Dakota Blue Richards previews 'Skins'!, Interviews

Well, there's only one episode left in the fifth series of Skins - hasn't it flown by? After Rich proposed to Grace last week, they decide to elope - but will everyone get to the church on time? It's been a while since we chatted to Dakota Blue Richards, so we thought we'd give her a ring to see what she had to say about the last instalment...

Can you give us an overview of the episode?
"Episode eight is where everything is drawn together and all the dilemmas are sorted out. It's a pretty nice ending, I think, because in contrast to what's often happened before in other series it really brings the cast together. At the end of episode seven you see them making this crazy marriage proposal and then episode eight is the follow through of that, and everyone trying to be supportive despite the fact that actually their relationships with each other are just completely falling apart. There are a lot of things that are obvious but which just aren't spoken about in that episode, and then towards the end they all come out."

What's Mini and Franky's relationship like now?
"They're definitely a lot closer than they used to be. In the beginning, it's not that they hated each other, because they didn't know each other. I think they were just so shocked at how different they are that they didn't actually see that beneath the facades that they both put out there they're very similar, in the sense that they're not very secure within themselves and they're not sure how to handle their own identities or how to be comfortable in themselves and round other people. I think as the series progresses they start to understand each other a little better."

And what about Franky and Matty?
"Basically, the way that the script executive Neil described their relationship is that basically, Matty is someone who likes to see himself living in this darkness and that's where he gets his mystery - that's why he puts that out about himself and why he doesn't really let people in. He described the other people in his life as like candles - they come in and they bring this light into his life and he's fascinated by it but after a while they'll burn out and he'll get bored of them, which is why he's been moving away and never really settled before. Then they describe Franky as being the one that won't go away. As much as he tries not to expect anything from her or take anything from her, because that's not what their relationship is, he's fascinated by her. I think the same is true the other way round, because nobody's ever been so accepting and as comfortable with her as he is and I think she craves feeling, for want of a better word, normal. She's never felt normal in her entire life and no-one's tried to make her feel normal. What he's done is just to say, 'Actually, you don't need to be normal because you're something even better', and I think that's really important for her in terms of her personal development. I think you definitely see a development of that relationship in the last episode."

Do you think we learn more about Franky in the last episode?
"I think you definitely learn more about her as a person. You kind of understand her relationships a lot more with the other characters. I think because Franky's character was the first one that was introduced, they didn't want to go into her and her family situation and what's happened to her before very deeply, which is nice, because it makes her character mysterious, which is the same kind of thing I think they've done with Matty and that draws them together as well. It's almost that learning experience in terms of watching her character as you might have in her episode if it wasn't the first one."

Why should people tune in for the final episode?
"I think each character this series is so different that there's got to be at least one character that you even just love or really relate to. And what's nice about the last episode is it's got all of us in it, so there will be one character in there for everyone. It's a really feel-good episode - although it has its dark moments I think the end is so positive and so much fun and loads of really cool stuff happens in it. I watch Skins and I'm like, 'God, I wish that was my life for real!""