Skins Fire

Series seven, episode one
It’s a story that’s both far-fetched and familiar: ambitious ingénue manipulates herself into position of power at the expense of friends and colleagues. In this case, it’s Effy Stonem (Kaya Scodelario), back as one of three ‘Skins’ alumni in three two-part dramas.

In later weeks, we’ll be waving off Cassie (Hannah Murray) and Cook (Jack O’Connell), but the luminous, enigmatic Scodelario more than holds her own as Effy, cut adrift from all her former compadres bar flatmate Naomi (the returning Lily Loveless). Effy is pushing paper at a City hedge fund, desperate for the break which duly comes her way when she capitalises on some compromising financial information. Her rapid rise happens as Naomi, drifting through life, tries to find some purchase as a budding stand-up (with predictably excruciatingly results).

The stage is set for a modern morality tale, although we’ll have to wait until next week to see if that comes to pass. In the meantime, Scodelario and a strong supporting cast, including supportive maths nerd Craig Roberts and dodgy bosses Lara Pulver and Kayvan Novak, keep things interesting even as the narrative rather goes through the motions.