Skins (British TV series)

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Skins
File:SkinsC4 450x562.jpg
Main cast of Skins
GenreDramedy
Created byJamie Brittain
Bryan Elsley[1]
StarringMike Bailey
Joseph Dempsie
Mitch Hewer
Nicholas Hoult
Hannah Murray
Dev Patel
April Pearson
Larissa Wilson[1]
Theme music composerFat Segal
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes9 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersBryan Elsley
George Faber
Charles Pattinson[1]
ProducerChris Clough[1]
Production locationBristol
Running time45 minutes approximately, 60 minutes with adverts
Original release
NetworkE4
Release25 January 2007 –
present

Skins is a British teen drama from Company Pictures which premiered on E4 on 25 January 2007. Skins is one of the first programmes at the forefront of the network Channel 4's aim to start showing more British content on its channels. A second series of ten episodes has been commissioned[2]

The writing team includes the Dawson brothers, Steve, Andrew and Tim (Balls of Steel, Dirty Tricks), Jack Thorne (Shameless) and Josie Long.[3] They also have guest writers for certain episodes, such as Simon Amstell (Popworld, Never Mind The Buzzcocks). Skins is filmed in Bristol; the school scenes are all filmed at John Cabot Academy. It was shot entirely in High Definition though is currently only being broadcast in Standard Definition.

The first series of Skins has now come to an end but Channel 4 showed a rerun of the first series which started August 21, 2007.[4] The complete first series became available on DVD from 24 September 2007.[5] Featuring much of the music heard on Skins, the soundtrack is available on CD.[6]

Plot

Skins revolves around the lives of a group of 16-18-year-old friends who live in Bristol. The Dawson Brothers claim the series represents the everyday lives of adolescents. The group includes a popular boy, his girlfriend, a Muslim boy, a gay character, a girl with eating disorder, a boy who is desperate to lose his virginity, an intelligent and privileged girl with family problems, and a party animal in love with his teacher. These characters attend a sixth form college in Bristol. Each installment has a self-contained theme focusing on each different character respectively, but there are several story arcs that span different episodes.

Episodes

Main article: List of Skins episodes
Main article: Music in Skins

In the first series, Skins episodes followed the pattern of being named after central characters, whom the episode primarily focused on. Accompanying the episode title at the beginning of each episode is a short few second montage of that episode's central character. Episode one, "Tony" is more of an ensemble piece, introducing the characters, format, and themes. Subsequent episodes "Cassie", "Jal", "Chris", "Sid" and "Michelle" focus on specific characters, and "Maxxie and Anwar" was a shared episode between characters whose stories were interlinked. Episode eight "Effy" also focuses less on its namesake, and more on the central characters' search for her. The series finale is an ensemble piece like the pilot and make no reference to the title for the episode.

A special one-off short episode of Skins ("Skins Secret Party Special") was filmed on the 2 August 2007 and was aired nightly on MySpace in late August. The episode fictionally charts the build up to and the events at the Skins "Secret Party".

Channel 4 have confirmed that skins season 2 will be aired in the early new year on E4.[7][8]. The first episode will be all about Maxxie and will feature comedian Bill Bailey playing his father.

Cast

Main article: List of Skins characters

Main characters

Supporting characters

Special guests

In addition to the regular cast, there have been a number of guest appearances in almost every episode:

Series 1

"Episode 1"

"Episode 2"

"Episode 3"

"Episode 4"

"Episode 5"

"Episode 6"

"Episode 7"

"Episode 8"

"Episode 9"

Series 2

Online presence

Unseen Skins

Main article: List of Unseen Skins episodes

Accompanying each episode of the program was an online mini-episode, released after first broadcast. The storyline of this mini-episode interweaves with the main episode and shows parts of the story that may not have been elaborated upon before. The mini-episodes for the final two episodes have not been released online and are only available on the series' DVD.[9]

  • Episode 1 - "I Mostly Do" - Cassie is released from the hospital and meets Michelle who has a favour to ask
  • Episode 2 - "Careers Advice" - The main characters get careers advice
  • Episode 3 - "Shoot 'Em Up Bang Bang Props To The Hood" - Jal's brothers try to get onto the radio with the help of a new unexpected friend
  • Episode 4 - "A Friend In Need" - The group try to get Chris some clothes after he turns up naked to school
  • Episode 5 - "Careers Advice II" - It's Anwar, Tony and Michelle's turn to hear some careers advice, but this time the advisor seems to have given up
  • Episode 6 - "To Russia with Love..." - The boys see a porn star and Chris needs some money
  • Episode 7 - "The Cat & The Duck" - Michelle and Jal drink away their problems in a pub and liken friends to inanimate objects
  • Episode 8 - "Pop" - Effy tells a story about a girl who became dependant on lemonade.
  • Episode 9 - "Bye" - Cassie and her friend from the therapy center discuss all the things she will miss, including Sid.

Secret Party

E4 launched a "Secret Party" and invited fans to get involved. This was the second time the show has offered UGC competitions to encourage the involvement of creative and talented fans. The competitions involved the chance to design a projection for the party, to interview the cast or to take official photographs at the event. A competition was also launched on MySpace to win tickets for the event, that would give fans a chance to be spotted by members of the casting team who would be on the lookout for extras at the event.

Cultural influence

During the 2007 Easter holiday a girl in County Durham threw a house party; it was advertised on her Myspace as an Unofficial Skins 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, causing over £20,000 of seemingly deliberate damage and breaking into the house. She alleges that her account was hacked and someone else placed the ad.[10]

Criticism

Critics have complained that the series depicts an unrealistic and stereotypical portrayal of teenagers[11] and that it indulges a "teenage fantasy world" portrayed as being close to realistic. It has also been criticised for excessive promoting of the show using new media and many TV trailers, whilst other critics criticised the writing as poor in comparison to other similarly themed series.[12]

Comedian and writer Stewart Lee has remarked that he feels lucky for having been a teenager watching TV for teenagers in the 1970s and not the 2000s as he believes that, "there was something really comforting for nerds and weirdos about programmes like Children of the Stones and The Changes," and that such programmes, "made you feel less alone," whereas he says of Skins that it would make him feel more alone.[13]

International

Skins is also broadcast in Australia on SBS, Canada on Super Channel, and New Zealand on C4.

Skins was shown on Jim TV in Belgium during the summer of 2007.

DVD releases

The Complete First Series
Set Details Special Features
  • 9 Episodes
  • 3-Disc Set
  • Unknown Aspect Ratio
  • English
  • Subtitles: English
Release Date
 United Kingdom 24 September 2007

References

  1. ^ a b c d http://www.companypictures.co.uk/production.aspx?code=skins
  2. ^ Channel 4 confirms more 'Skins', Digital Spy
  3. ^ 'About A Boy' star for new teen TV series, Digital Spy
  4. ^ http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2029596,00.html
  5. ^ Skins DVD Release, play.com. URL last accessed 2007-03-17.
  6. ^ Skins CD Release, play.com. URL last accessed 2007-03-17.
  7. ^ Skins Special Episode
  8. ^ MySpace
  9. ^ "Channel 4 Forums - Unseen Skins News". 2007-03-22. Retrieved 2007-03-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ http://www.sunderland-echo.co.uk/news?ArticleID=2701454
  11. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv_and_radio/story/0,,1998933,00.html
  12. ^ http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/2007/01/first_night_skins_on_e4.html
  13. ^ http://youtube.com/watch?v=XWcpkNbIJZg

External links

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