I recently watched the whole of series one of Skins on Channel 4’s 4OD (4 on demand) online service. It’s actually pretty cool, you can sign up for the service and then stream the episodes of series one of Skins live on your media player or download them to watch later. Some of the programs on there you have to pay for but Skins was free to watch so having completely caught up I was eagerly awaiting series 2 which has just recently kicked off.

People who use myspace may have already seen the first episode in four parts over there, but I was determined to wait and watch it in all its glory on E4. I’m pleased to say that it has most definitely been worth the wait!

Last series ended with Tony seriously injured after his accident, we pick up a little while later in series 2 and Tony is now out of hospital but has very little control over his own body and is a far cry from the character we saw last year! He needs help with pretty much everything and feels demoralised and belittled having to rely on his friends for help constantly.

Michelle and Sid are avoiding him, which is hardly surprising the way things were left last series and Sid is pining for Cassie who is away in Scotland with her family, I’m not sure if this is permanent or not but I hope she makes a comeback as she was a huge part of the show. Her overuse of the word Wow which seemed annoying at first is surprisingly sorely missed this time around.

Brilliant comedian Bill Bailey makes his first appearance in the show as Maxxie?s dad. He is perfectly cast in this role, and being from Bristol himself makes him appear right at home with the other characters. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of him as the series progresses.

We didn’t see much of the other characters for the rest of the show, but obviously the main focus had to be on Tony after the accident, I wonder how quickly the writers will have him recover, the show does seem a little strange without him leading the way forward, organizing the partying etc but it was good to see Maxxie get more screen time for once.

Overall I was really impressed with the first episode of Skins series 2 and if they can keep it up this series could be just as good, if not better than the first one!

---

Full cast list for Skins: April Pearson, Arabella Weir, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Bill Bailey, Daniel Kaluuya, Danielle Jadelyn, Danny Dyer, Dev Patel, Geoffrey Hughes, Georgina Moffat, Giles Thomas, Hannah Murray, Harry Enfield, Johann Benet, John Weldon, Joseph Dempsie, Kaya Scodelario, Larissa Wilson, Mike Bailey, Mitch Hewer, Morwenna Banks, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Capaldi, Robert Wilfort, Siwan Morris, Stephen Walters, Tom Payne.