It is also a sequel to the 2010 television sequel-series This Is England '86, set two and a half years later and starring as previously Thomas Turgoose as Shaun, Vicky McClure as Lol and Joe Gilgun as Woody.

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 at drama college and, although still in a relationship with Smell, he has grown close to a girl performing in his Christmas play.

Lol is haunted by visions of her dead father Mick – whom she killed in the previous series when he tried to rape her – and is struggling to cope as a single parent with her young daughter, Lisa, who is a result of her affair with Milky two and a half years prior.

Shaun develops his creative side on a college drama course, and grows close to Fay, a girl performing in his Christmas play.

Shaun takes centre-stage for his acting debut, and Smell's suspicions are heightened when she walks in on him and Fay 'rehearsing' a kiss backstage before the performance.

A distraught Woody, revealing he'd earlier attempted suicide, cannot control his rage and attacks Milky, who refuses to fight back or walk away.

Feeling unable to cope any longer, and consumed with guilt over Combo's prison sentence, Lol takes an overdose of Paracetamol.

The episode ends with Woody and Lol in each other's arms, and then cuts to various members of the gang – including Combo in his prison cell, eating his Christmas meal with a plastic fork.