Skins

This series impacted me in such a painful and good way. It's incredibly heartbreaking to look back on this show, not solely because of the shocking deaths or the amazing lives they had but also due to the teen angst that reminds me of my own hopeless teenage dreams and struggles that still haunt me :'(

by the way I've only watched generation 1&2

When this show first came out, i saw the trailer on the TV and thought it looked absolutely rubbish. However when the series one DVD came out my mum (yes my mum likes skins! and she's 42!)said that i might want to give it a chance. So i did and it's fantastic, nothing like i thought it was going to be. I don't see why some people have got all flustered about it exaggerating teenager's lives. Im 18 and personally my life is nothing like that of the skins bunch, but the show didn't set out to depict real life. It's an entertaining and funny show with a surprising amount of depth sometimes. If you have a sense of humour this show will appeal to you, if you don't or you have a very selective sense of humour then give it a pass or expect to be disappointed. Skins is what you make it, take it or leave it, it's up to you.

I disagree with all those who say this is a teen-only drama. When I first saw the trailers and accompanying hype, I steered clear of it as it looked like yet another teen programme. But then I watched the second episode, about Cassie the anorexic, and was hooked. It managed to be both funny and touching - so much so that I cried at the end.

It's a lot like Teachers in its sense of humour, and it has its location, Bristol, in common with Teachers. It's a shame it isn't on at an earlier time, as the script is wonderful and the characters so well drawn. Plus the performances by the young cast are extremely professional.

I think good drama appeals to all ages, and I'm light years outside the target demographic for this. So I'd like to encourage the more mature viewer to give it a go - especially if you were a fan of Teachers - and you won't regret it.

9 out of 10 as it's the most entertaining and, unfortunately, realistic youth drama to appear on the telly since As If.

It's good to look to look over to Channel 4's sister channel E4 and find good quality British drama on our TV's. Skins is a fantastic and invigorating in-look in to the lives of modern day students.

The first two series had a fantastic cast, most of whom who had never acted before but some familiar faces including About A Boy's Nicholas Hoult and Slumdog Millioanire's Dev Patel who played Tony and Anwar respectively. The cast all worked really well together and it came across perfectly, especially in the second series. The characters they portray; the musical nerd, the lay about, the girl with the eating disorder, the religious one, the metro-sexual, etc. Characters that young people can identify with easily, in every day life, in their surroundings.

The third series was a risky strategy, in which they overhauled all their main characters from the first two series and got a new ensemble cast, or what has become to be referred to, as the ''second generation''. However the show has still been able to keep its sharp edge and shock factor, with some fantastic new characters and actors for the third and current fourth series. Some of the more entertaining and fascinating ones include naive Pandora Moon portrayed by Lisa Blackwell, bad boy 'Cook' portrayed by Jack O'Connel and individualistic twins Emily and Katie Finch.

The lifestyle the group has is glammed up slightly, especially in the early episodes and initial advertisements. Some may argue this is not 'real life', but its television, what is? Some of the party and group scenes are shot extremely well and capture the essence of the modern day lifestyles of the late 2000's perfectly. The show does boast some intriguing and dramatic story lines and selects its actors very well. Its admirable for the production team to encourage young actors (along with the amazing adult guest stars), writers, fashion designers, set designers, etc to join the show. The musical score is something that has to be mentioned, it's some of the best in today's television programmes. Even the opening credits, the music from Fat Seggal is fresh and inspirational.

As the ''second generation'' comes to an end this year (or so we assume) it will be interesting if the show will be revived again.

All in all Skins is something that we don't have a lot of on our screens. Channel 4 should be applauded and continue to invest in programmes such as Skins to appeal to today's generation of young adults.

After re watching Series 1-4 for the third time, Skins still blows my mind how brilliant this show is. Skins has enough drama for all of those in need of that section and enough hilarious comedy to keep those involved who would otherwise stray away from a show with only drama. All of the characters are absolutely riveting and I can guarantee after watching either series that you will have at least 1, possibly more favorite characters that you are so attached to that you will feel every emotion they do and scream at your television (Series 4 finale anybody?). While there are a very small amount of hiccups that make you question the plot at times(A character getting into Harvard on an athletic scholarship after being expelled from school? Not likely), Skins is still an absolutely gripping ride that will leave you wasting a whole day going through a season of the show leaving your other plans for the day as only a fore thought. I urge anyone reading this who has not watched Skins to go on Netflix (instant stream!) or any of the 389561805 websites that stream Skins to watch the first season through. If the pilot turns you off, just give it the next few episodes until you find your character because once you are in, Skins takes you on a wonderful journey of character based "dramedy" that any fan of television should love.