Skins (UK)

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domino harvey
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Skins (UK)

#1 Post by domino harvey » Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:48 pm

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.

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GaryC
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Re: Skins (UK)

#2 Post by GaryC » Sun Dec 09, 2012 3:54 am

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.
Last edited by GaryC on Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Skins (UK)

#3 Post by hamsterburger » Sun Dec 09, 2012 5:40 am

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-[

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domino harvey
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Re: Skins (UK)

#4 Post by domino harvey » Sun Dec 09, 2012 10:22 am

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.

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domino harvey
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Re: Skins (UK)

#5 Post by domino harvey » Mon Dec 31, 2012 5:26 pm

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!

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Re: Skins (UK)

#6 Post by GaryC » Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:00 am

Some advance info on Series 7 here.

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domino harvey
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Re: Skins (UK)

#7 Post by domino harvey » Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:39 pm

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

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GaryC
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Re: Skins (UK)

#8 Post by GaryC » Thu Jun 20, 2013 8:36 pm

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

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domino harvey
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Re: Skins (UK)

#9 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jun 20, 2013 8:38 pm

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

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Re: Skins (UK)

#10 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:58 pm

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

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GaryC
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Re: Skins (UK)

#11 Post by GaryC » Wed Jul 03, 2013 1:39 am

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

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Re: Skins (UK)

#12 Post by GaryC » Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:46 am

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.

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Re: Skins (UK)

#13 Post by domino harvey » Tue Sep 14, 2021 10:36 am

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

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