This is England '88 looks like wonderful misery-fest again

Remember This is England '86? Well it turns out that, two years on, this was still England. Despite the widespread calls at the time to change the country's name to 'Diego Maradona Must Die'.
Probably the best new British TV show of 2010 was Shane Meadows's This is England '86, which continued the story of his earlier film. It was hard-hitting, shocking and brilliantly acted, with a rich cast of characters you actually gave a shit about, as opposed to the usual cliched tropes you find in most British council-estate dramas. Far more satisfying than the original film, for my money. Not that I paid any to watch either.

Meadows said at the time he was planning more, and here's a welcome little end-of-year surprise: This is England '88 is on Channel 4 for three one-hour episodes on 13-15 December. Christmas cheer - well OK, more like misery, but awesome misery - for all!

If you didn't catch This is England '86 last year, you must immediately drop everything you're doing, even if driving a heavy-goods vehicle at high speeds, and watch its four episodes on 4OD.

Trailer me up, Channel 4. And for American readers (I think we have three or four): yes, that's Al Capone. This is how he actually talks.