SERIES 3 EPISODE GUIDE
E4’s home-grown drama series Skins is back in January, but with just two of the original cast returning, Series 3 introduces a gang of new faces.
Together the gang bond as they fall in and out of love and lust, fight one another, compete against each another, and also unite as one.
Find out more about the Series 3 characters.
Buy Series 1 & 2 on DVD.
Buy Series 3 on DVD.
Episode 1Thursday 22nd January 2009
It’s the first day of term at Roundview College and a new gang is forming: the class of 2009.
Best friends Freddie, JJ and Cook are enroute to college. Their world collides with Effy’s when Cook spots an opportunity to set up Jim Stonem, Effy’s dad. He carries out the practical joke, at Jim’s expense, while Effy looks on nonchalantly – Cook is intrigued. He has met his match and now has a reason to turn up at College. But, Freddie and JJ are equally smitten.
Identical twin sisters, Katie and Emily, prepare for the day. As per usual, Katie walks all over Emily – stealing her outfit and using all of the hot water. Katie’s footballer boyfriend drives them to College in his convertible, giving Katie the entrance she’s looking for. Effy and Katie clock one another immediately; they are the two most desirable girls there and they both know it. Effy is with her best mate, Pandora.
The new intake is herded into the main hall. Effy locks eyes with Freddie for a second time, and smiles. Cook tries to charm the girl sitting next to him – but instead instantly winds her up. Naomi grasses Cook up, resulting in him having to drop his trousers to the whole school year – which doesn’t worry him in the slightest.
At Cook’s behest, JJ tries out a bunch of tricks on a deaf girl, Pixie. She’s no push-over and is totally unimpressed. She kicks Cook where it hurts, then, while he’s incapacitated, Freddie grabs the opportunity to try to chat up Effy. She issues the boys with a challenge – the first one to break all the rules set out by the College Director during assembly gets to ‘know her’.
Meanwhile, Katie introduces herself (and Emily) to Effy and Pandora. Katie thinks they ought to sit together because they’re the best looking girls. Effy tolerates this, intrigued by the twins. Naomi passes on by. She knows the twins of old. Katie pointedly tells Effy that Naomi tried to snog her sister at middle school. Naomi defends herself and Emily looks guilty. By the end of the first day, Cook has won Effy’s challenge. He wipes the floor with Freddie, when he breaks most of the rules at once - setting Sid Jenkin’s old locker on fire to boot.
Read our review of Episode 1.
Episode 2Thursday 29th January 2009
It's Cook's (Jack O'Connell) 17th birthday, and half the college are invited to his uncle's pub for a night Cook believes will go down in history. But the girls get bored quickly and are about to leave when Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) gets a phone call from his sister Karen (Klariza Clayton). She's at her best friend Kayleigh's (Amy Burnett) engagement party and they want to liven up the evening and get the party going.
The gang head off and Cook eventually gets them into the party by flirting with Kayleigh. But Cook's actions attract the attention of Kayleigh's dad, notorious local gangster Johnny White (Mackenzie Crook), who's not happy with their arrival. Cook decides to up the tempo of the surprisingly quiet party, ignoring Freddie's warnings about upsetting Johnny White. Johnny is furious and it looks like he'll run them out of town, until Cook discovers that Johnny's got a very big and rather seedy secret of his own...
Episode 3Thursday 5th February 2009
Thomas (Merveille Lukeba) arrives alone in the UK from the Congo. His family are due to join him in a few days, and he has to find somewhere for them to live. He finds an abandoned flat on an estate, but little does he know that local gangster Johnny White (Mackenzie Crook) is his new landlord, and there's no way Johnny's going to let him live there for free.Thomas has to fend for himself, but a chance encounter at a bus stop, and a mutual love of doughnuts brings him together with Pandora (Lisa Backwell) and Effy (Kaya Scoledario).
They head to Effy's house, where they find Effy's mum, Anthea Stonem (Morwenna Banks), has a surprise visitor, her husband's boss, Steve (David Baddiel). It's fate for Pandora and Thomas, who hit it off immediately: she takes him to see her Aunt Elizabeth (Maureen Lipman), who just might have the answer to Thomas's insolvency, with a rather unconventional money-making scheme.
Episode 4Thursday 12th February 2009
With the first and only boy Pandora's (Lisa Backwell) ever fancied having been deported, Pandora is desperate to have some fun and decides to throw a party. Unbeknown to Pandora, Katie (Megan Prescott) has used some special ingredients in the chocolate brownies, which take the party to another level. Effy (Kaya Scodelario) knows, but hasn't warned Pandora or her mum Angela (Sally Phillips), who is munching happily on the choccie treats.
Effy can only look on while her best friend's mum's behaviour gets increasingly bizarre. Pandora grabs the fun where she can, and towards the end of the evening lets her heart rule her head… but will she regret it in the morning, and will her best mate forgive her?
Episode 5Thursday 19th February 2009
Freddie's (Luke Pasqualino) the black sheep of his family, and seen as a waste of space. His big sister Karen (Klariza Clayton) has ambitions - she's reached the final of a TV talent show to find a new member of girl group Da Sexxbombz. Freddie despises her lust for celebrity but is emotionally blackmailed into sticking to the story she and their Dad, Leo (Simon Day), are spinning about their dead mother, all to look good in front of the cameras, and thereby increase her chances of success. He cringes at the whole thing.
If this wasn't bad enough, living in the shadow of the increasingly reckless Cook (Jack O'Connell) is becoming too much to bear. When Effy (Kaya Scoledario) turns up at his shed, Freddie doesn't know what to do with himself. There's a connection between them, there always has been, but this is shattered when Cook and JJ (Ollie Barbieri) arrive. He feels torn between his family, his friends, and his heart, and the isolation is overwhelming. Will Freddie start to put himself first, or will he retreat to his shed, and beloved skateboard, as he always has before?
Episode 6Thursday 26th February 2009
Naomi (Lily Loveless) thinks she has the world worked out, and puts people into pigeonholes: her hippy mum (Olivia Colman); adoring Emily (Kathryn Prescott); Cook's (Jack O'Connell) insulting misogyny; and her politics teacher Kieron's (Ardal O'Hanlon) flattery.
She thinks she has them all sussed, and that only she can see the truth. But the impending student elections leave her at a loss, and her insecurities get the better of her. The trust and confidence inspired by a friend encourage her to stand up to her arch rival, the antithesis of everything she stands for, as she and Cook go head to head, but Naomi learns that nothing is black and white any more.
Episode 7Thursday 5th March 2009
JJ’s (Ollie Barbieri ) feeling lost and confused. The upset within the gang has taken its toll on him, and his fine balancing act has come unstuck. He visits his psychiatric clinic, but just gets given more drugs.
At home, his mother (Juliet Cowan) is worn out with it all, and away from the home, JJ can see his friends coming apart at the seams. With Effy (Kaya Scodelario) at such a low ebb, and the chance discovery of Cook (Jack O’Connell) and Pandora’s (Lisa Backwell) secret, he feels the burden to be overwhelming. But Emily (Kathryn Prescott ) proves to be a true friend at this time of need.
Episode 8Thursday 12th March 2009
Effy (Kaya Scodelario) is at a low ebb; she's lost her mojo and life at home isn't much fun. To cap it all, Cook is no longer the draw he was and she's unsure of her feelings for him. Katie (Megan Prescott) makes the most of every opportunity to rub in the fact that she's replaced Effy as Queen Bee, and that Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) is her man, and Effy is to keep her hands off. She invites Effy to a party in the woods, but with stipulations: Effy has to drive, and Cook is not welcome. As they head to the party, the car strains with tension, the gang divided by secrets and rivalries.
Their paranoid state increases when poachers they meet at a petrol station deliberately scare them. Freddie manages to lighten the mood, and by the time they arrive at the party site they've recovered their va va voom. Effy finds some magic mushrooms, and they experiment. Katie's jealousy of Effy returns, as Effy becomes the centre of attention. The fun and excitement intensify, until it becomes clear that someone has been tampering with their stuff. And then they hear gun shots, and realise someone is charging towards them...
Episode 9Thursday 19th March 2009
Katie (Megan Prescott) won't leave the house. Fortunately, Emily (Kathryn Prescott) is able to disguise herself as her sister, and sits an exam on her behalf. Emily and Naomi (Lily Loveless) get closer, just as Emily has wanted for a long time; but when Emily asks Naomi to accompany her to the college ball, she says no, breaking Emily's fragile heart. Against her better judgement, and under duress, Emily agrees to partner Katie to the ball instead, and they plan their outfits together.
Out shopping, though, they bump into Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) and JJ (Ollie Barbieri), and Katie convinces Freddie to take her to the ball instead. Katie sees a way of regaining her hard-sought status at college. Freddie inadvertently drops a bombshell about Emily and JJ, and Katie hatches a plan, making her sister the ultimate victim. Katie's scheming results in the mother of all showdowns. But she's the one who has to face her fears and accept some hard truths, principally that she's not in control any more.
Episode 10Thursday 26th March 2009
Cook (Jack O’Connell) and Effy (Kaya Scodelario) are in self-imposed exile from the gang, having gone to stay with Cook’s father. Effy is running away from everything she’s ever known and Cook enables her escape. Problem is, Cook is slowly falling out of lust, and in love.
Back in Bristol, JJ (Ollie Barbieri) tries to snap Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) out of his depressed stupour, down about the loss of both his best mate and the girl he loves.
Cook’s father (Matt King) wastes no time in trying to profit from his son’s arrival and involves him in the village steeplechase, placing a wager that could clear his pub debts, or lose him everything. Cook is vulnerable in his desire to please his father, and accepts the bet – irregardless of the potential consequences.
Freddie and JJ arrive, forcing Effy to confront who she is and what she really wants. She has to make amends for the damage she’s caused. She also has to decide whether to follow her heart. Can the four friends find a way forward together?
