Sixth form drama Skins revolved around a cast of unknowns, led by the charismatic Nicholas Hoult, the star of About A Boy who would go on to appear in X-Men and date Jennifer Lawrence. Skins played its ace cards from the off though, centring on Hoult, future star of the show Effy, and their sweary dad, played by the great Harry Enfield. Within the first five minutes, Tony (Hoult) wakes up, watches his neighbour get dressed from the window, and creates a distraction so that Effy who's been out all night can sneak back into the house undetected by their parents. He then hogs the bathroom, much to his dad's enraged disgust, and fools him by coming back in through the front door; it's a painlessly cool introduction to the main character and Enfield is hilarious in his anger. It's from here that Tony then phones round the gang, introducing everyone else. The start of the show grasped its teen audience in awe of Tony's coolness, and it all developed from there, as Tony became a Machiavellian anti-hero; the show's ratings would decline as characters would be replaced, and some may argue that it never topped those opening moments of brilliance.
