ShadowDance

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1. Series two is set six months after the conclusion of the first. Tony is alive following his collision with a car, but he is now severely impaired: he can't write, he struggles to hold a fork and he remembers little about the world around him.

2. Episode one is all about Maxxie, who opens the new series with a slammin' dance routine in a church. We get the first look at his family life - he has a dad! And a mum! And a dog! - and the homophobia he suffers from the ASBO boys on his estate.

3. Cassie is now living in Scotland, but is keeping in contact with her boyfriend Sid by sending video tapes through the post. Only thing is, there are two Scottish boys dancing with her in her latest video. Sid, jealous? Never!

4. Guest starring this series is Bill Bailey (the one from Buzzcocks that looks like a caveman) as Maxxie's dad Walter. Expect to see him standing up for his son, falling out with his son... and performing a dance routine with a dog.

5. Things go from bad to worse for Chris this series as he is expelled and rendered homeless for getting up to something naughty in the Science corridor. But could his luck be about to change? I hear he ends up finding romance with a female character. And it's not Michelle.

6. Maxxie's getting some action! The toe-tapper has a filthy encounter in a forest with a very unlikely suspect.

7. Tony's troublesome sister Effy has a bigger role this series, while Michelle has a new, manipulative step-sister called Scarlett who has designs on one of her friends.

8. Episode two introduces the mysterious character of Sketch, who has been stalking one of the gang.

9. Prepare yourselves for a jaw-dropper. Two characters that you never thought would get together will, by around episode four. Any guesses?

10. The first five episodes focus on, in order: Tony and Maxxie (joint ep), Sketch, Sid, Michelle, Chris.

Heat's Review of the first episode.

We've just been to a screening of episode one of Skins, Series Two. And we have to report that it more than lives up to the brilliance of the first series. To start with, we were a bit taken aback. The story has taken a pretty glum, intense turn, with previously ultra-cocky Tony (Nicholas Hoult) changing his personality completely after a bad run-in with a bus. His body doesn't work properly, he forgets things and can barely even write his own name. And all his mates are acting very oddly around him, because they can't come to terms with the loss of the maverick Tony they knew before. But worry not: the show is still as sharp and entertaining as before. We soon see that the only one who seems to be able to deal with the New Tony is Maxxie, who we see in a dazzling dance sequence at the start of the episode and who stays centre stage for the rest of the opening hour. We get to meet his eccentric dad (played splendidly by comedian Bill Bailey), we meet his stupid doofus neighbours who try to bully him for being gay, and we find out that he wants to drop out of college and become a professional dancer. Mitch Hewer does a brilliant job fleshing out the character of Maxxie, and he gets a phenomenally exciting, funny and sexy scene towards the end. All we can say is: don't miss the return of Skins, E4 AND Channel 4 in February. We promise you will not be disappointed.