Meadows packs a punch

By Paul Stephen

SHANE Meadows certainly didn't fit any conventional preconceptions of a glamorous young film director as he greeted me outside his local looking surly in a hoodie.

Far from being star-struck, I double-checked that this was indeed the great man here to discuss his latest project – King of the Gypsies, a biopic of the life of late bare-knuckle boxer Bartley Gorman.

Now that the script is finished, it is hoped that filming will begin in the East Midlands next year.

"It's taken a while because I wrote it with Paddy (Considine) who acts and directs in other things so it's been hard to get the time to work together."

As well as co-writing, Paddy, who grew up in Burton, is to take the title role.

Shane said: "Bartley Gorman was a local legend who won the bare-knuckle boxing title in 1972 and never lost. When I announced it (the film), everyone thought it would be a kind of Snatch but actually it's quite tragic writing a script about his heyday but also the darker side. Locals wanted him gone because he was a gypsy."

Shane and Paddy both knew Bartley Gorman and Shane can recall taking a week off school to help him make improvements to his home to satisfy the council that, as a gypsy living in a caravan, he met building regulations.

"I was at school with his son and the council told him to build a toilet block and lay tarmac. I took a week off school to help out."

Shane, 36, who lives in Nottingham with his partner and baby, Arthur, will hit our screens next this year with Le Donk, a low-budget TV comedy filmed over just five days.

"It's a sort of Spinal Tap mockumentary that cost £30,000. It was made with camcorders like some of my earliest stuff. I was testing myself to see if I could still do it."

The film follows the character Le Donk (Paddy Considine), a roadie for the Arctic Monkeys, who helps a retired rapper to relaunch himself. Parts of the film were made while on tour with the Arctic Monkeys in front of unsuspecting audiences.

"We had a laugh, it's a home-grown thing and really enjoyable."

There's good news for This is England fans, too, as Shane unveils plans for a television series, due to be screened on Channel 4 next year.

"So many people kept asking what happened to Woody etc. There were lots of characters that people enjoyed," he said.

The series will be set in the summer of 1986 and the World Cup.

In the film, Shane was keen to build on the Falklands backdrop.

"Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal will continue the England and Argentina link."