Best tv shows like This Is England '90
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Following on from This Is England ’86 and ‘88, this much-anticipated final chapter finds the gang embracing the rave scene of a new decade. But the utter hilarity and unadulterated joy of the second ‘summer of love’ soon gives way to a war torn winter. As the stark reality of life takes hold and, ultimately, takes life.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 55 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, retro, rough, bleak, gloomy, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like This Is England '90 (2015):
Similar in 75%
Brassic (2019)
Plot Summary:
A group of working-class friends finding unconventional ways to win at life in northern suburbia. These lads have dealt, scammed, bribed and conned their way through adolescence, but now, on the brink of adulthood, their dealing and stealing is catching up with them and a whole load of trouble is heading their way.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: realistic, talky, humorous, funny, dark comedy
Similar in 90%
Heartbeat (1992)
Plot Summary:
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Comedy, Crime
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: crime drama, detective, sentimental, sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, period drama
Similar in 82%
Boon (1986)
Plot Summary:
Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV. It revolved around the life of a modern-day Lone Ranger and ex-firefighter, Ken Boon.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 983
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 90%
Public Enemies (2012)
Plot Summary:
Drama exploring the relationship between a convicted murderer and his probation officer.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 757
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, detective, gloomy, masterpiece
Similar in 90%
Mrs Biggs (2012)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Charmian Biggs (née Powell), the rebellious product of a strict 1950s upbringing, and her whirlwind romance with Ronald Biggs leading to a descent into crime, most infamously 1963's Great Train Robbery.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 848
Genere: Crime, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, stylized, touching, realistic, period drama
Similar in 75%
This Is England '88 (2011)
Plot Summary:
Set during Christmas 1988, Lol is haunted by the devastating events that took place two and a half years before. She and Woody both find themselves struggling to cope with their lives without each other after he leaves the gang. Lol is carrying the burden of her guilt, whilst Woody is trying to build a domestic life with a new girlfriend and a potential promotion at work. Shaun has started drama college and, although still in a relationship with Smell, he has grown close to a girl performing in his Christmas play.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: touching, rough, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, retro, gloomy, period drama, masterpiece
Similar in 84%
This Is England '86 (2010)
Plot Summary:
This Is England '86 is a 2010 British drama miniseries written by Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne, a spin-off from the 2006 film This Is England. Shaun has just finished his final exams and he realizes he is no longer a kid. It's mid 80's England, a World Cup summer, and the gang are back, looking for a laugh, a job, and something that resembles a future.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 47 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, disturbing, serious, realistic, gloomy, sexual, retro, rough
Similar in 87%
Boys from the Blackstuff (1982)
Plot Summary:
Alan Bleasdale's hugely acclaimed mini-series echoes the misery and despair of long-term unemployment. Set in Liverpool, these profoundly moving human dramas follow in turn the attempts of five working-class heroes to survive.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Oliver Twist (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on Charles Dickens' novel, this adaptation traces the childhood of an orphan whose mother dies giving birth to him in an English work-house in the 1820s.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 829
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 386 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 78%
The Outcast (2015)
Plot Summary:
Set in post-war Britain, ten year-old Lewis Aldridge is grief-stricken as he struggles to cope with the death of his beloved mother. Left under the care of his emotionally distant father Gilbert, whom he barely knows and who quickly remarries, Lewis is forced to bury his feelings.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 179 min
Plot tags: touching, captivating, atmospheric, psychological, serious, realistic, gloomy, period drama
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White Heat (2012)
Plot Summary:
A story about a group of seven London-based students from 1965 to the present day.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 709
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, family saga, saga
Similar in 80%
Shameless (2004)
Plot Summary:
The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humor - on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won't admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona, the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. Anarchic family life seen through the eyes of an exceptionally bright fifteen year old, who struggles to come of age in the context of his belligerent father, closeted brother, psychotic sister and internet porn star neighbors.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: humorous, emotional, realistic, cynical, captivating, sitcom, hilarious, erotic, feel good, social
Similar in 79%
The Mill (2013)
Plot Summary:
Powerful historical drama series, based on the lives of real people, telling the story of young 19th-century apprentices taking their lives into their own hands for the first time.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, stylized, psychological, rough, period piece, costume drama, grim, historical drama
Similar in 75%
A Passionate Woman (2010)
Plot Summary:
1950's, Leeds: Betty (Billie Piper) is a wife and mother, whose life is changed forever after falling hopelessly and dangerously in love with her charismatic Polish neighbour, Alex Crazenovski, better known as Craze . Against her principles, she soon abandons herself to a world of untapped thrills and passion, a world that has been so desperately missing from her own conventional and claustrophobic marriage. But 30 years later, an older Betty (Sue Johnston) comes to realise that her compulsive passion of the past and its consequences have created ripples that spill far into the future, finally reaching crisis point on her beloved son s wedding day.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 309
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, thought provoking, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 76%
The Buddha of Suburbia (1993)
Plot Summary:
The Buddha of Suburbia is a 1993 British four-part television serial, directed by Roger Michell. Based on the novel of the same name by Hanif Kureishi, the programme starred Naveen Andrews as the main character, Karim Amir. The programme's music was written and performed by David Bowie. Karim Amir is a mixed-race 17-year-old who lives in a South London suburb during the 1970s. With an English mother and a Pakistani father, Karim is uncertain of his cultural identity. As his father becomes a kind of spiritual guru to the surrounding middle-class neighbours, Karim begins to explore his cultural roots with hopes that he will achieve sexual and racial self-realisation.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 516
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 222 min
Plot tags: erotic, controversial, sentimental, sincere, serious, realistic, witty, talky, semi serious
Similar in 78%
Awaydays (2009)
Plot Summary:
On the Wirral in the grim early years of Margaret Thatcher's premiership, the opportunities for thrill seeking young men looking to escape 9 to 5 drudgery are what they've always been: sex, drugs, rock n' roll, fashion, football and fighting.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, bleak, realistic, gloomy, cult film
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From There to Here (2014)
Plot Summary:
Created by Peter Bowker, From There To Here is set in the aftermath of the 1996 Arndale bombing and follows Daniel Cotton, a Manchester family man who is torn between the life he wants and the life he could have. The story spans the four years that changed Manchester and the country forever; from Footballs Coming Home in 1996, to New Labour sweeping to power in 1997, and finally to the hangover after the Millennium celebrations of 2000. Against the feel-good backdrop of Euro 96, it maps the emotional shockwaves generated by that bomb in the lives of two parallel families from different sides of the tracks.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 575
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, touching, captivating, realistic
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Sex Traffic (2004)
Plot Summary:
Boston based Kernwell Industries is an American defense contractor. One of those contracts is to deploy 3,000 peacekeepers to the International Peacekeeping Coalition's work in the Balkans. Because of the near epidemic problem of sex trafficking of young Balkan women, Kernwell has decided to support the charity, Worldwide Federation Against Forced Migration. Kernwell's head of charities is Madeleine Harlsburg, the wife of the company's CEO, Tom Harlsburg. Although it does not have a pristine reputation as a good social corporate citizen, Kernwell hits a bigger public relations problem when it is learned that one of those 3,000 peacekeepers was caught trying to buy the services of a teen-aged prostitute in Sarajevo. Although not named to the media, that person is Sergeant Callum Tate, who swears he was trying to save that woman. In reality, Tate has evidence of a larger conspiracy of sex trafficking.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 189 min
Plot tags: bleak, thought provoking, realistic, disturbing, rough, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 80%
Spike Island (2012)
Plot Summary:
Teenage musicians travel to England's Spike Island in the hope of attending an outdoor performance by their favorite band, the Stone Roses.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, sad
Similar in 76%
Jack & Jill (1999)
Plot Summary:
A lighthearted romantic comedy about post-collegiate life, love and career in New York City.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sitcom, talky, sexual
Similar in 75%
The Navigators (2001)
Plot Summary:
In South Yorkshire, a small group of railway maintenance men discover that because of privatization, their lives will never be the same. When the trusty British Rail sign is replaced by one reading East Midland Infrastructure, it is clear that there will be the inevitable winners and losers as downsizing and efficiency become the new buzzwords.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, Germany, Spain
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, social, bleak, gloomy, thought provoking
Similar in 87%
This Is England (2006)
Plot Summary:
A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 127000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: emotional, political, depressing, stylized, harsh, rough, cult classic, social, tense, sincere
Similar in 78%
Skins (2011)
Plot Summary:
A wild ride through the lives of a group of high school friends stumbling through the mine field of adolescence... and stepping on most of the mines as they go.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, sexy, touching, semi serious, sexual, sex comedy, teen, controversial
Similar in 86%
Run (2013)
Plot Summary:
Four gritty no-holds-barred human stories of the streets, all linked together in some respect.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, touching, emotional, serious, realistic, hood
Similar in 81%
Life of Crime (2013)
Plot Summary:
A female cop becomes obsessed with tracking down the killer of a 15-year-old girl, and hunts him over the course of her 28 year career in the force.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 730
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, detective, period piece, rough, serious
Similar in 87%
City of Men (2002)
Plot Summary:
City of Men is a Brazilian television programme created by Kátia Lund and Fernando Meirelles, the directors of the film City of God. The series was watched by 35 million viewers in Brazil and was released internationally on DVD shortly after the film. In 2007, a feature length film based on the series was released. It is often cited as a 'spin-off' of the film; City of Men is a less violent and more light-hearted affair with dramedy elements. However, the two do share some common aspects: the directors, some of the actors, and the setting of the Brazilian favela with its background of gangsters and poverty. The programme tells the stories of Luis Claudío and Uolace, better known by their nicknames Acerola and Laranjinha, respectively, who are two best friends who live in a notorious Rio slum, in a community of drug-dealers, hustlers, and teenagers struggling to fulfill their dreams.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: stylized, atmospheric, rough, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 82%
Traffik (1989)
Plot Summary:
Traffik is a 1989 British television serial about the illegal drugs trade. Its three stories are interwoven, with arcs told from the perspectives of Afghan and Pakistani growers and manufacturers, German dealers, and British users. It was nominated for six BAFTA Awards, winning three. It also won an International Emmy Award for best drama. The 2000 crime drama film Traffic, directed by Steven Soderbergh, was based on this television serial. In turn, the 2004 American television miniseries Traffic was based on both versions.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 315 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, thought provoking, disturbing, rough, bleak, political, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Green Street Hooligans (2005)
Plot Summary:
After being wrongfully expelled from Harvard University, American Matt Buckner flees to his sister's home in England. Once there, he is befriended by her charming and dangerous brother-in-law, Pete Dunham, and introduced to the underworld of British football hooliganism. Matt learns to stand his ground through a friendship that develops against the backdrop of this secret and often violent world. 'Green Street Hooligans' is a story of loyalty, trust and the sometimes brutal consequences of living close to the edge.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 159000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Sport, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: serious, disturbing, factual, intense, bleak, suspenseful, rough, bloody, entertaining, grindhouse
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South Riding (2011)
Plot Summary:
Andrew Davies sparkling adaption of Winifred Holtby's acclaimed novel. Insightful, warm and full of memorable characters, South Riding tells a fraught love story and paints a panaromic portrait of a Yorkshire community in the long aftermath of the First World War.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: touching, captivating, emotional, realistic, historical drama, period piece, costume drama, serious, stylized, period drama
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The Corner (2000)
Plot Summary:
The Corner presents the world of Fayette Street using real names and real events. The miniseries tells the true story of men, women and children living amid the open-air drug markets of West Baltimore. It chronicles a year in the lives of 15-year-old DeAndre McCullough, his mother Fran Boyd, and his father Gary McCullough, as well as other addicts and low-level drug dealers caught up in the twin-engine economy of heroin and cocaine.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 376 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, emotional, sitcom, hood, crime drama, bleak, realistic