The British teen drama Skins follows the lives of a group of teenagers in Bristol, southwest England, through the two years of sixth form. Its controversial storylines have explored issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness (such as depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder), adolescent sexuality, gender, substance abuse, death, and bullying.
Each episode generally focuses on a particular character or subset of characters and the struggles they face in their lives, with the episodes named after the featured characters. The show was created by father-and-son television writers Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for Company Pictures.
Overview CharacterPortrayed bySeasons 1st generation 2nd generation 3rd generation Season 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fire Pure Rise Tony Stonem Nicholas Hoult colspan="2" colspan="7" Chris Miles Joe Dempsie colspan="2" colspan="7" Cassie Ainsworth Hannah Murray colspan="2" colspan="5" Sid Jenkins Mike Bailey colspan="2" colspan="7" Jal Fazer Larissa Wilson colspan="2" colspan="7" Michelle Richardson April Pearson colspan="2" colspan="7" Anwar Kharral Dev Patel colspan="2" colspan="7" Maxxie Oliver Mitch Hewer colspan="2" colspan="7" Lucy Sketch Aimee-Ffion Edwards colspan="7" Effy Stonem Kaya Scodelario colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" Pandora Moon Lisa Backwell colspan="2" colspan="5" JJ Jones Ollie Barbieri colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" James Cook Jack O'Connell colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="4" Naomi Campbell Lily Loveless colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" Emily Fitch Kathryn Prescott colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" Katie Fitch Megan Prescott colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Thomas Tomone Merveille Lukeba colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Freddie McClair Luke Pasqualino colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Franky Fitzgerald Dakota Blue Richards colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="3" Rich Hardbeck Alexander Arnold colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="3" Mini McGuinness Freya Mavor colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="3" Liv Malone Laya Lewis colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="3" Nick Levan Sean Teale colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="3" Alo Creevey Will Merrick colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="3" Grace Blood Jessica Sula colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="3" Matty Levan Sebastian de Souza colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="3" Alex Henley Sam Jackson colspan="5" colspan="3" Jake Abbasi Kayvan Novak colspan="6" colspan="2" Victoria Lara Pulver colspan="6" colspan="2" Dominic "Dom" Craig Roberts colspan="6" colspan="2" Marcus Ainsworth Neil Morrissey colspan="6" Jakob Olly Alexander colspan="7" Yaniv Daniel Ben Zenou colspan="7" Maddie Charlene McKenna colspan="7" Louie Liam Boyle colspan="8" Emma Esther Smith colspan="8" Jason Lucien Laviscount colspan="8" Charlote "Charlie" Hannah Britland colspan="8"
First generation Name Actor Series featured Centric episodes Anthony "Tony" Stonem Nicholas Hoult 1–2 1.01, 1.09, 2.01, 2.06, 2.10Tony represents the dream of every parent, except, perhaps, his own; he is academically talented, handsome, loved by all his friends and their parents and often gets his own way. Despite this, his centric episode reveals he has a much darker side to his personality, and his manipulative ways go unnoticed by many for some time. He dates Michelle, and although he cheats on her with Abigail, many other girls and Maxxie, he expresses his love for her. Immediately after admitting this, he is hit by a bus, leaving him mentally impaired and unable to recall certain events or people. After working long and ceaselessly, Tony slowly regains his memories and abilities. He also cares a lot for Effy because she loves him for who he really is. He reconciles with Michelle and Sid at the end of series two.
Family: Father, Jim Stonem (Harry Enfield); mother, Anthea Stonem (Morwenna Banks); sister, Effy Stonem (Kaya Scodelario) Michelle Richardson April Pearson 1–2 1.07, 1.09, 2.04, 2.10 Michelle is Tony's girlfriend, even though Sid has a crush on her, which she is well aware of. Despite her lack of interest in academics, she is a talented linguist and appears to be fluent in French and Spanish. She breaks up with Tony after she sees him cheating on her with Maxxie. At the end of the first series, Tony confesses his love for her before being hit by a bus. After the accident, which leaves Tony without memory of his feelings for her, Michelle tries many times to get him to remember, but eventually gives up and begins seeing Sid instead. After Tony remembers his affection for her and lets her know this, Michelle admits that she loves him as well, and they get back together.
Family: Mother, Anna Richardson (Arabella Weir); ex-stepfather, Malcolm (Danny Dyer); stepfather, Ted (Tim Wallers); stepsister Scarlett (daughter of Ted) (Sia Berkeley) Sidney "Sid" Jenkins Mike Bailey 1–2 1.05, 1.09, 2.03, 2.10 Sid is desperate to lose his virginity, and his love for Michelle makes him oblivious to Cassie's affection for him. Cassie's feelings are revealed to Sid, and the two begin a long-distance relationship when Cassie moves to Scotland. They split up briefly when Sid cheats on her with Michelle, but then reunite. When Cassie runs away to New York, Sid follows her. Sid admires Tony, although this admiration wavers towards the end of the first series as he realises how Tony has manipulated him. He and Tony continue to have a falling out throughout much of series 1 and 2, but they eventually patch up their relationship.
Family: Father, Mark Jenkins (Peter Capaldi); mother, Elizabeth "Liz" Jenkins (Josie Lawrence); grandfather, Alex (Maurice Roëves); uncle, Sandy (Michael Nardone); cousins, Lex (Jonny Forrest) and Ally Jenkins (Bryan Wilson) Cassandra "Cassie" Ainsworth Hannah Murray 1–2, 7 1.02, 1.09, 2.09, 2.10, 7.03, 7.04 After suffering from an eating disorder, Cassie is admitted to a rehab clinic. She harbours a deep affection for Sid and eventually they get together. They go through a rough period when Sid believes that Cassie was unfaithful during her stay in Scotland. She worries about the different futures they will have after college. After witnessing Chris's death, she flees to New York, soon to be followed by Sid.
Family: Father, Marcus Ainsworth (Neil Morrissey); mother, Margeritte Ainsworth (Naomi Allisstone); infant brother, Reuben Ainsworth (portrayed by Bobby Pearse) Christopher "Chris" Miles Joe Dempsie 1–2 1.04, 1.09, 2.05 Chris is the teenage party animal. After his mother leaves unexpectedly, he is forced to live on campus in student lodging. His crush on psychology teacher Angie leads to a relationship, despite Angie's uneasiness with the situation. Chris is eventually expelled from college, consequently forcing him out of student housing and into a job. He becomes interested in Jal, and the two become involved in a relationship, despite having to overcome some problems dealing with Angie. Jal becomes pregnant with his baby. Chris dies from a subarachnoid haemorrhage in the ninth episode of series two.
Family: Estranged father, Graham Miles (Mark Heap); estranged mother, Chris's mum (Annie Hulley); stepmother, Mary Miles (Sarah Lancashire); deceased brother, Peter Miles; infant half-brother, Sammy Miles (portrayed by unknown) Jalander "Jal" Fazer Larissa Wilson 1–2 1.03, 1.09, 2.08, 2.10 Jal is a musician who plays the clarinet. She spends much of her time practicing for the Musician of the Year, but does not win. She lives with her father, a well known celebrity, and two brothers, Lynton and Ace. She and her father do not have a very close relationship, mostly because Jal feels her father ignores her completely. She grows a fondness for Chris, and after the two become a couple, she becomes pregnant with his baby, but she later aborts it.
Family: Father, Ronny Fazer (Mark Monero); estranged mother, Jal's Mother (Josette Simon); brothers, Ace Fazer (Troy Glasgow) and Lynton Fazer (Adrian Fergus Fuller) Maxxie Oliver Mitch Hewer 1–2 1.06, 1.09, 2.01, 2.10 Maxxie is an openly gay character who has an affinity for dance. He has expressed to his parents on several occasions that he does not wish to further his studies in college, but wants to pursue a dancing career. He is stalked by Sketch, who – when unable to achieve Maxxie's attention – dates Anwar and attempts to turn him into a clone of Maxxie.
Family: Father, Walter Oliver (Bill Bailey); mother, Jackie Oliver (Fiona Allen) Anwar Kharral Dev Patel 1–2 1.06, 1.09, 2.10 Anwar is a horny, sex-crazed Muslim character with a dominating family, and is criticized because of his selective approach to his faith: he attributes his dislike of gay people to the Quran, but has no qualms about sex, alcohol, or drugs. He engages in a sexual relationship with Sketch, even though Maxxie disapproves of their relationship. Sketch attempts to change Anwar into a clone of Maxxie, but when Anwar finds out, he dumps her.
Family: Father, Istiak Kharral (Inder Manocha); mother, Bibi Kharral (Nina Wadia); uncle, Muneer (Nish Nathwani); three older, unnamed sisters Lucy Sketch Aimee-Ffion Edwards 2 2.02, 2.10 Sketch lives with her mother, who has multiple sclerosis, in the same block of flats as Maxxie. She stalks and dangerously obsesses over him, and tells her mother that Maxxie is her boyfriend, despite the fact that he is gay. Maxxie reveals to Sketch that he has no interest in her, so Sketch sleeps with and dates Anwar, attempting to turn him into a clone of Maxxie.
Family: Mother, Sheila (Maria Miles) Elizabeth "Effy" Stonem Kaya Scodelario 1–4, 7 1.08, 2.07, 3.01, 3.08, 3.10, 4.07, 4.08, 7.01, 7.02 Enigmatic and elusive, Effy is attractive to all around her, utterly in control of herself and totally independent. Effy is the younger sister of Tony, one of the characters from the first two seasons of the series. In comparison to her initial mute personality of the first series, she has proven to be quite adventurous, open-minded and promiscuous.
Family: Father, Jim Stonem (Harry Enfield); mother, Anthea Stonem (Morwenna Banks); brother, Tony Stonem (Nicholas Hoult) Posh Kenneth Daniel Kaluuya 1–3 Posh Kenneth is a posh, charismatic Black British character, who performed as a rapper. One of his chief characteristics is his code-switching between British English sociolects. He is good friends with Anwar and spends a lot of time with the group. Abigail Stock Georgina Moffat 1–2 Abigail is a posh girl who goes to an independent school that Effy is eventually sent to. Tony often cheats on Michelle with her. After Tony's accident at the end of series one, Abigail pretends to have been his girlfriend before the accident, however, Sid later reveals this is a lie and ends the relationship.
Family: Mother, Dr Stock (Heidi Monsen); brother, Josh Stock (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) Angie Siwan Morris 1–2 Angie is the gang's psychology teacher, who has an affair with Chris. When she arrives to one of his parties, Chris gives her a hug and convinces her to dance with him. Because Chris has taken several viagras, Angie mistakes his erection to be caused by her. Regardless, they end up in a relationship midway through the series, which Angie is ashamed of. It is later revealed that Angie was engaged, but was separated from her fiancee. She later leaves him and breaks off her relationship with Chris. She appears one more time in Chris' central episode in series two where she has sex with him, despite the fact he is in a relationship with Jal.
Second generation