Michelle Richardson
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| Michelle Richardson | |
|---|---|
 April Pearson as Michelle Richardson |
|
| First appearance | "Tony" |
| Centric episodes | "Michelle" |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 17 |
| Occupation | Student |
| Family | Anna Richardson (mother) |
| Relationships | Tony Stonem (ex-boyfriend) Josh Stock (ex-boyfriend) |
| Portrayed by | April Pearson |
| Created by | Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain |
Michelle Richardson is a fictional character in the television series Skins played by April Pearson.
[edit] Characterisation
Michelle is portrayed initially as primarily interested in serving her boyfriend Tony's needs and in "looking shaggable" which she places as her primary function, compared with Jals interest in the clarinet. She is very confident in her appearance - on the Skins website in a Myspace-style "about me" section, she protests that her pictures have not been Photoshopped, but that she is "this gorgeous in real life".[1] She is also aware of Sid being in love with her, and is sometimes angry at Tony for him calling her "nips" and protesting that her boobs are uneven. Despite lack of academic interest, she is very talented at languages.[2]
[edit] Character history
In "Tony" she convinces one of her best friends, Cassie to sleep with Sid at Tony's behest. Cassie, freshly out of rehab, obliges. Before the events of "Cassie", she throws a big house party which is seen in the Skins promotional trailers. She appears to have some minor issues with her mum and step dad. In "Jal" she starts to worry about Tony's interest in posh girl Abigail Stock, and in "Chris" she laments that she feels Tony who she loves will never love her in the way Sid does. In "Sid", as an experiment, Tony kisses Abigail at a concert before Michelle's eyes to prompt her to angrily break up with him backstage where he had been fondling Abigail. After a brief run in with some chav girls, she tells Sid she believes he was in on her humiliation and angry with him too. Tony urges Sid to try and score with Michelle on the rebound, and as Michelle appears to warm to him, Tony appears and forces Sid to watch as he takes Michelle back instantly, affirming his power over them both.
In "Maxxie and Anwar" she and Jal attempt to reconnect while on a school trip in Russia, getting incredibly drunk. Believing she is passed out, Tony attempts to seduce Maxxie. Unknown to Tony, Michelle oversees them kissing and Tony going down on his knees, only to be told by Maxxie he isn't very good. She later probes Tony for a confession but he is unaware she is alluding to his infidelity.
Later, in "Michelle", she punches and dumps Tony for not confessing his attempted infidelity with Maxxie, and later learns of his other conquests from Jal; which include Abigail Stock. She derides Maxxie for being a 'dirty little slut'. During a confrontation with Abigail, she is introduced to Abi's brother, Josh. Confronted by Tony whilst deleting old photographs from her phone, Michelle asks him to prove that he loves her completely, but he is unconvincing, so she turns to Sid on the rebound. Sid, surprisingly, has come to love her as just a friend, so she takes him to see Cassie who has gone back into rehab after a suicide attempt. At the rehab clinic, she meets with Josh again - who works there - and sets out to seduce him.
After this Michelle succeeds in winning over Josh and learning that his mother, a psychiatrist, medicates him, their relationship progresses nicely until Tony sabotages it by sending lurid pictures of Abigail from Josh's phone to Michelle. After helping to repair her mother and step-father's hollow relationship, Tony makes another futile attempt to regain Michelle as his girlfriend, in spite of a slightly better attempt to explain that he loves her.
In the series finale, Michelle goes with Jal to Anwar's birthday party. Michelle isn't seen much throughout the rest of the episode until the end where Tony confesses his love for her over the phone, he is knocked over by a bus abruptly after. We see that Michelle had rushed outside to see Effy cradling him, as she stands to one side with a phone in her hand.
[edit] References
| Skins | ||
| General | Episode list • Unseen Skins episodes • Soundtrack | |
| Characters | Tony Stonem • Sid Jenkins • Cassie • Jal Fazer • Chris Miles Maxxie • Anwar Kharral • Michelle Richardson • Effy Stonem • Abigail Stock |
|
