Entertainment

Freffy Forever: 7 Reasons 'Skins' UK Was The Best Show On Television

by Jessica Mahmoud
E4

Everyone has his or her television show.

With so many different genres and series going on, it's easy to forget about the ones from the past.

Oftentimes, I think the craving for certain storylines -- such as queer, high school and drama -- can be solved by backtracking to series that have ended.

Slightly similar to "Degrassi: The Next Generation," the drama, "Skins" UK dealt with multiple identities and storylines. It was about a group of British teens.

While it did come to an end a few years ago, it is definitely a series to remember.

Here are the reasons I think people love it:

1. Age

In most fictional shows, actors and actresses tend to be adults. They are just playing high school or college characters.

However," Skins" UK is unique. The cast is right around the same age as the characters they portray.

For example, siblings Effy and Tony -- played by Kaya Scodelario and Nicholas Hoult -- were 14 and 17.

The show went from high school to college, making them portray their characters perfectly.

While other shows like "Glee" and "Finding Carter" (Kathryn Prescott was in "Skins" UK) do great with having an older cast, this fact certainly made "Skins" UK unique.

2. Diversity

Another great thing about "Skins" UK is the cast is so diverse.

Along with the fact that they were not all the same nationality, the characters' personalities were all different.

If you’ve seen it, you know Pandora was the geeky nerd, Effy was the edgy rebel, Mini was popular and Franky was artsy.

As for the guys? James Cook was the druggy rebel, Chris was the party animal, Rich loved heavy metal and JJ loved anything to do with math and science.

Of course, these are only a few of the characters on the show.

3. Season Setup

"Skins" UK has seven seasons with three generations, and the seventh season looks back to all the previous ones.

The cool thing was every two seasons consisted of a single generation, so you could watch those with no prior knowledge of the show.

Another reason the setup is nice is because each episode focuses on a new character. So while it is an ongoing story about a bunch of friends, there’s always a slight focus on one character and his or her life within the group.

Each character seems to have his or her own story within the show, which is interesting.

4. Accents

Since "Skins" UK's characters come from Bristol in South West, England, all the characters have British accents.

Enough said.

5. LGBTQ+

"Skins" UK is one of the not many television shows out there that have LGBTQ+ characters.

The best LGBTQ+ storyline is in the second generation, with the lesbian couple, Naomi and Emily.

Maxxie in the first generation is also gay.

Franky and Mini in the third generation have a small fling that doesn't go anywhere.

Franky is kind of an androgynous character in appearance. He came out as “I like people,” which I think some viewers thought hinted at pansexuality.

However, other than with Mini, she only had relationships with men.

6. Fashion

This is coming from a former fashion student who looks for fashion everywhere: "Skins" UK was definitely on point with wardrobe.

This was especially the case with Effy, in my opinion.

7. Relatability

All young viewers can probably relate to "Skins" UK in at least one way.

First of all, they go to school, but they also party with drinking and drugs.

The characters deal with their parents and other drama like love triangles.

Issues include personal things like eating disorders, deaths and even suicide. There is never a dull moment.

If you haven’t watched "Skins" UK, definitely check it out.

The episodes are all on YouTube for free.