Skins Returns: New Series New Cast (promo article for ATV)

The brand new series of skins will be hitting our screens with a bang – literally! One involving its new star Franky (Dakota Blue Richards) on an out of control mobile scooter crashing into a bike shed on her first day at a new school.

Franky is your typical ‘class reject’, dressing against the grain with boyish clothes, short hair, and no makeup, she is noticeably socially awkward. Bullied at her old school, she has moved with her two gay foster dads to Roundview to try and build a new life there and escape her past.

But her past soon catches up with her when her new ‘mean girl’ type friends discover the website ‘Franky ain’t got a fanny’. Before she knows it there are pictures from the website of her being humiliated about her body plastered all over the school. To say you feel a little empathy for her would be an understatement.

The opening episode does a great job of introducing the new characters and setting up the new direction of the series.

There are some really funny moments that a drama as gritty as skins needs. Particular highlights were Franky’s gay dads [names/played by] who strike a healthy balance between cringe and cool, being very parentally protective on the one hand but happy to say ‘dick splash’ on the other.

Also, the English teacher [name/played by] was satisfyingly eccentric. He demonstrates what could be described as a controversial teaching style, opening up his shirt to reveal a tattoo of Charlotte Bronte’s face on his chest and exclaiming: “This is the original punk, Charlotte f**king Bronte!”

Certainly high praise is necessary for Dakota Blue Richards (most known for playing Lyra in The Golden Compass), who captivates Franky’s mysterious androgyny exceptionally well on screen.

For you hard-core Skins fans out there sorry, no sex in this one! But you still get to witness two types of drugs being taken, shop-lifting, shooting with a BB gun and a semi-naked swimming pool scene.

Overall it seems to have gained back the appeal of containing likeable characters, which series four and five only mildly delivered. Also, that element of ‘too cool for school ‘ of the previous cast has been, thankfully, shaken off. This new generation seems to have struck a balance between the playfulness of the original cast (remembering Sid and Chris) and the darker side of the second (like Cook and Effy).

If you want to watch an endearing bunch of teenage misfits going through the trials and tribulations of how to cope in the adult world with drugs, sexual identity, relationships and with a bit of humour thrown in then Skins will appeal. If you were mad about series three and four then series five seems to be taking a less hard-edged route so far. However, if you’re a fan of the early skins, as I am, you won’t be disappointed.

Episode one of the new series begins Thursday 27^th January, 10pm on E4.