This Underrated 5-Part British Drama Is ‘The Magicians Meets Skins’

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It might seem surprising, but there’s a British science fiction show that’s a unique mix of the fantasy drama The Magicians and the teen series Skins, and it hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention in the US. Like the recent HBO show The Nevers, it was influenced by The Magicians, which went beyond typical ‘magic school’ tropes. While based on Lev Grossman’s book trilogy, the show took many creative liberties with the original story.

One key difference in The Magicians was its choice to make the protagonist, Quentin Coldwater, a graduate student rather than a high schooler. This allowed the show to appeal to a more mature audience, unlike many fantasy series. Viewers who enjoyed realistic teen dramas like Euphoria or Skins were more likely to watch The Magicians than shows geared towards younger teenagers, such as Wednesday or Legacies.

As much as I enjoyed The Magicians, nothing really hit me quite like Misfits, a British show from a few years before. It’s honestly an underrated gem – it’s about a group of troubled teens who get superpowers while doing community service. If you mixed the magical elements of The Magicians with the gritty realism of Skins, you’d get something close to Misfits. It started in 2009 and ran for five seasons, and it was amazing to see early performances from actors like Iwan Rheon and Robert Sheehan, who both became huge stars later on. It got great reviews at first, but for some reason, it never really took off with audiences in the US, which is a shame.

Despite Running For 5 Seasons, Misfits Still Deserves More Attention

The show Misfits starts with five young offenders – Kelly, Curtis, Alisha, Simon, and Nathan – stuck outside a community center while doing court-ordered community service. During a strange storm, they each develop superpowers, making Misfits a groundbreaking, adult-oriented superhero series – well ahead of shows like The Boys and Invincible that later became popular. While powers like Simon’s invisibility or Curtis’s time manipulation might seem typical for superheroes, the characters are anything but.

This is where Misfits really shines. Each main character’s superpower is linked to their deepest insecurity – Kelly can read minds because she’s always worried about what others think. Alisha’s confidence in her sexuality gives her the power to send anyone who touches her into a wild, uncontrollable state, and Simon’s feeling of being overlooked manifests as invisibility.

Misfits offers a fresh take on the superhero genre, cleverly combining gritty teen drama with lighthearted superhero action. It’s reminiscent of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and British kitchen sink dramas, expertly weaving together strong character arcs with a fast-paced, unpredictable plot full of shocking moments and unexpected twists. Despite its strengths, one factor prevented Misfits from achieving wider recognition – a common problem for similar shows from the 2000s and 2010s.

Misfits Nearly Got A US Remake

With its sharp take on British stereotypes and dark, understated humor, the show Misfits is distinctly British. The creators of popular American series like The O.C., Gossip Girl, and Runaways tried to adapt Misfits for American television, but the project was cancelled by Freeform after a single pilot episode in 2012.

The idea for a US version of Misfits started around 2012, during the height of the original show’s popularity. However, it didn’t actually get made until 2016. The network, Freeform, had moved towards more family-friendly programming, making a direct copy of the original – with its nudity, violence, and strong language – unfeasible. Ultimately, though, the remake failed because Misfits was so uniquely British and had a particular mix of elements from shows like The Magicians and Skins that couldn’t be replicated in the US.

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2026-05-28 16:28