Skins blog: Franky

There’s been a fairly substantial amount of news surrounding Skins recently. Admittedly, the reason for this is that MTV’s US remake of E4’s teen drama began a couple of weeks ago. Skins US has been thoroughly panned by the vast majority of critics, is doing terribly ratings-wise and has caused the Parents Television Council to spout accusations of child pornography. Amongst all of this rather negative talk about Skins, I wouldn’t be all that surprised if you’d forgotten about the show in its original form. In any case, it’s worth remembering that our version still very much exists, and has just returned for its fifth series. Furthermore, last night’s premiere episode is probably one of its most exciting series openers yet.

As far as introducing a whole new cast goes, I actually prefer the way that it’s handled here to the way it was in the first episode of series 3 (which saw Freddie and Cook begin their battle for Effy’s affections). This series of Skins welcomes not only a new cast, but a changed dynamic. For the first episode, the focus is almost entirely on the female characters, especially Franky (played by Dakota Blue Richards). It’s really impressive that Skins can so seamlessly replace its cast and still retain the feel and tone that’s so unique to it. Really though, with changes to the cast, the writing staff, and even the atmosphere and theme music, this is kind of a whole new show.

The plot of the first episode centres on Franky, who has just moved to Bristol from Oxford. She makes a poor first impression at Roundview College but still hopes to befriend “popular” girl Mini (Freya Mavor) and her friends Liv (Laya Lewis) and Grace (Jessica Sula). Revelations about Franky being bullied at her previous school soon come to light and news of this is quickly spread around the school. By the end of the episode, in which Franky rejects wearing make-up and changing her unique personal style, she and Mini have had a confrontation and Grace joins her in a group with other outsiders Alo (Will Merrick) and Rich (Alexander Arnold). We also get introduced to Mini’s boyfriend Nick (Sean Teale) and mysterious character Matty (Sebastian De Souza), but they have so little time onscreen that there’s really hardly anything to say.

Acting-wise, the real standouts so far are Dakota Blue Richards as the instantly likeable Franky and Jessica Sula as Grace, who’s incredibly quirky and fun. Skins is character-driven drama, and last night’s offering was a very impressive one - the cast are intriguing, the atmosphere is energetic and an exciting and enjoyable hour of television was delivered.

As I said in my review at the start of the fourth series, I understand that Skins isn’t for everyone, and there are aspects of it (often the debauchery) that I occasionally dislike. However, once you’ve immersed yourself in the world and characters, I find that it has a certain quality that makes it hard to stay away. I’ve noticed that some fans are complaining that this latest incarnation of the show has no connection to the previous ones. Where they’re disappointed, though, I’m encouraged, because if this series is a success then it’s proof that the show will last.

Skins doesn’t always work, but when it does it is simply entrancing. It’s a series that has many individually great episodes, but has often struggled with overall series arcs. I hope that this series will display the things that Skins does best, and have a great story to go with it. Even with all the changes, Skins still has its unique charm, and ‘Franky’ has only made me anticipate whatever’s coming next even more.

Skins airs on Thursdays at 10pm on E4 and is available to watch on 4OD. I’ll be reviewing every episode of the series right here on The Yorker.

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