Skins (British TV series)

Skins
Logo
Genre	Teen drama Dramedy
Created by	Jamie Brittain Bryan Elsley
Starring	Kaya Scodelario Lisa Backwell Luke Pasqualino Jack O'Connell Kathryn Prescott Megan Prescott Ollie Barbieri Lily Loveless Merveille Lukeba Previous cast
Theme music composer	Fat Segal
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	37 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Bryan Elsley George Faber
Producer	Chris Clough
Production location	Bristol
Camera setup	Multiple-camera
Running time	approx. 47 minutes
Production company	Company Pictures
Original release
Network	E4
Release	25 January 2007 (2007-01-25) – present

Skins is a British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England through the two years of sixth form. The controversial plotline explores issues including narcissism, dysfunctional families, personality disorders, substance abuse, sexuality, teenage pregnancy, disability, suicide and death. The show was created by father and son television writers Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for Company Pictures, and premiered on E4 on 25 January 2007. The first two series' main ensemble cast were entirely replaced for the third and fourth series. Some secondary characters were kept. The show is notable for its casting of amateur actors and young writers.

Characters

Main article: List of Skins characters

First generation

Tony Stonem (Nicholas Hoult) is an attractive, intelligent and popular boy, whose manipulative ways often go unnoticed by many and are a catalyst for a majority of the events in the series. Tony's on/off girlfriend is Michelle.

Michelle Richardson (April Pearson) can never 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.

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.

File:Skins-cast-s1 2.jpg

The first generation of Skins characters. From left to right, Cassie Ainsworth, Michelle Richardson, Tony Stonem, Sketch, Anwar Kharral, Sid Jenkins, Chris Miles, Jal Fazer, and Maxxie Oliver.

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.

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 by Chris but suffers his loss due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage later in the series.

Maxxie Oliver (Mitch Hewer). Maxxie is an openly gay character who loves to dance and, unlike many gay teenagers o British television, is still considered "one of the lads". His relationshipship with his best friend Anwar is regularly strained due to Anwar's pick-and-choose approach to Islam.

Anwar Kharral (Dev Patel). Despite being a Muslim, Anwar, has no qualms about indulging in pre-marital sex, alcohol, and drugs, 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 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.

Second generation

File:Skins-Cast-2.jpg

The second generation of Skins characters. From left to right, JJ Jones, Naomi Campbell, Emily Fitch, Katie Fitch, James Cook, Effy Stonem, Freddie McClair, Pandora Moon and Thomas Tomone.

Effy Stonem (Kaya Scodelario), Tony's sister, becomes the lead character of series 3. Effy is 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. In the fourth series we see a different Effy; an Effy who has fallen in love and has struggled to admit to these feelings. We also see Effy struggle with psychosis and depression and even attempts to take her own 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, politically-charged passionate young woman with idealistic views and abundance 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, referred to as the "Three Musketeers". 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 which draws out his more vulnerable and considerate side. 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, forming a sexual relationship in the process, but cannot hide or subdue his feelings for Effy. JJ has Autism and 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 kindness. She describes this as "a once-off charity event".

Other characters include Karen McClair (Klariza Clayton), Freddie's sister who has big dreams of being famous. 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. Scott Mills said on Chris Moyles's BBC Radio 1 show on 8 July 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, Kieran 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, with Bank's real life partner David Baddiel playing Jim's colleague who has an affair with Anthea. Sally Phillips appears as Pandora's Mother Angela and her Aunt Elizabeth is played by Maureen Lipman. Other parents include Cook's father (Matt King) and mother (Tanya Franks), JJ's mother (Juliet Cowan) and father (Douglas Hodge), Freddie's dad (Simon Day), Naomi's mother (Olivia Colman), and Katie and Emily's parents played by impressionist Ronni Ancona and stand-up comedian John Bishop.

Plot synopsis

Main article: List of Skins episodes

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 gay teen 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 Series 2 episode "Cassie", she says "I'll love you forever 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") features Jal's ambition to win BBC Young Musician of the Year. Episode four ("Chris") features Chris left alone with £1000 left to him by his mother, and his eventual move into temporary student accommodation. Episode five ("Sid") shows Sid' struggle with his dysfunctional family and his victimisation at the hands of Tony's manipulation, Michelle breaks up with Tony. Tony manipulated both Michelle and Sid so they would date, but that only led to Michelle thinking Sid was in on it. Sid then tries to apologize, only for Tony to intervene and win Michelle back for himself. Unlike episodes one to five, episode six ("Maxxie and Anwar") focuses on both the two named characters and how they build up conflict through Maxxie's homosexuality and Anwar's Muslim faith. Episode seven ("Michelle") shows Michelle's understanding of Tony's manipulative and cheating ways, and her gradual acceptance a relationship with him is not good for her. Episode eight, "Effy", focuses less on its namesake than on the central characters' search for her. "Finale" focuses on the whole group in general. The series finishes with the anti-hero Tony being run down by a bus after he begins to change his personality for the benefit of winning back Michelle, then the main cast sings the Cat Stevens 1970 classic "Wild World." It is also noted that each episode starts with the eyes of the main character.

Series 2

The second series premiered 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, written by Julian Ronnie 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 stroke 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.

Anwar is the only person to not get a character centric episode, although the final episode is based loosely around him.

Series 3

Series 3 introduces the second generation of the 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 and has Asperger 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 finds out she is having casual sex with Cook (when he reveals all after taking JJ's STUN medication), and they split. However, Thomas eventually forgives her and the 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. Effy does not need to say anything as it is clear from the look she gives Freddie that she chooses him. Cook storms out. 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?"

Series 4

The fourth series began filming in July 2009 and concluded in November 2009. The series continues with the second generation of characters and consists of eight episodes which began airing on 28 January 2010. Guest stars for the series include Georgia Henshaw, who appears as Lara, JJ's new girlfriend who has a nine-month old baby. Mark Furlong will appear in one of the eight episodes as Cook's cousin from Ireland, his character brings friction among the two characters as he tries to damage Cook's reputation. Ben Evans will also appear as Sam, and Lily Davis-Broome as Candy. Will Young acts as a school counsellor, Chris Addison appears the Sixth Form's new "Cameronian" headmaster and Felicity Montagu also appears in the second episode as Anne, the mother of the suicide victim. Pauline Quirke recurs as "quite a scary character" who is part of "an incident that involves everyone".

The first episode begins at a club, with most of the series' main characters present. A girl named Sophia takes MDMA and commits suicide. Thomas, working there as a DJ, is expelled by new school headmaster David Blood (Chris Addison) due to his connection with the incident he. As the police begin to investigate, Thomas begins to rethink his life and breaks up with Pandora. Episode two sees Emily moving in with girlfriend Naomi due to problems at home. Emily discovers Naomi had recently been involved with Sophia and had sold her the MDMA, which she herself had obtained from Cook. Heartbroken, Emily and Naomi fight, their future left uncertain. Meanwhile, Effy returns and begins a relationship with Freddie. In an outburst of jealous rage, Cook assaults a nearby boy.

Episode three revolves around Cook, who is arrested following the assault and given bail with an electric tag, which forces him to live with his younger brother and apathetic, alcoholic mother. He revels in teaching his younger brother his own dangerous habits, before realising his actions are exactly that - childish. Cook and Naomi share their feelings of responsibility over the death of Sophia. In the culmination of the episode, Cook pleads guilty to GBH, and confesses to selling Sophia the MDMA, saving Naomi from suspicion whilst condemning himself.

The series' fourth episode focuses on Katie, who is told by doctors she has begun a premature menopause and can never have children. She attempts to help in her mother's wedding planning business with disastrous results. With the Fitch family bankrupt, they are evicted and are forced into moving in with Emily and Naomi, who have still to properly reconcile. Katie and Thomas begin to reveal their feelings for each other, with the former confessing to him how she now cannot conceive. The Fitch family reunite for one last meal on the floor of their old house.

Episode five explores Freddie's relationship with Effy. Living out a hedonistic existence in her mother's now empty house, Freddie begins to be concerned about Effy's state of mind. Seeing similarities in Effy and his own late mother's depression (and eventual suicide), he seeks advice from his grandfather (Dudley Sutton). Realising Effy is in danger, Freddie reaches her just as she has slit her wrists and manages to get her to hospital. Cook reappears, apparently having escaped from juvenile detention, and comforts a broken Freddie.

Episode six explores JJ's life, and moves the focus away from Effy. JJ is infatuated with Lara, a girl from his work. When he finally manages to get up the courage to ask her out on a date, she accepts. He arrives at her house, only to be met by a big surprise - she has a baby. The father of the child is still in love with Lara, and does not want JJ and her to be together. While their first date is a bit of a disaster, and JJ is later provoked by Liam (the ex boyfriend/father of the child) into punching him in front of Lara, which causes her to end it with JJ, he then wins back her affections by serenading her from below her window. JJ's absent father opens up to his son in this episode, saying he does not think JJ needs all the pills that his mother and psychiatrist push onto him. This is a turning point in JJ's life.

Series 5

It was revealed by Skins creator Jamie Brittain that there are plans for a fifth series being put into production. Elsley revealed that it will feature an entirely new cast, dubbed the "third generation". Asked if any character might stay on into the next generation, writer Georgia Lester replied: "I can't imagine anyone at the moment. I just love James Fitch, but he is not at the right age to join the main cast!"

Production

Writing

The show's realistic plot lines are often credited to the writing team, who have an average age of 21. The series co-producer Bryan Elsley said, "It's all about the writing. [...] We're about letting our audience feel they are not alone. [...] We're always having people miss [writing] meetings because they've got A-levels or even GCSEs."

Filming

The show is filmed in Bristol; Roundview College school scenes are shot at Henbury School, having formerly been shot at Filton College's WISE Campus and John Cabot Academy, and multiple scenes are located around College Green. Special locations for individual episodes have included the Gower Peninsula, Sharpness Docks, the University of Exeter and New York City. The series was shot entirely in High Definition, using Sony HDW-750P cameras for the first two series, and Sony HDW-F900R thereafter, both supplied by Panavision. It was edited at BBC Studios and Post Production in Bristol, using Autodesk Lustre and Autodesk Smoke.

It was announced in April 2008 that all of the original cast (except Kaya Scodelario and Lisa Backwell) will be replaced for series 3. Creator 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 new cast would be quite different from the original characters, although people may still spot some similarities. Open auditions for the second generation of cast members were held in Bristol, which attracted 1,500 16- to 18-year-olds, followed by a further two days of auditions in London.

Online content

A variety of videos have been released on the Skins website, including character profiles, and "Unseen Skins" mini-episodes that interweave with every aired episode. In addition to character profiles on the official E4 website, accounts for the lead Skins characters are maintained on popular social networking website MySpace. Each series is launched on MySpace, with previews of the first episodes a few days before they are aired on television. There is also an official Skins Internet bot for Windows Live Messenger, which allows users to receive automated messages throughout the airing of each episode with music credits, trivia, and behind-the-scenes gossip.

Reception

Critical reception

The first series received positive reviews, although some critics complained that the series depicts teenagers unrealistically and stereotypically. 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."

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. 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. However, Brooker himself gave the programme a positive review in his Guardian column "Screen Burn", 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, 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. 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."

In Season Four, Episode Five (Freddie) it is reported that some teenagers in Australia commited suicide after watching the episode online. In the controversial episode, the main character Effy, suffers a mental breakdown from a psychotic mental illness and during the course of the episode she attempts suicide. SBS is yet to comment, if that episode will have special warning placed before the program is broadcast in Australia later this year.

Awards

The show won the Best Drama prize at the 2008 Rose d'Or ceremony, and also won the 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. In March 2008 the show was nominated for Best Drama Series in the British Academy Television Awards 2008. The show's innovative marketing was awarded Best Advertising Campaign at the MediaGuardian Awards for Innovation in 2008. The viral marketing preluding the second series won the Entertainment category at the Interactive Marketing and Advertising Awards 2008. Skins won the Philips Audience Award at the BAFTAs 2009. The series Director of Photography, Nick Dance has been nominated for a BAFTA and an RTS Award for Photography and Lighting for his work on the series. In 2010, Skins was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Drama Series" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.

Television ratings

The pilot episode of Skins averaged 1.5 million viewers. The ratings for the second series which launched peaked at 884,000 viewers, 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. The series finale attracted an audience of 740,000 on E4, equating to a 4.65% share of the audience. The start of the third series drew in 877,000 viewers, proving popular with its key audience demographic of younger people — 56.2% of viewers were aged between 16 and 34. Series 4 premiered with 1.1 million viewers across E4 and E4+1, the highest rated episode since series 1.

Cultural influence

The programme has given rise to the term 'skins party', referring to a debauched night of heavy drinking and recreational drug use. 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 series' trailer, 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. 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. Club nights marketed as 'Skins Secret Parties' have also taken shape in Leicester and Brighton. Following this, a series of parties were run by Company Pictures in spring 2008.

Future

In May 2009, E4 confirmed that Film4 and Company Pictures are in "preliminary talks" about a movie spin-off. It is unknown which of the cast members would be featured, or where the film will fit in the show's continuity, leading to a possibility that both generations of characters will meet. In September 2009, Company Pictures announced that Skins has been licensed to Crystal Entertainment. The firm is to help creator Bryan Elsley expand the brand into areas such as film, fashion and music. They described Skins as "the most authentic teen brand on TV".

Although the show currently airs in the United States on BBC America, MTV is planning to create an American adaptation. In February 2010, filming began on a Pilot for a North American version of Skins in Toronto, Canada.

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 nine episodes from series one. Bonus features include nine unaired online-only Unseen Skins episodes, music video for Standing in the Way of Control, and extended trailers. Much of the popular music used in the original broadcasts is not found on this DVD due to the high cost of licensing. Of particular note to R1 audiences is that the cast ensemble performance of "Wild World" that appeared at the end of the series is completely missing from the release.
2	14 April 2009	5 May 2008	20 August 2008	10	This three-disc box set includes all ten episodes from series two. Bonus features include the six accompanying Unseen Skins episodes, interviews with cast and crew, and short behind the scenes documentaries. Much of the popular music used in the original broadcasts is not found on this DVD due to the high cost of licensing.
3	TBA	6 April 2009	9 September 2009	10	This three-disc box set includes all ten episodes from series three. Bonus features include four editions of Unseen Skins, ten character video diaries, and behind the scenes featurettes from the episodes, trailers and auditions. Much of the popular music used in the original broadcasts is not found on this DVD due to the high cost of licensing.
4	TBA	22 March 2010	TBA	8	This two-disc box set includes all eight episodes from series four. Bonus features include: Bonus Skins stories, Animated feature, Behind the scenes videos, and Commentaries with the show's writers and directors.

External links

• E4's official Skins website
• Template:Tv.com