Shane Meadows spotted at the Washington Pub In Sheffield

This Is England 88′ cast sneak into Sheffield.

The Washington Pub (Just off West street’s busy club strip) became the host to one of the more bizarre events I’ve ever seen in Sheffield. At 9.30pm the cast and crew of Shane Meadows’ British drama ‘This Is England’ descended on the Washington Pub unannounced to transform a quiet Wednesday night into a red carpet booze up.

Rising star Vicky McClure (popularly known as ‘Lol’ from the character she plays in This is England) was serving pints behind the bar and cracking jokes.

Most of the cast were there including This is England’s star, 18  year-old Thomas Turgoose (Shaun) along with co-stars Andrew Ellis (Gadget) and Vicky McClure (lol) and of-course This is England’s Writer/Director Shane Meadows.

I managed to grab a word with Shane among the bemused drinkers.

Shane Meadows (left) Mark Wears (centre) James Dethick (right)

Shane Meadows and cast members were at the Washington pub to support Warp Films as part of the ‘Sheffield scripts’ culture event.

Shane was eager to support secret:sheffield and our conviction to raise awareness of Sheffield’s talent, but stopped short getting a round in.

Leading British film maker (Meadows) has been thrust into the media spot light after releasing iconic titles: ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’, ‘This is England’ and subsequent TV dramas ‘This is England 86 / 88’.

James Dethick (pictured right) is an aspiring Sheffield film maker, he will release his first feature-length film The fruits of the paradise Isle in March and hopes to secure future viewings in the Showroom Cinema after the main release.

The Showroom is infamous for encouraging independent films, hosting the nations largest independent documentary film festival ‘Doc Fest‘ each year.

Shane is considered one of the definitive voices of northern England, originally hailing from Staffordshire, he ranked 40th in the ‘100 most powerful people in British culture’ Telegraph 2008. Meadow’s motion picture short ‘northern soul’ (combined with his award-winning full length features) have elevated him to cult status in the UK and abroad.

His work regularly includes northern towns and cities and one of Meadow’s critically acclaimed early films Dead Man’s Shoes was shot in the Derbyshire town of Matlock. 

Shane’s latest TV drama This England 88′ was filmed in Sheffield, the three part series showcases the unmistakable  concrete flats and striking industrial structures that makes Sheffield an inspirational hot bed for Shane’s work.

Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema took part in the event and was described by Shane as “one of the best film venues for independent Documentary film makers In the country.”

(Photo accredited to Thomas Bettney)