What "This Country" Says about Rural Life

“Can I just ask you an honest question: why would you want to leave the village when we’ve got a pub and a shop?”

The last episode of sitcom This Country aired over five years ago, yet it has stuck in the imagination of many, myself included. Mundane premises go full circle into being downright hilarious with their dry quips. A part of this survivorship is also attributed to how This Country does not glamorize rural living, but presents it as it truly is for many young people. Other representations (such as All Creatures Great and Small or even non-fiction programs like Countryfile) gloss over much of the less presentable parts. While the beautiful scenery, slower pace of life, and seeming antiquity are to some extent true, This Country’s depiction says much more about reality, and in turn, the economics of the English countryside.

Firstly, the lack of opportunity for young people in rural areas is clearly seen; cousins Kerry and Kurtan Mucklowe drift between low-skill jobs and unemployment perpetually throughout the show. This includes Kerry joining a shady pyramid scheme, relating to real life in how many schemes target people in rural areas, especially women. When people joke about people that they went to high school with flogging sketchy vitamins, it’s not even a lie. This can trap many in a cycle of debt while attempting to sign on new members, as seen when Kerry takes out a £200 loan to enter a scheme, then fails to recuperate the money.

There is also much to be said about the lack of, well, something to do. Many rural areas are seeing local businesses close, with people needing to travel further afield to access food shopping and entertainment. This is seen in This Country over the excitement about going on a trip to TK Maxx, or with the aforementioned iconic line about the village having a pub and a shop. Seemingly mundane, but what small village in the modern day even has that? Even hill college students have bars. Government data finds that the closure of high street stores in rural remains significant, so it is an ever-present issue. While entertainment may not be seen as necessary for life, it presents a heart for culture and local communities to operate around. Without it, villages can feel gutted and it can isolate those without access to cars. Namely, the elderly and the young, like Kurtan and Kerry.

Is it really a wonder that the two cousins loiter around the village park when there is nothing else to do? This links into how transport options are notoriously poor. 50% of the rural population is in the lowest decile for transport travel times compared to only 2% of urban populations, further exacerbating employment and entertainment access issues. That is why car access in rural areas is vital, but also notoriously expensive. Is this how second year St Mary’s students feel walking to their lectures? Quite possibly. Kurtan has a driving lesson at a local air field with the Vicar, and considering the price of driving instructors (not even just in rural areas), that just makes sense. When I saw it, I had a déjà vu moment, because I literally did that.

After all of this, is it such a miracle that Kurtan would want to leave the village? While his place at Swindon College to study Health and Social Care is seen as a bit of a joke at the end of series 1, it presents opportunity that life in the village does not. He has the opportunity for potential future employment, to meet new people, and live a life of more choice. That is why a part of me was genuinely sad when he does not end up leaving after all. Perhaps the pub and the shop were enough of an enticement.