Skins

Skins is a BAFTA-nominated British comedic teen drama that follows a group of teenagers from Bristol as they experience love, family, and growing up. 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. A second series premiered on E4 on 14 February 2008.

For the third series, the entire cast of the first two series has been replaced. The only main characters remaining are Effy Stonem and her best friend Pandora Moon. The third series premiered on E4 on Thursday 22 January 2009.

Main Characters

Tony Stonem (Nicholas Hoult) is an attractive, intelligent, popular boy, whose manipulative ways go unnoticed by many. He likes to quote from famous literary works, and is well cultured and knowledgeable. Often Tony's behaviour can be guessed from the books he reads (e.g. his desire to 'get off' with Maxxie in Russia comes from the book he is reading). He enjoys manipulating his friends claiming that with him life isn't dull. However it pushes his relationships with both Sid and Michelle. He has a special relationship with his younger sister, Effy, whom he looks out for, sometimes to his detriment.

Michelle Richardson (April Pearson) is Tony's on/off girlfriend who never stays angry at his mischievous behaviour for long. She describes her main skill as "looking shaggable", but goes on to achieve the second best A-level results in the group, she gets two As and a B, Tony receives 3 As and a B. She has issues with her mother's numerous boyfriends/marriages, but despite this has a close relationship with her. Michelle can at times seem shallow, caring more about good looks and sex than a relationship with real substance.

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. He deeply admires Tony, and has a crush on his girlfriend Michelle, but thinks he has no chance with her. He is affected by his unstable home life; his mother walks out on his father, whom Sid dislikes but is forced to put up with. Sid initially appears ignorant of Cassie's affections, but later falls for her.

Cassie Ainsworth (Hannah Murray) is 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. Her personality appears optimistic but inside she is rather depressed and unhappy. She can be quite impulsive, but also shows a love of order (as shown by the re-arranging of Abigail's kitchen in the first episode).

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). In the second series, he has a relationship with Jal. Chris has problems with drugs, notably in the episode 5 of the 1st series spending the last of the money he has on LSD. He had an older brother who died of a blood clot on the brain. His mother walks out on him and his father refuses to have a relationship with him.

Jal Fazer (Larissa Wilson) is an intelligent girl who is also a talented musician who plays the clarinet. She spends much of her time practicing for the Musician of the Year, but does not win. She lives with her dad and two brothers, Lynton and Ace. Her mother left when she was young, which frequently causes tension within the family. Jal's best friend is Michelle, who frequently takes Jal for granted. Jal is often forced to be the kill-joy of the group due to the others' recklessness, giving her a label of the boring one which she resents and tries to shed. She starts a relationship with Chris in the second series.

Maxxie Oliver (Mitch Hewer) is an openly gay character who loves to dance and, unlike many gay teenagers on British television, is still considered "one of the lads". He is often one of the more cheery members of the group and is the one who helps Tony the most after the accident. His relationship with best friend Anwar is regularly strained; Anwar had a relationship with Maxxie's stalker, Sketch, and has issues with Maxxie's homosexuality. Maxxie comes from a loving family but tension with his father is caused when feels he is not academic enough and would prefer to drop out of college to become a full-time dancer in London. He is also hassled by a group of homophobes on the estate he lives on.

Anwar Kharral (Dev Patel) is best friends with Maxxie. He is a Muslim with a selective approach to his faith; he 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. He starts a relationship with Sketch in second series which upsets Maxxie. Anwar shows little ambition or drive, optimistically preferring to maintain his current lifestyle in the long term.
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.

Effy Stonem (Kaya Scodelario) is Tony's sister, and shares many of the same qualities as him. She used to talk very rarely, but has opened up after Tony's accident. She is extremely intelligent and prefers to keep her emotions mostly hidden (as shown in the second series by her inability to produce art coursework on the topic of emotion). Her behaviour is often outrageous and goes rather un-noticed by her parents, who blame Tony when they see glimpses of it. Tony loves his sister and goes a long way to cover up her behaviour, and in return she helps him in recovering from his accident. Effy regularly breaks the fourth wall.

Sketch (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), is a Welsh girl who lives in the opposite block of flats to Maxxie, whom she stalks. She is a young carer for her mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and does not seem to have much, if any, social contact. Sketch's actions can often seem malicious and grasping, but are underpinned by a troubling naivety and loneliness. Sketch is her nickname, Lucy being her real Christian name. It is not known how she got her nick-name, nor what her surname is.

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 counselor. There is also Madison Twatter, Sid's psychotic drug dealer, Angie, the psychology teacher, and Doug, 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.