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Skins: Volume 1 (DVD) Skins. A brand new British drama follows a group of raucous teenagers who get high, get drunk, get laid and get up for their A levels. They really grab life by the balls and give it a twirl. Tony (Nicholas Hoult, About a Boy) is the best looking boy in town. His sidekick Sid is less successful with the ladies, much less until bonkers anorexic case Cassie turns up. But Sid's in love with Michelle, the school fittie, who goes out with Tony, of course. Then there's sassy musician Jal, party animal Chris, Maxie and best mate Anwar, who manages to combine the pills, the thrills and the spills with his faith, well sort of. ]]> .com ---- Sex, drugs, yearning, frustration--all the ingredients of adolescence are made freshly vivid in the first series of this topnotch BBC series. Skins follows a gang of British schoolmates, including Tony (Nicholas Hoult, About a Boy), whose alpha-male cockiness starts to curdle into nasty self-absorption, gradually alienating his insecure girlfriend Michelle (April Pearson) and best friend Sid (Mike Bailey); Anwar (Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire), who struggles to balance his Muslim faith and his friendship with Maxxie (Mitch Hewer, Brittania High), who's gay; musical prodigy Jal (Larissa Wilson), who resents that her her favors her brothers over her, while Cassie (Hannah Murray) and Chris (Joseph Dempsie) try to escape reality with anorexia and ceuticals. Skins could have been just a catalogue of hot-button issues, but sharp writing, fluid direction, and a charismatic and deeply engaging crew of young actors make this one of the best shows about teenagers ever made. Each episode centers on a different kid--a character who was never more than peripheral or a stereotype in previous episodes suddenly bursts into three dimensions, expanding your grasp of their flailing, hungry world. Divorce and the loose mores of contemporary life have left these kids with few restrictions; watching them slam into problems they're ill-equipped to handle makes for riveting television. Forget the airbrushed, designer-dressed kids of Dawson's Creek or Gossip Girl. Skins is both more real and more exciting. The extra features on Skins - Vol. 1 includes a series of video diaries by the characters that feel a bit forced, but the "ancillary storylines"--mostly deleted scenes--are more enjoyable, particularly a series of interviews with a hess career counselor. --Bret Fetzer