British Drama - Skins

Skins

Skins is a British television drama which aired on E4, it ran from 2007 through till 2013. The series had been co written by Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain. The series focus's on the lives of British teenagers in Bristol, through their two years at sixth form. The storylines behind the show have portrayed real people and real problems that teens face everyday in their lives, they have made it seem like the real world with dysfunctional families, mental illnesses such as bi-polar and eating disorders, sexuality, bullying and substance abuse. Throughout each episode they have focused on a particular character and the struggles that they face within their life - these episodes are named after that particular featured character. 

over the 6 years that the show ran for, it proved to be a typical on going drama series that typically replaced it primary character every couple of years. In 2009 there was talk of Skins, however, the film never did happen, instead a seventh and final series was broadcasted in 2013, this season featured some of the original cast from the 2007 - 2010 series. 

The show had expanded over to America where they made a North American remake, which aired on MTV in 2011, however this ended after one series after advertisers abandoned the series in response to low ratings.

When the show aired, I found that i quite enjoyed the show because I was able to relate to the show in some ways, and I was within the same age range as the cast that was portrayed on the show. I would watch the show whenever it aired, I felt as though I could connect with some of the characters, this does not really happen when watching a TV series, but I felt as though the show was real, it shows real problems that we all go through everyday, and other shows, even though some of them portray things that we all go through, Skins when in depth with all these prblems. 

I feel this show connects with my script because in the show they show portrays real life problems, such as depression and how they try and get through all this everyday, and in my script Charlotte is facing depression and trying to find her way through. The two relate in a way because the cast of Skins are facing everything with what they go through. One character, Effy is facing depression and goes to seek help from a therapist and and another character, Liv goes to seek help because of a death of a friend, this connects to my script because Charlotte is trying to seek help for depression and a death in the family.