The essential episodes of Skins

Watch these 15 in order and you've got Skins — each pick states its reason.

1. 01

   S01E01 · Pilot · January 25, 2007 · 1h

   Tony8.5

   The first episode of Skins introduces viewers to a gang of friends through their leader, Tony.Tony makes plans for Sid to lose his virginity at Abigail's party. However, Sid ends up buying £300 of drugs, which they must somehow pay back. At the party, Sid gets chatting to Cassie, but she soon overdoses on sleeping pills. She recovers on the way to the hospital, but the gang manage to crash Abgail's dad's car into the harbour.

2. 02

   S01E02 · Top rated · February 1, 2007 · 1h

   Cassie9.2

   Cassie has difficultly coming to terms with her eating disorder and tries to find out if Sid loves her. She leaves the clinic pretending to have recovered, but ends going back there when things don't go as planned.

3. 03

   S01E04 · Top rated · February 15, 2007 · 1h

   Chris9.1

   Chris' mother abandons him and their home, leaving only £1000 to look after him. He soon blows the money on parties and drugs and gets evicted by a squatter. Meanwhile, Sid and Cassie go on a date as Chris looks to teacher Angie for help.

4. 04

   S01E08 · Top rated · March 15, 2007 · 1h

   Effy9.4

   Tony's sister Effy is led into trouble by a vengeful Josh. Sid tells Tony that no-one likes him anymore and goes to meet up with Cassie. They kiss, but Sid decides he must help Tony find Effy. Finding her drugged, Tony is almost forced into sex with her by Josh, but he backs down. At the hospital, Tony's parents blame him for what happened, but he and Sid make up.

5. 05

   S01E09 · Season 1 peak · March 22, 2007 · 1h

   Everyone9.5

   As Cassie moves to Scotland unaware that Sid loves her, Anwar tries to make up with Maxxie. Chris learns that Angie has a fiance. Tony attempts to get back with Michelle, but then something unexpected happens...

6. 06

   S02E03 · Top rated · February 25, 2008 · 1h

   Sid9.3

   Sid's life is falling apart; Tony, his best friend, may never be the same again and Cassie has left him for Scotland. Just when things couldn't get worse, his dad dies in the night leaving him all alone.

7. 07

   S02E05 · Top rated · March 10, 2008 · 1h

   Chris9.6

   Chris is expelled from college and seeks Jal's advice. Meanwhile, Tony is determined to get back who he was before. Chris and Jal get together, with Chris even getting a job, but he cheats on her with Angie. Jal later finds out she is pregnant.

8. 08

   S02E07 · Top rated · March 24, 2008 · 1h

   Effy9.2

   Sid and Michelle break up. Cassie starts sleeping around to forget Sid. In the midst of art coursework and the annoying Pandora, Effy must help them all sort things out.

9. 09

   S02E10 · Season 2 peak · April 14, 2008 · 1h

   Everyone9.8

   Today is exam results day and Chris's funeral. The gang are barred from attending by Chris's dad, so Tony and Sid steal the coffin so they can have their own service. After giving it back, they watch the proper service from the hill. Afterwards they open their exam results. Maxxie invites Anwar to London. Tony and Michelle say goodbye and give Sid a plane ticket to New York so he can search for Cassie.

10. 10

    S03E07 · Season 3 peak · March 5, 2009 · 1h

    JJ8.7

    JJ's (Ollie Barbieri ) feeling lost and confused. The upset within the gang has taken its toll on him, and his fine balancing act has come unstuck. When he visits his psychiatric clinic, he just gets given more drugs. At home, his mother (Juliet Cowan) is worn out with it all, and away from the home, JJ can see his friends coming apart at the seams. With Effy (Kaya Scodelario) at such a low ebb, and the chance discovery of Cook (Jack O'Connell), Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) and Pandora's (Lisa Backwell) secrets, he feels the burden to be overwhelming. But an unlikely member of the gang - Emily (Kathryn Prescott ) - proves to be the true friend at his time of need.

11. 11

    S04E03 · Season 4 peak · February 11, 2010 · 1h

    Cook8.1

    After failing to reign in his jealousy of Freddie and Effy's reunion and hospitalising the kid he beat up in a room full of witnesses, Cook finds himself in prison. When released on bail, he is forced to live with his mother due to the terms of his electronic tag. His mum is a successful artist who owns a mansion, but it's no holiday for Cook; he and his mum clash again and again. With few people to talk to, Cook is helped by an unlikely ally and begins to question his actions.

12. 12

    S05E08 · Season 5 peak · March 17, 2011 · 1h

    Everyone8.9

    The gang are pulling together for the happy couple and putting their various differences and total messed-up situations aside for the day. But with lovely-but-shambolic Alo as best man, it's hardly a surprise that they run into trouble and become separated in the wilds of Somerset.

13. 13

    S06E03 · Season 6 peak · February 6, 2012 · 1h

    Alex7.8

    It's Alex Henley's first day at college, but he's not worried about fitting in or making new friends. He catches the eye of a fellow student and they hit it off immediately. Alex sees something special in Liv and draws her into his strange and wonderful world. But it can't last. Alex isn't used to having friends, and Liv invests a little bit too heavily in the distraction he provides.

14. 14

    S07E05 · Season 7 peak · July 29, 2013 · 1h

    Skins Rise (1)7.5

    Cook, now aged 21, has a job delivering drugs to Manchester revellers. When he is asked to help his employer's girlfriend find a house and finds that he is irresistibly attracted to her, he sets off a chain of events which will lead him into a world of savage revenge and a confrontation with his own violent past, and the truth to what happened to John Foster Is revealed.

15. 15

    S07E06 · Series finale · August 5, 2013 · 1h

    Skins Rise (2)7.0

    Cook, Charlie and Emma are on the run. They take refuge in Emma's parent's house in the middle of nowhere. Things start to get worse as Louie finds them.