Skins: Series 3 (2009)

I've recently finished watching series 3 of Skins, having recorded it all earlier in the year. I loved the first two series, which had a completely different lead cast of lovable, likable characters.

It was therefore with some trepidation that I approached the new series, with an entirely new cast of youngsters, except Effy (centre, above) and Pandora (4th from right), who'd had minor roles previously. Initial impressions were not good, but after episode 3 things improved. Not to the heights of series 1 or 2, but series 3 of Skins carved its own niche. One of the best aspects of the show are the adult cameos from British comedy stars, including a never-better Harry Enfield, a marvellous Sally Phillips and a surprising non-Dougalesque turn from Ardal O'Hanlon.

The strength (or not) of Skins comes from its young characters, and this series they seemed to do more drugs, drink more than a human could ever manage and sleep with anything with a pulse. Hedonism was the watch-word in a big way, and it was this that put me off a little, as I couldn't identify with it. I'm only 25, but I'm sure the youth of today doesn't behave like these characters, do they?? If they do, Britain's fucked! If the series aimed to hold a mirror up to youth culture to warn its young audience of the dangers of alcohol and drugs then they did a good job of showing the emotional destruction that such behaviour can bring, but the message may have been a bit too subtle. 

So to this year's characters, none of whom was as lovable as Chris or Sid or Cassie or Maxxie.

Cook, to the right of Effy above, proved to be an utterly obnoxious prick from episode one, and his arc never deviated from this path. In the first series Tony was a nasty piece of work who manipulated his friends and caused mayhem, and the show's producers had the good sense to hit him with a bus at the end of series 1 and then succeeded in making him sympathetic through series 2. Here though, despite my best wishes, Cook only gets beaten up a few times, and even by the final episode when he meets and bests his dad, he's still a complete cock. The best bits of the series didn't feature him.

Freddie (left of Effy) was this year's hottie (although no match for Maxxie or Chris, boo), but he spent a lot of the time looking sullen. I couldn't decide if this was because the actor wasn't very good or if this was his character trait, I think that it was the latter. His sister (far right) was a much more interesting character, but she was more of a supporting character. My favourite of the guys was JJ (2nd from left), who actually seemed to possess a brain, something distinctly lacking from either Cook or Freddie who spent most of their time pining for or shagging Effy. JJ's episode was so sweet and I hope he gets a lot more screentime next series. Rounding out the regular cast of guys is Thomas. He was introduced in episode 2 or 3 and was a refreshingly innocent character, unfortunately after this point he was relegated to no more than a bit player. 

There were more girls than guys in this Skins cast, and they also benefitted from being much more interesting characters than the boys. Leading the show was Effy, Tony's little sister from series 1 and 2, who had previously been a voiceless presence in her brother's life. Now with Tony gone and her parents breaking up, Effy acts out as much as she can. She'll sleep with anyone, take anything and hurt who she likes, but she's not a vindictive character, more often she comes off as bored, just doing the things she does because she wants to. I thought that she was a good character, but many of her scenes involved Cook, so that put me off her a bit!

Pandora was this year's Cassie - the slightly off-key, slightly demented one. She had a wonderful way with words, and boasted Maureen Lipman as her aunt, so what's not to love! Unfortunately she lost her way when she started having it off with Cook and cheating on Thomas, at which point Panda lost her innocence and became another sullen Effy-alike. 

One of this year's 'gimmicks' were the twin characters of Katie and Emily (spot them in the photo above! I can't tell them apart visually, but Katie had a lisp, so that helped!). Katie was one of the most underwritten of the new cast, mostly she was a bitch with no discernable motivation. The most satisfying storyline of the series involved Emily's emergence from the closet (to indifference, mostly) and her persual of Naomi (3rd from left). Naomi's confusion about her feelings for Emily, both characters need to be loved by someone, and the drunken fumblings that ensued were believable and felt organic. I hope they develop further in series 4. 

Series 3 of Skins added up to more than the sum of its parts and ultimately was fun, funny and emotionally effective, despite the central prescence of Cook - maybe they can hit him with a bus next series?