8.848 minSeason 1 • Episode 4
LatestAfter waking, Combo informs Shaun and Smell that his mother is dying. Shaun takes him to see his mother, but when they get there they discover she has already died. Combo says goodbye to his mother's body.
It's 1986 - the year Maradona ends England's World Cup dreams in Mexico; the year Top Gun is the highest grossing film; the year over 3.4 million Brits are unemployed and the year Shaun is leaving school.
Acting
Stephen Graham's Combo: terrifying, pathetic, utterly magnetic.
Direction
Meadows improvises with non-actors; the awkwardness breathes.
Production
Nottingham locations so authentic you can smell the stale beer.
Creator
Shane Meadows
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Thomas Turgoose (Shaun) was genuinely 13 and had never acted; Meadows found him skipping school in Grimsby. Most of his reactions to Combo are real fear of Graham.
The '86 World Cup opening isn't nostalgia — it's thesis. Maradona's 'Hand of God' against England mirrors the series' concerns: national humiliation, working-class betrayal, and violence as response.
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