Shane Meadows

Shane Meadows (born 26 December 1972) is an English director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work in independent film, most notably the cult film This Is England and its three television sequels (2010–2015).

Meadows' other films include Small Time (1996), Twenty Four Seven (1997), A Room for Romeo Brass (1999), Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002), Dead Man's Shoes (2004), Somers Town (2008), Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee (2009), and The Stone Roses: Made of Stone (2013).

Early life Meadows was born on 26 December 1972 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. Meadows' father, Arty, was a lorry driver and his mother a shop assistant.

In 1982, when Meadows was 10, his father discovered the body of Susan Maxwell, a child murder victim of Robert Black, beside the A518 in Staffordshire and was initially a suspect in the murder case, which led to Meadows being bullied at school. At this time, his parents sent him to live with his aunt in an effort to protect him from the media coverage, but Meadows was bullied and sexually assaulted.

Meadows left school before completing his GCSEs and took advantage of the emergence of video to start shooting short films. They formed the band She Talks to Angels (inspired by a Black Crowes song of the same name), with Meadows as vocalist and Considine as drummer. Lead guitarist in She Talks To Angels was Nick Hemming, who was also a member of the Telescopes and now fronts The Leisure Society.

Much of the content of his films is semi-autobiographical and based on his experiences in Uttoxeter. Twenty Four Seven was inspired by his youth, both at a boxing club, and also playing in a local football club. Despite some huge losses, the club's coach never lost faith in them. A Room for Romeo Brass was also inspired by his youth. After Paul Fraser, his best friend, neighbour and future writing partner, had a bad accident and was bed-bound for two years, Meadows hung around with some of the town's more undesirable characters. Dead Man's Shoes is based on the more unpleasant side of his youth in Uttoxeter, where a close friend who had been bullied developed a drug problem and then committed suicide. Meadows said "I couldn't believe that, going back ten years later, he had been totally forgotten in the town – it was as if he had never existed. I was filled with anger against the people who had bullied and pushed the drugs on him, and with despair at what drugs had done to that small community". In an interview for his 2019 series The Virtues, Meadows discussed the abuse he suffered as a nine-year old, and how the experience has undoubtedly influenced his work.

Five of Meadows' films were shown at the 2007 Flourish Festival, held annually in Uttoxeter, to mark the release of This is England (a film set in 1983).

His second feature-length film, Twenty Four Seven, won several awards at film festivals, including the Douglas Hickox award at the British Independent Film Awards and Best Screenplay at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Dead Man's Shoes, his sixth film, and third starring Paddy Considine, was nominated for a BAFTA for Best British Film. His seventh film This is England, won the British Independent Film Awards 2006 for best British independent film. Meadows was presented with the award by Sylvester Stallone and used the occasion to announce that he was to be a father. This is England also won a BAFTA for Best British Film.

This is England has since had a series of sequels adapted into television serials. The first series, This is England 86 (set in 1986), aired on Channel 4 in September 2010). A second series, This is England 88 (set in 1988) was aired in December 2011. A third and final series, This Is England '90 (set in 1990), was originally due to be broadcast in December 2012, but in July 2012, Shane Meadows announced that the production had been put on hold in order for him to complete his documentary about The Stone Roses, and the actors were still waiting for confirmation as to when filming would start. The series was finally broadcast in September 2015, and was met with critical acclaim. Phil Harrison of The Guardian stated: "Shane Meadows has once again elicited some remarkable performances from his actors and the result is emotionally draining for everyone who has taken these characters to our hearts." Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy also wrote that "...all things considered, this series - this saga - remains an astounding accomplishment from Meadows and co-writer Jack Thorne."

In 2021 the BBC announced that Meadows is to direct a tv series based on a novel by Benjamin Myers and produced by Element Pictures. The Gallows Pole is a period drama set against the backdrop of the coming industrial revolution in 18th century Yorkshire. The drama follows King David Hartley as he assembles a gang of weavers and land-workers to embark upon a revolutionary criminal enterprise that will capsize the economy and become the biggest fraud in British history.

In 2025, Meadows completed principal photography on Chork, a film he co-wrote alongside Jack Thorne.

Filmography

Feature films

Television

Online series

Short films + Date Title Duration Distribution