MTV SHOW "SKINS" CANCELLED AFTER ONE SEASON

The MTV show SKINS caused a lot of controversy in the media due to its explicit content regarding children who are minors. The show that is geared heavily towards sex, drug and alcohol abuse amongst teenagers was real, but maybe a little too real.

MTV says, "Skins is a global television phenomenon that, unfortunately, didn’t connect with a US audience as much as we had hoped. We admire the work that the series’ creator Bryan Elsley did in adapting the show for MTV, and appreciate the core audience that embraced it."

This version of Skins adapted after the original UK version did have a lot to live up to. But after the first episode, the show was already receiving backlash regarding it's mature content for young viewers. Despite low ratings, the show faced criticism from many parental groups which also led to many advertisers for the show pulling their ads due to racy content. I wasn't into this show like I thought I would so I'm not surprised many viewers didn't care for it either. The show seemed like it was done a bit trashy, and lacked any uplighting message. I know it's about showcasing the real dilemmas teenagers go through, but to have it be centered around a negative light gets old very quickly. I preferred Degrassi a lot more as a teenage type soap opera that did address adult/teenager content while also providing valuable lessons from each episode. After "X" number of seasons, it's clear that Degrassi connects more to audiences because it is still around creating new seasons.




You Just Do You, Imma Do Me

Camille

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Skins: series 5 cast

Cast: (left to right) Alexander Arnold, Dakota Blue Richards, Sean Teale,
Sebastian De Souza, Will Merrick, Laya Lewis, Freya Mavor and Jessica Sula.

I don't watch E4's teen-drama Skins myself, although Dan Lester kindly guest-reviewed the fourth series earlier this year. Regardless, Channel 4 have released details of the new actors who have inherited the show, following the tradition that Skins replenishes its cast every few years. The new lineup (above), chosen from 7,000 auditionees, are: Alexander Arnold, Dakota Blue Richards, Sean Teale, Sebastian De Souza, Will Merrick, Laya Lewis, Freya Mavor and Jessica Sula.

Of those eight actors, I've only heard of Dakota Blue Richards, who played Lyra Belacqua in the ill-fated Golden Compass movie a few years ago. Ooh, hasn't she grown!

John Griffin, executive-producer:

"More people than ever turned up this year for the open auditions in London and Bristol and the standard of young talent was as high as ever. It was a huge process but incredibly rewarding and we hope that the auditionees had as much fun as we did. We are really excited about the talent that has come through and we now have a brilliant cast of actors helping to create the exciting new characters for Skins series five."

Series 5 is currently filming, and is expected to return early-2011.

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SKINS 4.8

WRITER: Bryan Elsley
DIRECTOR: Daniel O'Hara
GUEST CAST: Hugo Speer, Kwame Kwei-Armah & Klariza Clayton

This is the final guest-review from Dan Lester, who's been offering us his take on Skins' fourth series over the past 8 weeks. If you've been following his reviews every weekend, why not show your appreciation with a comment?

[SPOILERS] It's impossible not to watch this this concluding episode of Skins 2.0 and not cast your mind back to the brilliantly open-ended, MGMT Kids-backed conclusion of the first incarnation of the program. Whilst not a total disaster, where the end of series 2 had viewers bidding tearful farewell to the likes of Sid and Cassie, the general feeling watching this episode was one more of indifference and disinterest, alongside impatience to get the new cast in. If Facebook status updates are anything to go, it's a common sentiment; series 4 has become the year in which the so-called "Skins Generation" began to lose interest in their namesake.

The episode starts promisingly; a thrilling montage set to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Run Through The Jungle", which even makes even Thomas (Merveille Lukebar) seem vaguely interesting, though in typical Skins fashion it's followed up by a couple of relentlessly uninteresting and irrelevant scenes -- in particular, Pandora (Lisa Backwell) bursting out into a song so cringe-inducing that it almost became unwatchable. More Skins-trying-to-be-quirky, but failing once again.

To it's credit, the episode does differ from the usual forumula, in that the episode has more than one storyline going for it. We have the relationship between Emily and Naomi (Lily Loveless) coming to a head, and Freddie's sister trying to track down her brother (which none of the other characters seem the least bit concerned about), while elsewhere Thomas taught Katie (Megan Prescott) French, much to Pandora's disgust. To an extent this proves detremental though; the aforementioned death of Freddie being almost completely glossed over, spare the first and last few scenes. Again, it's hard not to draw a parrallel to Chris' death in series 2, and how much better that was handled.

As usual there were a couple of amusing moments. Cook showing off his new girlfriend (Holy Churches) worked well, as she's the spitting image of Effie, who Cook claims he's "over", yet at the same time the writers embarassingly try and derive humour from her name being "Arsea".

In general, series 4 has been a mixed bag; encapsulating oddball humor, surrealism, lighthearted quirkiness, but drawn with a feeling of gloominess. Where series 3 saw the cast getting together, this series has seen argument after argument, each as tedious as the next, so that when, when relationships were finally resolved here, it was incredibly hard to care. Naomi and Emily's making up at the party might have been sweet if their relationship hadn't long become quite so tedious. What's more it all seemed contrived. Pandora announces that she's off to do History at Harvard, despite having only got one C at A-Level in the prior episode, while Thomas coincidentally wangled a scholarship there too... because he's a bit good at running.

Meanwhile, over in Cooktown, everyone's favourite loveable rogue went off to resolve the cliffhanger at the end of the penultimate episode, finding a creepy notebook of Freddies, scrawled with "I love her" and "John Foster wants to hurt her." After this, Cook spotted John (Hugo Speer) late at night and followed him to his office. There was a brief confrontation, John standing by Cook with a baseball bat, and then, with a cry of "I'm Cook" the series just... ends. A thrilling clash of the youth and adult worlds? More like a potentially awful, anti-climactic ending -- though it's rescued by Jack O'Connell, who has continually proved himself to be by far the best thing about Skins 2.0.

Where does Skins go next? With the first reboot, we knew Effie was going to be heading the new cast, in the same setting, but here the doors are thrown wide open. It's hard to see anyone being attached enough to the now-concluded cast to harbour resentment at replacing them for series 5, so it'll be interesting to see what approach is taken next year. In any case, with plenty of Skins-influenced shows now rivalling its inspiration (The Inbetweeners, Misfits), the makers of Skins will need to up their game to breathe life into what's becoming a stale teen drama.

18 MARCH 2010: E4 (HD), 10PM

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SKINS 4.7

WRITER: Jamie Brittain
DIRECTOR: Daniel O'Hara
GUEST STARS: Hugo Speer, Morwenna Banks & Chris Addison

[SPOILERS] With only a few episodes left to go from the current cast, Effy (Kaya Scodelario) and co completely ignore the previous episode and head toward the end amidst a flurry of mental illness, questionable acting, and a surprise shocking ending...

The episode begins at a psychiatric hospital with Effy talking to her slightly strange counselor John (Chris Addison), where, in a nice throwback to Skins 1.0, it's revealed that Tony being hit by a bus in the end of series one was a major source of Effy's mental collapse. Following some obligatory shots of the patients, and a closing shot of Effy's counselor being apparently as mad as her, she returns back home. Soon after arriving back, she goes and vists Freddie (Luke Pasqualino), before proclaiming that, as Karen O and the Kids might say, "all is love", though she's still showing the textbook hints of madness. Along with Pandora she heads back to college, and it's results day (apparently the writers glossed over the A level exams themselves -- one of the most important parts of sixth form life) where the headteacher (Giles Thomas) convinces Effy to lie about her results -- printing out three A's to replace her three fails, so as to boost the college's average grades. Anyone who's recently sat A levels will know what an utterly unrealistic crock of shit that one is.

Effy freaks out about the deception, and makes a bit of a creepy speech when all of the gang are telling each other their results. "I think I'm finished," she says, bidding farewell to the group, before slipping off. Katie (Megan Prescott) utters the legendary line, "she dumped you again!", which got a laugh but brought the tone down a little. A repeating heartbeat-esque sounds starts in the background. She once again visits the increasingly unnerving John, and then Freddie comes to visit, with the gist being that Effy gets freaked out by the prospect of love. She then sets fire to a load of her belongings, just in case the audience hasn't picked up on the fact that she's gone nuts.

Cook (Jack O’Connell) returns and finds Effie, who is now referring to herself as Elizabeth. Apparently Effie’s forgotten, or perhaps repressed, Cook from her mind. Finding themselves at the very spot that she saw Tony get hit by a bus at the end of the first season, her madness reaches a climax. Eventually, Cook takes her to Freddie for one last bit of the trio's tedious love triangle. "I'm done here", Cook says, leaving the room. Yeah, aren't we all.

Deciding that John is doing more harm than good for Effy's wellbeing, Freddie goes to visit him in his house. After the two speak, and Freddie demands that John stop treating her. Freddie goes to find Effiy upstairs in her room, only to turn and find John follow him up the stairs with a baseball bat. The camera reverts to a viewpoint shot from Effie's room, where we see the door rattle, hear Freddie's paniced voice, the sound of a baseball bat crashing into a body, and blood spray upon the window. Altogether relentless, grim, and almost utterly unexpected.

Surprise gruesome ending aside, the episode was once again a little tedious. As I've said on previous episodes, the fact that it's hard to really care for Effy's wellbeing detracted from the experience, which is even more apparent in an Effy-centric episode such as this. Freddie's character came across whiny and irritating, although Effy's mother, played by Morwenna Banks, was a much better turn -- the writers ignoring the usual "crazy-parent" stereotype in favour of a genuinely caring one. But most of all Effy's acting once again fails to convincingly portray a mentally ill teenager -- although it has improved from last week.

11 MARCH 2010: E4 (HD), 10PM

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Skins renewed for two more years

E4 have greenlit a fifth and sixth series of popular teen-drama Skins. As it tradition for the show's two-year turnaround, this means a new group of characters will be cast. Auditions are being held throughout April in London and Bristol.

Camilla Campbell, Head of Channel 4 Drama:

"Skins has always been about new talent, both on and off screen, and the decision to recast the series every two years is one of the reasons Skins stands out as a truly distinctive show."

"It's a testament to the talent and commitment of [creator] Bryan Elsley and his team that they are able to pull this off. Now another group of teenagers will have the rare opportunity to be part of a British drama series that says something about their lives and is one of the most exciting shows on television. I can't wait to find out who they will be."

Regular DMD reader Dan Lester has been guest-reviewing Skins this year, so please check those reviews out if you're a fan.

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SKINS 4.6

WRITER: Lucy Kirkwood
DIRECTOR: Esther May Campbell
GUEST STARS: Margaret John, Georgia Henshaw, Danny Szam, Juliet Cowan, Douglas Hodge, Paul Ridley

[SPOILERS] This week's episode of the already quirky Skins revolves around its most "quirky" character of JJ (Ollie Barbieri) and his quirky family. There's a reason I've already used the word "quirky" three times and that's because effectively that’s all the episode this week is, being so preoccupied with inputting wacky bits and bobs that the writers forgot to make the episode's central plotline into anything more interesting than that of a straightforward rom-com.

The episode centers on the eccentric JJ having a crush on a co-worker called Lara (Georgia Henshaw). In a rather mushy but admittedly sweet sequence, JJ ends up asking out Lara via the intercom system in their workplace, after Thomas (Merverille Lukeba) challenges him to ask her out in ten seconds before he does. Whilst preparing for his date, JJ finds Cook in his house, avoiding prison and pleading to let him stay. Cook subsequently offers JJ some advice on his forthcoming date with Lara. JJ sets off on his date to find that Lara (who looks about 14) has a baby. JJ turns out to have skill in caring for babies, though he is soon interrupted by the baby’s father, Liam (Danny Szam) who bursts into the room and threatens him.

The pair head to the pub, where they awkwardly bump into Emily another girl who she appears to be dating. JJ then takes heed of Cook's advice, which unsurprisingly goes completely wrong, in a manner that is apparently intended to be humorous, but instead winds up being merely painfully cringeworthy. Realizing the disastrous nature of the date, JJ flees the date, in another attempt at humor, via the women’s bathroom window.

JJ soon bumps into Lara once again, who tells him how sweet he is and the pair wind up kissing, before having the obligatory Skinsian sex scene. JJ is later brought to visit his psychotherapist (Paul Ridley), who is predictably just as loopy as he is, by his mother. Storming out of the center, he bumps once again into Liam, who threatens to tell Lara about JJ's condition.

JJ then introduces Lara to his friends, and then his typically "wacky" parents, both of which are uncomfortable around the baby. Conflict between the pair reaches a peak when JJ stops either from going into the bathroom, as Cook is hiding in there. Everything resolves itself when JJ enlists the help of members of the community to make a Ukelle group, (performed by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain) wakening Lara in the middle of the night and singing a song, asking for her forgiveness for his strange behavior. Lara runs out of the house and the couple kiss. Very sweet, etc.

The episode is, again, not a complete failure. In particular, the subtle way in which the subplot involving Emily and Naomi pans out works nicely, and a confrontation between Emily and JJ midway through the episode is a particularly good scene. JJ, meanwhile, is often hard to dislike even despite Barbieri's overacting and unrealistic "cookiness".

Punctuating the episode are regular occurrences of JJ monologing with "entries to the Captain's log"; geeky references which are supposed to remind us of how uncool JJ is, but as ever they are nothing but overblown and unrealistic. This represents the major downfall of the episode; the numerous attempts to make everything seem as eccentric as possible fail to produce charming results, and instead are merely increasingly irritating and dull as the episode wears on. Potentially endearing characters and relationships end up being overdone to the extent that they wind up being irritating and hard to care for. To summarize; weird, wacky, and yet completely dull.

4 MARCH 2010: E4 (HD), 10PM

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SKINS 4.5

WRITER: Sean Buckley
DIRECTOR:Esther May Campbell
GUEST CAST: Will Young, Simon Day, Dudley Sutton, Rick Shaw & Morwenna Banks

[SPOILERS] You might have thought that a random guest appearance by Pop Idol Will Young as a school staff member would be bizarre and jarring, but the fifth episode of Skins is so drenched with surreal moments and melancholic music that his appearance felt like one of the more sane aspects of the episode...

The episode starts with Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) and Effie (Kaya Scodelario), largely neglected so far throughout this season, in a night of drug-fueled romance. What seems like carefree, yet darkly-tinged young love comes crashing back to reality in the inevitable morning after, where Freddie's forced to head to collage for a disciplinary meeting as a result of skipping classes. Here, he is confronted by "Tough Love" (a teacher played by Will Young, doing a decent enough job of fulfilling the "quirky adult" role in the show), who ultimately warns Freddie to get coursework done or get kicked out.

Coming back from his meeting, Freddie finds Effie in a deranged state, cutting out photographs in her mother's room. We then see Freddie kick into action mode, and get a good minute of watching Freddie use Google to try and work out the cause of her spontaneous insanity. He then seeks the council of "T Love" once again, in a pointless and slightly embarrassing scene, which ends fruitlessly.

Following this, and some general moping around, Freddie visits the old people's home to see his grandfather, who typically offers wise words. A motivated Freddie quickly powers back home, crashing his bike and having to get a lift in a bike-drawn carriage for no apparent reason along the way. He arrives back to Effy’s to find she has put on a party, with an ominous "Goodbye" scrawled in huge letters on the wall. We then have some brief appearances form the other characters -- Thomas (Mervielle Lukebar) getting a kiss off Pandora (Lisa Backwell) -- but then it's back to the main pair. Freddie finds Effy in her room, lying underneath her bed underneath a creepy collage of photographs.

After ending the party, Freddie decides to set things right again, and in a melancholic sequence, the carriage from earlier in the episode makes a reappearance, a stranger taking the pair to a park. Effy starts babbling nonsense and in a bizarre scene Freddie fights off people that appear within Effy's imagination. Freddie takes her back home, only to lose her in the midst of a carnival that suddenly appears in the street. If the last paragraph sounds bizarre and somewhat random then that's probably because it was.

Also undercutting the episode we have the token family-issues storyline, as Freddie blames his father for his mother's death. A paper swan forms an interesting motif between Freddie and his sister, and evidently the relationship between Freddie and Effy was meant to mirror that between Freddie’s parents.

The episode ends with Effie passing out in a bathroom back in the old people's home, landing herself in hospital, much to the despair of Freddie and Effy's mother (Morwenna Banks). Ultimately, episode five wasn't bad as such -- it was at least interesting and tried to be original, only to fall down on an overdose of surreality and two major problems. The first was how the acting from Freddie and, more importantly Effie, wasn't strong enough to carry the episode. Pulling off a nervous breakdown is never an easy feat on screen and sadly Kaya Scodelario completely failed to convince. Yet more importantly was the fact that, largely as a result of their lack of appearance over the last five episodes, it's difficult to particularly care about Effy's (extraordinarily sudden) lapse into madness, or the problems in their relationship. An interesting enough episode, though one that was sadly hard to feel emotionally invested in.

25 FEBRUARY 2010: E4 (HD), 10PM

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SKINS 4.4

WRITER: Georgia Lester
DIRECTOR: Neil Biswas
GUEST CAST: Redd Smith, Ben Evans, Kessie Bartlett, John Bishop & Ronni Ancona

[SPOILERS] Two episodes after her twin gave a lead performance in one of the best episodes since the reboot, it's Megan Prescott's turn in the spotlight. Playing arguably the less interesting of the twins in terms of storyline, her character, Katie, has always been fairly disconnected from the main cast, and so another family driven plot follows...

Setting the basis for Katie's character development over the episode is the news from her doctor that, out of nowhere, she is experiencing premature menopause, and thus will never be able to have children. Katie's attempts to talk to her family about this proves impossible as her parents continue to argue. She then attends a wags hen night, complete with overblown stereotypes, where the predictable scene of Katie realising their materialism and general stupidity occurs. Still, it's nicely done as Katie punches one of the girls in the face before shouting at her and being thrown out.

The majority of the episode centers on a continuation of the Fitch family's storyline from Emily’s episode -- it’s nice to see that apparent standalone episodes aren’t always as irrelevant as they might seem. Again though, it’s a shame that Katie’s mother (Ronni Ancona) remains quite so exaggerated and mad. The family discover that Katie's father (John Bishop) has bankrupt the family, leaving them homeless and the parents arguing. This gives way to some nice oddball humour when bailiff's come to repossess the family's belongings. The two bailiffs (Chas Early and Jordan Long) are stood admiring a glass swan in an amusing exaggerated West Country accent whilst the Fitch's sneak their most valued possessions into their car and drive away. Again though, it's nothing new, and brings to mind the original cast stealing a casket in the second series.

Katie is eventually forced to ask Naomi (Lily Loveless) to let the family move in with her and Emily, despite the family's disapproval of their lesbian relationship. She accepts, and in the midst of the family's moving in is a typically drink/drug fueled barbecue between the main cast. Emily once again steals the show, acting as a pilled up mess, making out with another girl in front of Emily and nicely flipflopping between surprisingly confident aggression and a feeble side to the disappointment and embarrassment of her sister.

Meanwhile, Thomas (who everyone is apparently friends with again -- since when?) in a pretty contrived fashion, finds himself locked in a bathroom with Katie whilst she is naked in the bath. Surprisingly for the program, the token sex scene is resisted, and the pair merely kiss, and Katie finally finds someone to tell about her premature menopause.

The show ends with the Fitch's making up despite their problems, the parents making out, and the family sharing pizza in an empty house. It's lovely and all, but it’s hard not to feel that the current series is becoming increasingly formulaic; an initial event, a loopy family, character maturity, and then a sentimental ending with a resolution that seems tame for a show that was once seemed to be gritty and unpredictable.

18 FEBRUARY 2010: E4 (HD), 10PM

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SKINS 4.3

WRITER: Ben Schiffer
DIRECTOR: Philippa Langdale

[SPOILERS] The third episode of the current series of Skins sees the writers cook up (excuse the pun) a good script that works as a result of Jack O'Connell's lead acting -- at times fightingly menacing, at others lost and confused. What really impresses about his performance is his success in making such a potentially unlikeable character so completely watchable...

The episode starts with Cook moving in with his mother (against his will) as a result of his outburst of violence in the previous episode, which has now landed him in trouble with the cops, who have electronically tagged his leg. This fuels the predictable "tension-with-the-loopy-parent" theme running through the episode -- a recurring concept in the program, which has become increasingly stale of late. The appearance of Cook's brother, however, is a more interesting take on the family theme, as he starts to take on and display the negative traits of Cook's personality that start to help Cook recognize his flaws.

In this way, the rest of the episode focuses generally on Cook coming to learn, effectively, the error of his ways. It's a perhaps surprisingly corny storyline for Skins, a program which you’d think would tend to shy away from the typical "realizing the error of their ways" storyline cliché. But then, with the current cast rounding off their time on the show, now is as good a time as any for Cook to finally start to grow up.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the episode's soundtrack is once again a perfectly pitched selection of alternative choices: from HEALTH to The Drums, whilst the use of Motorhead's "Ace Of Spades" being played on Guitar Hero by Cook's brother was a great throwback to it's use at the beginning of series three, while also being representative of the link between the two characters.

The episode was an interesting look at Cook's character, with some memorable scenes -- in particular the moment where Cook argued with his lawyer (Paul Kaye) and he was guilty of attacking the stranger (... "and I fucking enjoyed it".) The only real disappointment with these last few episodes has been the lack of a clear, continuous plot; episodes are becomingly increasingly self-contained, which is slightly frustrating considering how each character only get's one episode focusing on them each season. This means they often get one big dose of development followed by very little for the remaining episodes. Given the quality of Jack O'Connell's acting, let's hope that's not the case here...

11 FEBRUARY 2010: E4 (HD), 10PM

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SKINS 4.2

WRITER: Ed Himme
DIRECTOR: Phillippa Langdale
GUEST CAST: Ian Watkins, Ronni Ancona, John Bishop & Pauline Quirke

[SPOILERS] Skins returns from last week's tedious angst-driven episode with... well, another angst driven episode, only this time they nail it. It's partly a testament to Kathryn Prescott's lead acting as Emily, who carries the episode, and partly down to a script that allows itself to work with the relationships between characters as opposed to merely focusing on one, whilst neatly sidestepping common Skins pitfalls and predictabilities.

The episode kicks off by going back to basics; a carefree love scene shows Emily and Naomi (Lily Loveless) as they motorcycle around the city (backed by the Temper Trap's "Sweet Disposition" - officially making it the most overused soundtracking song of the year). But soon enough the death that opened the current series is back to haunt, and Naomi's suspicious behaviour during her interview with the police forces her to admit to Emily that she supplied the MDMA that lead to the girl's suicide, provoking curiosity (which soon morphs into jealousy) from Emily, thus setting the plot in motion for the episode.

Emily ventures to the girl's home to find the extent of Naomi's relationship with the girl, which leads past awkward family scenes and to an army camp which the girl attended. Along the way is the obligatory "Skinsian" sex scene and the obligatory Skinsian party scene, the latter proving a particular highlight as it's the first time in the series where the cast come into play as a group -- Cook (Jack O'Connell), having discussed relationships with Emily, and spurred by jealousy over losing Effy (Kaya Scodelario) to Freddie (Luke Pasqualino), takes his anger out by assaulting on a random passer by, much to his friends despair, as the couple in question walk out amidst the chaos.

Later, the climax of the episode see's Emily and the dead girl's brother opening a box found in her room, containing a sketchbook detailing her loneliness and the revelation of her affair with Naomi. The sequence, with emotional backing music and shots of Emily teetering on the edge of a 10 story car park flirts with melodrama, but it's just about kept in check.

One of perhaps the most touching moments in the episode comes from a subsequent scene showing the relationship between Emily and her father (John Bishop). As he comforts his daughter and discusses the reality of love it's a welcome departure for a show that all too often paints parents as over the top caricatures rather than human, mature characters (as demonstrated by Emily's homophobic mother earlier in the episode), and a nice reminder that, however cocky or mature the main characters might act, they're still growing, and they're still little more than kids.

In essence episode two took all the mistakes made in the first episode and learnt from them. There's a decent amount of screentime for Cook and the rest of the cast (even Thomas makes a typically glum appearance), whilst the central relationship between Emily and Naomi develops interestingly and stylishly, via a storyline that refrains from being consumed by angst. More of this please.

4 FEBRUARY 2010: E4 (HD), 10PM

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SKINS 4.1

WRITER: Jamie Brittain
DIRECTOR: Neil Biswas

In the first of a trial-season of guest reviews, regular reader Dan Lester takes a look at the series 4 premiere of E4's teen-drama Skins...

[SPOILERS] Skins 2.0 returns with a bang, or rather a snort, as the first couple of minutes of series four begin with an impressive tracking sequence of a club so chaotic, rampant with sex and drugs, and characteristically overblown that it threatens to overshadow the anarchy seen in the opening moments of Syfy's Caprica Pilot. The sequence climaxes with an unknown teenage girl jumping to her death off a balcony into the crowd below. It's a sinister opening, but the episode fails to build on it, as the action soon gives way to fourty minutes of repetitive, emotionless, and ultimately tedious nihilism.

The episode centers around Thomas (Merveille Lukeba) who, having been running the clubnight at which the teenage girl committed suicide, is confronted with a sense of guilt for her death. Police confront Thomas and the rest of the characters, whilst the club owner attempts to pay him off to keep quiet. Meanwhile the attempts of his friends to comfort him come to no avail.

The heart of the plot lies in the unstable relationship between Thomas and the ever-irritating Pandora (Lisa Backwell), following on from Pandora cheating on Thomas with Cook in the last series. As a result of his confused emotional state, Thomas grows increasingly cold toward Pandora, and is drawn to an attractive singer who he first notices in church, and in typical Skinsian style, within twenty minutes they’re having sex in a hospital laundry room. He later confesses to Pandora, and is subsequently deserted by both her and his friends, and expelled from school for his part in the drug-fuelled suicide, before finally concluding that, yawn, he is still in love with Pandora.

The problem with Skins all too often lies in it’s over ambition. The episode would appear to be an attempt by the writers to capture the kind of blank, emotionless nihilistic youth fictionalized in the writing of Bret Easton Ellis in, for example "Less Than Zero". But Lukebar's performance is frankly not good enough to carry it, whilst the script itself strikes a bizarre balance of melodrama and eccentric comedy sections that allows the episode function neither as the intelligent examination of youth culture that it might aim to be, nor as the entertaining teen show which the majority of it's audience watch it for.

But more frustrating than this is the writers' refusal to allow the episodes to more widely focus on the group as a whole, instead closely examining one character at a time. Without the interaction between the cast, Skins lacks of the kind of story and character development that made it's first couple of seasons such compelling viewing, whilst the current characters are not nearly as likeable as the likes of Sid and Cassie were.

But it's not all bad; the cinematography is stylish and the music selections are as brilliantly eclectic as ever (featuring Grizzly Bear as well as lesser known acts like Ida Maria and Oumou Sangare), but with the third series being relatively poorly received in comparison to the first two, and another entire cast reshuffle recently having been confirmed, the writers don't have long to salvage something from Skins' current incarnation.

28 JANUARY 2010: E4 / E4 HD, 10PM

Would you like to guest review a TV show not currently covered by Dan's Media Digest? If so, please get in touch. I'm especially interested in talented writers who would like to review Desperate Housewives on Channel 4 and Supernatural on LivingTV, but other suggestions are welcome. I can't guarantee your work will be posted here, so please don't take offence if your submission doesn't get used. It's also uncertain if my "guest review season" will become a regular fixture, so I'd appreciate some feedback on the above review from readers. Thank you.

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Skins USA partners Twilight company

The American remake of E4's teen-drama Skins is being developed in partnership with Canada's E1 Entertainment, the production company behind the hugely popular Twilight movies. Skins USA is still scheduled to film a pilot for MTV next February, with the original's co-creator Bryan Elsley installed as showrunner.

I don't really cover Skins here, but I'm always interested to see how British shows are translated for Americans. Skins definitely feels like it could work very well, provided they don't dilute the British sensibility into the formulaic glossy trash that passes for most US teen drama. With Elsley in control, it feels like MTV are after something very faithful but with American actors, so that's a good sign. Why else bother to remake Skins?

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Richard Armitage strikes back; Skins USA

Richard Armitage was undoubtedly one of the best things about the BBC's fun-but-flawed Robin Hood, and now the actor has agreed to star in Sky1's Strike Back, a six-part drama adapted from the novel by ex-SAS soldier Chris Ryan. The series will co-star Andrew Lincoln, Jodhi May, Orla Brady, Laura Greenwood and Nicola Stephenson.

Strike Back will follow the lives of two former soldiers, Major Hugh Collinson (Lincoln) and discharged veteran John Porter (Armitage), who meet for the first time during a Middle East hostage crisis.

Elaine Pyke, Sky1's Comissioning Editor of Drama:

"As with all Sky1 dramas, not only will it feature a gifted cast with a large popular following, but working with Andy Harries and Left Bank Pictures means an already crackling script will jump out of the screen. Shot in South Africa with stunning locations and high octane HD action sequences on a grand scale, Chris Ryan's bestselling novel will be a truly uncompromising, compelling, action drama."

The series is scheduled to premiere next spring on Sky1 and Sky1 HD.

In other news, MTV are planning to create a US version of E4's award-winning teen drama Skins. The channel will apparently honour the British model of hiring tenagers to help write the scripts and cast unknowns in the lead roles. Skins creator Brian Elsey will executive-produce the US remake, which is likely to be set in Baltimore, Maryland.

Liz Gateley, executive-producer:

"Skins is one of those rare shows that cuts through to its core audience with unusually authentic stories due to the unique writing and casting process that Bryan [Esley] pioneered. Having personally pursued the UK project for almost two years, I am beyond thrilled to bring it to MTV in the US. We intend to preserve the authenticity of the British version and are excited to collaborate with the original team to develop stories that will speak to American youth."

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