ACTOR Michael Socha has revealed that he was broke and sitting at home watching the Jeremy Kyle Show when he got a call that would make 2010 his best year yet.

It was from Midlands film director Shane Meadows asking him to reprise his role in the This Is England movie for the small screen.

And next week, a four-part series called This Is England '86 starts on Channel Four, with Michael again playing hooligan Harvey.

That phone call marked a turning point for the 23-year-old former St Benedict Catholic School student, who admits he was "penniless" and "waiting for work".

He said: "I did not have a penny in my pocket. It was a wonderful call. I'm so glad he rang."

Michael, of Littleover, got a taste for acting with Chellaston Youth Players before being plucked from obscurity for a part in 2006's Bafta-winning drama This Is England.

The film focuses on young skinheads in England in 1983, while the TV series picks up their tale three years later, when Maradona ended England's World Cup dreams and Top Gun was the highest grossing film.

It was shot over two months earlier this year in Sheffield, with Uttoxeter's Meadows back at the helm.

Michael, who has also appeared in TV shows Casualty and Married, Single, Other, says it was the best experience of his life.

He said: "The freedom Shane gives you, as an actor, is a dream. You know when you are on a Shane set that something magical is going to happen.

"Everyone trusts him implicitly – if he says something, you know instantly how he wants it, but he's also really down to earth. He's like your best mate.

"We stayed in character a lot of the time, even off-set, and I made some great friends. I'll take the experience with me forever."

Michael he particularly enjoyed getting into the 1980s feel by donning outfits and hairstyles of the decade.

He said: "I wish I'd grown up in the 1980s. It was much cooler back then."

Michael, whose sister Lauren was nominated for a best supporting actress Bafta for The Unloved, also stars in a movie out this weekend.

Bonded By Blood charts the rise of Essex drug traffickers and career criminals Tony Tucker, Patrick Tate and Craig Rolfe. Michael plays a small-time drug dealer who sells tablets to Leah Betts.

He is currently in Leicester, doing a short film for a friend with whom he starred in the movie Shank earlier this year.

Michael said he owes all his success to his mum.

He said: "She's helped me out. She's the only reason I'm here. She lets me crash at her house when I'm not filming – I buy her gifts and give her some board as a thank-you."

This is England '86 starts on Tuesday on Channel Four, at 10pm.