In My Skin Review

In My Skin is a coming-of-age comedy-drama for BBC Three as a group of Welsh teenagers struggle with the trials of life.

Bethan Gwyndaf (Gabrielle Creevy) is a bright 16-year-old with a chaotic life. Her mother, Katrina (Jo Hartley), has mental health problems, and her father, Dilwyn (Rhodri Meilir) is a drinker with a temper. She is an outsider at school but after winning a writing contest she gets the attention of Poppy (Zadeiah Campbell-Davies), the most popular girl in her year.

Teen comedy-dramas are fairly common in the UK with shows like Skins and My Mad Fat Diary being critical hits. In My Skin does have some similarities to My Mad Fat Diary: both shows focused on teens from unprivileged backgrounds who have a talent for writing, have characters with various issues, and the main characters having occasional flights of fantasy. There are differences: the biggest being Bethan was a carer for her bipolar mother, whilst Rae in My Mad Fat Diary suffered from depression.

Compared to other shows in the genre In My Skin had a grittier look. Handheld cameras were used and the colour pallet was drained. This was properly done for budgetary reasons yet director Lucy Forbes was able to turn this into an advantage and made the series look like a documentary.

Due to this approach In My Skin leans more towards drama than comedy. Episode Three and Four had no jokes at all as Bethan experiences her first love, the breakdown of a friendship, her mum’s continuing mental health issues, domestic abuse, and sexual consent. It goes to some dark places like what happens to Bethan’s mother and her best friend, Lydia (Poppy Lee Friar).

In My Skin was not without humour but it was pretty light. Lydia provided a lot of this because she had no filter and had a willingness to use strong swear words. The PE teacher, Mrs. Blocker (Laura Checkley) was a comedic highlight as a no-nonsense figure and makes Bethan cringe when she talks about her sexuality. Bethan was quick-witted as well. The fantasy sequences allowed for some jokes and one of my favourite jokes was when Bethan lies about what her parents’ careers and it gets contradicted by footage of what they were actually like.

Episode Five was the most comedic episode in the series. In that episode, Bethan runs to be the Head Girl and this lightens the mood after the events of Episode Three and Four. The episode introduces Lu Corfield as the Head Teacher and she was funny as Mr. Gilbert/Sister Michael figure who tells Bethan things as they are. When Bethan had to make her speech she had a back-and-forth with the bully, Priest (Aled ap Steffan) and it was a humorous exchange.

The most recognisable actors in the show were Poppy Lee Friar (Ackley Bridge) and Suzanne Packer (Casualty). Friar’s role in this show was different from her role in Ackley Bridge: she went from the girl all the boys fancied in the Ackley Bridge to the misfit with her issues for In My Skin. Friar looked so different in the pilot that I thought the showrunners recast the role. It turns out the showrunners did recast the role of Poppy: Leilah Hughes played her in the pilot.

Gabrielle Creevy had to give strong performance because she was the lead. She had the comedic and dramatic chops as a character who has to struggle with typical teenage things as well as having her chaotic home life. Bethan was a guarded character who makes up stories to hide the truth. Creevy looked a lot like Jenna Coleman. Meilir and Hartley gave the best performances because their characters were so volatile and their relationship was toxic. Campbell-Davies did master being a duplicitous character who was outwardly nice but an utter bitch to Lorraine (Georgia Furlong) in a passive-aggressive way.

In My Skin was a watchable series that was a quick watch. There are only five 30 minute episodes. It treads a line between humour and drama and acts as a TV version of a Ken Loach story.