Skins: Series 5

The teenage BAFTA-winning show, Skins, began its fifth series on 27th January.With a brand new cast and the challenge of fulfilling the drug-infused, love-lusting, crazy-raving that began three years prior to the new series, Skins had a lot to live up to.

The show, set in Bristol, brought its viewers a variety of "cliche" characters, who unlike before are not all in the same clique of friends. Uniquely, the character of 'Franky', played by The Golden Compass (2007) actress Dakota Blue Richards, is different to other protagonists of the show before, in that she is the "outsider" - the new girl, whose efforts to fit-in are somewhat tainted from the onset, as seen from the tragic times she spent in her previous school. It appears from the first episode that the audience will witness dramatic changes and potential character growth in Franky; this is hinted at from the mysterious guy, actor Sebastian De Souza, whom she meets and calls her 'beautiful'.

Franky Fitzgerald

The plot also contains the unoriginal "Mean Girls" (2004) in Mini, the "Queen Bee", played by Freya Mavor, and her two followers. More reminiscent from the Mark Waters film, is the imitated scene where stolen pictures from Franky's laptop are spread across the school; the ultimate scandal of the bully. Personally, there are far more unique ways to demonstrate such behaviour as bullying, and predictability becomes less and less watchable.

Mini McGuinness

Nonetheless, within the first episode, the talent can be seen from the British young actors. Already, I have a slight dislike to the character of Mini, and have got a soft spot for Alexander Arnold's character, 'Rich Hardbeck', music snob and metal head.

As it is only the first episode, I do not believe Skins Series 5 should be written off just yet, as the easy-watching and appealing show always manages to bring a lot of laughs and some good fun.

I personally will look forward to the second episode!

Wicked: The Hit Musical

"The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz"

On Saturday 15th January, sitting in Row A of the Dress Circle at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre, I waited for the musical phenomenon of Wicked to begin. I had read some great reviews of the show, and everyone that I know who had seen it, had thoroughly enjoyed its spectacular performance, so obviously I had high expectations which were more than fulfilled.

Directed by Joe Mantello, the exciting plot is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) by author Gregory Maguire. The show explores the untold tale of the "Good" Witch Glinda, played by Louise Dearman, and the "Wicked" Witch Elphaba, played by runner-up in the 2008 hit BBC television show I'd do Anything, Rachel Tucker. The musical begins with the announcement that the "Wicked Witch is Dead!", and the shocking discovery that 'Gaaaalinda' was, in fact, very good friends with green-skinned Elphaba; the show develops by depicting how the two complete opposites became friends, and their lives up until the demise of the Wicked Witch.



The climatic moment in the musical, in my opinion, is when Tucker (pictured above) and Dearman sing the most popular and well-known song from the show, Defying Gravity, which occurs just before the intermission. From this captivating and powerful performance, it is obvious that Tucker was made for this role, and in a way, was a positive thing that she did not achieve the role of 'Nancy' over Jodie Prenger two and a half years ago. The staging and scenery of the musical is escalated in this song where Tucker, dramatically, ends up floating/flying through the air. Other personal favourite songs from the show are Popular, The Wizard and I, and I'm Not That Girl.

As well as the phenomenal actresses cast to play the Witches from the fantasy-land, Lee Mead (pictured below), winner of BBC's Any Dream Will Do in 2007, played Fiyero, the love-interest of both Glinda and Elphaba.

The plot ties up all of the lose ends which the original concept, The Wizard of Oz, does not; the audience discovers how the scarecrow, lion, and tin-man, were transformed into such beings. Wicked brings an alternative story to the popular fairytale, and with the fantastic costume variety, exciting actors, and the "magic" of Oz, it is almost predetermined that the musical will continue its ongoing success for many more years to come, enthralling audiences for a long time yet.

"It's all about popular! It's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed. So it's very shrewd to be very very popular, like me!"