Starring:
Nicholas Hoult as Tony Stonem
Mike Bailey as Sid Jenkins
April Pearson as Michelle Richardson
Joseph Dempsie as Chris Miles
Mitch Hewer as Maxxie Oliver
Larissa Wilson as Jal Fazer
Dev Patel as Anwar Kharral
Hannah Murray as Cassie Ainsworth
and Kaya Scodelario as Effie Stonem


I wrote about the first series collection a while back (located here and could have been better) and on the whole I was very impressed with it. My opinion on the show has in fact improved a little as I think it's probably the best new British show in a long time. (British TV needs it's own version of HBO, seriously).

Skins is an ensemble style show that bases each episode around one of the characters while some of the others provide supporting roles depending on the relationship between those characters. It's a nice method of delivery that highlights how a group of friends orbit around each other in different amounts. It also gives each of the characters a chance to shine on screen.

Speaking of the characters, some of them have changed a lot since last series. Tony in particular is seriously different, partially because of events from the previous series and partially (I suspect) to make him more sympathetic. While he was an amazingly entertaining ass last series it was also difficult to understand why on earth anyone else tolerated him being around them any more. My favourite characters remain the same this series - Sid and Effy - and they both get some fantastic stories. Effy remains the manipulative and brilliant dirty little stop out that she is and Sid gets the most touching storyline (for me) in the show.

The tone in the second series is a lot more downbeat than the first series, there are less of the truly comedic moments and far more sad moments. Sid's story in particular is very touching, but so are Jal's and Cassie's (not that I can really stand Cassie). Overall though the change in tone does make the show feel different, this is a show about growing up and the change reflects that without going too far away.

As always some of the best parts belong to the various guest actors who turn up, mostly playing the parents of the children. This series we have Bill Bailey (Black Books), Harry Enfield (Harry and Paul) Morwenna Banks (Various including Harry and Paul), Mark Heap (Spaced, Green Wing) amongst others along with a brilliant performance from Peter Capaldi as Sid's father. These roles are a brilliant decision that gives the show a great deal of extra draw, they provide familiar faces for the British viewer without stealing the limelight from the young stars.

Unfortunately almost the entire cast of the first two series will not be returning for the third, I dislike major overhauls like this. Essentially you are being given a new show with an attempt to pretend it is the previous show. So the second series is probably where I will call an end to my Skins watching. I don't want to get invested in a whole new set of characters just to lose them after two years. Maybe the new cast won't result in a shark jumping moment, but I shan't be about to find out. While this next series will give us a return of Effy, as far as I'm concerned my Skins journey ends with the poignant final episode of this series. I am open to changing this opinion but we'll have to see.

I think it could have been handled better if the next generation had been at least given cameos in this series. Perhaps they could have also been younger relatives of the current batch and their friends. But instead we have an almost disconnected group of new kids arriving next season and that's just too much of a jolt for me to accept in any show. Boston Legal struggled because of cast overhauls, it's foolish to break the rapport the viewer has with the cast in such a major fashion. As such I think it's a mistake.



Packaging:
The second series comes boxed in a standard plastic DVD case. While there advantages to this, it's durable and cheap to produce, there is also a large issue for me - it doesn't match up with the first series's cardboard sleeve + box at all. I don't mind either style, but I just wish the packagers would pick one and stick with it. It's not hard to do, Red Dwarf managed it with 8 series, so did Seinfeld's nine seasons. Come On!

Extras:
There is a reasonable amount of extras in the set. Including behind the scenes footage, interviews, bonus stories and a trailer amongst others. It's not a bad little collection, but I mostly thumbed through it rather than actually paying close attention to the stuff.

Details:

Running Time: 460 mins
Sound: Stereo
Subtitles: English HOH
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Colour: PAL
Region: 2

Price:
And this weeks winner is play.com who have the set up for £14.99, this works out at only 3.1ppm. Nowhere near as impressive as the previous series. But still respectable for a British show (as they are always a lot shorter than the American ones).


As far as I'm concerned right now Skins ends with this series, it's been a fantastic ride and this is a superb product that anyone will enjoy watching. While I'm not convinced the show will survive the switch in cast (viewing figures were down in the second series anyway) the first two series have been a superb ride and I've enjoyed watching both of them immensely.
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My father twigged me onto Skins. He thinks it's utterly brilliant, while he has a strange dislike of American comedies (He'll watch American Sci-Fi no issues...) and as such won't watch Arrested Development... He does have good taste in television, so when I saw the complete series for $24 I thought "Why not?"

Skins comes in the plastic book form packaging. It's a two page book, with a pair of the DVDs on one side and the third one on the other, this comes in the now standard cardboard dust-sleeve. At first I was a little confused by the presence of three DVDs, but once I watched the 3rd DVD I understood why it had 3 instead of 2. It takes up a minimal amount of space on the shelf and is pretty nice to look at. The box art is functional and gives you a good idea of what to expect. Other shows should take note as this a very well put together piece of packaging.


On a side note, which is not related directly to Skins itself. I still don't understand why manufacturers of DVDs feel the need to use such long boxes. They really should switch to CD case sized boxes, especially for films which normally use a single dvd. This would decrease the amount of space a DVD takes up on a shelving unit and allow for more shelves to be used.

At first I wasn't that impressed with the special features on the Skins DVDs, the first two discs are lacking in any such things. They contain only the episodes and subtitles. But that's because the DVD designers decided to place all the special features onto the the third DVD. There are plenty of the usual options here, but the most impressive section is called Ancillary Stories and is essentially deleted scenes that have been edited up and put together then broadcast online. They fit into the main stories very well and if you pay attention to the main episodes you can see the points where they join up. Top stuff.


Skins is essentially a British comedy drama about teens in college. It stars Nicholas Hoult (from about a boy) as Tom, who's supposed to be the desirable & likeable but nasty lad. My first words when I saw him on screen were "Didn't he turn out ugly?" So that made it pretty difficult to swallow how he was supposed to be this heart throb. But I suspended disbelief and carried on.
Of course, the real star of the show is Mike Bailey in the role of Sid, who very much reminded me of Adrian Mole or the lead character in the TV version of "Teenage Health Freak" (whos name escapes me completely). He's very sympathetic, I guess more so for me because he reminds me of me (even if he looks and dresses like my brother).
The show is very much an Ensemble show in nature, with each episode focusing on the problems of one character in close detail. This brings a great deal of variety to the show and allows each cast member to shine in the spotlight.

The show is funny, clever and touching all at once. It reminds me of my times in late adolescence and is quite brilliant. If not as amazing as my Father makes out I still enjoyed it a lot. At some point I'll write a "Why you should watch" on this show. But this month is going to be about DVDs in review.


At £12 for the complete first series this comes out at £1.30 ish per episode, but you also get the Ancillary episodes which work out at around 1 extra episodes worth of viewing. So I'll call this £1.20 per episode which at 1 hour per episode is a very respectable 2p per minute.

That puts it as the current front runner for value (out of 3 shows so far :P) by a huge gap. As such I need to give this:




That's a pretty strong showing for this little British underdog show. The sheer value for money is a huge factor (other companies take note!). As such, I wish it much success and look forward to picking up the next season on DVD.
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