinguished career as a production designer has included
working on some of the most exciting and provocative UK cinema of the past few
years. Prior to working with Shane Meadows on This Is England, his credits
include Peter Mullan's The Magdalene Sisters, Richard Jobson's A Woman In
Winter, Danish director Lone Scherfig's Scotland set film Wilbur Wants To Kill
Himself. His work for television includes 'The Book Group'.

14. Richard Knight - Location Manager
Richard Knight previously worked with Shane Meadows on Dead Man's
Shoes. His work as location manager also includes Penny Woolcock's new
feature film Mischief Night and the BBC drama 'Five Days'.
Jo Thompson - Costume Designer
Jo Thompson has recently worked as costume designer on the feature
film Scenes of a Sexual Nature. Her extensive work for television includes
'Aftersun', 'The Games', 'Dead Casual' and 'Drop the Dead Donkey'.
Chris Wyatt- Editor
Chris Wyatt first worked with Shane Meadows on Dead Man's Shoes. His
extraordinary talents as an editor have included work on Peter Greenaway's The
Pillow Book and The Tulse Luper Suitcases Episode 3, and The Baby Of Macon.
Cast biographies
Thomas Turgoose - Shaun
Grimsby native, 13-year-old Thomas Turgoose, is a unique acting talent,
discovered by Shane and Louise Meadows and Casting Director Des Hamilton at
The Space Project, a scheme run for disadvantaged children. Prior to This Is
England, his closest brush with acting was being rejected for the role of an extra
in the school play.
Stephen Graham - Combo
Stephen Graham is a unique British actor, who, though he hails from
Liverpool, is perhaps best known for his screen-stealing role as the Cockney
Tommy in Guy Ritchie's Snatch. His many standout film credits include Martin
Scorsese's Gangs Of New York, Kevin Spacey's Beyond The Sea, Alex Cox's
The Revenger's Tragedy, and Danny Cannon's Goal. His television work
includes 'Band Of Brothers', 'Flesh And Blood', and 'Where The Heart Is'.
Jo Hartley - Cynth
Jo Hartley's first feature film role was Shane Meadows' preceding movie
Dead Man's Shoes. She has worked extensively in television, her credits include
Bob And Rose, Hollyoaks, Recovery and Cold Feet.

15. Joe Gilgun - Woody
22-year-old Joe Gilgun, studied acting at the Laine Johnson Theatre
School and Oldham Theatre Workshop. His television work includes the highly
acclaimed Channel 4 series 'Shameless', 'Emmerdale', 'Hollyoaks', and
'Coronation Street'. This Is England is his first feature film role.
Andrew Shim - Milky
Andrew Shim was discovered by Shane Meadows when he was a young
lad acting at The Carlton Television Junior Workshop, and he landed the title role
in Shane's second film A Room For Romeo Brass. Firm friends ever since, they
also worked together on Dead Man's Shoes.
Vicky McClure - Lol
Like Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure first met Shane Meadows when she
starred in his second, highly acclaimed feature A Room For Romeo Brass. She
had been studying acting at The Carlton TV Junior Workshop when she landed
the role of Andrew's feisty older sister Ladine in that earlier film. This is the first
time the trio have worked together since then.
Rosamund Hanson (Smell), Andrew Ellis (Gadget), Keiran Hardcastle (Kes),
Jack O'Connell (Pukey Nicholls), Chanel Cresswell (Kelly), Sophie Ellerby (Pob),
Danielle Watson (Trev)
They all studied acting with an emphasis on improvisation at Ian Smith's
Carlton television workshop. 18-year-old Kieran Hardcastle has recently starred
in the short film Schoolboy. 16-year-old Jack O'Connell appeared at the National
Theatre Cottesloe in Ursula Rani Sarma's play 'The Spider Men'.
Credits
SHAUN Thomas Turgoose
COMBO Stephen Graham
CYNTH Jo Hartley
MILKY Andrew Shim
LOL Vicky McClure
WOODY Joe Gilgun
SMELL Rosamund Hanson
GADGET Andrew Ellis
MEGGY Perry Benson

16. BANJO George Newton
LENNY Frank Harper
PUKEY NICHOLLS Jack O'Connell
MR SANDHU Kriss Dosanjh
KES Kieran Hardcastle
KELLY Chanel Cresswell
TREV Danielle Watson
POB Sophie Ellerby
SHOE SHOP ASSISTANT Hannah Walters
MR DUDLEY Dave Laws
BULLY Michael Socha
ABIGAIL POLLOCK Aisling Loftus
ADAM WAGHORN Joe Sentence
CHIP SHOP OWNER Shane Meadows
GADGET'S NAN Pamela Cundell
POOR MATE 1 Elliot-Otis Brown-Walters
TEACHERS Ian Smith
Dave Blant
DJ DAVE D Seamus O'Neill
TEACHER 1 Dave Blant
MISS SHAW Ladene Hall
MR THACKER Harold Gould
MRS THACKER Betty Gould
JAYBO Stuart Wolfenden
ABIGAIL'S FRIEND Giorgia Groome
ADAM'S FRIEND Gabriel Jennings
TEASING KIDS Matthew Blamires
James Burrows
FOOTBALL KIDS Harpal Hayer
Terry Haywood
Nimesh Jani
Additional Casting Michelle Smith
Casting Assistant Alistair Mackay
Script Consultants Andrew Vickers
Mary Burke
Production Manager Nina Sagemoen
Assistant Co-ordinator Oliver Allgrove

17. Production Assistants Libby Durdy
Rachel Clark
Rushes Runners Ed Barratt
Marlowe Hurst
Production Accountant Fraser Grant
Location Accountant John Udall
1st Assistant Directors Griffin
Tony Ahearne
2nd Assistant Directors Matt Huntley
Nickie Sault
3rd Assistant Directors Peter Foster
Christian Rigg
Floor Runners Adam Booth
Vicky Chapman
Olly Sutton
Matthew Taylor
Location /Unit Manager Richard Knight
Assistant Location Manager Emma Yeomans
Location Scout Leon Ballin
1st Assistant Camera Adrian O'Toole
2nd Assistant Camera Andy Hill
Camera Assistants Austin Voce
Kevin Edwards
B-Camera Operator Zac Nicholson
B-Camera 1st Assistant Oliver Driscoll
Camera Car Roy Colin Osborn
Key Grip Alex Mott
Crane Grip Peter Muncey
Gaffer Andy Lowe
Best Boy Lee Martin
Electricians Darren Foley
Alan Glover
Simon Marsh
Howard Roe
Rigger Jamie Core
Sound Recordist Dave Sansom
Boom Operator Paul Watson

18. Sound Trainee Rowan October
Art Director Caroline Grebbell
Assistant Art Director Martin Kelly
Art Department Assistant Anna Sheard
Props Buyer Lee Porter
Props Master Simon Bailey
Standby Props Mat Bergel
Set Dressers Paul Campbell
Kevin Scarrott
Neil Smith
Picture Vehicles Co-ordinator Andrew Duncan
Construction Manager Alex Robertson
Painter Polly Benson
Art Department Trainees Hannah Boyton
Ruth Parker
Armourer Mark Shelley
Wardrobe Supervisor Debbie O'Brien
Costume Assistants Amy Broatch
Mareill Gireno
Nat Turner
Costume Buyer Nadia Dunn-Hill
Costume Trainee Charlotte Rees
Make-Up Trainee Lily Beckett
Make-Up Dailies Veronica Lewis
Ailsa Davies
Stunt Co-ordinator Riky Ash
Stills Photographer/EPK Director Dean Rogers
EPK Operator Alistair MacKay
Unit Drivers John Oxborough
Mick Stanton
Minibus Drivers Bryn Austin
Gary Austin
Additional Photography
1st Assistant Director Nickie Sault
2nd Assistant Director Christian Rigg
3rd Assistant Director Nicola Parfit

19. Runner Alastair MacKay
Location Manager Emma Yeomans
1st Assistant Camera Ian Struthers
2nd Assistant Camera Barny Crocker
Picture Vehicles Co-ordinator Andrew Duncan
Costume Designer Jo Thompson
Costume Assistant Natasha Bardusco
Make-Up Artist Donald McInnes
Make-Up Assistant Lily Beckett
Sound Recordist John Hughes
Boom Operator Jo Manly
Stunt Coordinator Riky Ash
Colin Batchford
Post Production Supervisor Helen de Winter
Post Production Assistant Ally Gipps
Post Production Accountants Tarn Harper
Polly Wilby
Audio & Offline Post Facility Spool Post Production
Studio Supervisor Penny Linfield
Supervising Sound Editor Greg Marshall
Sound Designers Ben Harvey
Matthew Hall
Dialogue Editor Susan Pennington
Supervising Foley Editor Leyton Rooney
Foley Sound Recordist Dave Croft
Foley Artists Dave Poulton
Ian Waggott
Sound Assistants Jim Holiday
Lee Everett
Re-recording Mixer Andrew Stirk
Assistant Re-recording Mixers Gareth Llewellyn
Emma Pegram
Re-recorded at Videosonics Cinema Sound London
Music Supervisor John Boughtwood
Music Clearances Susan Tilly
Digital Intermediate & MotionFX

20. Title design
DI Supervisor Justin Lanchbury
DI Colourist & Film Online Editor Gareth Spensley
Lead Visual Effects Artist Jonathan Cheetham
Visual Effects Coordinator Clare Heneghan
Visual Effects Artists Andy Keys
Clare Heneghan
Camera & Grip Equipment ICE Films
Lighting Equipment Arri Lighting
Rigging Equipment Trans-Sport
Catering Abadia Catering
Facilities Vehicles Movie Makers
Martin Clay
Mike 'Taffy' Darwood
Andy Livesley
Paul Revil
Security Colin Batchford & Ren the Dog
Martin Hammond
Unit Nurses Andy Kirk
Mike West
Tutor Paul Anthony Irons
Chaperone Kaye Thurgood
Daily Chaperone Catherine Bettany
Greg Chisholm
Annie Clark
Accommodation Urban Short Stay
Ice House Saco World
Hotels Premiere Travel Inn
Jurys Inn
Vehicle Hire Arnold Clarke
Chilwell Van Hire
Tracking Vehicles Anglo American
Communications Equipment Wavend Communications
Film Stock Kodak Vision
Rushes Processing Film Lab North
Post Production Script Sapex Scripts
Filmed on Kodak

21. Prints by Deluxe London
Insurance Media Insurances Brokers
Boyd Harvey
Completion Guarantor Film Finances Inc
Sheila Fraser Milne
Banking Services Barclays Bank Plc
Clearances The Clearing House
UK Publicity Emfoundation
Keeley Naylor
Worldwide Sales The Works
For Warp Films Barry Ryan
Steve Beckett
Kev Fleming
Legal & Business Affairs Whitehouse & Co
Nigel Whitehouse
For FilmFour
Head of Production Tracey Josephs
Production Manager Gerardine O'Flynn
Business Affairs Paul Grindey
Chris Irvine
For The UK Film Council
Senior Executive Emma Clarke
Production Accountant Andrea Mathuis
Senior Business Affairs Executive Natalie Bass
For EM Media
Executive Producer Lizzie Francke
Head of Communications Emily Lappin
Communications Executive Sally Hodgson
Location Services Nic Smith
Dan Hodgett
For Ingenious Media Services Limited on behalf of Ingenious Film Partners
Production Jane Moore
Peter Touche
Legal & Business Affairs Alison Brister

22. Accounting Mark Fielding
For Screen Yorkshire
Kaye Elliott
Helen Perkins
Victoria Leeson
Developed by FilmFour and EM Media
With thanks to
The staff at the Crocus Café and Community of Lenton; Paul and Marlene Bailey from
Lord Alcester Pub; Vicky Chapman for her hard work as a daily; Carlton Road Co Op,
Nottingham; Nottingham City Council;
Nottingham Police; Jim, Theresa, and Susan Walsh; Mark and Geoff White; Tom and
Jeynes; Associated British Ports Immingham; Marion Spencer; The people of St Ann's,
Nottingham
"54 46 WAS MY NUMBER (F. Hibbert) Performed by Toots And The Maytals Published
by Universal Music Publishing Ltd Courtesy of Island Records US
Licensed by kind permission from the Film & TV licensing division Part of the Universal
Music Group
COME ON EILEEN
Written by Kevin Rowland, James Paterson and Kevin Adams Performed by Dexy's
Midnight Runners
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd Courtesy of Mercury Records (London) Ltd
Licensed by kind permission from the Film & TV Licensing division Part of the Universal
Music Group
NICOLE
Written by Nicholas Talbot Performed by Gravenhurst Published by EMI Music Publishing
(P) 2005 Warp Records Limited Courtesy of Warp Records
MORNING SUN
Written by Howard/Levin
Performed by Al Barry & The Cimarons
Published by Westbury Music Ltd/Copyright Control
(P) 1970 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd Licensed
Courtesy of Sanctuary Records Group Ltd ISRC: GBAJE7000560

23. LOUIE LOUIE
Written by Richard Berry
Performed by Toots & The Maytals
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd World Wide Music
(p) 1972 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd Licensed
Courtesy of Sanctuary Records Group Ltd ISRC: GBAJE7200244
PRESSURE DROP
(F.Hibbert)
Performed by Toots And The Maytals
Published by Universal Music Publishing Ltd
Courtesy of Island Records US
Licensed by kind permission from the Film & TV Licensing division Part of the Universal
Music Group
DO THE DOG
(Thomas Jr)
Performed by The Specials
Published by Rondor Music London Ltd On behalf of Birdees Music Corp
Licensed courtesy of EMI Records Ltd
RETURN OF DJANGO
(Lee Perry)
Performed by The Upsetters
Published by B&C Music Publishing Limited New Town Sound
(P) 1968 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd Licensed courtesy of Sanctuary Records Group
Ltd ISRC: GBAJE6800195
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE MARCH NO.1 in D, Op.39/1"
(E Elgar)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ian Hughes
By kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd
LET'S DANCE
(J. Cliff)
Published by Lilbert Music
SINCE YESTERDAY

24. (R. McDowall/J.Bryson)
Performed by Strawberry Switchblade
Published by Zoo Music Ltd. /Warner/Chappell Music Ltd
Courtesy of Rhino UK
DARK END OF THE STREET
Written by Chips Moman and Dan Penn
Performed by Percy Sledge
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd
Courtesy of Rhino UK
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, LET ME GET WHAT I WANT
(S. Morrissey/J. Marr)
Performed by Clayhill
Published by Universal Music Publishing Ltd/Warner Chappell Music Ltd
Taken from the mini album 'Clayhill' out now on Eat Sleep Records
www.clayhillmusic.com
SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP
Written by Monty Naismith and AA Ellis
Performed by Symarip
Published by B&C Music Publishing Ltd/Sparta Florida Music Group Ltd
(P) 1969 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd Licensed
Courtesy of Sanctuary Records Group Ltd ISRC: GBAJE6900284
WARHEAD
(Harper/Slack)
Performed by the UK Subs
Published by Sparta Florida Music Group Ltd
(P) 1980 Gem Records Ltd
Issued under exclusive license from Demon Music Group Ltd
Filmed entirely on location in Nottingham and Grimsby
A Warp Films Production in association with Big Arty Productions and Ingenious Film
Partners for FilmFour, the UK Film Council, EM Media and Screen Yorkshire

25. Finance through EM Media, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund
Made with the support of the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund
Made with the support of Yorkshire Forward and the European Union through Screen
Yorkshire Production Fund and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund
Warp Bulldog Limited and Shane Meadows are the authors of this picture for the
purposes of copyright and other laws.
The events, characters and firms depicted in this motion picture are fictitious. Any
similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or films is purely coincidental.
Ownership of this motion picture is protected by copyright and other applicable laws and
any unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition of this motion picture could result in
criminal prosecution as well as civil liability.
© WARP FILMS LIMITED, FILMFOUR, THE UK FILM COUNCIL, EM MEDIA, SCREEN
YORKSHIRE
All rights reserved