Characterization
Sid is initially portrayed as a virgin who has a crush on his best friend Tony Stonem's girlfriend, Michelle Richardson, although he later realizes that his true feelings are for Cassie Ainsworth. Manipulated by Tony, he is frequently unlucky; losing an expensive amount of weed, getting beaten up by Jal Fazer's brothers, getting urinated on by a dog and a homeless person. He is also at first oblivious to the machinations of his best friend who, aware of Sid's undying adoration of Michelle, exploits it for his amusement. Despite this, he seems, at least in earlier episodes, to idolise Tony, replying to the question 'Is that all you do Sid, hang around with Tony?' with 'pretty much'.
Sid's character is generally supposed to be the nice guy, in contrast to Tony's self-serving egotism. He is extremely loyal towards his friends, including Tony and Anwar Kharral, who frequently abuse his loyalty and cause him a great deal of difficulty. Sid's nice guy attitude is quick to win the affections of Cassie, but Sid is oblivious, which leads to him hurting her feelings on numerous occasions. Sid is also very intelligent but underachieves in school because he is easily distracted. When faced with failing his coursework however, Sid is able to write an entire history dissertation in one night. His characterisation is often completed by his choice of clothes, including a bright yellow 'Mega Dog' T-shirt, which includes a button which when pressed produces a 'Mega Dog' catchphrase from a sewn on speaker.
Mike Bailey, the actor who portrays Sid, admits the character and the success of Skins has had a big effect on his life, particularly the nature of Sid, who is widely considered to be the audience's favourite character. In an interview with Sky, Mike says:
| “ | It's definitely made my life a bit different; you know walking down the street is kind of a different thing nowadays. But it's been nice to have people come up to you and say "I really like the show" and everything. You get the occasional twat coming up to you. | ” |
It could be inferred from the meek manner in which Sid accepts the manipulation of Tony, and the anger of his Scottish father Mark, that Sid is weak, and his self-esteem is certainly low. But on the occasions when it is most needed, he shows remarkable strength of character, especially in the episode "Sid". When Sid's father fails to prevent his mother leaving, Sid explodes with anger, and although his mother never moves back in permanently, this demonstration of strength improves Sid's relationship with his father in the long run. Also, Sid goes on a 'mission of love' to profess his love to Cassie in the final episode of the first series, and later in the second series where he searches for her in New York.
Graffiti by Sid is seen in a locker in the first episode of series three, as well as his trademark beanie and an issue of "Asian Fanny Fun". "Asian Fanny Fun" appears again in series five during Alo's episode, seemingly to show that Sid has not been forgotten.
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