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Given that many of our members have shown an interest in teen-based television programming, I wonder how many are fans of the brilliant UK series Skins? I've long been a fan, but this rapturously welcome news-- Skins Series Seven will bring back Gen 1 and 2 characters into adulthood-- has moved me to finally make a thread. I've only seen the first four series (Gen 1 and 2) so my comments are restricted to those seasons, but it is to my eyes one of the best depictions of youth yet attempted in a fictive medium. Not because it's accurate to the specific realities of being a teen (doubtful), but because it is one of the few works I've seen that truly seems to have been processed through the filter of a teenager. Everything is amped up to vibrant extremes that reflect the passion of how teens see the world: Everything hurts more, tastes better, looks more beautiful, feels more painful, &c, because it's all so new.

The series is also riotously vulgar (it contains perhaps the most swearing per minute of any television series I've ever sat through) and often indulges in regrettable bathroom humor, though even these lame jokes are of a piece with things a teenager would find amusing. Adults are worthless, either absent or ineffective or buffoons or sexual objects, but the series' hostility towards adulthood is but a manifestation of its characters' very real fear of the progression of aging (one more reason why the upcoming Series 7 sounds very promising). Everyone does copious drugs (MDMA is practically a cast member) and changes partners and behaves like outliers from Larry Clark's rejected Urban Outfitters spread, but these behaviors often mask the characters' very real feelings of helplessness as their bodies mature against their will.

The series changes casts every two series (though secondary Gen 1 characters Effy and Pandora show up to ease the transition a bit into their full-fledged primary roles in Gen 2), which allows for the series to run through a finite number of complications before its subjects grow too old or change too much. This lends the series a disjointed feel, as it basically resets every two years, but not necessarily for the worse. There's lots of "types": the girl with the eating disorder, the alpha male, the party animal, the slut, the lesbian couple, &c, but the show's greatest twin feat is in its writing and casting of characters, wherein fearless actual teenagers take what could be stock characters and infuse them with life. Not every main character is so lucky (Dev Patel and Mitch Hewer's Indian and Gay Kid from Gen 1 rarely fare better than one-dimensional, but the rest of the cast picks up the slack; no such deficiencies for Gen 2, though), but when they're good, they're damn good. Any list of great teens in fiction would be notably incomplete without Effy Stonem or Cassie Ainsworth, to name but two.

Interested parties should be aware that the only way to watch Skins in its intended form is via the R2 UK DVDs, which are usually packaged together quite cheaply. The American DVDs are a disaster, cutting out overly salacious material (the series in its intended form is NC-17 or its British equivalent, as most teenager's lives were and are) and most drastically, removing and/or replacing most of the series' music cues. This is particularly damaging, as the series has brilliant music producers and never fails to implement songs ranging from popular (Such as Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head," utilized in a joyous moment of spontaneous dance-as-coping-mechanism that rivals the best of the Hollywood musicals) to the more indie-favored selections. Streaming online services also censor the episodes, so again, the only way to go is the R2 DVDs (plus they all helpfully have English subtitles, which most will need!)

It's a good one to have on hand, as the show's addictive in a soapy-kind of fashion, and its stylish presentation and execution lends itself well to repeat viewings-- I often revisit the series, especially the Gen 2 seasons, and it always sucks me right back in to its mindset.

I started watching with Series 3 on broadcast before going back to Series 1 and 2 on DVD. Series 5 I found very disappointing (I wasn't alone) but Series 6 picked up a bit. Series 7 will be the last one, which I think is fair enough - good as it was at its best it may well have run its course.

With a couple of exceptions (including co-creator Bryan Elsley) the writers are in their late teens and early twenties and the show has a panel of advisors of that age to avoid anything too egregiously inaccurate, though it's true that it's heightened drama not fly-on-the-wall reality. At its best the show can be very good, but at worst it can descend into rank silliness.

For the record, the first three and the sixth series all contain material that got the DVDs rated 18 by the BBFC (the other three series are 15s). I did sense that the later series are toned down a little, though not much, from the first two series, and much of the audience is 15-25. There's a scene in Effy's episode in the first series that made my jaw drop: all threat rather than reality as it turned out, but not something I've seen much on television aimed at any age group.

Haven’t thought about this show for quite a while. Thanks for the reminder.

I started watching when it first aired in 2007 (Is it really almost 5 years ago!?!) and was very impressed with the effortless blend of ultra-hip-coolness and surprisingly heart-warming sincerity that the program managed to juggle for most of the first two series.

domino harvey wrote: it is to my eyes one of the best depictions of youth yet attempted in a fictive medium. Not because it's accurate to the specific realities of being a teen (doubtful), but because it is one of the few works I've seen that truly seems to have been processed through the filter of a teenager. Everything is amped up to vibrant extremes that reflect the passion of how teens see the world: Everything hurts more, tastes better, looks more beautiful, feels more painful, &c, because it's all so new.

I totally agree with this. I love how the parents were, for the most part, played by some of the UK’s top comedians which seemed like good casting to me, and true to the kid-centric world view of the show. When watching Skins we really are seeing the world trough the eyes of the kids, and when you are a teenager, who doesn’t find their parents ridicules and laughable? This schism between the kids and the adults is handled both humorously and yet so true.

However, It really took a marked turn for the worse at the end of season 2. The going-to-America episode in the end of season 2 really was a horrible ending that got most of my friends to stop watching it. I hung on through season 3 and although I found the changing of the cast a difficult transition, I also found it a gutsy move that is completely in keeping with the school setting. The first episode of the fourth series made me quit for good, although I don’t remember exactly why now, other than that the quality of the show was down.

Seem to remember that The Simon Amstell-written episode with Maxxie was my favourite. Although come to think of, the first season was pretty much all perfect, with an all round great cast who portrayed their characters in a believable way, yet completely over the top. In my opinion that generation of Skins was, at that time at least, the best representation of the youth of Britain on TV, or at least a representation of how they would like to see them selves.

Your post made me Google the show, and I was pretty shocked to read the conclusion of that season. That was a major spoiler. I am liking the look of the 5th generation. Not quite sure yet, though having passed 30 now I feel like much more of a perv when watching 18 year olds having it of. 8-[

GaryC wrote:For the record, the first three and the sixth series all contain material that got the DVDs rated 18 by the BBFC (the other three series are 15s). I did sense that the later series are toned down a little, though not much, from the first two series, and much of the audience is 15-25. There's a scene in Effy's episode in the first series that made my jaw drop: all threat rather than reality as it turned out, but not something I've seen much on television aimed at any age group.

I know exactly the moment you're speaking of and it remains one of the most shocking ideas in a series that rarely plays it safe. It's also interesting that while Effy was never quite a primary Gen 1 character, her devoted episodes in the first two series are probably the best of the first Gen, especially the wonderful second series episode where she plays a modern-day Emma to hilarious perfection. Then again, I'm obviously an Effy-booster so I may be less than impartial on the matter!

hamsterburger wrote:The first episode of the fourth series made me quit for good, although I don’t remember exactly why now, other than that the quality of the show was down.

For what it's worth, the first episode of the fourth series is the worst in the second Gen's run, and you're right that it feels "off." However, the series quickly rights itself, while still going in a darker direction (one aspect of which you've inadvertently had spoiled for you via Google-- this isn't a good show to Tumblr or Google, folks). I would recommend giving it another go, as though series three is probably as good as the show ever was, there are so many great highlights in series four: Katie Fitch, who seemed less fully fleshed than her sister in the third series is given the best stand-alone episode in the fourth, an emotional showcase that flits back and forth between being the funniest and the saddest of episodes as Katie is confronted with the tenuousness of her own identity (it's no coincidence that the episode contains one of the show's most-memorable lines: "I'm Katie Fucking Fitch, who the fuck are you?"). Also the gradual disintegration of the Naomi-Emily relationship in the fourth series is strikingly well-observed, taking the teenage romantic idealism of the third series and exposing it to the realities of the situation-- it's a hard to watch process for a lot of viewers, but it's also one of the best depictions of how cruel a couple can be to each other once they've been hurt and decide to collect an emotional debt.

domino harvey wrote:I've only seen the first four series (Gen 1 and 2) so my comments are restricted to those seasons, but it is to my eyes one of the best depictions of youth yet attempted in a fictive medium.

Having now seen the unfairly maligned Gen 3 (Series 5 and 6), which is on the whole better than the first Generation, I can now heartily recommend the entire run of the show for the same reasons expounded on above-- and it's safe the drop the bet-hedging of "one of the best" and just say "the best." If we ever had a "Top 10 Fav TV Shows of All Time 4Ever" list, this would surely make mine. And for anyone brave enough to venture into it, a box collecting all six series is for sale from Amazon.co.uk for £33!

Some advance info on Series 7 here.

Trailer for Series 7 -- forget all y'all, this is the most anticipated finale happening next month

Final series starts on E4 in the UK on 1 July.

Fortuitously enough, I literally just saw this five minutes ago: Trailer for Effy's section, Skins Fire. A cursory glance at Tumblr reveals that every nanosecond of this has already been GIF'd

And if you're not in the UK and don't want to download, the R2 DVD is out August 12th

EDIT: the Complete Series 1-6 set is down to 25 pounds on Amazon.co.uk too, for those who keep seeing this bumped and want to play along

Any thoughts on the first part of Skins: Fire from the (two?) other people here who watch this show?

Spoiler

Certainly it's markedly different from anything else Skins has done-- as it should be. It'd be kind of pathetic to show a bunch of twenty-somethings sitting around doing drugs all day (the brief glimpses we get of Naomi prove this), but the show seems to have traded its manic energy for a somewhat dolorous tone this round. I did love the conceit that the wildest child in any Gen of Skins was seemingly so well-adjusted and functional as an adult-- Effy declines drugs, for Christ's sake, and seems content merely with a glass of wine! Effy! And her use of insider trading and illicit client meetings to get ahead brought to mind her wonderful Gen 1 episode where she pulled everyone's strings to get her way. I like the kid from Submarine as the somewhat dorky young guy mooning over the unattainable beaut in front of him, but the rest of the supporting cast is bland as driftwood. I'll reserve final judgment until the second half airs next week but so far I'm not convinced this experiment is working-- as fan service it fails (that's okay, though) but more troubling is the adult story isn't particularly gripping and the last-minute revelation by Naomi was melodramatic, even for something airing under the Skins banner. But maybe it all comes together in the second part. Even if not, we've still got Cassie and Cook's episodes to give some hope yet!

I've recorded it, but haven't had a chance to watch it yet - nearer the weekend most likely.

I've now watched both parts of Fire. I pretty much agree with what you say about Part 1 above. I'm sure many people are missing the sex and partying but this is a different show now - in publishing parlance, Series 1-6 were (particularly edgy) young adult, this one is New Adult with the characters now the other side of twenty. (Cassie would be 23ish now.)

The third generation seems to have been a case of diminishing returns, with no holdovers from previous series apart from College staff. None of those characters are returning. Effy - who started out as a Year 10 in the first series - has always been one of the keynote characters. Nicholas Hoult, Harry Enfield or Morwenna Banks may not have been available, but with no mention of her brother or parents, nor any reference to her mental health issues in Series 4, made Effy seem a little rootless. Effy has always been something of an anti-heroine, but I found it hard to be sympathetic when she became involved in financial illegalities. In fact, I found Naomi's story more engaging, melodramatically-conceived though it might have been, and would have liked to see more of Emily, given that their love story was a highlight of Series 3 in particular. (And no mention of Emily's twin sister either.) So while Fire did hold my interest, it didn't knock it out of the park, to use a mixed metaphor for a moment.

I wonder if the title Fire was a reference to Inferno and Faustian pacts? If so, it didn't quite carry the weight it should have done.

Pure next week, with Cassie, and from the trailer it seems to involve a stalker storyline.

In bizarre news totally fitting with the twists and turns of the show, Kathryn Prescott was hit by a cement truck in NYC and nearly paralyzed

Are the R2 U.K. DVDs still the only proper way to watch this show legally?

Yes. Without checking I’m guessing they’re all up via TV rips on YouTube though

domino harvey wrote: Fri Nov 29, 2024 7:11 pm Yes. Without checking I’m guessing they’re all up via TV rips on YouTube though

It looks like just the first gen is, at least from a cursory search

I watched the first two series repeatedly back in college, but was always warned to stop there. Well, whoever gave me that piece of advice clearly had poor taste, as series three and four are outstanding. As good as three is, I'd lean towards the fourth as best. Aside from the horrible opening Thomas episode, they're all gravy, getting better and better as we cycle through the inviting chaos (at least across JJ’s ep; the way they handle the morbid reveal is embarrassingly out of step with the rest of the series - though the in media res ending is perfect and almost redeeming). Also, I never put together that this is the ultimate proto-Euphoria teen show: the sensationalized style emulating their heightened perception of the world, the character-based episodes, etc. It's gotta be the core model. Looking forward to five and six, even if they're inevitably a downgrade.

Sid is one of my favorite characters from all of television. His “why the fuck should I care?” response to reading about Lech Wałęsa while studying for his A-levels is a classic scene.

This show almost made Bon Jovi tolerable for 3 minutes, too

therewillbeblus wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2024 3:59 am It's gotta be the core model. Looking forward to five and six, even if they're inevitably a downgrade.

I still believe the Third Gen is the equal to the Second Gen (and I have no idea who told you to skip the Second Gen, since that was widely seen as the pinnacle back when I was on Tumblr during the height of this show's fandom), and while this is a minority opinion, given many of our shared tastes, I suspect you will agree. Also has my favorite line from the show (not really a spoiler)

Also, if you're not watching these on DVD, here's a hilarious Doug video that I think is in the extras for Series 5 (no spoilers whatsoever)

domino harvey wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2024 4:12 pm (and I have no idea who told you to skip the Second Gen, since that was widely seen as the pinnacle back when I was on Tumblr during the height of this show's fandom)

Tracing the timeline of release, I was watching the show pretty early on - probably as the Second Gen was still airing its first season - so I imagine the negative response was simply due to mourning attachments to past characters and a lack of acclimation into the new crew at that point

domino harvey wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2024 4:12 pm I still believe the Third Gen is the equal to the Second Gen

Sadly I can't match your enthusiasm for the Third Gen, though it’s definitely better than its reputation suggests. When it comes to characters, Mini and Franky are great whenever they're on screen and their eps are wonderful, but characters like Liz and Alex never evade a superfluous energy. Nick grew on me in series six, as did Alo, but what is Matty even doing? Easily the clunkiest and least developed character begging for more attention - the show literally shoves him away in both seasons because it doesn't know what to do with him. Ditto Rich. I didn’t find the crew’s chemistry as strong as in previous seasons, nor is it as dramatically effective. Even when it comes to the fault of an accident, the drama and dynamics are murky and frustratingly aloof at times. Perhaps this is a more accurate representation of how things would play out, but that doesn't make it interesting, and I think it was a mistake to reveal the central tragedy so early. Series six simultaneously tightens the action more intimately, which is badly needed after a shaggy series five, and yet comes off as whiny and sentimental in the worst ways - especially the finale - that the first two Gens managed to avoid for the most part. The sixth series builds on itself strongly around the middle eps, which I'll surely be revisiting (especially Franky's - one of the entire series' best), but I doubt I'll watch this Gen in its entirely again

Ah well. One of the things I like best about the third gen is that it plays with the conventions of the previous two gens--

Spoiler

We still get one of the core cast dying, but this time right at the beginning of the second (sixth) series rather than the end as in the previous two gens; and, of course, we get an actual ending for once, with full closure-- and it's happy!

My favorite episodes are the first Mini one where her self-constructed, highly restricted approach to life is no match for a spiraling reality, and the Alo episode with Poppy (which has one of the more egregious music replacements if you watch on DVD versus TV broadcast)-- these seem deeply rooted in melodramtics that nevertheless feel utterly accurate to the experience of kids this age. I like Rich a lot more than you do too, mainly because of what he's called on to do with relation to the first line of the spoiler above. It's interesting that you single out Franky as one of your highlights-- she was the most contentious character when this was airing! Probably in part to her already being played by an established child actor, but primarily because the show transparently changes her trajectory in the sixth series to be another Effy. This never really bothered me, because "good" kids go "bad" all the time, and frankly the show never really gave us a full transformation like this in previous gens. As for some of the other characters-- every gen has utterly forgettable characters, and this one's no exception (I could not even tell you the name of the soccer guy who sleeps with the older woman in this gen while Crystal Castles plays... and for a more contentious opinion, Freddie's sister was a million times more memorable than he was in Gen 2), so that doesn't phase me either

I like Rich a lot actually, I just felt like the show sidelined him in both seasons

Spoiler

His relationship to Grace isn't given much attention once his initial, terrific episode is over and they become an item - and he disappears from the second series completely after the start until the end. Would've loved to've seen more of him - and I disagree with Grace: He looks good with short hair!

It's interesting that you felt Franky's trajectory changed - even if she was the new kid on the block in series five, her shyness was immediately matched with a ferocity from ep one. She wasn't exactly pugnacious, but she had clearly accrued life experience and was already acting out due to internal demons more than most New Kid narratives, so I didn't feel like her character made much of a leap

domino harvey wrote: Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:58 am Any thoughts on the first part of Skins: Fire from the (two?) other people here who watch this show?

Spoiler

Certainly it's markedly different from anything else Skins has done-- as it should be. It'd be kind of pathetic to show a bunch of twenty-somethings sitting around doing drugs all day (the brief glimpses we get of Naomi prove this), but the show seems to have traded its manic energy for a somewhat dolorous tone this round. I did love the conceit that the wildest child in any Gen of Skins was seemingly so well-adjusted and functional as an adult-- Effy declines drugs, for Christ's sake, and seems content merely with a glass of wine! Effy! And her use of insider trading and illicit client meetings to get ahead brought to mind her wonderful Gen 1 episode where she pulled everyone's strings to get her way. I like the kid from Submarine as the somewhat dorky young guy mooning over the unattainable beaut in front of him, but the rest of the supporting cast is bland as driftwood. I'll reserve final judgment until the second half airs next week but so far I'm not convinced this experiment is working-- as fan service it fails (that's okay, though) but more troubling is the adult story isn't particularly gripping and the last-minute revelation by Naomi was melodramatic, even for something airing under the Skins banner. But maybe it all comes together in the second part. Even if not, we've still got Cassie and Cook's episodes to give some hope yet!

We at least agree on Fire's strengths and weaknesses to a T. Underwhelming but watchable. It's frustrating, though, how all of Effy's evolution is kind-of taken for granted 'as-is' - it would've been more interesting if she brought more of that depth in struggling with self-actualization in a new stage of life, but instead has returned to mostly staying locked under the aloof shell of her persona. Oh well. Are the next two any better?