Adam Montandon's blog

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Today I was at the Palace of Westminster talking about creativity in the South West of England, and I was really surprised to see Mike Bailey, who you may recognise as the character Sid Jenkins from the hit Channel 4 / e4 show Skins, filmed in Bristol.

He's convinced that the biggest creative hit to come out of the South West is the Noel Edmunds show Deal Or No Deal. Mike Bailey is from Bristol originally, and he was spotted in Bristol, at his college, when the casting director Jane Ripley discovered him, and auditioned him right there.

Mike Bailey explained that Brian Earlsley the creator of skins wanted an all Bristol cast right from the start. Brian's son, who was raised in the city pretty much came up with the idea for Skins. Bristol has a young student population and an emerging music scene that really fitted the themes of the show. Skins shows it all, including the things that you don't want to talk about, all the drugs, sex, and stuff that just needs to be shown.

Mike Bailey says Skins shows the nitty-gritty-ness of the city. Most of the characters, the young people in the show were "picked up off the street" with the exception of "about a boy-boy". All of the actors are just like their characters. It shows real people as they are. Mike Bailey said "We didn't go to work all day to be something totally different". All the cast, all the extras and all the crew were Bristol based, and that allowed them to really get the most out of the locations in the city for filming.

Now that series two of Skins is all over, and a new cast will take over for series three, Mike Bailey is now looking for new opportunities. I am looking forward to the new series of the show, and also to see what the existing cast get up to in the future.