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Shows Like This Is England '86

Fans of This Is England '86, will enjoy these picks that questions the purpose and weight of our choices while grounding the story in targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character depth with narrative flow makes this a compelling continuation of these themes.

Mood Breakdown
Runtime Cluster

Standard feature-length experiences.

Viewer Fit

Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.

Top Picks

Suspicion
6.8

Suspicion

2022

Four ordinary Brits are accused of kidnapping the son of a prominent U.S. media mogul. They embark on a desperate race against time to prove their innocence, but will anyone believe them—and are they telling the truth?

Bad Girls
7.5

Bad Girls

1999

Bad Girls is a British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1 June 1999 to 20 December 2006 and starred Simone Lahbib, Mandana Jones, Debra Stephenson, Linda Henry, Jack Ellis and many more throughout the eight-year run. The series was broadcast in 17 countries and was produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road. It is set in the fictional women's prison of Larkhall, and features a mixture of serious and light storylines focusing on the prisoners and staff of G Wing. From 2010, the UK broadcast rights were bought by CBS Drama, and is repeated regularly – as of September 2012, the channel is re-running the series again in a late-night time slot.

Boy Swallows Universe
7.3

Boy Swallows Universe

2024

A young boy growing up in the suburbs of 1980s Brisbane faces the harsh realities of life — and the looming dangers that threaten his family.

Ballers
6.8

Ballers

2015

Looking at the lives of former and current football players, the show follows former superstar Spencer Strasmore as he gets his life on track in retirement while mentoring other current and former players through the daily grind of the business of football.

White House Farm
7.2

White House Farm

2020

Factual drama based on the notorious White House Farm murders, and the ensuing police investigation and court case.

Girl Taken
6.2

Girl Taken

2026

Follow the story of twin sisters Lily and Abby, whose lives are shattered when Lily is abducted from their quiet rural English town by beloved local teacher Rick Hansen. After years of abuse in captivity, Lily escapes - only to discover that freedom brings its own challenges.

The Hitchhiker
6.1

The Hitchhiker

1983

A young hitchhiker introduces characters who are about to experience a frightening and sometimes supernatural incident of some kind in this moody anthology series.

Angelyne
6.0

Angelyne

2022

A mysterious blonde bombshell takes over Los Angeles billboards in the mid-80s, ushering in the era of famous-for-being-famous influencer culture.

More Shows Like This Is England '86

Wicked City
5.9

Wicked City

2015

Detectives Jack and Paco investigate a murder spree on the rock ’n’ roll, cocaine-infused revelry of the Sunset Strip.

Skins
8.1

Skins

2007

Irreverent comedy drama which follows the messy lives, loves, delirious highs and inevitable lows of a group of raucous teenage friends in Bristol.

Rivals
7.2

Rivals

2024

It is 1986 and Britain is booming. "Rivals" dives headfirst into the cutthroat world of TV where hair-dos are big and ambitions are even bigger. Deals are brokered in boardrooms, as well as bedrooms. Nobody can be sure who will come out on top. With every man and woman out only for themselves, can true love really blossom?

The Newsreader
7.5

The Newsreader

2021

An unconventional relationship in a world on the cusp of change; a star newsreader and an ambitious bisexual reporter join forces in a ruthless 1986 newsroom, as events unfold that will change their lives.

The Gold
7.3

The Gold

2023

On 26 November 1983, six armed men break into the Brink's-Mat security depot, stumbling across gold bullion worth £26m.

Griselda
7.2

Griselda

2024

Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatization shows Griselda Blanco's journey from Medellín to becoming "the Godmother" of Miami's drug empire.

Physical
6.5

Physical

2021

Sheila Rubin is a quietly tormented housewife in ’80s San Diego. Behind closed doors, she battles extreme personal demons and a vicious inner voice. But things change when she discovers aerobics, sparking a journey toward empowerment and success.

Wu-Tang: An American Saga
8.1

Wu-Tang: An American Saga

2019

In the early 1990s in New York, during the height of the crack cocaine epidemic, a visionary musician named Bobby Diggs aka The RZA begins to form a super group of a dozen young, black men, who will eventually rise to become one of the unlikeliest success stories in American music history.

Good Behavior
7.0

Good Behavior

2016

Letty Dobesh is a thief and con artist fresh out of prison whose life is always one wrong turn and bad decision from implosions — just how she likes it. But when she overhears a hitman being hired to kill a man’s wife, she sets out to derail the job, launching her on a collision course with the killer, entangling them in a dangerous and seductive relationship.

This Town
6.7

This Town

2024

An extended family and four young people are drawn into the world of ska and two-tone music, which exploded from the grass roots of Coventry and Birmingham in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, uniting black, white and Asian youths.

Mayans M.C.
8.0

Mayans M.C.

2018

Set in the aftermath of Jax Teller’s death, Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes is fresh out of prison and a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi border. Now, EZ must carve out his new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy with the American Dream in his grasp.

London Spy
6.9

London Spy

2015

A chance romance between two men from very different worlds, one from the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, the other from a world of clubbing and youthful excess, leads into mystery after one of them suddenly disappears.

Why These Shows Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with This Is England '86 (2010): Drama themes, similar pacing, and comparable production quality. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface series most likely to resonate with fans of This Is England '86.

See full details for This Is England '86 (2010)

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