Is it just me,,,,

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I've gotta disagree with you there, I don't think he's gonna win any awards but he's not half as bad as you make out. As an earlier poster stated, Meadows follows in the vein of Ken Loach in terms of acting style, that being naturalistic or realist.
This is achieved in some instances with the use of non actors. Turgoose falls into this catergory (although thinking about, he's been acting for 5 years so does that still make him a non actor?). Anyway you know what I'm getting at. A non trained actor hasn't adopted any of the techniques picked up in drama school or wherever they decide to learn. And that's what someone like Meadows wants, someone who is 'untainted' if you like.
I didn't have problem with his acting. I feel that when you're at that age kids do seem to be a bit monotone and not that articulate. I was. If that's what you're getting at. He's just not a trained actor, he can't portray every emotion as separate and different from one another. This works well, i think, as real teenagers like him can't.
I thought the whole cast were very believable (especially those playing Lol and Woody) with the exception of Milk. He was the only character that took me out of the story whenever he was on screen. His delivery seems a bit out, he seems to put emphasis on the wrong words and his rhythm seems a bit out.

Ps loved this, love Meadows

Too right - he's sh!te. Not as sh!te as Milky, however. Both should feature less (if at all) next time around and allow some more screen time and story to the likes of Trev and/or Kelly.

Whoever thinks the guy who plays Woody was rubbish has got it all wrong. Woody was excellent with his hilarious potty-mouthed outbursts, his faces of desperation trying to play the straight guy when dining out with his boss, plus his obvious versatility as an actor when coming face-to-face with Milky and the gang.

"People like Coldplay and voting for the Nazis - you can't trust people."

I was blown away by Turgoose's performance in the film a few years ago. He was only 13 and played his part brilliantly (according to me of course). I was absolutely sure one of the finest talents had been discovered.

Now, a few years later, I'm not so sure anymore. I still think he's a fairly good actor but don't think he's made any significant progress in the last couple of years. With him not beeing a kid anymore you're allowed to expect more of him and this is where my dissapointment starts.

One thing that occurres to me is the fact that he said in an interview that he'd barely been 'acting' before since his characters (Shaun in the film and Tomo in Somers Town) ressembled himself. David in "The Scouting Book for Boys" was his first lead role in which the character didn't match his own personality. That was also the first film I wasn't impressed with his performance.

Now, in this is England 88' Shaun has changed a lot from the film and even from 86'. He was more outgoing, loud and hot tempered before. Turgoose played that part very well. The 'new' insecure and a bit more shy (in front of the girl he had sex with) Shaun doesn't fit him that good.

The conclussion: Will Turgoose be able to play different types of characters or will he mainly stick to those who reminds him of himself?

What they really should do is axe the whole lot of them for the next series and just focus on Combo and Lol, if they really must do it. They're the only two decent actors in the whole thing. The film was founded on the psychological impact that Combo had on Shaun, but without that it's just a glorified soap opera, just actors acting out dreary lives. The series have been a rather pointless follow-up to a film that was pretty much a completed work. Shane Meadows makes decent films, so I wish he'd go back to that, since I think this whole This is England TV thing is about nothing more than his hard-on for Vicky McClure—and I do sympathise with that—but just move on please. I've indulged him twice now, and it's not going to happen again.

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Totally agreed. Shane Meadows is a fantastic director, and almost everyone other than Turgoose is a talented artist.

Turgoose himself is a fat, ugly, talentless knob.