Skins is a BAFTA-winning teen drama that follows a group of teenagers from Bristol, England as they grow up. Now in its third series, 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 fourth series was officially announced in 2008. Filming will commence with all the series three cast in July 2009.
Plot: A group of British teens tries to grow up and learn about love and life with little adult supervision. Sid tries to be everyone’s friend and usually ends up on the short end of the stick. He is mostly manipulated by best friend Tony, whose girlfriend Michelle he is in love with. Tony is one to try anything once, including every girl he meets. He manipulates not only Sid and Michelle but anyone else who will let him. Anwar is just looking to lose his virginity. Maxxie is along for the ride and dealing with his homosexuality. Cassie is in love with Sid but has some mental issues. The parents are trying to grow up too and the teachers are being their friends and lovers so they only have each other.
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.
Awards
The programme won the Best Drama prize at the 2008 Rose d’Or ceremony. 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. It was announced on 18 March 2008 that the show had been 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 & Advertising Awards 2008.
Cast
* Joseph Dempsie – Chris Miles (20 episodes, 2007-2008)
* Mike Bailey – Sid Jenkins (20 episodes, 2007-2008)
* April Pearson – Michelle Richardson (20 episodes, 2007-2008)
* Mitch Hewer – Maxxie Oliver (20 episodes, 2007-2008)
* Nicholas Hoult – Tony Stonem (19 episodes, 2007-2008)
* Larissa Wilson – Jal Fazer (19 episodes, 2007-2008)
* Dev Patel – Anwar Kharral (19 episodes, 2007-2008)
* Hannah Murray – Cassie Ainsworth (17 episodes, 2007-2008)
* Kaya Scodelario – Effy (16 episodes, 2007-2009)
* Daniel Kaluuya – Posh Kenneth (11 episodes, 2007-2009)
* Luke Pasqualino – Freddie (10 episodes, 2009)
* Lisa Backwell – Pandora (9 episodes, 2008-2009)
* Giles Thomas – Doug (9 episodes, 2007-2009)
* Harry Enfield – Jim Stonem (9 episodes, 2007-2009)
* Morwenna Banks – Anthea Stonem (9 episodes, 2007-2009)
* Ollie Barbieri – JJ (9 episodes, 2009)
* Siwan Morris – Angie (9 episodes, 2007-2008)
