TV Drama: Skins

Skins

Skins is a TV drama that aired on Channel 4 for 7 seasons that ran through 2007-2013. It followed a group of teenagers through their final years of secondary school and portrayed the highs, lows and dramas of teen life, including drugs, sex, hangovers and death. Different characters for every 2 seasons, some found it refreshing and some found it hard to move on from certain groups of characters after they had created a rapport.

Review

I began watching Skins in 2015 and finished the whole series November 2017. I could relate to the characters in the beginning which drew me in, but as it got more dramatic throughout the different seasons, I was watching because I was hooked on how the story would develop and not because of why I originally began to watch it. This led to me not watching it as often because I wasn't so hooked on finding out what happened to particular characters (although I did have a favourite character throughout all the seasons; Effy, and not just because of the similarity in name) and this was especially because of the change of characters every 2 seasons. This made it hard to pick a favourite character that I wanted to follow their story, which is how I usually watch a drama, and what keeps me interested. This had a similarity with Misfits, as in the fourth season they also had a change of cast which I gave a chance for 2 episodes and then stopped watching.

Misfits Series 1 Episode 1

However, I can still see why they changed up the characters and it is almost ironic to be pointing this out as a negative. Because of the fast-paced storyline based on a group of teenage friends moving out from secondary school, it would be boring and wouldn't be representative of real teenage life if it had stayed the same group; growing up and making new friends, and deciding who you shouldn't keep around is exactly what this change represents and what the main purpose of the story is. Teenage life is busy, ever-changing, and it certainly can't make it's mind up, which is perfectly presented to the viewer.

I mentioned that in the beginning I was drawn in but then I ended up just watching to see how it developed. The first 3 seasons I was gripped, particularly season 3 with the introduction of my now favourite group of characters throughout the series. Seasons 1 and 2 both weren't as dramatic as it got after season 4, which made it more of a relatable and easy-to-follow story, honest about the struggles and conflicts of young adults. Season 3 is turned up with the introduction of the rowdy James Cook, with whom the viewer develops a love-hate relationship with. Effy is also continued into this season, which continued the interest through into the next group of characters (something that lacked in Misfits, despite them continuing 2 characters).

However, after this it tapered out, and began to struggle with making all of the drama realistic, and then with the addition of a third set of characters it started to become all a bit too much. At this point I was just watching to find out what happened as each episode is left on a cliffhanger, but it was hard to keep track of who was who.

I enjoyed all of the groups of characters equally, it was when I began to watch the 'special' season 7 that I became confused. Season 7 was essentially tying up the loose ends- bringing back characters Cook, Effy and Cassie in separate storylines. I passed through Cassie and Effy's storylines okay and I wasn't too unimpressed, but when it came to tying up Cook's story it became too dramatic, too many deaths and very unrelatable. Not all stories have to be relatable throughout the whole series, or at all for that matter, but considering it started out like this and then ended so dramatically different in pace and level of action, it was a jarring end to a whirlwind of a series.

How It Influenced My Work

Skins is a teen drama focused towards an audience of similar age, older teens/young adults. My script is focused on young professional adults which isn't similar to Skins character-wise however I've taken more of the style of the writing in the way the characters talk to each other and contrasting it with a professional setting. Contrast is used a lot in Skins, especially when parents are included in the story. This idea of the more superior character being humbled is something I liked about this, and so this is why I staged the conversation about the police in a work/formal environment, as this is generally very informal talk. This is also shown in the script and extract when Ethan invites Connor to lunch, and rather than inviting him formally he just demands that Connor follow him, and Connor makes a sly comment under his breath which immediately breaks the ice between the 2 characters and tells the viewer that they must be good friends. This is also seen in Skins when we are introduced to new cast, we can immediately tell who are the good friends or the outsiders of the groups, purely thanks to the actions and script.