Skins (TV series)

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Skins (TV series)
Genre	Teen drama
Created by	Jamie Brittain Bryan Elsley
Starring	Kaya Scodelario Lisa Backwell Jack O'Connell Luke Pasqualino Ollie Barbieri Lily Loveless Kathryn Prescott Megan Prescott Merveille Lukeba Previous cast
Theme music composer	Fat Segal
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	29 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Bryan Elsley George Faber [1]
Producer(s)	Chris Clough
Location(s)	Bristol
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	approx. 47 minutes
Production company(s)	Company Pictures
Broadcast
Original channel	E4
Picture format	HDTV 720p
Audio format	Surround
Original run	January 25, 2007 (2007-01-25) – present
External links
Official website
Production website

Skins is a double BAFTA-winning teen drama that follows a group of teenagers from Bristol, England as they grow up. The show was created by father and son television writers Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for Company Pictures,^[1] and premiered on E4 on 25 January 2007. Filming for Series 4 with the second generation of characters started in July 2009.^[2]

Contents 1 Characters 1.1 First generation 1.2 Second generation 2 Plot synopsis 2.1 Series 1 2.2 Series 2 2.3 Series 3 2.4 Series 4 3 Production 3.1 Location 3.2 Technical 4 Online presence 4.1 Videos 4.2 Social media 5 Response 5.1 Critical reception 5.2 Nominations and awards 5.3 Television ratings 5.4 Cultural influence 6 DVD releases 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Characters

[edit] First generation

Tony Stonem (Nicholas Hoult) is an attractive, intelligent, popular boy, whose manipulative ways go unnoticed by many and are a catalyst for many of the events in the series. Tony's on/off girlfriend Michelle Richardson (April Pearson) can't ever stay angry at his mischievous behaviour for long. Outwardly, Michelle appears shallow, vain and conceited but is herself quite intelligent and dedicated to her relationship with Tony. Sid Jenkins (Mike Bailey) is Tony's best friend, but has an entirely different personality. He lacks confidence, is socially uneasy and struggles with school. Much of the first season revolves around his quest to lose his virginity and his burgeoning relationship with Cassie Ainsworth (Hannah Murray), an unstable girl who suffers from an eating disorder. Her flamboyant parents ignore her in favour of their new baby, and her deep affection for Sid goes unnoticed for some time. Outwardly, Cassie is a positive and cheery person who attempts to hide her struggles with mental health. Cassie's relationship with Sid is complicated by his unrequited feelings for Michelle, and later when the two have a brief relationship in series two.

Chris Miles (Joe Dempsie) is the party animal of the group. He has a difficult home life, and has a crush on his psychology teacher Angie (Siwan Morris). His homelife is tinged with tragedy: he lost his brother to illness at a young age, and is an emancipated minor due to his ambivalent father and absent mother. The second season features his romantic relationship with Jal Fazer (Larissa Wilson). Jal is established in series one as an intelligent girl who is also a talented musician who plays the clarinet, whose runaway mother has left her to live with her famous musician father and aspiring rapper brothers, Lynton and Ace. In series two, she falls pregnant for Chris but suffers his loss to a subarachnoid hemorrhage later in the series. Chris's other closest friends are Maxxie Oliver (Mitch Hewer) and Anwar Kharral (Dev Patel). Maxxie is an openly gay character who loves to dance and, unlike many gay teenagers on British television, is still considered "one of the lads". His relationship with best friend Anwar is regularly strained due to Anwar's pick-and-choose approach to Islam. Despite being a Muslim, Anwar has no qualms about indulging in pre-marital sex, alcohol, drugs and pork, although has issues with Maxxie's homosexuality, until his father accepts it. He has a slightly off-the-wall personality, known for silly antics and sense of humour. In series two, a new character in Lucy, better known as "Sketch" (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) is introduced as Maxxie's malicious stalker, who herself later establishes a consolatory relationship with Anwar when she accepts Maxxie's unavailability. In the second season, Maxxie finds a boyfriend in minor character James (Sean Verey).

Effy Stonem (Kaya Scodelario) is Tony's younger sister, and shares many of the same qualities as him. For the first season, Effy is nearly entirely silent and her antics are even more outrageous than her brother's. Her powers of manipulation are fierce, and in the first two series she regularly breaks the fourth wall.

As well as the regular cast, there are several important recurring characters. Daniel Kaluuya plays "Posh" Kenneth, who goes to the same college as the main cast. Georgina Moffat portrays Tony Stonem's mistress, Abigail Stock, a posh school girl with psychotic tendencies. British comedian and co-writer Josie Long appears as the college's careers counsellor. There is also Madison Twatter (Stephen Walters), Sid's psychotic drug dealer and Doug (Giles Thomas), a senior teacher at the school.

The central cast's parents are recurring characters in the series, and are often played by well-known British actors credited in a guest starring role. These include Harry Enfield and Nina Wadia, both known as actors and comedians, whilst Danny Dyer is a well-known British film actor. Harry Enfield portrays Tony and Effy's father, Jim Stonem, with Morwenna Banks playing his wife Anthea Stonem. Peter Capaldi and Josie Lawrence acts as Sid's parents, Mark and Liz Jenkins. Kevin Eldon portrays Manfred, who Liz has an affair with. Neil Morrissey and Naomi Allisstone play Marcus and Margeritte, Cassie's parents. Arabella Weir acts as Michelle's mother, Anna Richardson. Danny Dyer portrays Michelle's step father Malcolm, until his relationship ends with Anna. Mark Monero as acts as musician, Ronnie Fazer, who is Jal's father. Josette Simon plays Jal's estranged mother, Elaine in the second series. Mark Heap portrays Graham Miles, Chris' father, and Sarah Lancashire portrays Chris' stepmother, Mary. Inder Manocha plays Istiak Kharral, Anwar's father, with Nina Wadia playing Anwar's mother. Heidi Monsen acts as Dr. Victoria Stock, Abigail and Josh's mother. In the second series, Maxxie‘s parents are introduced and played by Bill Bailey and Fiona Allen as Walter and Jackie Oliver.

[edit] Second generation

After the end of Series 2, the creators of the show announced that there would be an entirely new cast for Series 3 except for Effy Stonem (Kaya Scodelario) and Pandora Moon (Lisa Backwell).^[3] They further announced that this would happen again every two series. However, the creators also said there will be connections to the previous series whenever there is a cast change. Open auditions for the second generation of cast members were held in Bristol (where the show is set), which attracted 1,500 16 to 18 year-olds, followed by a further 2 days of auditions in London.^[4]

Effy Stonem (Kaya Scodelario), Tony's sister, becomes the lead character for series 3. Effy is a beautiful, popular, and a natural leader like her brother but she is also quiet and distant attempting to keep her own troubles hidden. She is fully aware of her desirability and capacity for manipulative behaviour, and tries not to express any emotions even in the midst of her parents' turbulent divorce, or the implosion of her romantic and social life.

Pandora Moon (Lisa Backwell) is Effy's best friend, having appeared for the first time in a second series episode. She is innocent to the sexual and narcotic world in which Effy indulges, but is ready and willing to explore it. When Thomas Tomone (Merveille Lukeba) emigrates from the Congo, his morally upright outlook and good-hearted nature instantly draws him to Pandora.

Katie Fitch (Megan Prescott) and Emily Fitch (Kathryn Prescott) are very different twin sisters. Popularity-seeker Katie wants to usurp Effy's place as queen bee and to dominate the life of her sister, whom she feels she is losing control over. Secretly insecure Katie thinks of herself as something of a WAG and proudly proclaims to have continuously had one boyfriend or another since her childhood. Her homophobia causes problems with her sister, who is coming to terms with her identity as a lesbian. Emily tries her hardest to earn the affection of Naomi Campbell (Lily Loveless), a fiery and passionate young woman with idealistic views and lots of ambition who is adamant that she is not gay. Although Naomi helps Emily accept being gay, it takes her longer to acknowledge her feelings for Emily and longer still to feel confident in declaring these feelings to her friends.

James Cook (Jack O'Connell), Freddie Mclair (Luke Pasqualino) and JJ Jones (Ollie Barbieri) start the series as three best friends since childhood. Cook is charismatic and sociable, but boisterous and not afraid to break rules. His womanising is a catalyst for many of the events in the series: his casual relationship with Effy forces Freddie out of romantic inaction, his seduction of Pandora brings her and Thomas to conflict, and his attempt at seducing Naomi pushes her to better contemplate her sexuality. Like Effy, he is secretive about his true feelings, until he starts to develop genuine romantic feelings for Effy. Freddie is by contrast an easy-going skater who likes to smoke weed, and as the more sensible and responsible friend, he is often put out by Cook's behaviour. His profound affection for Effy, combined with angsty relationships at home with his father and sister lead him to contemplate his choice of friends. He also dates Katie for a time in the series, but cannot hide or subdue his feelings for Effy. JJ is a highly medicated, slightly austistic boy who uses his magic tricks to attempt to make friends. He refuses to have to choose between Cook and Freddie's friendship when Effy tears them apart, and he develops a close friendship with Emily, who takes his virginity in an act of pity sex.

Other characters include Karen Mclair (Klariza Clayton), Freddie's sister who has big dreams of being famous.^[5] She upsets her brother, however, by using their late mother as a sob story to further her singing career. Mackenzie Crook guest stars as Johnny White, a psychotic Bristol gangster and a protective father. Comedians Jordan Long and Justin Edwards feature as his inept henchmen Lucas and Benny.^[6] Scott Mills said on Chris Moyles's BBC Radio 1 show on July 8, 2008 that he would be auditioning for the role of a television presenter on Skins, which he won. Ardal O'Hanlon has a regular role as the gang's careless Northern Irish form tutor, Keiran MacFoeinaiugh (pronounced Mac-Phew).

As with the first two series, the third series central cast's parents are played by established British comedic actors credited in a guest starring role. Harry Enfield returns alongside Morwenna Banks as Effy's parents "Jim and Anthea Stonem", with Bank's real life partner David Baddiel playing Jim's colleague having an affair with Anthea. Sally Phillips appears as Pandora's Mother "Angela" and her "Aunt Elizabeth" is played by Maureen Lipman. Matt King features as Cook's Father, Juliet Cowan acts as JJ's mother "Cecilia", whilst Simon Day plays Freddie's Dad "Leo". Olivia Colman plays Naomi's Mother "Gina" with impressionist Ronni Ancona and stand-up comedian John Bishop starring as Katie and Emily's parents "Jenna and Rob Fitch".

[edit] Plot synopsis

The Dawson Bros, co-writers of Skins, say the series represents the everyday lives of adolescents: Skins revolves around the lives of a group of 16–19 year-old friends who live in Bristol and attend the fictional Roundview Sixth Form College. Each episode has a self-contained theme and focuses on a different character, although several story arcs span different episodes. Accompanying the episode title at the beginning of each episode is a short montage of that episode's central character.

[edit] Series 1

Series 1 introduces the series' first generation of main characters. Tony is a popular but manipulative boy, who is fiercely protective of his mysterious younger sister Effy. His best friend Sid is too quiet to stand up for anything, but is in love with Tony's girlfriend Michelle. Her best friend Jal is an overbearing and talented clarinet player, Anwar is a Muslim who struggles to follow his faith, Maxxie an openly homosexual boy who practices tap dancing as well as other dramatic arts and Chris is their party animal friend who has family problems, so far unknown to the others. Cassie is a mentally unstable girl with an eating disorder and drug problems. Cassie is also in love with Sid through the two first generations tenure. In the episode Cassie in series 2, she says "I'll always love you Sid... that's the problem".

Episode one, "Tony", is an ensemble piece, which introduces the characters and the format. Episode two ("Cassie"), features Cassie's time in an eating disorder hospital. Episode three ("Jal"). Episode four ("Chris") features Chris left alone with £1000 left to him by his mother. Episode five ("Sid"). Episode six ("Michelle") . Unlike episodes one to six episode 7 ("Maxxie and Anwar") focusses on both the two named characters and nine ("Finale") focus on the whole group in general. Each episode starts with the eyes of the main character. Episode eight, "Effy", focuses less on its namesake than on the central characters' search for her. The series finishes with the main cast singing the Cat Stevens 1970 classic "Wild World."

[edit] Series 2

The second series premièred on E4 on 11 February 2008, however the first episode was available in four parts to MySpace users prior to airing.

The series is set six months after the conclusion of the first. Tony is alive after being hit by a bus, but he is now severely mentally impaired despite having no apparent physical injuries. The first episode focuses on Maxxie and Tony and features comedian Bill Bailey as Maxxie's father. Shane Richie stars in Episode 2 as a college drama lecturer, Bruce, who is producing the controversial school play Osama: The Musical, in which Maxxie and Michelle have lead roles. Working on the production as a lighting technician is Sketch, a student who has been stalking Maxxie. She dramatically disrupts the play to get him to kiss her.

Sid has not been the same since his girlfriend Cassie moved to Scotland and his best friend Tony suffered brain damage. In Episode 3 a chaotic visit from his — ironically — Scottish relatives ends in disaster as his father dies in his armchair. Episode 4 sees the group take a camping trip to Wales with Michelle's new stepsister Scarlet, where Sid and Michelle end up having sex, leading to a short lived relationship. Cassie returns from Scotland to visit Sid, but is heartbroken when she discovers him kissing Michelle and becomes a much darker version of her former self. Maxxie discovers Anwar's relationship with Sketch, causing a falling out of the two best friends.

In Episode 5 Chris is expelled from college, and is forced to get a job. He becomes Jal's boyfriend, and after failing at several jobs recommended by the college careers adviser (played by Josie Long), Chris becomes a successful estate agent. This gives him access to the keys for a small flat, but this leads to being reluctantly fired after a client comes to visit the flat he is living in post-party. At the party, he cheats on Jal with his old psychology teacher Angie. Jal later discovers she is pregnant. Anwar splits up with Sketch after Maxxie shows him he is being manipulated by her.

Tony continues his recovery in his third featured episode, Episode 6, which is a metaphor for several elements of Jungian psychology. He visits the University of Exeter to attend an interview, but meets a strange, possibly imaginary girl who helps him sort out the physical co-ordination issues he has been having since his accident. Afterwards, Tony becomes the person that he once was in Series 1 indicating a full recovery. Many of the teens' relationship problems are resolved in Episode 7, as Sid reconciles with Cassie, and Tony with Michelle. Episode 8 was written by Daniel Kaluuya, who plays "Posh" Kenneth. In this episode Jal continues to do battle with her conscience over her pregnancy, while Chris is rushed to hospital with a blood clot in his brain. We learn that Maxxie has found a boyfriend, James.

In Episode 9, Chris has discharged himself from hospital and seems well. Cassie attends her exams, but later Chris has another brain haemorrhage and dies in Cassie's arms. Cassie simply packs her bags and runs, ending up in New York. She makes a friend called Adam, who lets her stay in his flat, and takes her out to a nightclub. However, one morning, she wakes up to find he has left her.

In Episode 10 Chris's father visits Sid to explain that he does not want any of Chris' friends at his funeral. Upon hearing this Sid and Tony decide to steal Chris's coffin, but Jal finds out and forces them to return it before the funeral. In the same episode during the evening the central characters sit around a campfire and read out each others' results. Everyone gets the grades they need apart from Anwar who goes missing. Maxxie becomes upset that he is leaving to London without saying goodbye to his best friend. Sketch seemingly fancies Anwar more than Maxxie now and attempts to persuade Anwar to be friends with her in Bristol. However, Maxxie manages to convince him to go to London with him and James, leaving Sketch behind in tears. Tony buys Sid a ticket to New York and after an emotional farewell, sends him off to find Cassie. After this, Tony, headed for Cardiff University, and Michelle, who has a place at the University of York, come to terms with the inevitable end of their relationship and decide they were "better than" a good couple.

The last scenes are of Sid searching for Cassie in New York, ambiguously stopping in front of the cafe she is working in. Finally, we return to the first shot of Series 1 Episode 1, an overhead shot of Tony's bed, but this time it is Effy in the bed. She stares directly at the camera, breaking the fourth wall, smiles and arches her eyebrows.

[edit] Series 3

Series 3 introduces the second generation of the cast main characters. Freddie is skating his way through life, but on the way he is getting stopped by his best friends JJ and Cook. JJ has child-like dreams and loves magic, he is mildly autistic, as he has Asperger's Syndrome. However Cook knows that whenever he gets into trouble Freddie will always be there to bail him out. Smoking spliffs at an outside bar, they run into Effy and her Dad, played by Harry Enfield with whom Cook gets into trouble. Effy then gets out of the car, walks up to Cook and says "Sweet", referring to tomato sauce smeared as fake blood all over Cook's face, after a prank played on Effy's Dad

We meet Emily putting clothes out for college, and her sister, Katie, who walks all over Emily and tries to be best friends with Effy. Now in school we see Pandora who is set on losing her virginity, but she hasn't got a boyfriend. Finally in the assembly hall we meet Naomi who is passionate about political issues and hates her hippy mother who brings strangers to her house all the time. Romantic tension is clearly felt between Emily and Naomi throughout the series. Emily is initially reluctant to admit to her feelings for Naomi, partially because of her sister Katie, however, she soon resolves this and tells Naomi how she feels about her. Naomi, however, is much more unwilling and struggles to come to terms with her sexuality, repeatedly demonstrating that she does care for Emily, then rejecting her. Ultimately, however, both acknowledge their feelings for each other, and the two enter into a relationship.

In episode 2 we get to meet Karen, Freddie's sister who wants to be famous. In episode 5, we learn that she has entered a talent contest called "Search for a Sexxbomb" but in the end, loses.

Episode 3 focuses on Thomas who comes from the Congo. Once his mother sees what the kids of England get up to, he is forced to leave England and return to the Congo. However, he finally returns to be with Pandora, but soon realises she had a relationship with Cook and they split. However, Thomas eventually forgives her and two rekindle their relationship

Throughout the series, Freddie is seen to have feelings for Effy, but she repeatedly rebuffs his advances, choosing instead to pursue a sexual relationship with Cook. It becomes clear, however, that Effy reciprocates Freddie's feelings, but is unable to tell him. Effy seems to be coming to terms with her feelings for Freddie, but is disconcerted when Freddie enters into a relationship with Katie. Effy eventually breaks up with Cook, but by this time, Freddie is with Katie. When the group are at a party in the woods, Effy, who has been consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms, hits Katie over the head with a rock when Katie wrestles her to the ground. Effy and Freddie then have sex, Freddie being unaware of what transpired between Effy and Katie. When it is revealed, Freddie is seemingly very upset with Effy and so, Effy leaves Bristol with Cook. In the series finale, Freddie and JJ go searching for Cook and Effy, who has finally admitted to Freddie that she loves him. It becomes obvious that Cook has fallen in love with Effy also. The three boys decide to enter a race and agree that whoever wins will be the one who gets to "keep" Effy. JJ wins, but instead of 'claiming' Effy, he demands that the four resolve their problems once and for all. He forces the two boys to admit their love for Effy then insists that Effy finally choose between them, however, Cook leaves before Effy has a chance to voice her decision. When JJ, follows him, Effy and Freddie are left alone, and the two have sex. However, the outcome of the love triangle is left unclear, because Cook tells Freddie that he could never let Freddie and Effy be together, because he loves her too. Freddie, reluctant to hurt his friend, seems to be undecided as to what he should do, and the series ends as Freddie asks "What do we do now?"

[edit] Series 4

Little is known about the fourth series, other than that it is to consist of the cast of Series 3 and began filming in July. However, it will be aired in 2010.

E4 have confirmed that Film4 and Company Pictures are currently in "preliminary talks" about a movie spin-off of the show. It is unknown which of the cast members would be featured, or where the film will fit in the show's continuity.^[7] A novel is also reportedly being produced.

[edit] Production

It was announced in April 2008 that all of the original cast (except Kaya Scodelario and Lisa Backwell) would be replaced for series 3. Bryan Elsley said: "There are risks associated with dumping a cast, but we just did it. There was some disquiet at the channel, but then they told us just to go with it." Speaking at Broadcast's television drama conference, he also confirmed the show would stick to its pattern of introducing college-age characters, moving them on in the next series, then letting them go. "The first year is about getting to know the kids, and the second gives us the advantage of being able to explore their psyches a little more," said Elsley. Creator Jamie Brittain said that the next cast would be quite different from the original characters, although people may still spot some similarities. The new cast were revealed through online teaser videos on 19 December 2008.^[8]

Filming of the third series began on 23 July 2008. It premiered on the 22nd January 2009 at 10:00pm on E4,^[9] and the first part of episode one has been available for viewing on the E4 website since 15 January.^[10] Trailers began across the Channel 4 family of channels on 2 January 2009, showing the new cast creating havoc in a pub.^[8]

[edit] Location

The show is filmed in Bristol; school scenes are shot at John Cabot Academy, and many scenes are located on College Green. Local landmarks can be glimpsed in the opening credits, including Bristol Cathedral on Series 1, and Pur Down BT Tower on series 2. Special locations for individual episodes have included the Gower Peninsula, the University of Exeter and New York City. Many of the other locations used, such as the cafe and diner, are real locations in Bristol where people eat.

[edit] Technical

Skins was shot entirely in High Definition with Sony HDW-750P cameras, and edited using Autodesk Lustre and Autodesk Smoke.^[11]

[edit] Online presence

[edit] Videos

A variety of videos have been released on the Skins website, including character profiles, "Unseen Skins" mini-episodes that interweave with every aired episode^[12], and a series of videos called "The Lost Weeks" which took place between Series 1 and Series 2.

[edit] Social media

Official accounts for Skins characters are maintained on many popular social networking websites, including Twitter, Facebook, Bebo and MySpace. There is also a Skins bot for Windows Live Messenger.^[13] The first episodes of each series are also made available on MySpace before they are aired on television.^[14]

[edit] Response

[edit] Critical reception

The first series received positive reviews, although some critics complained that the series depicts teenagers unrealistically and stereotypically.^[15] Others criticised the excessive promoting of the show (specifically, in the U.K.) and having relatively mediocre writing in comparison to other similarly themed shows. Actor Nicholas Hoult defended criticism of the extreme storylines, saying they would not reflect "everyone's teenage life", adding "It is maybe heightened for entertainment but all of it is believable."^[16]

Writer and producer Marieke Hardy was extremely admiring of the show, and particularly enjoyed the fact that the show was "beautiful and sad and poignant and perfectly hurtful", while also managing to give impression of being drama that is "edgy, funny and rude". However, she did state that she was unsure whether the show was meant for teenagers or not.^[17]

Comedian and writer Stewart Lee has remarked during an interview on the BBC4 programme Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe that he feels lucky for having been a teenager watching TV for teenagers in the 1970s and not the 2000s as "there was something really comforting for nerds and weirdos about programmes like Children of the Stones and The Changes." He said that watching Skins as a teenager today would make him feel lonelier than he already would have been.^[18] However, Brooker himself gave the programme a positive review in his Guardian column "Screen Burn",^[19] and specifically stated that "the series had wrong-footed me", comparing his initial expectation of Skins as a shallow show to after he had finished watching the series.

In his book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, Doctor Who executive producer and head writer Russell T. Davies and his co-author, Benjamin Cook, discuss their admiration for Skins at length, with Davies - the creator of the award-winning Queer as Folk - in particular praising the handling of the show's homosexuality-related storylines and gay characters.^[20] Coincidentally, Chris Clough, the producer of Skins is a veteran director for Doctor Who, having helmed several episodes of the series in the 1980s.

Gordon Farrer writing in Melbourne's The Age called it a "refreshing, entertaining and worthy series" and wrote it was "compulsory viewing for parents of teenagers as much as for teens."^[21]

[edit] Nominations and awards

The programme won the Best Drama prize at the 2008 Rose d'Or ceremony.^[22] It also won Best Production Design (Drama) for Amelia Shankland's work on "Cassie", at the Royal Television Society Awards 2007, in addition to being nominated for Best Photography (Drama). Tal Rosner's graphics for Skins won a BAFTA for Best Title Sequence at the British Academy Television Craft Awards in May 2008.^[23]

It was announced on 18 March 2008 that the show had been nominated for Best Drama Series in the British Academy Television Awards 2008.^[24]

The show's innovative marketing was awarded Best Advertising Campaign at the MediaGuardian Awards for Innovation in 2008.^[25] The viral marketing preluding the second series won the Entertainment category at the Interactive Marketing and Advertising Awards 2008.^[26]

Skins won the Philips Audience Award at the BAFTAs 2009, beating The Apprentice, Coronation Street, Outnumbered, Wallander and The X Factor.

Kaya Scodelario was included in Entertainment Weekly's 2009 "Summer Must List", being named "Summer's Must Bad Girl" for her portrayal of Effy.

[edit] Television ratings

The pilot episode of Skins averaged 1.5 million viewers.^[27]

The ratings for the second series which launched on E4 on 11 February 2008 peaked at 884,000 viewers (a further 160,000 watched it an hour later on E4+1) which gave it 5.9% audience share and taking 60% of the 16-24 demographic, however this was still more than 500,000 viewers down on its series one premiere.^[28][29] The series finale attracted an audience of 740,000 on E4, equating to a 4.65% share of the audience.^[30]

The start of the third series drew in 877,000 and 113,900 including E4+1^[31], which did well with its key audience demographic of younger viewers (56.2% were aged between 16 and 34).^[32]

[edit] Cultural influence

The programme has given rise to the term 'skins party', referring to a debauched night of heavy drinking and recreational drug use.^[33]

During the 2007 Easter holiday a girl in County Durham threw a house party; it was advertised on her MySpace profile as a "Skins Unofficial Party," referring to the party in the first episode, with the subtitle "Let's trash the average family-sized house disco party". 200 people turned up, breaking into the house and causing over £20,000 of seemingly deliberate damage. She alleges that her account was hacked and someone else placed the ad.^[34][35]

Similar incidents have taken place in the Republic of Ireland, with major household damage and theft of personal property being reported in Firhouse and Foxrock. Although these attacks have not been conclusively linked to the show, news outlets have reported that they are called Skins parties.^[36]

Club nights marketed as 'Skins Secret Parties' have also taken shape in Leicester.^[37] Following this, a series of parties were run by Company Pictures in spring 2008.^[38]

[edit] DVD releases

Series	Release Dates			Ep #	Additional Information
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
1	13 January, 2009	24 September, 2007	20 February 2008	9	This three disc box set includes all 9 episodes from series one. Bonus features include 9 unaired, online-only Unseen Skins episodes, music video for Standing in the Way of Control, and extended trailers.[39] Much of the popular music used in the original broadcasts is not found on this DVD episodes due to the high cost of licensing.[40] Of particular note to Region One audiences is the fact that the singing of the song Wild World that appeared at the end of Series One is completely missing from the release.
2	14 April, 2009	5 May, 2008	20 August, 2008	10	This three disc box set includes all 10 episodes from series two. Bonus features include the six accompanying Unseen Skins episodes, interviews with cast and crew, and short behind the scenes documentaries.[41] Much of the popular music used in the original broadcasts is not found on this DVD episodes due to the high cost of licensing.[40]
3	TBA	6 April 2009	9 September 2009	10	This three disc box set includes all 10 episodes from series three. Bonus features include 4 editions of Unseen Skins, 10 character video diaries, and behind the scenes featurettes from the episodes, trailers and auditions.[42] Much of the popular music used in the original broadcasts is not found on this DVD episodes due to the high cost of licensing.[40]

[edit] References

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (May 2009)

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Skins (TV series)

• E4's official Skins website
• Skins at the Internet Movie Database
• Skins (TV series) at TV.com
• TCA ’09: BBC America Slips Into New Skins
• Skins Music Scene by Scene

v • d • e Skins First generation Episodes Series 1 · Unseen Skins 1 · Video Diaries 1 · Lost Weeks · Secret Party · Series 2 · Unseen Skins 2 Characters Tony Stonem · Michelle Richardson · Sid Jenkins · Cassie Ainsworth · Chris Miles · Jal Fazer · Maxxie Oliver · Anwar Kharral · Sketch (Lucy) Cast Nicholas Hoult · April Pearson · Mike Bailey · Hannah Murray · Joe Dempsie · Larissa Wilson · Mitch Hewer · Dev Patel · Aimee-Ffion Edwards Second generation Episodes Series 3 · Unseen Skins 3 · Video Diaries 3 · Series 4 Characters Effy Stonem · Pandora Moon · James Cook · Freddie Mclair · JJ Jones · Naomi Campbell · Emily Fitch · Katie Fitch · Thomas Tomone Cast Kaya Scodelario · Lisa Backwell · Jack O'Connell · Luke Pasqualino · Ollie Barbieri · Lily Loveless · Kathryn Prescott · Megan Prescott · Merveille Lukeba Writers Jamie Brittain · Bryan Elsley · Jack Thorne · Ben Schiffer · Daniel Kaluuya · Andrew Dawson · Steve Dawson · Tim Inman · Josie Long · Atiha Sen Gupta · Malcolm Campbell See also: E4 · Company Pictures · Jamie Brittain · Bryan Elsley · George Faber · Charles Pattinson · Chris Clough · Klariza Clayton · Fat Segal