Skins: Fire (Part 1) Review.

The seventh and last series of Skins began last Monday with the first part of Effy's story. The series is centered around three classic and much loved old characters, Effy, Cassie and Cook which are in two parts for each character. When it was announced that Skins was going to end, I somewhat felt relived because I feel that the quality of the show dampened a bit in the last couple of series'. I feel that the characters didn't have that likability than the first two generations had, even if they are the 'villain' of the series. So, for this review I'm going to review part one of Effy's story, 'Fire'.

In this new series, Effy kicks everything off by entering the adult world and working in finance. Also two reoccurring characters are back with Effy, and they are: Naomi and Emily. But Emily is only going to be in the second part, she wasn't in the first part of the story. In London, Naomi and Effy are living together and it seems that their friendship isn't all plain sailing and Effy is the one with any income as Naomi just sits on her backside smoking and drinking...and failing as a stand-up comedian. Kaya was brilliant in this episode, you can see that she's so eager to get into the adult world but deep down, she's still that teenage Effy and a little out of her depth, that's just my opinion. I really liked the pairing of Effy and Naomi, I feel that in previous series from now, we all would of thought that it was going to be Effy in Naomi's position and Naomi in the high end job.  I really like how they work together, I felt it was very convincing and there's obviously more troubles to come and heartbreak, as I will talk about later on in the post.

The episode is also full of a great supporting cast with the likes of Lara Pulver playing Victoria, Craig Roberts playing Dominic/Dom and Kayvan Novak playing Jake. Craig Roberts out of the three is my favourite, I've not been a fan of Craig's work before, I found him slightly irritating and annoying, which I know is a stupid thing to do. However, in this he's a breath of fresh air...he plays the part perfectly and he has that 'cute' schoolboy likability to him and he's obviously smitten with Effy and he plays the whole character of Dominic to a T. I feel that Lara and Kayvan's performances was also very plausible and very convincing, I especially loved Lara in this episode. When I seen Kaya and Lara together I just thought that they could be sisters! Also what is talked about on social networking sites is that Kayvan (Jake) has a lot of resemblance to Freddie which...is a little sad seeing as he isn't the actual Freddie.

I feel as a whole, not only has Effy grown up but the show has grown up too. It's not all parties, drugs, sex and giving your fish Viagra...it's much more than that. I feel that's what people are not seeing with this, they thought that it's going to be like the classic Skins, but it's not and they said that right from the start when they released that it's going to be ending. It's got a much more darker, richer feel to it and in a way, a cinematic style to it too.

Now, let's talk about Naomi shall we? Well, right from early on in the episode when Naomi has pain in her stomach, it already prefigures that something isn't at all right with Naomi, something is very, very wrong. As soon as I saw that, I knew that she was going to have cancer. I felt like Dan on Big Brother shouting "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!" and jumping up and down on the sofa...but I didn't. I feel that it was good to have Naomi having cancer because I feel that cancer isn't necessarily highlighted on TV with young adults, it's usually middle aged women and I feel that with Skins' reputation of highlighting important issues with young adults, this was a very good thing for me, especially to see. I just hope we get to see some happiness with Emily and Naomi before she dies...or perhaps she might not, but I think it's going to be fatal for Naomi.  Lily Loveless plays Naomi with excellence, her funny, witty, quirky portrayal of the character and engages the audience and draws them in, going on this journey with her. I'm intrigued on how the Naomi part of the episodes is going to play out.

As a whole, I feel this was a very pleasing episode, a good opener and a good build up for the next concluding part of Effy's story. Effy is one of my favourite characters on Skins and on TV in general, she's just such a strong, complex character but she has her flaws. Like most good characters has, flaws. Let's just look forward to the concluding part of Effy's story and Skins: Pure and Skins: Rise with Cassie and Cook.

I'll review the second part of Effy's story next week after the episode airs. Thank you for reading, you can follow me on Twitter: @coreyterrett

Mrs Brown's Boys and Tour 2013: 'For The Love of Mrs. Brown'

On Saturday 22nd June 2013, I went to watch the fantastic and hilarious Mrs Brown's Boys live with the fourth play in the Mrs Brown's series. I received the tickets as a Christmas present from my sister and her partner, which they wrote on a piece of paper that we're going to see them inside a copy of the previous live DVD of the show. It made me so excited and it was one of the best Christmas presents that I received.

I've been a fan of the show since about the middle of 2012/end of year 2011. When the first first became a massive hit in the series on BBC One, I didn't see the massive love and reaction for it. I just seen the show as 'same old, same old' kind of thing. But when the BBC was repeating the episodes of series one and two ahead of series three, I knew I had to watch to see if it'll change my mind. But oh boy did it! I fell absolutely in love with it, I just knew that I didn't give the show a proper chance, I sat down and I just enjoyed the show. What I love best about the show is that they don't make themselves be something their not. It's just a classic piece of TV and I  really cherish in the fact that it's a sitcom at the end of the day and I honestly feel that this show along with 'Miranda' as enforced the love and joy of British sitcoms. Brendan O'Carroll is a comedy genius, the writing may be full of cliches but the audience relishes it and they just laugh out loud along with the show. After watching series one, I had to buy the DVD of it and I watched it all over again. Then series two came about, with it not being as funny as the first but still funny I loved it all over again and again! I  learned to love the characters, I learned about the relationships of the characters and I feel series by series, the show got more stronger as a whole and it was a joy to watch. The show has been a huge success with high ratings, award after award, merchandise after merchandise, building a stronger fan base for the show.

Mrs Brown's Boys hasn't just been a hit BBC One series, it's been going on now for a couple of years. With radio shows, touring the country with their plays...it's been a massive comedy hit. Especially in Ireland where I believe lies it's biggest fan base. The show isn't just about family, it stares almost every member of Brendan's family, which I think is great as they get to share the momentum of the show and get to perform together. His children, his wife, his sister, his daughter-in-law are in the show being part of the Mrs Brown's clan.  The audience all has their own favourite characters with most of them being the neighbor next door and Agnes' best friend, Winnie. She's just a really likable character and the actress plays her with such realism and beauty. Such a glorious character. Another firm favourite character of the show has to be Buster Brady, Dermot's best friend who's always included in crime and in love with Cathy. I think my favourite characters has to be Maria, Winnie, Buster and Granddad. Along with Agnes of course, but them four especially are my favourite. 

So, the tour of the show landed in Cardiff and with every seat full and the atmosphere rife with laughter and just a massive love for the show and the entire cast, it was a very good night. Yes, they could of added new material instead of just using series two and series three material, but I really didn't mind as I was watching it live for myself! I loved it when Brendan went of the script and kept trying to put of Fiona O' Carroll (Maria) and Amanda Woods (Betty) by asking random questions, not expecting them to answer. Which they did and the audience cheered along. All in all, it was a fantastic experience seeing them perform it live...actually live for myself and I really want to go again! The show is only going to have more popularity not just in Ireland and the UK but worldwide as the Mrs Brown's Boys clan is heading of to Australia for a tour! Also, they're going to be filming the movie of the show, 'Mrs Brown D'Movie' in September for a June 2014 release. It's rumored that Hugh Bonneville is going to star in the movie. Also at Christmas time, the show is going to return for two more specials on BBC One, I just can't wait where they'll grow from here. Hopefully a fourth series would also be in the bag! 

From hating the show at first to falling in love with it, I absolutely love it and I can't wait to see the charismatic Agnes Brown next. If you're going to see the show on tour, prepare to laugh your socks off! Brendan and co really do bring the house down and makes everyone belly ache with laughter.