Skins - Series 1 to 4 DVD Box Set

RRP: £59.99

Best Price: £43.99

Youngsters these days! With their drugs, their group sex, the running around doing crazy things all the time, relentlessly, non-stop. Where do they get their energy from? The drugs, I’d guess. It’s an exciting world they live in and, until recently, underplayed on TV. There were shows for teenagers, but never really shows about them. Until Skins.

Okay, so it’s not completely accurate. Many young people aren’t taking drugs, having group sex, or being even mildly crazy. Some of them sit at home and write essays, read books, listen to music quietly in headphones. That would, of course, make awful television. What Skins does, unashamedly and with total conviction, is take a group of sixth formers at a generic school and piles every exaggeration of youth lifestyle upon them. It makes no claim to be reality, no claim to be a proportional representation of kids, but somehow convinces us that for this group, this selection of eight or so characters, life can be a gigantic party with a devastating comedown.

Skins is an unusual format, taking a group of youngsters and watching them through the two years of sixth form, before replacing them with the next generation of sixteen year olds and a completely new catalogue of problems for them to deal with. In seasons one and two, the self-appointed leader of the gang is Tony, played by Nicholas Hoult. It’s a long way from About A Boy - Tony is a manipulative, selfish character, toying with the affection of his girlfriend Michelle (April Pearson) and best mate Sid (Mike Bailey). When Tony suffers brain damage after being hit by a bus, though, his slow rehabilitation forces him to face up to who he really is.

In seasons three and four, Tony’s younger sister Effy (Kaya Scodelario) - a minor character in season one - takes the lead. In some ways she’s a version of Tony - adored by many, empathetic to few. Her promiscuity leads to a love triangle between her, Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) and James (Jack O’Connell) - will she decide who she really wants before she loses them both?

Aside from these key characters, though, Skins is an ensemble piece in the truest sense of the word - every character is fully realised, a three-dimensional person with their own problems and their own stories to tell. It’s in this even-handed approach and sheer attention to detail that, in truth, Skins isn’t just about young people doing drugs and having sex - it’s about characters, living lives, struggling with the same problems they’ll face as they grow older. The fact that they’re less equipped to deal with them makes the story all the more powerful.

This DVD set contains seasons one to four of Skins, covering both Tony’s generation and Effy’s.