Skins writer returns with beautifully dark teen drama Clique

If you're a fan of Veronica Mars and Skins, you're going to love Stan's latest addition, the seductive psychological thriller Clique.

Part mystery, part teen drama, the female-led series explores the underbelly of student life and the complexity of female friendships.

Produced by the BBC, Clique is the brainchild of former Skins writer Jess Brittain… and it shows.

While the late-2000's hit series focused on high-schoolers in Bristol, Brittain has now graduated, heading to Edinburgh to set her twisted scene at university.

Clique follows childhood friends Georgia (Aisling Franciosi) and Holly (Synnøve Karlsen) as they embark on their first year as uni students.

During an economics class they learn about a prestigious internship scheme and begin vying for a position to join the group of corporate alpha-girls who run it, but the closer they step into their world, the more sinister it becomes.

While Georgia is welcomed in to the glamorous crew with open arms, Holly remains on the outer. Conspicuously ditched by her former BFF, she begins to look closer into the cult-like scenario that's enveloped her friend, with dangerous results.

In an interview with the Radio Times, Brittain discussed her continuing fascination with the issues of young people, and how writing Clique helped process her own formative years.

"I’m still not over them," she told the publication. "I still feel vaguely quite shell shocked by how hard I found uni. Those years were so important and torrid, it's given me the opportunity to unpack it a bit and finally look at it with a bit more objectivity. It just feels like the most important things that have happened to me in my life have been at that age. That's where the preoccupation comes from."

Starting university is terrifying enough, but add in a hyper-competitive group of enigmatic young scholars, a mysterious death and corruption at every turn, and we've got a recipe for extreme drama.

Despite its dark veneer and secretive plot, Clique remains a series about friendship, growing up, ambition and insecurity — elements we can all relate to.

With both seasons of the critically acclaimed drama fresh to Stan, now is the perfect time to get drawn into the gripping world of Clique.

*Presented by Stan