After two series tackling depression, jailbreaking, menopause and hypnosis, last night Skins returned to screens with a rather cheerier demeanour. Perhaps the team are just saving the fireworks for the upcoming Skins film – or at least until Effy crashes the party again – but the new bunch of mates seem to suggest a return to the hedonistic feel of the original series.
This time, however, it isn't a cool kid like Tony who is out to charm our socks off. As we meet the new gang at Roundview, it looks like they're focusing on the outcasts' point of view from the off. Hooray! Characters like Sid and Cassie have always been given the best treatment by the show's twentysomething writers.
Most interesting (for now, at least) is androgynous La Roux-alike Franky, who last night stormed in to school on a mobility scooter, sending every kid in the place screaming. Franky, who has relocated from Oxford, has had a difficult past and is determined to make a new start. Of course, within half an hour it had caught up with her.
And who made sure of that? The school's mean girl, Mini, instantly recognisable to Tina Fey fans and anyone who's found themselves on the wrong side of "cool", and determined to make Franky conform to her ideas of style. Judging by a couple of cagey looks, Mini must be hiding something under that pink get-up, but what?
During our first introduction, Liv had little more to do than scamper after her leader – but the lovely Grace (little voice, big attitude) made a promising start, finishing the episode by ditching Mini's Mogadishu-themed soiree - like, Somali Pirates are totally in this year - and jumping in a pool with outcast Franky. I'm expecting emotional turmoil as she decides between sticking with meanie Mini or making a go of it alone.
Also trying to trying to crash the party were slacker-stoners Rich and Alo, who look set to become series favourites. Rich, a moisturising metalhead, won't shut up about just how misunderstood he is, while van-dwelling Alo (predictably, but they make jokes about it) just wants to get his wank claws near some 'vag'. Or 'muff'. Or 'clunge'. Who knows what word he will use to describe female genitalia next?
Elsewhere on the boy front there's the Nietschze fanboy Matty, a dark-haired stranger who's most likely to inspire age-inappropriate crushes amongst the show's older audience members. With puppy-dog eyes, an inflatable pout and a thing for Franky, I see it going a bit Taming of The Shrew (or more likely 10 Things I Hate About You).
The other lad, Nick, is Mini's boyfriend and in episode one just about managed to squeeze a grunt from his 'rugby boy' jaw. As ever, there were strong performances from The adults too. Franky's brilliant adoptive dads, married in army uniforms and trained in patisserie, look set to star – although they have stiff competition from Huey Morgan who cameos as Heat-reading record shop worker Toxic Bob in the second episode.
In the US, where MTV's Skins premiered last week, the show has created a furore, with the Parents Television Council branding it "the most dangerous programme ever for children" and advertisers withdrawing – who knows what will happen when the real drama hits. It's a reminder of how groundbreaking Skins seemed when it first launched here.
But as Skins co-creator Bryan Elsey said in his defence of the show: "Skins is a very simple and in fact rather old-fashioned television series." If it keeps this up, Series five could make a simply very good television series once again.
